After Founding the Capital

[Sto2mEye]

Okay here's my question for everyone, what do you build the first dozen turns after building your capital city and what techs do you usually pursue.

I like to play as Genghis Khan, so I usually go for Animal Husbandry first. The first thing I build within my city would be a Warrior (sometimes a worker, although risky).

 

[Softnum]

There's a lot of debate about this, but there seem to be three camps, Worker First, Warrior First, and Settler First.

Warrior first is (i think) relatively standard. It allows you to grow to size 2 (usually) before pushing your next worker out, and gives defense or another scout.

Worker first is good if you have something for it to do (or you will research the tech by the time it pops). I don't like this so much because I never seem to have enough for the worker to do. But if you go early BW or have the wheel you can usually find enough to get done.

Settler first is fairly risky. You have to have a site scoped out by the time the set pops, and it needs to be relatively close so the maint doesn't kill you, and you have to be able to defend it on higher levels. Some people sware by this though.

Research I think is way dependent on Leader and Map. What do you already have, and what is going to get you the most bang. AH is good if you have an AH tech. Bronze working is good if you start with mining and plan to go to war. Plus Chopping and Whipping are good. Early religion con be good.

 

[Janus0]

It depends on alot of things...

If I'm on the coast, there are coastal resources, and I have fishing, my first unit is a work boat. If I don't have any useful land resources and/or didn't start with any worker techs, fishing will be my first tech. I'll build a warrior or scout while researching and then put out a boat.

Otherwise, my first build is usually a worker while I work on my most useful worker tech availible (usually mining, aggriculture, or the wheel). Research is generaly complete as the worker comes out, and I can immediately start improving the city. My second build is usualy a warrior, although I occasionally start a grainery if I have the techs for it.

Very rarely, I'll build 2 workers if there are a massive ammount of improvements that need to be made (a huge floodplain start, for instance).. but like I said, that's not really something that happens very often.

The only time I really crank out warriors right off the bat are when I have a landlocked start with a civ that doesn't start with any useful worker techs or when I'm completely surrounded by forests.

At any rate, I usualy hold off with settlers until I have scouted the nearby land and have decided on a second city site. This ensures that the city has grown a bit first, and with maintenence costs being what they are, city placement isn't something you really want to try before you have a decent picture of your surroundings.

 

[Softnum]

If I'm on the coast, there are coastal resources, and I have fishing, my first unit is a work boat. If I don't have any useful land resources and/or didn't start with any worker techs, fishing will be my first tech. I'll build a warrior or scout while researching and then put out a boat.

Yeah I forgot about work boat first, which is the BEST option. But it's somewhat rare that you actually get to exercise it.

 

[svv]

Very rarely, I'll build 2 workers if there are a massive ammount of improvements that need to be made (a huge floodplain start, for instance).. but like I said, that's not really something that happens very often.

Or, when you can get to Broze Working quickly, and you've got some forests to chop.

 

[Idiodyssey]

Almost invariantly, I build a warrior (or scout), then a second warrior. The first warrior/scout scouts the area along with the warrior/scout I started with. This allows me to grow to size three. Then I build a worker and develop some land. Next unit is a settler.

I always go BW, but then again I almost always have a civ that starts with mining. Even without mining as start tech, I would probably beeline to BW.

 

[obsolete]

These questions dont really work unless you ask for what difficulty level is being applied, etc..

 

[cabert]

I'm for worker first if some really good thing to do is in the vicinity (gold mine, rice and wheat and corn, ...) or else warrior first for more exploring.

 

[Sto2mEye]

Well I like to say moderate.. Like Prince or Monarch difficulty.

 

[jkp1187]

I typically go for worker first, and beeline for Bronze Working so that he can help chop the second build, which will be a settler. This depends on the context, naturally, what's available, how many competitors are out there (if it's an overloaded map, for instance, which I have a habit of playing, I will sometimes opt for settler or warrior first.)

 

[futurehermit]

I go worker first 90+% of the time, unless there is for sure nothing for it to do.

However, that being said, I pick my leaders more for the starting techs than for the traits (I prefer ag-wheel so if I see floodplains in capital I can go with a pottery opening). Even if I have fishing and get a coastal capital (which I hate) I will still go worker-bw first and CHOP the fishing boat. This gives an improved coastal tile much more quickly and then allows you to still improve the rest of your capital's tiles (which a workboat doesn't do for you). That's why I hate coastal starts and fishing boats--fbs are expensive yet they only improve one (albeit good) tile.

90+% of the time I'll open with mining-bronze. If more leaders than just crappy china got ag-mining I would go with that leader every time because imo ag-mining is the best opening pair of traits (although ag-wheel is also very very good). EDIT: This is because with worker first you can improve a food resource and a mine right away thus making your capital productive VERY early plus they also are prereqs for BW and AH which I would research first (in that order) to locate horses and bronze).