Let's talk about the start:
1) Do I have reason to believe moving the starting settler would improve the start?
Moving off the plains hill loses the bonus hammer. Moreover, moving away from the river loses a potential free trade route to the second city. So it seems unlikely I will move.
If I start with hunting, however, it would be possible for the scout to move NW-NW to the plains hill or S-SE to the ivory. Both offer a bonus hammer. I can't see how I would discover resources near the ivory comparable to the riverside pig
and the wet rice
and a turn's movement - it seems to be surrounded by forest. But it does seem possible (albeit unlikely) that the plains hill gives visibility on resources that could justify a move. It would have to be something better than a wet wheat. Even with the savings from delaying AH.
The scout move presumes I have hunting, but settling in place also favours a hunting start since we need at least one of agriculture or hunting in order to develop the pig on schedule.
2) What are the constraints on starting civ?
The riverside pig tile is by far the best tile I can see on the board. Delaying development of this tile has a cost. Developing this tile, however, also has a cost (Animal Husbandry demands 143b that we might prefer to spend on BW and/or early pottery or an adventure up the religious branch. But chopping is no better than developing the pig, I don't want to play Expansive, and I'm sceptical about early religion when there are other options. So unless I'm forced to take a Mysticism civ, I want to have AH by t12 and develop the pig first.
AH costs 143b, AGR/HUNT both cost 48b. MIN costs 62. I don't have enough beakers to research a food tech
and AH by t12, so picking a civ without both of AGR and HUNT will have a small cost (5b to be exact if I take MIN).
If I decide I need a MYST civ, I'm ahead on beakers but delay BW.
Even with nerfed impi, I think the ikhanda makes the Zulu(AGR/HUNT) strong enough that they are my top choice.
I would be willing to pay 5b to choose Khmer(HUNT/MIN), Russia(HUNT/MIN), Germany(HUNT/MIN), or China(AGR/MIN) over Persia (AGR/HUNT). I prefer Persia to Ethiopia(HUNT/MIN).
There are several excellent MYST civs, but I don't think I can make use of the pig and make use of MYST at the same time.
Examples of using MYST would be:
A) Building stonehenge - to be competitive, this suggests BW timed to finish as I complete the first settler, but I can't do that and get AH.
or
B) Early religion - to do what? Again, a delayed BW ought to knock me out of a competitive race for the Oracle. I could take a SPI leader for early happy and future benefits but my freedom to muck around in the religious branch of the tree is limited by beakers spent on an early AH. Granaries are good.
The only possible choice I can think of would be to play SPI/Inca. But cottages matter too.
I think I prefer to play the map and leave MYST civs for a game where the first city does't reward AH.
