Civ V Adventure 1: In the Beginning
As I write this, I'm looking at my first ever Civ IV adventure report (for Adventure 3) to get the style the same and it's amusing to see my trepidation on starting that one & how similiar my thoughts are now. I played about 90 or so hours of Civ V when it came out, and then pretty much haven't touched it for over a year. I took the opportunity to jump into a practice Succession Game on RB, but that's the sum of my experience with the current state of Civ V. I don't think I ever played on King (tho I can't really remember), so this'll be a "nice" challenge 
The purpose of the single variant rule (no cash from the AI) is to prevent the generation of effectively infinite money by exploiting the way the AI will always buy resources from you (amongst other things? That's the one I remember anyway.). So you can set up a trade of a resource for 30 turns in exchange for a lump sum of cash. Then next turn you declare war, breaking the deal & being able to sell the resource to someone else whilst keeping the original cash payment. More than somewhat cheesy, not a shame to see it off the table as an option.
Looking at the scoring rules - well, I doubt I'll get a fastest victory given the skills of my competition (I'm very much at the bottom of the pack for Realms Beyond). I guess I could try for the 4 points for winning a Diplomatic Victory though. The early game decision is between Cultural victory (requires vertical growth) and the rest, so I'll aim for Diplomatic and can fall back to Space or Conquest (who'm I kidding? War is so not my thing! 
) if needs be. I can definitely try and generate multiple GP types to use in multiple ways, and will keep my eye out for something cool to plan & achieve.
So enough with the chatter, and on to looking at the actual save!
Well, perhaps a bit more chatter The special abilities of the Americans are military land units have +1 sight (handy for scouting & spotting invading armies) and they have a 50% discount when purchasing land (handy for a game where we'll be cash strapped). The special units are both latish - B17 replacing Bombers, Minutemen replacing Muskets. Minutemen move through rough terrain like it's flat ground, so basically logistics are slightly easier with them. B17s damage cities more than Bombers.
I moved the starting Warrior southwards, because we could already see a decent chunk of the North due to the +1 sight bonus. The above screeny shows what he revealed. Thoughts on settling - I've picked up an impression that Production is King in Civ V; so the sight of those Stone resources and forests is nice. In this game Commerce will also be important because I have to generate the vast majority of my cashflow myself. So the Marble and Cotton are welcome sights. Food looks reasonably plentiful, due to all those grassland tiles, and there's Cow & Wheat in the North as well. Cotton & Marble nearby also give me two luxuries for sure.
I don't think it's worth moving South with the Settler, it's poorer in currently visible resources. The choice is really between settling in place & going North. I considered Northwest (across the river) to avoid settling on the production-giving hill, but I think that moves towards too many useless Desert tiles. Moving 1 tile NE gives me Stone & Cotton first ring, Cow & Marble second ring, Wheat third ring. It does waste a turn, but I think it's a stronger site than the current tile. Interested to see what people with actual experience think when I read the reports afterwards
Washington is therefore founded on Turn 1, leading to more decisions! I'll think about science first.
My first thought here is to see what I need to research to hook up my resources. For Cotton, I need Calendar; for Stone I need Masonary. So nothing first tier, which means I don't think I need a Worker first out the gates from the city either. One option is Pottery -> Calendar, the other is Mining -> Masonary. Neither Cotton needs me to chop down trees (which would also require Mining), which doesn't help for making the choice. I decide to go for Pottery first, almost by flipping a coin. I'm sure there's an optimal path, but I'm damned if I know what it is If anything my decision is influenced by feeling I should get the Happy resources hooked up as soon as possible, and it's a Calendar one that's currently within my borders.
The other choice is what to build & what tiles to work. Here's a look inside Washington before I made any decisions:
The Governor has chosen one of the Cottons to work, as it gives a nice lot of commerce, which looks good to me. I don't really have much choice of what to build - I don't need a Worker yet and won't for a while (current finish time for Calendar is turn 17, but I'll have more pop by then bringing it down a bit but not so much that it's worth starting a Worker now). Monument might be nice, but I think my priority here is scouting. Ruins (some of which I've spotted down South with my Warrior) give you nice stuff, meeting City States first is a good thing (and if I'm aiming for a Diplo victory then I need to work on meeting them all). So I decide to build a Scout (cheap, moves faster).
And after writing all that, it occurs to me that I'll gain the Cow tile pretty soon - another alternative is to research Animal Husbandry and build a Worker, both of which will complete in time to pasture the Cow. But after some thought I rejected that again as there'll be nothing for the Worker to do for quite a bit after pasturing the Cow.
The next turns are all about exploring, as there is nothing else to do. I do get some gold from some ruins, and I meet Kuala Lumpur - my first City State:
They're hostile, which is a shame. If I do ally with them then they'll give me Furs) & Culture.
Turn 5 rolls in, and my Scout is completed. I decide to make another one for now as I still don't have much to do with a Worker, nor much need for military. I've also found a Barbarian encampment in the South near Kuala Lumpar - I'll leave that be for now, because eventually Kuala Lumpar will ask me to take care of it for them & that will give me influence over them. My Warrior will hang around near there, while the Scouts look around the rest of the land.
Turn 6, Washington grows and starts working the other Cotton. And my first scout pops some ruins and turns into an Archer! My military might grows without my even trying Pottery finishes Turn 7, and I start to research Calendar which will finish in 8 turns time. I switch to a worker this turn too and switch Washington over to working one cotton & the stone so that the Worker will also finish in 8 turns time. And then have to redo the mm because popping the ruins with my Warrior gives me an extra population point in Washington. A pretty awesome result. As the extra population shaves a turn off the eta for Calendar I also have to shave a turn off the eta for the Worker, so Washington works the western cotton, the stone and the forest.
I also meet Napolean. He's got a warrior to the South, and clearly I only just got to Kuala Lumpar a bit before him. He has nothing to trade yet (unsurprisingly) and less gold total and less per turn than me, reassuringly.
Turn 10 I meet Edinburgh (Militaristic & Irrational). I'm not the first to meet these guys, despite how close they are to me. Pretty close neighbours. And indeed, on Turn 11 I meet Oda Nobunaga of Japan, escorting a Settler in my direction. He's friendly, but I'm thinking I need to get a Settler or two out sooner than I was assuming.
Kuala Lumpar asked for assistance against the barbarians, but I've got my warrior on the wrong side of a mountain range (and of Paris's culture). I'm looping him back now, hopefully not too late. Japan settled Osaka pretty much where I saw the Settler, so not too close, thankfully.
Turn 14 is an eventful turn, in that Calendar is researched and the Worker is built. I complete the scout I'd almost built earlier, so that's an easy decision. After a bit of thought I decided to research Animal Husbandry next, to hook up the Cows which are now in my borders. Then the Masonary track will be next. Next turn - I have to choose both production (expected) and science (unexpected) again. My Warrior in the South popped some ruins and got Animal Husbandry! So, Mining next. I also decided to build a Settler next turn. My second city will go over towards Japan, I can see that there's a nice resource rich area with Gems & Dyes for luxuries, a few sources of Horse and some Wheat. Actual tile to be decided nearer the time, when I've scouted some more.
Pressing End Turn leads to a meeting with Augustus Caesar and a ranking of civilisations by how much food surplus they have ... mine looks crap (0) but then I'm building a Settler and that's why:
Looks like somebody else I haven't met is doing so too. I've met Caesar down in the far south, a Spearman of his is near my Warrior. Thankfully far away, as that looks to me like he has metal hooked up & thus might be militarily scary. My new Scout pops some ruins for a map, perhaps the least exciting option.
It's also time to think about social policies for the first time this game:
In the SG I'm playing we started off with the Liberty Tree. And I think I'm going to follow that example myself - the first one (the policy opener) just gives more culture per city, but the next two will give me a free worker and a free settler. Both of which will speed my expansion to 3 cities quite significantly and let me build other things. Finishing out this tree will also give me a Great Person, which I can then use for one of the scoring possibilities.
Next turn I meet Bismarck, also in the South - it's busy down there. And I get my first "military" action of the game, with a barbarian Warrior having snuck up close to Washington:
In other news, the Worker has finished a plantation on the eastern Cotton, and moves off to the Cow to start pasturing it next turn. Except that next turn rolls round and the pesky barb warrior is chasing my worker, who moves back into the city just in case. I also discover Mining & start researching Masonry.
It's turn 20, which is a nice round number and I've actually been playing for a couple of hours given how many decisions there were to start with so here's a couple of overview shots:
I'm regretting not having more actual military, as there's two barbarian encampments near Washington. And I'll need something to escort my settler. So much so that I think I'll swap to a Warrior now, then complete the Settler afterwards.
I meet Ragusa (Maritime, Friendly) in the West, and I'm first to do so. Still looking like East & South are the busiest parts of the world. Dispersing the barbarian camp in the East with my Archer not only gives me some gold, but I spot the Rock of Gibraltar, my first Natural Wonder.
Entering Turn 23 & I'm informed that Japan has entered the Classical Era. My exploring Archer is also due a promotion having fought off the barbarian that attacked it - but I attacked (with a range attack) the barb first, so that promotion will have to wait (he got a rough terrain promotion next turn). And there are still too many barbarians around Washington. Thankfully that Warrior I'm building is nearly done, just 2 more turns to go. Turn 24 and Napolean enters the Classical Era. I feel like I'm falling a bit behind here, probably due to my poor planning for the barbarians.
Er, that above is a Mountain? Really? Sure doesn't look like it! In other news on Turn 25 I finally defeat the barbarians wandering around Washington so my worker can go back to pasturing the Cows, and as the Warrior has completed then I switch back to the Settler. Masonry has been researched so I'm at the end of my pre-planned stage. I decide on The Wheel, for roads to connect up my hopefully soon future city, and leading to Horseback Riding for making use of my horse resources.
Turn 26 and I get a new Social Policy - I pick the free worker one first, which also gives me 50% discount on making improvements. Two more Civs into the Classical Era in Turn 27. And next turn I meet Venice (Maritime, Neutral), not the first person to do so tho. Turn 29, finally the AI start kicking off amongst themselves - Germany denounces France.
My settler finally finishes on Turn 29. The decision point now is where to put my city. That Eastern area still looks nicest:
And I think I'll put the city on the plains tile between the horse, gems & wheat. It leaves a fish unworkable, I think, but it strikes me as a better spot than on the coast where I could pick that up. However I need to wait for my Warrior to heal before I go - I also start Washington making a new one, so that might finish first.
Germany comes begging for help in a proposed war with France at the end of Turn 31, but I decline. And I meet Siam. The Wheel is researched, which lets me build Chariot Archers (I neglected to notice this earlier) and so instead of HBR I decide on Bronze Working, to lead to Iron Working so I can see if I have Iron.
I like shiny things! Almost the most. I'm actually saving up money thinking I'll buy alliances with City States, but I'm clearly not making as much as Japan. I think getting that damn second city finally up will help with this! And finally on Turn 32 it's in motion, I've built a Warrior and it is now escorting the settler to my choice of site. I've set Washington building a stoneworks for the extra production & extra happy. It's good something went right, because after hitting end turn the barbs captured one of my workers coz I'm a moron Working on defeating the irritating barb & getting it back.
Japan wants to be friends & I can't see myself being in a state to attack them soon, so I agree. Japan also denounces Germany and the Great Library is built elsewhere. As I lost a Warrior to a barbarian, I switch Washington over to another Warrior. Turn 36, Bronze Working is researched, so I start on Iron Working. And finally I settle my second city.
New York needs some Worker love, but I will hopefully have my second worker back soon & one of them can go help out New York. I decide that what it most needs to do is grow, so a Granary is ordered up.
Turn 38 - Ragusa wants me to take out a nearby encampment, and conveniently Washington has just finished a Warrior who can be sent off to do that. Washington goes back to its stoneworks now. I also deal with my own bothersome encampment and get my worker back! Victory! And I meet Monaco (Cultured Irrational) in the North. Popping some ruins on Turn 29 gets me extra population in New York, also a nice result.
And I reach turn 40 which seems a convenient place to stop, particularly as I have plans for this evening
Onward to Part 2