A Quick Guide to Nomad
By _NeT_WalBanger 21st May 2002

             Well I have just started to play Nomad and come to realize what a good map this is, but its very hard to get good at it straight away and after a few really big beatings off good players, I Decided to write this document to try to help new people that fancy trying it out with out getting there butts severely kicked, straight off... Its not very in depth (because FoN_Raveman has already done that) but its Quick, and to the point so here goes.....

You start the game with 475wood, 200stone, 100gold and 300 Stone But no TC (so once you have built your TC you are down to you "Normal" amount of resources....... The only exception to this is the Huns which start with -100 wood (despite what FoN_Raveman said in his document, I think the patch updated that)

The Start

I wont write about the Chinese start (because in most games they are banned because they have a huge advantage over your opponent)  it is slightly different to other civs (because you start with the extra villagers which helps you build a your TC etc faster and you can have villager wars and easily win)

First off, you start the game with 3 villagers, 2 of which are quite close and the other 1 is usually far away.
Start to search the area around you villagers until you find some FLAT land Next to a forest for your TC (with the 2 villagers close to each other), I personally don't bother looking for anything else like gold or stone yet, its just a bonus if it close to where my TC is.
While you do this your 3rd villager looks for water to place your Dock and House...
Soon as you do find some trees and a flat surface build your TC there 1 tile away from the trees to save the villagers bumping into each other and slowing them down.... now with your 3rd villager (When you find water) build a dock followed by a house... 
Ok When your TC is up Collect ONLY wood to build boats, houses and new Docks.... 
Any sheep you find just use them to scout the map (until you have a pop of about 20 then move 4-5 villagers to food and send sheep back to TC)
The 3rd original villager scouts the map and builds houses and new docks as he goes.
Well thats the start....... its up to you what you do after this point

Now the important things are... 

1) BUILD TC FAST AS POSSIBLE I usually start to build it within 30secs
2) The 2 initial villagers and all the others you build at TC go straight onto wood (NO FOOD, any sheep you find use them to scout)
3) Make sure you keep building Fishing boats and villagers as soon as you get enough resources in
4) The 3rd Villager (after it finishes building the dock and house) scouts the areas and builds houses until at least Feudal, also when you get enough wood for a 2nd and 3rd docks build one, away from the first......(remember there is no wolves on this map)
5) Your TC will run short of food for a while but don't worry you soon get this back with the extra boats you can build
6) Now when you have got LOADS of wood coming in start to build a 2nd lumber camp somewhere, and start to eat any sheep deer etc... once you have enough food go feudal (after this its up to you what Strategy you want to do..... Take over the seas..... Flush....... Crush etc.........)

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  1.) Introduction:

Are you one of those people that start every game with pressing HCCC as fast as possible? And order villager 1 and 2 to make a house? While sending scout to find sheep and letting villager 3 build a 2nd house? You want to try something new for a change, but you are too lazy to start all over again? This guide to Nomad might be something for you.

Due to the start without a scout or Town Center and villagers separated from each other, Nomad is completely different from any other "regular" maps. Nomad is probably the only map where you can get a fast Feudal- and Castle-Age time while not using any sheep or boars.

This guide will explain the map and current strategies. The value for expert players might be limited, but Nomad-beginners and intermediate players will - hopefully - find something of use here.

 2.) The Map:

2.1) Map Layout:

Nomad is a water map. You either get one big island with lots of water around it, or a peninsula.

2.2) Resources:

Nomad has lots of resources: You get all the land resources (sheep, berries, boars and deer) plus a lot of shore fish and deep-sea fish. With this variation of resources you can get fast feudal-, castle- and imperial-age times depending on the combination of food you use to advance. Here is a list of the resources (note that placement is randomly) given on a tiny Nomad map:

-- Sheep: 16, in groups of 2 - 4.
-- Boars: 6 (!), often in groups of 2 or even 3.
-- Berries: 2 patches
-- Deer: Large amounts of deer, in groups of 2 - 8.
-- Stone & Gold: 6 patches.
-- Shore fish: Since it’s a water map, Nomad has plenty of shore fish.
-- Deep Sea fish: Large amounts of deep sea fish especially in the map corners.

3). Civilisation Choice:

Every game the decision for a civilization is an important one. The civilization determines your basic way of playing. When entering a Nomad-game the first thing you should know is that Chinese and Koreans are considered to be overpowered, and therefore banned in most games. Now let´s have a look at the most common civilizations for Nomad.

-- Chinese: Starting with 6 villagers is obviously a HUGE advantage. You will be able to find a "sweetspot" for your Town Center faster, your first Town Center will be up faster and so on. Add the other bonuses for Chinese and then you realize why nobody allows Chinese players on Nomad anymore - it’s just unfair.
-- Koreans: Korean villagers have an increased Line of Sight, which enables you to see more (and find a suitable location to settle down faster). Their stonecutting and tower bonuses aren’t that good for Nomad but come in handy. So why are Koreans banned in most of the Nomad games ? Wel,l that´s because of their War Wagons.
-- Celts: Since Nomad is a water map a lot of boats (and wood !) are needed. With their woodcutting bonus Celts have a strong advantage, not to mention the very good tech tree. They are undoubtfully one of the better civilisations for Nomad (damn good for grushing). It’s my personal favorite.
-- Huns: No need for houses makes Huns a popular civilization for Nomad. They can spend the wood on boats instead to get a faster time. They are also the best choice for knight rushes since they are faster than Franks. One more thing: On Nomad Huns don’t have the –100 wood penalty.
-- Vikings: Cheap docks make Vikings a welcomed partner. It's a bonus that comes in nicely. Free Handcart and Wheelbarrow make
them even better. Together with cheaper galleys, Vikings are a very effective grushing civilization. Not to mention their Champions later in the game.
-- Japanese: Japanese are the best boat booming civilization in AOK. Their fishing ships work faster and have more hitpoints. Dark Age - buildings cost 50% less. Galleys have an increased Line of Sight. What else do you need for boat booming ?
-- Mayans: As explained for Chinese having more villagers at the start is a huge advantage. You will be able to find more in the
same time and build your original Town Center faster. Longer lasting resources (+ 25%) is an advantage on any map. Unlike Chinese, Mayans aren’t banned.
-- Persians: With their + 50 food at start, you will have less idle time for your Town Center early in the game. Note that Persians don’t get the 50 wood extra on Nomad.
-- Britons: On Nomad you can gather a lot of sheep or none at all, depends on how lucky you are. If you are lucky and you find a lot of
sheep then Britons have a remarkable advantage. But I wouldn’t count on that for picking your civilization.
-- Goths: Large packs of deer can be found on Nomad and also groups of boars. Their hunting bonus will help them. But like Britons this advantage is only given if you find those deer and boars fast enough and close enough to your Town Center.
-- Mongols: Exactly the same as for Goths, their hunting bonus only helps them if you find the deer which is never certain.

 4.) The Game:

4.1) Town Center Placement:

A very crucial phase in the game is where to place your first Town Center. Koreans, Chinese and Mayans have a big advantage here because of either increased Line of Sight or more villagers. Where you place your Town Center and how fast you plant it down can decide
the game. So what´s the deal about ? Always place your Town Center next to a forest (touching or with a small space) so woodcutters don’t need to march far. Wood is essential on Nomad because you need boats to gather food. Of course you will be able to go for a fast Feudal-Age time with land food only but you will have to pay for this when going to castle: the boat boomer will always be ahead of you. So don’t neglect the sea. Every strategy or explanation in this guide is based on using the sea as your primary food-resource to get through the first two ages.

So we are going to look for a spot next to a forest. What i always do is sending all 3 villagers in different directions to scout the map. Once
you found a "sweetspot" the two closest villagers build a Town Center instantly. The third goes to a corner or a shore with lot’s of fish to build a dock and a house. Always make your Town Center with 2 villagers. Only if the 3rd is near them send him to help before he starts with the dock. The faster the Town Center is up the faster you can start gathering resources. Below is a list of what I would call "sweetspots" for Nomad:

-- Forest with 1 or several boars nearby
-- Forest with gold nearby
-- Forest with stone nearby (if you find another sweetspot first then go for that)
-- Forest with berries nearby (berries are slow but better than nothing)
-- Forest with 1 or 2 Shore fish nearby (perfect: wood to the left, fish to the right)
-- Forest with deer nearby.

One thing you should always keep in mind: Never scout too long. I always try to start building my Town Center before the 2:00 minute mark so that it will be build around 4:00 minutes. If your opponent finds his spot sooner and you are still running around the map with your villagers you will get into trouble sooner or later.

In 1 vs. 1 - games Town Center placement is even more important than in team - games but nevertheless: Start building the original Town Center before the 2:00 minute mark. And always try to build near gold, nothing is more irritating than not to find gold in time. Another option for Town Center placement is going blind meaning starting to build Town Center at the first forest you see. The advantage of that is that you probably have your Town Center up (and can start pumping out villagers) while the opponent is still building or even searching. This way you might have a 1 - 2 minute lead compared to your opponent but it is very possible that you don’t have any resources nearby besides wood.

If you haven’t found any resources at the 2:00 minute mark, stop searching and build that Town Center blind - don’t make it worse.

4.2) Town Center is up:

What now ? One villager builds a dock and house in a corner or on a shore with lots of deep sea fish possibilities (make sure you don't Place in a puddle at the edge of the map, make sure there are fish in it, i have know someone build it in water 8 tiles in size and no fish J). The other 2 (3 in case of
Mayans) become woodcutters so you can make boats as soon as possible. Make more villagers now.

4.3) First food:

You got your Town Center and your dock and you are making more villagers. Which kind of food should i gather first ? One thing is for sure: It has to be gathered fast. And this depends on your Town Center placement. You have probably found some sheep while your where scouting so they can be your first source of food. I suggest 3 or 4 villagers on sheep, and then the rest goes to wood for boats. If you have placed your Town Center near shore fish then take this at first, even before sheep because shore fish is faster than sheep. If you have placed your Town Center close to boar(s) go for sheep (or shore fish) first to get a steady villager production and then lure boar(s). If you are next to deer go for sheep (or shore fish) first, then deer.

You where unlucky and you haven’t got any fast food nearby ? Your sheep didn’t make it to your Town Center or you went blind and didn’t find anything in time ? Don’t worry, you won’t have the fastest time but if you send all villagers to wood and make boats then you will still be in the race for a decent Feudal-Age time (clicking feudal around 14-15 minute mark if Town Center at around 4:00 minutes).

Never have more than 6 villagers on food besides your boats. I only use 6 villagers for boars, and that is for a short period only. Having a lot of villagers on food puts a strain on your wood flow. So you won’t be able to make as many boats as you should. You will need 10 + boats to have a fast transition from Feudal- to Castle-Age or to have the necessary food to get the upgrades and continued villager production when going for a grush.

 5.) Scouting:

Because you have to start building your Town Center as soon as possible, you know very little of the map and location of the resources like gold and stone. Scouting is very important since you need to find that gold you need if there wasn’t any gold near your Town Center. One of your initial villagers will have to be your scout to find resources and opponent(s) until you have a proper scout. Your scouting villager is also the one who’s going to build your first dock and house. The villager will scout and build houses when necessary. Add a second villager to build houses and scout when you have a second dock up. I suggest you get a "real" scout just before you advance to the Castle-Age, or anytime you have some extra-food. If you are planning to stay in Feudal-Age for a while (grushing or other feudal attacking). You can use the two house builders to build additional docks and also as forwards.

 6.) Strategies:

Time to talk about the different strategies that you can use on Nomad. I can´t give you exact build orders because Nomad is just too unpredictibly. What i can (and will) do is to give you general ideas, but then you will have to figure it out yourself. Your game-layout will be different in many games depending on where you placed your original Town Center.

The race to Feudal-Age is the same in most games and the most common (and best) way to achieve this is by boat booming. Using few villagers on land food (5 – 6) and the rest on wood and pumping out boats from 2 - 3 docks. A "normal" Feudal-Age time with this is around 15:00 minutes. This is a very solid startup since you have a population of about 40 villagers (boats) gathering resources. You can get faster times (for example by using a lot of land food) but then you will have to sacrifice your economy more and it doesn’t guarantee you a victory.

Other than on Arabia or other maps that force you to advance you as soon as possible Nomad always offers to boom. If your opponent decides for the boat boom while you try to flush, his economy will be much stronger (he has about 15 boats fishing while you have none at all) so your advantage of being Feudal-Age faster will turn into a disadvantage soon.

However, when you are in Feudal-Age it´s time to make a decision on what you are going to do next. If you scouted enough (see previous section) and located docks and villager activity you can plan ahead. Let’s discuss the different options:

Galley Rush: Since a lot of players boat boom a Galley Rush can throw a lot of sand in their plans. When you and your opponent are
fishing very close to each other you don’t have any other possibility than to grush him. It’s either your fishing ships or his and 15 fishing
boats or 0 fishing boats is a big difference. Galley Rushing is not that recommended if your docks and his docks are far apart from
each other. Going for a Castle-Age attack might be the better option in that case.

Flush: A very popular strategy in regular games on land maps but again it has to be said: Nomad is different. If your opponent is boat-booming he will have a continued food flow that you can´t deny when attacking him with archers and towers on land. This means he will be able to keep up his villager production and use more villagers to defend. Also his base could be spread out. His gold and stone miners could be far away from his base and your archers would run around not spotting it. My suggestion is that you grush first and then start flushing without delaying your Castle Age jump too much.

Knight Rush: If you think your boats are safe for a while then you might go for a knight rush and spend more wood on the buildings needed for Castle-Age upgrade and maybe a few more boats. The faster the knight rush the better, so don’t spoil too much food during Feudal- and Castle-Age and have 3 stables. If your boats are still untouched when you start to upgrade to Castle-Age you will more than likely have a lot of food when you hit Castle-Age and will be able to launch a heavy attack immediately. You can take out his base quickly if you have 1 or 2 rams with your knights. This strategy has been very popular in the beginning of Nomad-play but nowadays many players make several pikemen to defend against Knight Rushing. Anyways: Keep pressure. Try to raid the opponent whenever and whereever possible while booming or preparing for a late and more powerful Castle Age attack.

Boom: Nomad is a very good booming map and many players boom on Nomad. Extra food from fish ships when going to castle and your heavy woodcutting give you the opportunity to plant down several Town Centers at once and queue a lot of villagers.

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