I have always stuck with the tried and true wisdom of worker or workboat first build order. But lately from boredom and the desire to try new and unusual things. I have been doing things in unconventional ways. With varying degrees of success. My latest experiment has been with building a settler before a worker or workboat. Not exactly settler first like the thread title. But definately much earlier than the usual opening plays. And not always the best way. But getting that second city out quickly can be huge. It does not require any special resources beyond those often found in most games. But it does require a plains hill as your city site. Something a lot of players shoot for anyway. Playing on epic or slower speeds means you can often afford the extra time to move a turn or two. Though on Marathon, the timing is a bit off due to 3x speed for city growth and 2xspeed for units. So the following example is for epic speed.
What you need a plains hill to settle on. One 3
tile in your 1st circle. These are not extreme in any way. Any tile producing 3 works. Floodplains,grassland cow, corn, pigs, rice. One of these can very commonly be found in your starting 8tiles.
Settle the city and build a warrior. This takes 11 turns. Your city grows to size 2 in the exact same time. Start a settler. Work any combination of tiles that gives you a combined total of 6
/ . It makes no difference if it is 6 or 2 4. You just need 6.
On turn 36 you have a settler with a warrior escort. You could have just started a settler from turn one and been done 6 turns earlier but unless you popped a scout/warrior early enough to get back to the capital (without being eaten by a bear), then you run the risk of losing your settler and then you are 30 turns behind. Also if you are lucky enough to have 2 3 tiles on rivers then you get more commerce. But that gets into a lot of what if's. If you feel the 6 turns are that big a difference. Then tech mining->BW and you can whip on turn 29 if spiritual or turn 30 if not. That gets you a settler WITH escort on turn 30/31 respectively. Personally I prefer to wait the extra 6 turns so i am @ size2 when the settler goes off. This leaves me a pop to whip to speed up my worker which is the next build.
Here are a few times that i think might be well suited for this.
A. Your selected Civ has few worker techs. Tokogawa, Saladin, Izzy, Charlemagne to name a few. Of the 4 named, 3 start with Mysticism. So you might want to take a shot at an early religon. You can usually finish Poly or Med and 2-3 worker techs by the time you build warrior/settler/worker/warrior.
Even if you don't take a shot at a religion it is better to have something for the worker to do.
B. Heavily forested starts without mining as a starting tech. This is especially true if you pigs/grassland cows. AH and BW are both expensive techs. It enables you to have both available when your 1st worker pops out.
C. You like to build wonders. It gets that nasty chore of producing your first settler out of the way that much sooner. From that point on. Your second city can start the process of building units and more settlers. And you haven't used up important wonder building forests for chopping out settlers.
D. You want a war. Any War. You can have your settler on his way to settle the copper on turn 30 if you whip. Tress haven't been chopped for a settler so they are available for axemen.
E. You're directions for rexing are limited due to ocean/tundra/both. You can get boxed in pretty quickly if you have fewer directions to go.
If you start with good worker techs for the surrounding land then worker first might be better. Gold or grassland gems in the BFC being prime examples.
In case anyone is wondering. If you are playing an Imperialistic leader. The you can have an escorted Settler on turn 28 without whipping if you work two 12 tiles. Forested grassland hills and forested plains. One forested grassland and one forested plains hill is a good example. As long as you are producing 2 food and 4 hammers. With an Imperialist leader you can have the warrior return to the capital and escort a second settler on turn 44. Three cities in 44 turns on epic is pretty good rexing. well maybe a couple turns later because the settler has to move to the new site.
Hey FH, how many times must i tell you, Land is Power.
What you need a plains hill to settle on. One 3
tile in your 1st circle. These are not extreme in any way. Any tile producing 3 works. Floodplains,grassland cow, corn, pigs, rice. One of these can very commonly be found in your starting 8tiles.Settle the city and build a warrior. This takes 11 turns. Your city grows to size 2 in the exact same time. Start a settler. Work any combination of tiles that gives you a combined total of 6
/ . It makes no difference if it is 6 or 2 4. You just need 6. On turn 36 you have a settler with a warrior escort. You could have just started a settler from turn one and been done 6 turns earlier but unless you popped a scout/warrior early enough to get back to the capital (without being eaten by a bear), then you run the risk of losing your settler and then you are 30 turns behind. Also if you are lucky enough to have 2 3
tiles on rivers then you get more commerce. But that gets into a lot of what if's. If you feel the 6 turns are that big a difference. Then tech mining->BW and you can whip on turn 29 if spiritual or turn 30 if not. That gets you a settler WITH escort on turn 30/31 respectively. Personally I prefer to wait the extra 6 turns so i am @ size2 when the settler goes off. This leaves me a pop to whip to speed up my worker which is the next build.Here are a few times that i think might be well suited for this.
A. Your selected Civ has few worker techs. Tokogawa, Saladin, Izzy, Charlemagne to name a few. Of the 4 named, 3 start with Mysticism. So you might want to take a shot at an early religon. You can usually finish Poly or Med and 2-3 worker techs by the time you build warrior/settler/worker/warrior.
Even if you don't take a shot at a religion it is better to have something for the worker to do.
B. Heavily forested starts without mining as a starting tech. This is especially true if you pigs/grassland cows. AH and BW are both expensive techs. It enables you to have both available when your 1st worker pops out.
C. You like to build wonders. It gets that nasty chore of producing your first settler out of the way that much sooner. From that point on. Your second city can start the process of building units and more settlers. And you haven't used up important wonder building forests for chopping out settlers.
D. You want a war. Any War. You can have your settler on his way to settle the copper on turn 30 if you whip. Tress haven't been chopped for a settler so they are available for axemen.
E. You're directions for rexing are limited due to ocean/tundra/both. You can get boxed in pretty quickly if you have fewer directions to go.
If you start with good worker techs for the surrounding land then worker first might be better. Gold or grassland gems in the BFC being prime examples.
In case anyone is wondering. If you are playing an Imperialistic leader. The you can have an escorted Settler on turn 28 without whipping if you work two 1
2 tiles. Forested grassland hills and forested plains. One forested grassland and one forested plains hill is a good example. As long as you are producing 2 food and 4 hammers. With an Imperialist leader you can have the warrior return to the capital and escort a second settler on turn 44. Three cities in 44 turns on epic is pretty good rexing. well maybe a couple turns later because the settler has to move to the new site. Hey FH, how many times must i tell you, Land is Power.
I know, I know, I really have to get that through my thick head 
