Average Number of Cities

[Eleventhtower]

I would like to get a general feel for the average number of cities that people target at the start of a game. The "Time Frame" is somewhat variable, but I could define it as "before your thoughts turn to offensive millitary for an average (non aggressive, non turtling player) player".

For me this ususally works out to be 3-5 cities before only "crap-land"(tm) is left.

At prince level by this time I am in the middle of the pack research wise, and have an average size army capable of taking cities from the bottom 2-3 players (single player). I would like to improve my game to higher levels, of course, so I am very interested in Prince+ feedback.

I feel like this is an overwhelmingly average with start. Should I be focusing on fewer cities (3-4) and bumping up production/technology or a bit more (5-7)?

Obviously many of the tech require a minimum of 8 cities, but I don't consider those techs to be "beginning game" techs.

I realize the typical answer will be "It depends". It always depends. However, if you look back at your last twenty games/starts what has been your mean/median number of cities. This type of information will at least let me know if my logic is ok and it's just my experience that needs to improve, or if I am not even thinking about early-game development correctly.

TIA,
ET

 

[Astax]

I usually dont fight agianst more than one AI since I only do it for pret for multi, even thou its nothing simular. It becomes dependant on a map. On a tight map you probably want to go for land grab to squeze a lot of land. AI will never war you on first turn unlike a player so I dont build defensive units till I have 2 cities, sometimes 4. On a bigger map where you know you'll ahve room to expand, gradual expension is your friend because you know you dont want to hurt your research progress. You also want to put up cottages and get some religion hopefully. Id say get 3 recover a bit then keep adding one by one. If u get three real fast you'll go into negative by like 1 gold coin.

 

[Rhymes]

In my games, I always build A minimum of 5 cities, since i often go for a cultural victory: 3 cultur cities, 2 that produce units and such.

But It depends on the map size too.. If I played on a huge map I'de probably build at least 8-9 cities....


All in all, I,de say between 5 and 9.

But watch out for what you call "crap terrain", there is almost no such thing, your bet off with a below average city location then with no city at all.

 

[Eleventhtower]

Astax,
Thanks for the reply. I should have mentioned that I typically play on Terra Huge Moderate Medium etc.

Your sugguestion about 3 then recover seems plausible as it seems be be the most "comfortable", but I guess my ePeen is challenging my ego when I realize I only have 3 cites and the AI has outbuilt me significantly. That is where I start to question if I should have been a bit more aggressive in the land grab.

In the map scenario above, 5 cities is about the MAX I can get if I wait for a 3-pop settler start. I can do more if I worker-chop my settlers and that is the crux of my "starting" dillema.

However, my typical 3-pop start usually nets about 3-4 cities with the above mentioned map settings. Where I get really screwed is if I have to use 1 or 2 of these first cities to grab critical resources (iron/copper/horses) that ultimatley have "Crap-Land"(tm) other than the resource itself. This is very common if I start around tundra etc.

Anyway, thanks for the input.
-ET

 

[Eleventhtower]

In my games, I always build A minimum of 5 cities, since i often go for a cultural victory: 3 cultur cities, 2 that produce units and such.

Does this mean that you typically play diplomacy then as well and never move to "offensive" millitary and focus on defensive forces?

But It depends on the map size too.. If I played on a huge map I'de probably build at least 8-9 cities....

Is this at the "start" or for the whole game? I have never been able to push out 8-9 cities in the early part of a game. It typically takes conquest for me to get that many. Are you chop-rushing?

But watch out for what you call "crap terrain", there is almost no such thing, your bet off with a below average city location then with no city at all.

I think this is eventually true, however, spending the time/resources early in the game to claim land that has no critical bonuses/resources seems like a distraction. Perhaps this is part of my logic flaw on higher levels.

Thanks for the response,
ET

 

[Vizzini]

Unless it's a very small map, 8 cities is my target. If I have to I'll take some of those cities from an AI via warfare or culture flips to hit that number.

Reason: Need 4 Universites to build Oxford, 4 Hospitals to build Red Cross, 4 Courthouses to build Forbidden Palace, 3 Temples to build a Cathedral, and need 8 Theaters to build Globe Theater. With 8 cities you can be sure to have the prerequisites for any of these without having to build everything in just 3 or 4 cities. Of all the national wonders I think Globe Theater is perhaps the most stunning. A high production city with zero unhappy citizens, no matter what you do to that city, is just... eye popping.

 

[weimingshi]

I play on huge earth map, early game i would say 3-5 cities. 8-12 midgame.

afer industrial age, build conquer as many cities as you can. In my game, at 1700, I have close to 40 cities.

 

[anton_z1]

I play on standart Terra Maps. 4-5 Cities in the beginning. Around 8-10 In the mid game.

Note: I am in war almost half of the game.

 

[LeSphinx]

I build around 5-8 cities and conquered around 5 to 10 more cities.
LeSphinx