A good starting plan...

[Magnus]

Originally posted by jc011
...if it's called an advanced tribe, shouldn't it start at a size 2 with a defender in it already??

advanced tribes later in the game can be size 2, 3 & 4 (perhaps more) and they will sometimes have a temple, a marketplace, and possibly even a defender.

 

[Phalon]

I use a little of Shadowdales's strategy and a little of Petus strategy. At the start if I am in a good spot I will build a city right away if not I will build a road move to open space if it is still not a good spot I will build another road. I usually don’t build more than 2 roads. Wherever I might end up after the 2 roads I will build my first city. I then build a def unit. As soon as that is built I start making settlers. Send out the new settler to find a place for a new city. Pretty close to the original city but it does not overlap the resources of the first city. When second city is founded I will build another def unit for it. By this time original city should have made another settler. I send him out to found new city. Second city makes def unit. Start second city making settler and start the process all over again. I make 1 to 3 settlers from every new city. You can grow pretty fast this way. I try to build roads to connect my cities as I search for new locations for the next city. The roads help with defense as well, by making it easier for your slow moving troops to move from city to city where ever they are need, plus the roads help your city grow faster. You do have to watch out for the barbs or they will take a city.

 

[starlifter]

Hehe. I gotta ask, do you ever reload? If you want barbarians or nomads, you just have to reload. It's cheating I know, but if you do, you could have the perfect game beating Shadowdale, Smash etc.

Well, if you redo things (e.g. reload) it would take the meaning out of the word "hut", and there would be no "risk"... you would already knw exactly what the hut was worth to you. That's also why it is sometimes good to wait to pop huts in some situations. If one can't deal with the the bad things, like a city stuck in the wrong spot or barbs (sometimes, even I don't like them), then just don't pop the hut until it is within you city radius... No Adv Tribe and No Barbs.

But there is a disadvantage to waiting, too. Actaully, several, but I'll only mention one. That is: an AI unit or a Barb may beat you to the hut. In this month's GOTM, I was a bit slow, and my calvary unit was 1/2 move slower that the stupid Celt explorer... we wound up right next to it, but it was the Celt's turn next, and they popped it. I dunno what they got, but at least is ws not a bunch of Barb dragoons .

OK, there is one other "scheme" I use in popping huts... it is "Diplomat/Spy(s) on a boat". Pop the hut from the shore, and if barbs pop out and you can't handle them, get back on your ship and leave. If barbs pop out an you are closer to your own cities, the bribed units will be supported and cause unhappiness... which means you may want to get back on your ship anyway. So there are ways of dealing with most situations... and the ones you can't be prepared for, just wait till later in the game .

So... learn to adapt, and you can even make barbs an advantage most of the time.

 

[el_kalkylus]

Originally posted by el_kalkylus

I take that back. I just read the GOTM rules.

Hey! I said I took it back! You can't remark on me now!

(just kidding)

If I would play a GOTM game, I would play by the rules! I never cheat when you are not allowed to. And in my last games, I never reloaded.

About the tactic, I guess it is more efficient later in the game when you have more resources and troops etc.

 

[JoeM]

I'm thinking that early on too - I've been playing Civ since God knows when, must be at least ten years, and let's just say I'm radically trying to change my strategy after seeing the HOF...!!

I've been doing the build unit to explore then a settler straight away, and I get great expansion. However to get the scores these guys get trade seems to be the key, and I still can't bring myself to stop exploring and build trade routes...Oh well.

I used to ignore republic and wait for Democracy, but it's never got me a ranking high score.

Trade, trade, trade is the message I'm getting.

 

[starlifter]

by Joe M:

I used to ignore republic and wait for Democracy, but it's never got me a ranking high score.

For what it's worth, my 15000 game in the deity HOF was done over 2 years ago, and I did not use republic... I hated republic at the time. If you expand madly, then later use Democracy to grow, that works fine too. It sometimes takes a little longer, year-wise, to finish that way.

In GOTM 5, 7, 8, I used fairly early republics, since Islands/terrain seemed to be conducive to a few big cities at first, and not lots of little ones. In GOTM 6, just the opposite for me... Monarchy ---> Commie ----> Late Democracy (actually, TOO late ).

So it does depend somewhat on the situation, and personal preferance. At some point, though, Democracy must be used to get large populations and therefore high scores.

Trade, trade, trade is the message I'm getting.

Trade makes certain play styles much easier... but there are many good players and strategies that do not need much trade, or even SSC's. According to some older posts, I've read the people used to believe if they didn't get the Great Library, the game was pretty much over for them. LOL, so it's just a matter of situation, personal preference, and strategy!

 

[Dexter]

I've started a test game as the Mongols in which I'm going to practice my new strat. Here' is a quick idea of how it's going:

I've expanded very well and have alot of good cities. I have a heap of woders and I went for early republic but have sinced dumped it for mOnarchy.

Things are going alright. Once i'm finished this game I hope to start a big score game.

 

[starlifter]

by Dexter:

I've expanded very well and have alot of good cities. I have a heap of woders and I went for early republic but have sinced dumped it for mOnarchy.

LOL, okie dokie, I eagerly await news of your succesful transition to Despotism and Anrchy . (j/k!)

It's just that most people work from Monarchy to Republic, or Monarchy to Commie/Fundy/Demo . So why did you dump a (successful?) republic? I assume cause of war.

 

[Dexter]

Well the Repbuplic was working fine but as I pointed out it is a test game. I want to to look at different idea's for starting.

I have now begun a new game and decided on a great strat. I'll post the game news on Stories and Tales when I'm done.

 

[jc011]

here my start plan

i will usually found the city right where i am, unless it is a horrible place.
if i have a settler, i will build at least three roads are the first city, which is building a defense unit, and then off to find a new city.
after i have a defense unit, i will build the colossus.
when my second city is found, i build defense
after defense is done, temple
after temple, settler,
after colossus, temple
after temple settler,
two settlers do some more work, (irrigate, road,)then off to find new cities,

and so on, until i feel i have enough.

anything tweaks that could be made?

 

[ghostdn]

The only things you should build in the beginning if the game are settlers. Always start to build a setler in your new cities. Then you may build a defensive unit..
What you need to do in the early part of the game is to expand

 

[Rowan]

So all you folks that are just building settlers at the start...what do you do when the AI or the barbs roll up?
[dance] [dance]

 

[duke o' york]

Well you can always make peace with the AI by just giving them everything they ask for if this is the case but this will not be a popular suggestion. The barbs won't attack your first city so you have the time to build a good defender before you found your second city and this will avoid those problems. Ideally, your new cities should have defense by the time they grow to size 2 and are actually worth taking. The only trouble is if your city is captured at size one then you will lose the settler from it. But basically you should just expand up to the AI civs and then build good defenses there so they can't get past. After that, backfill to cover the land in your cities.

 

[mep]

Originally posted by Rowan
So all you folks that are just building settlers at the start...what do you do when the AI or the barbs roll up?
[dance] [dance]

Restart.

Seriously, depending on the size of the map and your position on it, it may be a while before you see anybody else. Also, hut tipping will probably yield some units.

From a practicality standpoint, especially at higher levels, a few units a mandatory just to keep order and explore. Settlers are poorly suited for exploration because of their resource drain, initial cost, and opportunity cost.

 

[ghostdn]

The game isnt lost if barbs take one city or two.. Why not just take them back? Its most times quite easy to recapture the lost cities.

 

[jomey]

The game isnt lost if barbs take one city or two.. Why not just take them back? Its most times quite easy to recapture the lost cities.

Why bother capturing them if you can just psot a diplomat/spy nearby and bribe the unit as it ventures out.. As long as the unit is closer to its own city rather than yours then you;ll have a NON unit .

On higher levels I would seriously consider allowing a barb to take over a city just so that they can act as NON factories. Just be careful to protect it from other civs

 

[Rowan]

:crazyeyes Jomey....er;what is a "non factory"in relation to a Barb city?
[dance] [dance]

 

[Holdway]

How i start my games

I will always build my first city on the first turn, UNLESS i have some resources, in which case i will move to a position where i can get all four resources. (doesn't always work but it is satisfing to then find that you've got an extra whale or wheat resource)

I always build a warrior first, that i use to explore. Depending on the cities production i may keep the first warrior in the city (if it has low sheilds and high growth) this is because if i don't there will be unrest.(i only play on deity)

Usuming a normal production i will then build another warrior to protect the city and prevent unrest.

I will then build a settler, followed by a temple, i Always do this regardless of circumstances.

Depending on the how well my exploring unit is doing gathering huts, and if i started with two settlers or not i may build another settler after the temple or a wonder.

I don't buld roads or irrigate untill my second settler, and then i normally will only buld a few roads on its way to a new city site.

For those who just build settlers what do they do about unrest. also if all your cities build settlers i assume you don't get many early wonders, such as the great library, or great wall, or pyramids.

Your cities are pretty safe from attack i won't argue with you on that, i only build warriors, and lets face it any attack and their mince meat but they do help keep your cities out of unrest, and when you get the owrkshop they all upgrade to musketeers, nice that

 

[Darius]

I would suggest building only 10-15 cities during the early game, and then use your settlers to modify their land to it's greatest extent (assuming pre-railroad: mining on hills and mountains, road & irrigation on fields, and remember to plant forests if a city is low on production).

While improving this land, build improvements in these cities and trade routes. Once each city has every square modernized, you are in a position to expand. This way you have a home country with improvements and a good land infrastructure which will be packed with trade and scientific advancement, instead of a vast array of small outposts.

Pool all of your engineers into one area on the frontier (preferably have your homeland cities supporting one settler each). Speedily use their combined work to fully improve the 20 squares around a square where you wish to build a new city (colony). Then build a settler in the nearest modernized city, use it to build a city in the chosen square, and move on to colonize further, one by one.

Of course, you can create variations like doing two colonizing pools or having two settlers supported per city, or whatever else. The point is, you must have some core of cities which will be industrial and scientific powerhouses and a periphery of small, developing outposts, rather than having everything be a sad third world. The benefits from the city improvements as well as the higher trade from roads & high population as will get you ahead in science and give you more cash and luxury revenues, which will in turn allow even more investment in science.

Also, having a good land and improvement infrastructure will allow you to go into republic earlier, which is important. With this excellent homeland and the republic's advantages, you can get ahead in science, further improve your cities, colonize if you like, and in the end conquer however you like.

 

[sethos]

If there's a goody hut, I'll open it before founding my capital. Maybe there's a NONE unit in that helps me to explore. Or money for rush buying a temple. A good city site is important for the later game, so I look for it for 3 or 4 turns.

My 2nd setller will found a new city, too, but first it connects my capital with that city That improves trade - that means it shortens your research period.