Are colonies any good?

[aimeeandbeatles]

I use colonies when there's a really good resource in a useless place (like surrounded in jungle or you know)

Are they any good?

P.S. I'm playing myself, so no over Civs will attack them. I'm a wimp when it comes to having to fight

 

[WackenOpenAir]

Of course they are good. If you are not playing yourself, you just have to protect them a little.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Ah, thanks

I use them before building a city, specially if they're far away from the capital

 

[WackenOpenAir]

Don't forget to connect a road to it, else it is useless

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Yes, that's what I do.. I send the worker building a road and when it's done I build one!

 

[psweetman1590]

Personally, I never use them unless I'm in a hurry (I need that Iron NOW!) or if it's in the middle of a huge mountain range (and thus can't get a city near it). I usually just build a city. After all, you're going to need to build a city there anyways. Might as well build it then and there.

 

[pat4]

I never really use them as if you don't plant a city ther the Ai will and you lose the resource.

 

[Desertsnow]

I build colonies only when the resource won't be within reach of a new or existing city reasonably soon.

 

[Synobun]

I never really use them as if you don't plant a city ther the Ai will and you lose the resource.

That's why you place a scout or some other non defense unit on there under the defense, so if the AI comes and builds a city beside it, your non defense unit can stay.

 

[seanos08]

I never use colonies. I plant cities on all the resources and luxuries I can. Colonies are destroyed as soon as the tile comes within the culture border of another civ.

 

[BlackFiend]

Indeed...colonies are near useless. The enemy needs to only build a city in the general area and voila! Its theres, no questions, no provoking war.

I've stolen quite a gem in my recent game using this method. I planted a city as near to it I as I could get. Then I popped a temple to boost my culture range. When the range splashed the colony...it was all mine!

 

[eldar]

A little trick with colonies that not many know about...

A colony takes 1 worker 1 turn to build. In the same way that planting a city on a tile counts as roading it, so does planting a colony on a tile.

Colonies are disbanded as soon as they come within a city's radius - and the road "underneath" the colony remains.

Right, so there's a source of gems/iron/coal/whatever on a mountain or hill that you want quickly. You have a settler to go grab it. Send a worker with the settler, as well.

Before settling the city, create a colony on the resource. Then settle the city next to it. Voila, it's instantly connected by road! You burn one worker but save up to 9 turns building the road.

 

[Quintillus]

Colonies can be good, but cities are almost always better. Eventually, someone's cultural borders are going to expand and take your colony in almost every situation.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

That;s why I don't play with other civs

I dont like fighting

 

[Aceman101]

^ So there are no civs that you verse ?
Anyway, I never use colonies. Ever since the day the AI laid a city right next to it and took it over, I don't like them and don't build them.

 

[sirdanilot]

I build them when I want a resource now, and I don't want to wait untill my cultural border expands.

 

[Sashie VII]

I use them occasionally. Like in my current game, I colonize furs and gems that are near jungles, which is between me and the sea. No AI's going to get it before going past me, and I have other land to settle first.

 

[darski]

A little trick with colonies that not many know about...

A colony takes 1 worker 1 turn to build. In the same way that planting a city on a tile counts as roading it, so does planting a colony on a tile.

Colonies are disbanded as soon as they come within a city's radius - and the road "underneath" the colony remains.

Right, so there's a source of gems/iron/coal/whatever on a mountain or hill that you want quickly. You have a settler to go grab it. Send a worker with the settler, as well.

Before settling the city, create a colony on the resource. Then settle the city next to it. Voila, it's instantly connected by road! You burn one worker but save up to 9 turns building the road.

This may come in handy. thanks for posting this.

 

[eldar]

Talking of colonies, I just used one in this situation ... apologies for the poor ASCII art!

GGG
GHM
MMM
MMI

G=grass (or plains or whatever...)
H=hill
M=mountain
I=Iron (on a mountain)

Surrounded by water.

Settling on the hill, waiting ages to build some culture (this was waaay outside my core and too early to have the spare cash to rush), was out. Besides this was PtW and would've screwed the RCP around my future FP site. So I used a colony instead Those mountains have been good to me, there was Saltpeter in them as well

 

[Aabraxan]

As a corollary to the colonies discussion, also remember that once you start a build, you can finish it, even if you lose a necessary strategic resource. Example: let's say you have Chivalry and Iron, but no horses. You spy a pony near the AI's borders. Plant a colony and immediately switch a bunch of builds to knights. Even if the AI's culture borders expand and destroy the colony, you'll get to finish the knights that you started, which may be enough to go and take those horses back. I don't use colonies often, but I can't say that I never use them.