Building Early Monument More than in Vanilla

Since G&K's has moved the free settler back in the Liberty SP tree, I find myself occasionally building an early monument rather than building the usual warrior/worker option. Thus I can get that free settler earlier and save gold/hammers for something else. Then after the monument, I immediately revert back to the traditional worker/archer/archer I used to do after building my first choice.

This is even slightly true of going Tradition: now, if you have built the monument, when you pop the '4 free culture buildings' SP, the game will wait and once you have the correct tech, it'll give you the next building afterwards for free (ampitheater).

It's a bit situational, in that a start with lots of forests I might still want to build a worker first to chop through other projects, but I find more frequently that I build a monument early on (unless I pop a goody hut that gives 20 culture).

Thoughts? I know in vanilla there was a fairly large consensus that the early hammers were better spent elsewhere. But now the free settler takes more culture, and I think it's worth it enough of the time to get the free settler when there's enough room near you, so I'm more apt to build that early monument to reduce the waiting on culture to get him.

I always build a Monument early. Lately I have been playing a mixed Tradition/Liberty opener.

I take Tradition first (+3 ) and then Liberty (an additional +1 ). Then I go through the Liberty tree for bonus , a free settler, free worker, cheaper policies (less penalty from more cities), and of course the free great person finisher!

I tend to buy my other settlers and build the Pyramids in one of my cities to get 2 more workers. That means that I don't waste any or on settlers/workers. By the time I get back to Tradition, I generally get a free Amphitheater in four cities and possibly a free Opera House in the capital (if the Amphitheater is built already). I also delay the added growth in the early game while is a problem, and get it later when all four cities benefit from the bonus and the free Aqueducts.

I can generally finish Liberty/Tradition by the mid Renaissance or early Industrial era depending on my pace. Then I am free to open one of the more advanced policy trees for the mid to late game depending on my strategy.

It is the best of both worlds!

I do scout then monument. I research archery first so I can buy an archer and have him sanitize the area where I'll put my 2nd city.

I've actually been building it LESS. Go tradition and get an early start on that archer/worker/whatever.

I tend to build it first thing. Warrior can find gold to get me near 100 enough early on (from city state discovery + a few early turns) to rush buy a scout on quick. Having a monument right away allows your cap to get tiles taht benefit its growth quick increasing momentum and momentum is everything. Being able to get through policies quicker than my opposition in multi gives me an extra edge in settling prime locations first/building wonders quicker than my opponents.

After I have my monument done - then I build a scout in 2 turns to go along with my rush bought scout to scout along with my warrior. I tend to find this the most efficient way to build momentum personally

I'm building monuments less, mostly because I usually want to get to Rationalism as my 7th policy and so many things can mess that up. If I build a monument and go tradition, I will get a free ampitheater and I generally do not like that. Also, I don't usually have the money to buy scouts or workers early because I use it to buy settlers. Building a monument would really slow my build down... however this thread is making me rethink that...