Konquest does it at Monarch!

[Konquest02]

I finally decided to graduate to Monarch level. I have played a small tiny map, but i'm now ready for the real thing.

It's a standard continents, pretty everything default, vanilla Civ3. I'm playing the Chinese as I expected a bit of warfare and quick tile improvements to be needed.

I'll post the 4000BC save for those who'd like to play it from the start.

--Kon--

[Konquest02]

Here is the starting position...

[Robber Baron]

Looks like a very promising start position, Konquest02. A luxury literally underfoot, freshwater (no need for aquecucts for some time), and bonus grasslands. Hills, great for later game productivity... Good luck!
(Myself, I'd go ahead and plant right there on that ivory. [ouch! Nevermind ] Others would shift over to the coast...)

edit: aquecucts? sheesh

[Theseus]

What do I see to the SE?

[ducki]

Originally posted by Robber Baron
(Myself, I'd go ahead and plant right there on that ivory. [ouch! Nevermind ] Others would shift over to the coast...)

I used to be a Move-to-the-Coast person, but I've changed my mind recently.

Odds are, your first city will be very productive for a long time, possibly productive for the whole game. If you don't move your palace, it may be one of your most productive cities, shield-wise.

For those reasons, it seems counter-productive(no pun intended) to move to the coast and cut your shield-producing tiles by more than 30%. Of course, I'm the kind of player that likes "perfect" metropolis spacing, which helped me lean towards inland capitols.

There's plenty of time to plant a coastal city before Mapmaking and Galleys come along, and as long as you don't wait too long, you should still be able to get the Colossus if you go coastal on your 2nd or 3rd city.

At least that's my logic.
Additionally, planting on the ivory means you can skip the very early garrison/luxury expense a bit longer, which I always like.

Looks promising, I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

[candybo]

Agreed, and I bet there'll be at least one more elephant nearby!

[Konquest02]

I played a little and wanted to post the results yesterday night but my cpmuter crashed (as it does every so eften!!) and I went to sleep...

So I played up to 110 AD and it has been a very interresting game so far. My first exploring warrior found the Japanese right to my north. So I expanded in this direction (since it's probably just tundra under me...) as fast as I could. I then go a settler from a goody hut near 2300 BC quite far from my homeland. Since I was on good terrain, I settled there. I thought it was a mistake but I later found out it was OK.

I then built my attack force to wipe Japan off the face of the Earth. I built 4 archers and a spearman and went for Japan. I managed to hurt Kyoto, take Osaka and destroy Tokyo (because it had 1 pop). I made peace for 3 techs, a worker and all their gold (23 i think...)

However, I could not generate settlers fast enough and Tokyo respawned like someone in a 3D shooter, which means pretty fast! 4 turns later, Osaka flipped back to Japan and I had to do it all over again.

I set back to military production. Having learned Iron Wroking from the Japanese, I started to build swordmen and upgraded a couple of early warriors.

Meanwhile, I met the Iroquois and the Zulu who shared my continents. I saw the Indians on a small island, 1 tile away from the continent. Good trades and the building of the GLib got me to a tech lead at the end of the second Japan war.

Then, it was time for Japan to pay... The first war had crippled them, the second crusehd them for good. I destroyed Kyoto, Tokyo and Satsuma (1 pop), took Osaka and Edo. In fact, I razed Kyoto because I thought my force wasn't strong enough to get over Japan. I got some lucky rolls from the RNG and I now realised I made a mistake because India managed to slip a city where Kyoto used to be.

On my last battle in this war, one of my elite swordmen generated Kubilai Khan, my first leader. We are now in 110 AD, and Japan no longer exists. However, I am torn between to choices. I can use him to rush my FP in the north of my territory or use him to build an Army, get the Epic and MA. I think I'll use it for the Army as corruption is not really problematic, but I'm open to all suggestions!

As for the wonders, I only got the Great Library. I thought it was a top priority and got it with a well-timed prebuild. However, I lost the Colossus to the Indians by 2 turns. The Iroquois built the Pyramids in 330 BC and the Zulu got the Great Wall in the cascade in 310 BC. They also got the Orcale waaay before, in 1000 BC. (Zulus with some kind of culture, how unusual!! )

I'll post saves and screenshots...

--Kon--

[Konquest02]

Here is a zip file with some saves:
- 4000 BC
- 470 BC
- 390 BC
- 210 BC
- 170 BC
- 110 AD (where I got my leader)

--Kon--

[Robber Baron]

I'd be tempted to spend Kublai on the Forbidden Palace, myself. Looking at the minimap, you have a golden opportunity to lay claim to the center of your continent, but you will need a two-pole infrastructure (palace and FP in order to hold it and make it productive).
That's my two cents.

[ducki]

I tend to agree with RobberBaron, though the Army is very tempting.

I think it depends on your focus.
If you plan on warring almost constantly, I might go for the Army.
If you plan to settle down for some building for a while, I'd go with the FP, or if you expect peace for 17 turns, I might hold him for the Hanging Gardens you'll be able to build when Monarchy comes up.

The hardest thing for me to get used to between Regent and Monarch is keeping my citizens happy.

I'd lean towards the FP, though, like RobberBaron said.
Essentially, it gives you the advantage of playing two productive civs, instead of one overstretched one.

[Konquest02]

I thought about it yesterday night, and I think I'll go for the FP in Edo (my central city) and settle in the open as fast as I can. Having more productive cities means more improvements getting built and therefore, more happy citizens. Moreover, I have gems in this city, which will make it my third luxury.

Who would like to go at war against the Iroquois' Mounted Warrior or the Zulu Impi in the Ancient Time? Certainly not me when I have other options!

Thanks for the answers!
More updates on this, maybe tonight!

--Kon--