alternative economy: the happyresource economy

[Cer]

I played a bunch of my early civ4 games with the idea of optimizing late-game benefits. My early cities were too production-focused and I tended to expand my empire too much with all the units i was able to build (with my excess of production), leading to a bad tech rate.

My last few games have resulted in a relatively early win. Rather than focusing on things like what I will do when i get the State Property civic and have enough tech, resources, and buildings to have cities with ~20 population, I focused on quick benefits.

I focused on getting quicker benefits. The game I am currently about to win is not based on a proper "specialist economy" nor a proper "cottage economy" at 1380 AD. I would need to get more of a specialist or cottage based economy going to do well in the late game, but in the early game I didn't.

From the time I had 2 cities, continuing until now (about 15 cities) I ran almost every high-commerce tile I could. A tundra-silver-mine tile in a city that didn't give me much except that silver mine (i could have run cottages or farms instead, and grown the city faster). I made sure to use gem mines, gold mines, etc.

Mind you, this was a financial civ, and later I got colossus and was able to use a bunch of 4 water tiles.

I ran my capital as my only great person farm and only ever built one cottage city (5 cottages) though I captured a city with 3 cottages. Total of 2 towns and 3 villages by 1380. Several of my happyresource cities had a library and most did not have any other commerce multiplier building... although for the majority of the game so far, market/bank/grocer/university were not available.

So don't avoid working those gem mines, incense plantations, etc just because your city is small and could use some growth or building-production. During the early game, that 6 or 7 commerce tile is one of the best sources of commerce you can get, even if you don't have a library to go with it.

 

[DaveMcW]

So much economic discrimination.

Don't be an economist!

 

[Belisar]

...A tundra-silver-mine tile in a city that didn't give me much except that silver mine (i could have run cottages or farms instead, and grown the city faster)...

While it is true that an early gold or gems mine gives a considerable economic boost it is generally not an effective strategy to build a lot of small cities and only work their special ressources.
Long term and short term benefits should be considered when founding a new city.
Ressources are good but there are other tiles on the map too.
When I look at dotmaps sometimes I'm surprised to see people founding a city with like 12 water and 4 desert tiles for a single seafood, even with a non-financial civ.
Of course there are exceptions from every rule in case the ressource itself is badly needed but in general one should consider the long term potential for cities as well

 

[Cer]

When I look at dotmaps sometimes I'm surprised to see people founding a city with like 12 water and 4 desert tiles for a single seafood, even with a non-financial civ.

If a single seafood were your only special resource, that would indeed be a bad city. (but if health is a huge deal to you and it's your only city with that resource... building the city gives you much of the hanging gardens benefit).

One thing that surprises me is how reluctant people are to found a city that will be powerful in the early game and fairly lame in the late game. A city that will never grow above 8 population may be a darn good city, for example a city with flatland-plains-copper, clams, and flatland/desert/stone plus a bunch of near-useless tiles (that's what I had for my second city this game) can produce half the axemen you need to conquer an entire civ, during the time before axemen-only armies are obsolete.

 

[Quechua]

Actually the idea of an economy based on 'natural commerce' from water and special resources can also be extended out to the late game. The trick is to pay for all your maintenance with merchant specialists, settled great people, and/or shrine income.

I won a game on emperor with the restrictions of no cottages and no scientists with this strategy (the Merchant Economy). My economy in the early game was very similar to your 'happyresource economy,' but the financial-colossus water tiles were collectively more important than the special resource tiles.