> How do people tend to open the game to get into a strong position?
Playing on Average, my first priority is, uhhh, well, uhhhh, okay, this is embarassing, but the first thing I do is look at the clans around me. Then I restart if I get one of the weird, fanatical ones that drive me bananas. ^_^`
However, thanks to someone mentioning something interesting in this respect (enlarging your tula at their expense and gaining new neighbours to bring into the tribe) I've decided to not do this in future - haven't had the chance to play it recently, though.
Anyways, once I'm ready to start playing:
In the first year, I usually try to build up the population - get as many farmers as possible, pump as many people into crafters as possible (and change some output to 'fine' at the same time), and try to attract more weaponthanes. I also reorganize the ring - I put the leader with the right god, highest leadership and lowest age into the chief spot, then find a lawspeaker (custom and Lhankor Mhy where possible), warleader (combat), trader (bargaining and Issaries where possible), magician (magic or Eurmal where possible, since I usually have other strong magicians on the ring and Eurmal grants better questing), herder (animals, Barntar preferred) and farmer (plants, Ernalda preferred).
This takes me right up to fall. This is generally a good time to get more weaponthanes. I also tell the weaponthanes I have to patrol and build a watch tower at the same time.
During winter and the storm season I get two mysteries and build two shrines right away - one to Barntar (plowsong if I can get it) and one to Chalana Arroy (curing if I can get it). The last thing I do in the first year is to reorganize my farming strategy - I cultivate more land for the new carls, make sure I have twice the land the cottars say they need for the herds, and add a bit to barley production (especially with Bless Crops) - usually 35/40/25.
In the new year, I usually encounter the ducks. I make peace with them, because I like them.
In the second and following years of the game, I usually spend the spring exploring my own tula - that's twice a year, four times in the first two or three years as I explore in the summer as well. This usually gives me two to three resources in two years, and sometimes something else as well, like the battlefield or a stone ring. If I have a lot of weaponthanes, I also consider sending someone to the Quivin mountains to slay the dragon - even on Average level you get well over 100 goods for doing so, which means a great temple! Which I have recently discovered the great use of. =) Heh, now I have 60 magic and going up...the only problem is that when someone asks to borrow 'part of my worshippers' it means I give up a fraction of my total - even all of it.
In the autumn of the second and third years I usually send out trading and diplomatic missions. Specifically, I attempt to end any feuds nearby - those are the worst for raiding and the best to get in your tribe later - and to forge new long-term trading agreements, which means more profit, bigger temples and more worshippers. In winter, again, I learn mysteries and build shrines. In storm season, I think about raiding - a cattle raid if I don't seem particularly strong, as even a few cattle or horses can mean a lot right now. A regular raid can mean a lot as well; it can pay for a temple, and it keeps my war magic strong. However, it's also a time to forge trade routes and mollify clans who hate me.
My next shrines are to Ernalda (Bless Crops - only one I ever build for her) and Vinga (either pathfinder or fyrdwomen is great to have - I usually take the former first, explore a lot, then switch when my population has grown). In the third year I try to learn Issaries (silvertongue) and Humakt (combat blessing - whichever one increases your chance of winning a fight).
As the clan grows and gets a little more self-sufficient, I begin to explore outside my own tula (Tarsh is usually first as it's the safest and most interesting outside place; the dragonnewts are usually a second choice, but I prefer to wait until I've got lots of treasures already; then I slooowly explore more dangerous areas like the southwest, Prax, the beast swamps, the troll mountains, et cetera) and spend more of the year working on other things. As soon as I get the goods, I begin trading for treasures with the other clans. I also begin to look at hero-questing, but I don't usually perform one for the first five years of the game.
Building defences is actually not something I focus on early; I'd rather have a temple to Humakt than most of the defenses. A shrine to Vinga can mean more than all the fortifications together, in my books.
Once I've started buying treasures and performing successful hero-quests I know I'm well on the way to victory in the game. At that point I've probably begun exploring extensively, have at least a decent herd, and have begun to make friends with my neighbours.
For some reason, I have discovered that if I have, say, 50 surplus goods, that it makes my people MUCH happier to give them as gifts to two or three surrounding clans, thus raising their esteem for us towards 'king' - than it does to actually give them to my own farmers. The benefits are about the same either way, but when I gain a higher reputation, the farmers are happy ALL the time, not just for a year.
In a way, that makes sense - when their neighbours tell them how envious they are of their clan, farmers are sure to puff up with pride. Still, I have this image of my poor farmers wearing sacks while their neighbours, wearing fine clothes we knit for them, are exclaiming how badly they want to join and wear sacks, too. ;-)
I tend to ramble on, but this has basically described my whole strategy.
Dave
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