Good time and Place for Republic.

[Artofcybermars]

Originally started out as an confusion on gameplay but I think I solved that. Now searching for input on more general stratedy from from fellow fanatics. I realize that game play styles dictate usage but am curious how others deal with this.

Currrent game situation
Vanilla civ fully patched
level chieftain Panagea 60% land Huge America 13 civs
Easy game just to test some of the things learned in reading the forums and other info onsite.)
5 cities with 3 setters onroute
Popped an early settler NY in 3750BC so did an 5 scout flood instead of defense to pop huts and meet people ROP ASAP. 5 workers roading and mining bonus tiles. 14 units
1425BC pop Republic so all ancient era techs discovered except Poly (current min sci tech. and Monarchay. America is on Northern part of masss so all civs all south of me. lots of grass but the nearest fresh H2O is small lake 15 tiles south surround by forest nearest river is about 30 tiles(!) south of Washington. So irragation will be an while yet.Switching to Republic doesn't change anything in terms of production or research time but now I assume partly because of small civ size and the fact despot production relates to food not shields. (Correct?)
So after the lengthy backgound (sorry) my desire for input is this. Should I switch now and drop reasearch on Poly and Monarch. and go to next age techs and can I even do that since I haven't seen the new age screen. Or should I proceed with current tech path and settler flood to the water. I usually never bother with Repubic gov because I find the benefits so limited. But this early discovery is new sit for me.
Looking forward to input and will now turn off the hot air
Thanks

[Kaiser_Berger]

A general rule is to switch governments as soon as you can. Despotism holds you back greatly, so switch now. The only reason you wouldn't want to go to Republic would be if you're going to go to war early and often. That applies for pretty much any game, not just yours in particular. Republic is probably the best government since it has so much flexibility.

[Turner]

The only thing republic is limited in is the war weariness factor. Since you got Republic so early, I would bypass Monarchy and go straight to Rep. You can buy it from the AI later. Well, probably not on chieftain, since the AI is crippled. But it could happen.

The easy way to get around wars in Rep is to have the AI declare war on you. That way your pop sees it as a 'righteous war', and not warmongering. This can also help with happiness, especially if you've fought this particular foe before. Democracy is where you have to watch yourself. And once (later in the game) you get the Universal Suffrage Wonder, Republic is a pretty good gov't to wage war in.

Get out of despotism, especially while you have few cities. The amount of anarchy is partially determined by how many cities you have. The more cities, the higher the turns can potentially be. You still need Poly, so research that, but bypass Monarchy and buy it later from the AI. You'll need to do some balancing in Republic, as you don't have free units there. But the increase in commerce should make up for that. (You do have your tiles roaded, right?)

Good luck, and Welcome to CFC.

[CaptainCivFreak]

Monarchy is good to get lots and lots of gold. It is my fav. early game gov... I'm usually blank of the blanks(Xerxes of the mighty Persians) -- Monarchy

[puwen]

Originally posted by Artofcybermars
Should I switch now and drop reasearch on Poly and Monarch. and go to next age techs and can I even do that since I haven't seen the new age screen. Or should I proceed with current tech path and settler flood to the water.

You need to finish research on Poly before going to the Middle age techs.

And my tip is to switch to Republic as fast as possible.

Oh yes: Welcome to CFC

[The Great Proxy]

The easy way to get around wars in Rep is to have the AI declare war on you.

How do you do that?

[Sukenis]

I find that unless you can have access to a numbe rof lux reasorces, republic can be much worse than monarchy. This is even more true if you have a good number of cities with a fresh supply and that will grow real fast.

For the most part I use monarchy since the tech also give you access the the hanging gardens (and I like to have that).

FYI, I play conquest.

[Moff Jerjerrod]

I wouldn't switch out of despotism until you have 3-4 core cities at size 7 or greater with libraries and marketplaces. Initially if your infrastructure is weak switching out of despotism to any govt. drains your economy more than help it. Road, mine, irrigate, marketplaces, libraries all of these must be in place to effectively realize the benefits of the more advanced governments.

[Turner]

Originally posted by The Great Proxy


How do you do that?

When their units are in your territory, do the "Get out or declare war" option. If they are even close to being as strong as you, they'll decare war.

Refuse to give into their demands. Of course, they may be bluffing.

Piss them off by demanding a city, then do a spy mission. Or tell them to get out. That sometimes works.

[Artofcybermars]

As an addendum to my post I find this situation an little unusual because of the lack of water. I did an switch and save to see what the initial impact would be. ( I know I know that is sort of cheating but it is an training game not an thump my chest and boast an hi score game.) Anyway initially there is zero change pretty much production times don't improve gpt is exactly the same because of unit maintainence cost and corruption goes from zero to -2 (?) since i will not fight unless provoked because it already appears i will be able to ge t my OCN of 32 without having to fight no food bonus for watering my lands in the early core cities until I drag it back from the boonies. I guess repubic main benefit would be the increased worker effiecency but the comments made in post 8 seem to mirror my experiences although i do agree with much others have said