The startup phase

The first steps

The first thing you should do is to train a new villager (press "H", "C"). With two villagers, build a house as soon as possible. Do not build it right next to the Town Center, though, because you will want to place farms around it later. Assign the number 1 to the last villager you have. As soon as you see a tree near the Town Center, send a villager to chop it down.

Two villagers (the one with the number 1 that is still idle and the first one that is created in the Town Center) will then have to scout for food and wood. Both resources are crucial in the early stage of the game, and getting them sooner means a huge advantage. If possible, build a Storage Pit first at an appropriate spot (i. e. at a forest where there is also a different resource). The perfect spot is one where a small like with fish is near a forest. Shore fishing is the key for speed, being twice as fast than other methods of getting food. If you cannot find a forest early, build a Granary first near some bushes and then send the guys to chop the few trees around the Town Center. It is important that you stay flexible - adjust your building order to your environment. Do not desperately seek a forest for your storage pit if you have found a place with berries and have enough trees near your town center.

After building the Storage Pit...

Train more villagers and send one or two of them to scout for food or wood (whichever you are lacking). The developement of your town should now come naturally, depending on the resources available. At sea maps, get a dock now and send your villagers to chop wood. At land maps, get a Granary or a Storage Pit if you have not one already. Never forget to build houses, but do not build them too early. 30 wood does not seem to be much, but if you build your second house too soon, you can maybe not afford the Granary that you need so much and will get behind. Of course forgetting to build a house is even worse. You should build a house when the next villager and/or boats you are training will use up the last living space, e. g. when the numbers say 6/8. (You can train two villagers while a house is being built.)

A Barracks is not so important during the Stone Age because Clubmen are pretty weak anyway. Continue training villagers and building houses until you have a solid production established (around 16 villagers, i. e. three houses), then go for the Tool Age upgrade. Build a Barracks while upgrading (or earlier if you production allows it) and another house.

If you still have problems, I recommend playing the game with the Shang tribe, choosing an inland or highland map. The cheaper villager cost will help you to save food for the Tool Age upgrade.

There are a few other factors that are important at the beginning:

• shore fishing: it's really the key for speed. Try to make that your first food source (if available)
• try to keep all your villagers busy while producing new villagers continously (requires some foresight and experience; if your primary food source is drained, you should have a new granary/storage pit available). Don't let your production of villagers be slowed because you do not have enough houses.
• good micromanagement. Try to herd the gazelles to the storage pit; you can also lure elephants to it (only for a very short distance, though).
• practice and luck :)

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