So what are the best resources?

[Dis]

I'm not talking about luxery or strategic. We know how important they are.

But are cows better than wheat. Does anyone go for whales? Or do they prefer to utilize more lands squares?

Discuss.

[badams52]

Cows, definitely cows. Whales when making a port city are nice, but nothing tops cows on grassland. Bonus food and production on Civs best terrain.

[BRC]

2 cows, a river and a granary and the game is over. You will outrex anyone.

[alexman]

Unless everyone has cows and rivers that is!

(Cough *Strat PBEM 4* Cough)

[ZargonX]

A patch of cows can certainly make a powerhouse of a city, that's for sure. I still try to settle a whale city once in a while to harken back to the good ol' days of Civ II when a whale city, or *gasp*, a two whale city was a blessing to behold.

And a wheat flood-plain tile spells settler-farm under any cercumstances.

[Dis]

that explains why I do that. I'm still stuck in my old civ2 sytles. I have a hard time breaking them. Out of habit I always go for whales.

I'm trying to decide if I should build a city on the coast to utilize whales. Is it worth it? Because the other ocean tiles are worthless except for trade arrows. But you can get 2 food from them with a harbour.

[Dominae]

By the numbers, Cows are clearly the best Bonus resource (+1 Food, +1 Shield). When they appear on Grassland it gets even better, as you get 5 Food from that tile when irrigated upon breaking out of Despotism. That's growth in 2 turns for city size < 6, with an extra Shield to boot.

I personally really like Game, since once you chop the Forest, you again get a great bonus Food tile.

Whales are nice, but I never go out of my way to get them (yep, definitely different from Civ2!).


Dominae

[BRC]

Originally posted by alexman
Unless everyone has cows and rivers that is!

(Cough *Strat PBEM 4* Cough)

Are you complaining??
I hope nobody's picking on you Alex.

Not everyone can get such a great start. (Cough *Strat PBEM 2* Cough)


No hard feelings.

[Dominae]

Alexman should not complain, as his Cow-fortune appeared in twos.


Dominae

[BRC]

I try to boost up the "weaker" players.

Let me apologize to the Russ, Dom, and Ralph for accidentally giving Alex and extra cow.

[nbarclay]

I've had three-cow cities on rare occasion. Great food and production both, although if fresh water is available, irrigating two of the cows and handing one off to a neighboring city would be even better.

I generally regard it as important to make good use of as many tiles as practical, including sea. With a harbor in a representative government, sea gives two food and two gold, and while that's hardly spactacular, it's not to be scoffed at either. Every little bit of commerce helps, even when whales aren't available. (Although at least some sea tiles are usually left in the "expand into when the city grows past size 12" category.)

Wheat and game are actually the same, give or take a forest. Plant a forest on wheat and you get the same as game, or chop game and you get the same as wheat. But both are one production worse than cattle.

Nathan

[wilbill]

Originally posted by Dissident
I'm trying to decide if I should build a city on the coast to utilize whales. Is it worth it?

Why is this an either/or proposition? In most games you need at least one port anyway. Might as well build it near a whale if one's available.
Call me Ishmael.

[Dominae]

Ah, but Game is better, as it comes with a ten-Shield credit.


Dominae

[nbarclay]

A ten-shield credit that it costs either five or ten worker turns, depending on whether you're industrious or not, to cash in. Personally, I'd rather get the growth advantage without having to wait those extra turns, at least if there are grasslands with shield around for the extra population provided by the faster growth to use.

Nathan

[Dominae]

Hm, good point. Still 2F/2S is pretty good for a start, even if it means normal growth. You get 2S of waste on a Warrior, but that can be avoided sometimes.

Plus, most importantly, I hate the look of the Mine graphic over a Wheat tile. Ugh.


Dominae