A visit to Recon's alliance forum revealed this gem which I have decided to share here also:
(Thankyou to the original author for this).
Quick-Start Guide
(For members there are a exclusive advanced startup tactics! See Member forum)
Jump to Step 1 to get started right away!
It is easy to "get stuck" with no resources in Evony, especially in the beginning.
This guide gets you past the growing pains of the game and into the fun more quickly!
In 5 minutes you will have 200 prestige and more resources than you started with (Step 12).
In one hour you will be a Lieutenant with 1400 prestige and four times your original resources (Step 47).
By Step 60 you will be a Knight with 2100 Prestige and a lot of resources!
Let's begin!
Visit
http://www.evony.com/Create an account on the newest server and login.
Click on your favorite state.
They are all the same, differing only in name.
If your friends are playing, tell them to pick the same state so your cities will be nearby.
At this point the game starts!
1. Click Quest button
Daily Quest tab, Get reward
2. Build Cottage level 2
Speed it up
3. Build Inn
Speed it up
Click City
4. Build Farm
Speed it up
5. Build Sawmill
Speed it up
6. Build Quarry
Speed it up
7. Build Ironmine
Speed it up
Turn in quest
8. Build Sawmill level 2
Speed it up
9. Build 3 Cottages level 2
Speed it up
10. Build Rally Spot
Speed it up
11. Build Barracks
Speed it up
Turn in quest
12. Build Feasting Hall
Wait for it to complete
A good time is 3-5 minutes
A great time is 2 minutes
The record is 0:01:29
At this point you should have about 200 Prestige, 7300 Food, 3950 Lumber, 5750 Stone, 7300 Iron
While waiting
13. Do 10 push-ups because exercise is good for you!
14. Click Overview, Levy and choose Stone
15. Click Overview, Comforting and choose Praying
Turn in quest
16. Train 10 Workers in your Barracks
17. Click Overview and set the Production of all four resources to 100
Turn in quest
18. Click Overview and set the Tax Rate to 20%
Turn in quest
19. Click Overview and rename your city
Turn in quest
20. Click your portrait and change your flag
Turn in quest
21. Click the Wheel of Fortune (the roulette in the bottom-left corner), then Apply
Turn in quest
22. When Feasting Hall finishes
Turn in quest
23. Recruit hero from Inn
Turn in quest
24. Appoint him mayor in Feasting Hall
Turn in quest
Note: Check the Inn periodically - if a hero with at least 10 higher Politics is available, replace your current hero with him. Higher politics reduces construction time and increases resource production!
25. Build Marketplace
Turn in quest
26. Train 10 Warriors in your Barracks
27. Build Town Hall level 2
Turn in quest
28. Levy Lumber
Comfort with Disaster Relief
29. Build Embassy
Turn in quest
30. Build Academy
Turn in quest
31. Research Lumbering
32. Build Warehouse
Turn in quest
33. Research Agriculture
34. Build Ironmine level 2
Speed it up
35. Build Ironmine level 3
36. Build Forge
Speed it up
Turn in quest
37. Build Forge level 2
38. Research Military Science
39. Build Workshop
Turn in quest
40. Build Quarry level 2
Speed it up
Note: If you get stuck, Levy the missing resource
41. Build Walls
Turn in quest
42. Build Beacon Tower
Turn in quest
43. Build Beacon Tower level 2
Turn in quest
44. Build Beacon Tower level 3
Turn in quest
45. Build Town Hall level 3
Turn in quest
46. Build Walls level 2
Turn in quest
47. Click Gift icon in top-left corner
Claim Newbies Package and Package for Lords
Click My Items, Chest tab
Open both packages by clicking Detail, then Apply
At this point you should be a Lieutenant with about 1400 Prestige, 35000 Food, 15000 Lumber, 20000 Stone, 25000 Iron
48. Build Farm level 2
Speed it up
49. Build 6 Sawmill level 3
Speed it up
50. Build 3 Quarry level 3
Speed it up
Continue building up 10 Sawmill level 3 and 7 Quarry level 3
Build cottages to keep population from going red
51. Build Academy level 2 when resources allow
Turn in quest
52. Research Masonry
53. Build Barracks level 2
Turn in quest
54. Research Mining
55. Build Academy level 3
Turn in quest
56. Research Informatics
Speed it up
57. Research Military Tradition
58. Train 10 Scouts in your Barracks
59. Build Barracks level 3
Turn in quest
60. Train 10 Pikemen
At this point you should be a Knight with about 2100 Prestige, 40000 Food, 15000 Lumber, 7500 Stone, 10000 Iron
61. Build Marketplace level 2
Maximize all your production squares with equal numbers of Sawmills and Quarrys
Keep only one farm and one ironmine
Always buy your food (it is 10 times cheaper than any other resource)
Also buy your iron (it is half the price of lumber and stone)
It's the Walmart model of maximizing profit per square foot!
62. Start buying and selling resources
63. Create your second city
To see how, hover over the city icon in the bottom-right corner next to the Buy button
To conquer a Flat (where your new city will be), train an army of 200 warriors
Click Map and attack the closest level 1 or 2 Flat
In your second city
64. Build Rally Spot
Speed it up
65. Move your 250 workers back to your home city
Click Map
Select your home city
Click Reinforce
Send all workers home
66. When they return, go to your home city
Click Map
Select your new city
Click Transport
Select all your workers
Send equal amounts of lumber, stone and iron, resources your new city needs to grow
In your second city
67. Build Cottage level 2
Speed it up
68. Build Inn
Speed it up
69. Build Feasting Hall
70. Reinforce one high-politics hero from your home city to your new city
71. Maximize your production squares as before
72. Build Town Hall level 2
73. Build Academy
Without an Academy, you don't get the food and lumber science bonus
74. Build Academy level 2
Without an Academy level 2, you don't get the stone and iron bonus
75. Build Town Hall level 3
This opens up new resource squares
Click City and build on the new squares
