Baobob Trees on Random Maps

[ArcaneExodus]

These tree appear in loose bunches, inside my iberian walls; Makes me consider deleting the wall to harvest 400 wood. They ruin games, it suddenly becomes all about trading wood via the market; Suddenly I have 10x more idle villagers because the trees are loosely bunched and I can't just put my guys on one storehouse. Constantly clicking the idle villager button to retask one guy, because its baobob season.

Edited July 14, 2017 by ArcaneExodus

[Hannibal_Barca]

Build one storehouse where there are most trees around it

For example, if you have 4 loosely spaced trees try to set a storehouse nearest to the middle(shortest equal distance to all). Do not favour 1 tree because once its gone workers will have to walk more to get the others.

Baobab maps certainly do not ruin games, instead they make the player value wood,  be more economical and choose the best troops that save wood.

This also encourages trade and expansion unlike some other maps.

Instead of lamenting the stupidity of such a map and wishing for a rehost, try to turn this dire calamity to your advantage.

After all, as iberians you have slingers that cost little wood. You can choose to train raiding cavalry to disrupt other players gathering the unfortunate baobabs

Every random map challanges the player to adapt or fail, this is the ultimate test of your resourcefulness, endurance and skill

 

Market barter can only take you so far

Also there is a possible strategy even there. Stock up on extra food at the start and be the first to phase up and get a market. Once there, buy all the wood you can and in doing so you will ruin any players depending on barter.

 

At the start, locate the area with the highest tree density and build a storehouse there. After, choose others etc

If you cannot maintain villagers at work then too bad. Also, expand with barracks or houses towards possible gather sites, think of the future and prosper!

[Grugnas]

I am not sure that wood placement takes account of iberian walls, if they do, iberian walls should take into account woods footprint which is usually bigger than the simulation obstruction. Matter of fact if there is no rush going on, usually one could even delete walls. Still there are many ways to gain wood in desert maps.

Example, those 4 are the civs which have access to the  market earlier than any other civ in such biome:

Play britons with their slingers available in phase 1 which are darn fast.

Play ptols with their free houses.

Play athene with their slingers available in phase 1.

Play mauryans and use worker elephants (they are storehouses with paws)

Pray for no rush

Most of the times there are always animals on such 1biome and one wants to get corrals working in order to have a significant amount of food to invest into the market.

Probably there are only 2 starting strategies working:

1) you can train skirmish cavalry and invest all the yelt wood in making corrals for a solid food production. You can use that food income to use/abuse of the market barter or to train cavalry.

Cons:  if attacked by cavalry, you have to stop the food production and defend. This may slow you down.

2) you can make grainfields and invest the wood yelt into soldiers. At this point you could simply wait to reach phase 2 and move part of your soldiers from wood to metal and start a trade route.

Cons: you are quite vulnerable to cavalry raids.

 

Some one even invest wood into wicker basket technology for more carrying capacity which helps on long distances