Contrary to Elizabeth's confined tip of the Balkan peninsula, Napoleon is located in a relatively remote and vast area - the upstream of Euphrates, which was also featured in Challenge 1's Mesopotamia. Napoleon has a huge front and backyard to expand into, but not all lands are profitable. Resource is relatively scarece in the neighborhood, just like Challenge 1. But Napoleon is still a millionaire compared to Elizabeth!
This is also a very rare oppurtunity of "free spawn". Napoleon's closest neighbor is more than 30 tiles away. Napoleon can found any number of cities uninhibited! This could be a good textbook exercise of what to consider to spawn good cities. My personal criteria for city spawning sites are:
(1) Number of profitable resources (strategic, luxurious)
(2) Distance of the resources. I avoid sites where profitable resources are 3 tiles away on Hills/Forests/Water - these terrains are given a very low expansion priority, even with a resource on it, and therefore tile purchasing could be very expensive.
(3) Distance to the main cluster. I avoid founding cities too far away from the main city cluster to cut down road maintenance.
In general, the more cities one spawns early on, the more powerful the Empire becomes in the long run. In my first run with Crossgate2003 (still in progress, now Turn 110), I spawned 3 cities, paused, built National wonders, and spawned 3 more. In my second run, I spawned 6 cities all together. The results are very similar - I got Porcelain Tower on Turn 96 in the first run, and Turn 94 in the second run. I decided to spawn 6 cities together here, which seem to feature better developed cities in mid-game.
I was also tempted to try a Cultural victory given France's unique ability (+2 Culture per city per turn until mid-late game) and the fact that Napoleon's territory is pretty much free from powerful foes (ONLY constant barbarian harrassment). However, grabbing key cultural wonders before the Level 9 AIs (50% wonder construction bonus) seem to be too luck-dependent. I decided to put Napoleon on the Science route.
So my early game plans are:
(1) Spawn 6 cities
(2) Build the National College as soon as possible
(3) Grab the Porcelain Tower
1122. Here is my policy plan for France. Due to France's unique ability (+2 Culture per city per turn), I can safely fill the Liberty tree and use the Great Engineer to rush Porcelain Tower. I even have the freedom to get one extra policy - the Honor tree opener, then come back to finish Liberty. Barbarian activites are overwhelming here.
1123. My build order for Paris is 3 Scouts (there are many ancient ruins around), then Grnary, followed by a crazy 5-Settler spam. In my 2nd (previous) run I skipped Granary and get to 5 Settlers directly. I want to try something different here and compare the results. The extra food provided by Granary will accelerate my Settler spawns so I might be able to catch up.
Due to the many Ancient Ruins around, I was pretty much guaranteed a few free techs. In early game I got two key techs for free: Mining and Writing. Very nice!
My second city (free Settler from Liberty policy) is planned on the SW of Paris, close to the Silk. I need to constantly supply the empire with new sources of happiness so new cities can be established in rapid succession. There is an annoying barbarian camp just east to my city site. So I had to use a Scout to shield my Settlers from capture. That would really suck.
1124. Since Paris has lots of Sugar, Napoleon's income looks way better than Elizabeth's. In fact, he can afford to rush buy quite a few units early on. After meeting Askia (located in current-day Egypt), I borrowed a little cash from him and bought a Warrior in Orleans. I need quite a few Workers to work on my rapid-growing empire. These Workers will come from Sidon - against their free will, of course.
1125. With the help of forest chopping, I could finish the Granary at the same time that Paris's population grows to 5. The Settler spawning spree officially kicks off on the next turn.
I only learned this recently: chopping down the forest of Deers and Beavers(?) do not affect the Camp improvement. In above case, I can chop the forest for free - the tile yield does not change at all!
1126. Here comes the first Sidon Worker! The first one is the most difficult - I almost lost the Warrior to the 3 defending Warriors and the two invading barbarians. Pulled off just in time. Later on I need to bring in some Archers to thin Sidon's defense number down.
1127. I have a very healthy-looking Settler production rate - 17 hammers per turn. Strangely, Paris only harvest 10 hammers, but after 50% bonus the final output becomes 17. Not the first itme I see discrepancies in the city panel.
1128. The third city Lyon is spawned east of Paris. I resisted the temptation of river - I need that Silver tile very soon to sustain my Empire's happiness. Resources on a Hill 3 tiles away has a very low priority and will take forever to be expanded onto.
1129. Siden worker #2! The key to farm AI's workers is to stay 2 tiles away from its borders, and 2 tiles away from the unimproved target tile, where the innocent AI will loyalty send its new Worker to improve it - only to lose the unit repeatedly.
1130. So many Barbarians - I have to cash rush quite a few new units. In my previous runs I had too few archers and had a very difficult time against the barbarian horde. So this time I am going to have more archers.
1131. It seems that Napoleon's policies are unlocked at a good rate. I might be able to rush Hagia Sophia with the free Great Engineer in Turn 70+, and use the new free Great Engineer to rush the Procelain Tower in Turn 90+.
1132. Met England's exploration boat on the shore of North Africa. As France is needs extra sources of happiness badly, here Napoleon made a slightly biased trade with Elizabeth - exchanging one of Napoleon's Sugars for Elizabeth's only Whale. Later on, Napoleon should have excess resources, and Elizabeth will benefit greatly from them.
1133. This is the same turn that Elizabeth finishes her Colossus. Paris has pumped out all 5 Settlers, and has started working on a Library. Still two more cities to be established before I can start building National wonders. I was able to keep the happiness of the Emptire almost always on positive. More and more resources are harvested to exchange for exotic luxurious products. Things are looking pretty good!
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