Best Second City Civ?

O

OnceAKing

Warlord
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Aug 26, 2013
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Considering ALL the civs in BNW as well as the other expansions. Which civs unique attributes are conducive to a Civ that can build a STRONG second city? What I like to consider a SECOND capital? I ask this because having another capital like city or sometimes superior city then the capital allows for a more versatile game

I tend to like America and New York City because of the scouting advantage so its easier to find a two luxury location. And also a discount on buying up essential tiles for that city. Plus Liberty is advantageous for them

The Shoshone just because there second city will always have 14 tiles!!!! to work with and they also have a strong scouting advantage

and finally Rome because of the easier building for any thing Rome builds. So coupling that and Tradition means a good second city...

Any civs I'm leaving out?
 
The Aztecs are also pretty good at this if you can grab a good location for their UB. The UA that gives culture on each kill also can isolate you from the policy penalties of adding the second city.
 
Most of it is luck dependent.

Though if luck is in their favour:
Spain.

Other candidates:
-Incan's hill farm spam.
-Dutch's marsh/flood plains.
 
Inca. They've probably got the strongest potential for their second city being better than the capital since you can pick a more mountainous area for it if your starting position was starved in that regard.
 
My first thought was Venice because your second city will likely be a CS, which are usually in good locations and quite often contain Natural Wonders, and you have pick of the litter from all the one’s you’ve discovered. But since you can’t Annex the city or control its Build Queues, Specialists, and Worked Tiles, it might not be good for a “second capital.”
 
The Incans are a good one for that, seeing as your capital probably won't be in the best position, but you can be sure to get your second city in a good spot.

Spain's good for second cities, too, if they found the city near a Natural Wonder as soon as possible. It doesn't matter which Natural Wonder, the One With Nature pantheon and Natural Heritage Sites World Congress decision will make any one good.

Polynesia's good for scouting out good locations for cities before most Civs (particularly in island or continent maps, and especially on Terra) which can net you a great second city.
 
GabeN Civilization.

You can't get a third city, so your second must be developed almost as well as the first one.
 
Pretty much anyone is capable of it. Rome has a nice advantage since their cities can build buildings that are in their capital cheaper.
 
Spain - if you can get a good nat wonder. I've got Solomon's Mines in the 2nd city in my current game. Took the +4 faith from nat wonders pantheon so that I could guarantee a religion. Gives me 12 hammers and 8 faith from one tile. It's a rubbish location in the tundra, but it has three fish, so can sustain itself for now. Early game it's pumping out all the wonders that I want, freeing up the capital to get everything else running. I'll get major food going in the capital and use it for science and GPs.

I've just spotted Mt Sinai near to England's borders, but it's miles away. The location has salt and pearls, so I'm looking at a fifth city there for +24 faith.
 
Sounds awesome, I've never considered playing as Spain because I didnt want to depend on finding natural wonders but the benefits seem to outweigh the drawbacks if you get a good roll
 
After many rerolls, I'd say Spain has maybe 50%~ish (non-scientific observation) chance to find a NW first within the first 20 turns. That basically means you'd be getting a second city within the first 20 turns. Even if you don't settle near the NW, getting a city this early means if you settle near a relatively good spot, the population might rival the capital's especially if you chose to build guild specialists all in the capital.
 
Not to be a scrub, but could you please define "STRONG"?

Just had a game, where my 2nd city was 5 times ahead in science compared to my cap(turn 180), despite being captured and retrieved back early in the game.
(Coincidentally, was playing america... or maybe not so coincidentally? : )
 
Definitely the Shoshone.

Settling that second city in the perfect place rather than settling in a sub-optimal place so that the unique luxury is in the first or second ring is hands down the best all-around Civ for the second city.
 
I vote Shoshone due to the fact that my capital is usually spending it's time spamming out settlers non-stop :lol:. As a result my second city always end as my best by far.
 
isau said:
The Aztecs are also pretty good at this if you can grab a good location for their UB. The UA that gives culture on each kill also can isolate you from the policy penalties of adding the second city.
Click to expand...

Just to point out since BNW, The Aztecs aren't even worth considering playing. Poland's UA allows them to adopt a new social policy every new era so you could just adopt honour and now you have the Aztec's UA (culture for kills) and still have loads of future social policies to invest elsewhere. Obviously the Aztec UU and UB are decent I just feel they are a million times worse than most civs.
 
UnofficialJoe said:
Just to point out since BNW, The Aztecs aren't even worth considering playing. Poland's UA allows them to adopt a new social policy every new era so you could just adopt honour and now you have the Aztec's UA (culture for kills) and still have loads of future social policies to invest elsewhere. Obviously the Aztec UU and UB are decent I just feel they are a million times worse than most civs.
Click to expand...

The real problem with the Aztecs is that you used to be able to use culture-on-kills for victory, now you can't. I wonder what'd happen if they got faith-on-kills instead? It wouldn't have to be the full unit's strength as faith, but it might be more interesting.

Back on topic, I'd say that if you're using the Aztecs solely for their UB, you may as well use the Incans instead for their even better food (unless you've got a truly massive lake.)
 
Almost anyone who relies on a particular terrain type is often a better second city civ. You have to settle your capital in 1-2 turns or risk falling behind, so you can't always pick the most optimal location. The second Dutch city can pop up after you've been able to scout for marshes, the Incan in hills, the Moroccan in deserts, etc.

BNW tends to favor second cities in a big way, too. By the time you found the second city, your capital probably has a granary and one trade route, so it's easy to grow it bigger than the cap in the duration of that first route. I think every BNW game I've played has had a larger second city than the capital.
 
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