Civ VI early game guide for the Decidedly Average (feedback welcome!)

knighterrant81

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Civ VI Early Game Guide for the Decidedly Average.

by Knighterrant81.

Hello! I'm a longtime fan of the Civ series, and I've always loved some of the guides that have been posted on Civfanatics. However, there haven’t been many general use guides posted for Civ VI, So I'm sitting here with a bit of extra time on spring break and I thought I'd give guide writing a shot.

I play mostly at Emperor level, which I can beat fairly reliably. I don't try to get the absolute quickest win times I possibly can, but I do try to play efficiently and I am always looking for ways to improve my play. My goal with this guide is not to create something all-encompassing, but rather something that is relatively digestible, while being a little bit more detailed and informative than what the advisor or the Civilopedia gives you.

Note: I wrote this just before the Antarctic Late Summer patch was announced, so I sat on it for awhile until I’d played using the patch. Mostly, I think everything is still relevant.

1. Founding your first city

2. The Opening

3. Science and Culture

3. Expansion

4. Districts

5. Setting a goal/win condition



1. Founding your First City


Finding a good spot for your first city might seem inconsequential, but it is actually one of the most important decisions you make the entire game. Basically, you want to find a good spot, but not spend a lot of turns looking. Learn to love the Y hotkey (show tile yields). Have this up when founding your cities so you can make better decisions.


  • Settle by turn 2 or 3 (move 1 or 2 tiles at most). If you take too long to settle, you'll fall too far behind, but you can afford to move a bit to find better land.
  • Settle by a water source, preferably fresh water. You need about 4-5 pop for a city to really be self-sustaining, so food and housing are important early on.
  • Settle near 2 food/2 production (2f/2p) tiles (or better). You want as much production as you can get, but having 2 food also means that citizen is feeding itself as well. The best tiles give at least two food, and then as much production as you can get. You want them 1 or 2 tiles away, not 3, because it just takes too long for your borders to expand for them to be helpful.
  • The best tiles to settle on are Luxuries and Plains/Hills. Settling on Luxuries gives you immediate access without having to improve them. Luxuries can be sold to the AI for hefty sums of gold, while Plains/Hills will actually give you a 2f/2p tile for your City Center, versus the 2f/1p you get from other tiles.
  • Make plans for the future. Plan out where your city is going to get production and food from, where you will put your Districts, and which Districts you will build. Hills provide the most reliable sources of Production. Food is less important, except when your city is just starting off. Rivers and Grasslands provide the best sources of Food.


2. The Opening.


So you've founded your first city. Now, what do you build first? This is another one of those Very Important Decisions you make early game. You have access to a Builder, a Monument, a Scout, a Settler, a Slinger, , and a Warrior. Settlers can only be built after you have 2+ pop, so you they aren't available yet. There are good reasons to build every one of these. These descriptions basically hold up for your first two or three builds. Then you should build a Settler.

In general, I would avoid getting locked into one opening or "build order" for your early game that you use all the time. You just learn bad habits and don't really learn WHY you are doing the things you are doing. Here is what each build will do for you. (Side note: a "greedy" play is where you do something that is optimal in the long-term, but is slow and leaves you vulnerable. A "tempo" play is when you do something for an immediate advantage at the cost of being less optimal long-term).

Builder - This allows you to improve your land and unlock several important Inspirations and Eurekas, but makes you highly vulnerable to attack. Build a builder if you have a lot of easily improvable resources nearby. This is a greedy play.

Monument - Culture is an important resource in the early game, so Monuments are strong. Remember that you can also earn Inspirations to boost your culture. Build a monument if you need a source of Culture but don't have a lot of improvable land around for a Builder. This is an extremely greedy play and is generally inadvisable (ITS A TRAP FOR CIV V PLAYERS).

Scout - Scouts allow you to earn a lot of early benefits and discover the best locations for new cities. Build a Scout if you started in a particularly good spot, or only moved a little before settling. This is a slightly greedy play.

Slinger - Building a Slinger aids your ability to defend yourself, and it also allows you to earn the Eureka for Archery early. Build a Slinger if you are worried about being attacked early. This is a strong tempo play that can help when you first move to a higher difficulty. "If you aren't sure what to build, build a Slinger."

Warrior - Building a Warrior is similar to the Slinger build, but more aggressive. Warriors are better at scouting, and it is possible to rush a close neighbor with a few Warriors. Build a Warrior if you need scouting or want to go on the offense early. This is a tempo play.


3. Research and Civics


First of all, you need to remember that Inspirations and Eurekas are a huge source of Science and Culture in the early game. It is better to focus on building units and cities early rather than boosting your Science or Culture because you can earn a lot of these yields through Eurekas/Inspirations.

  • Your Culture research should be focused on getting Political Philosophy and your first Government. Governments and Policy Cards are very powerful tools for boosting your Civ in specific areas of the game.
  • Important early civics: Craftsmanship (Agoge), Early Empire (Colonization), Political Philosophy (Tier 1 Government), Military Tradition (Maneuver)
  • Your Science research should be focused on your early game goals. It is often better to "beeline" (spend all your research on) a particular tech rather than just try to fill up each era. For instance, if you can get Horseback Riding early, you can build Horsemen early to rush your neighbors before they have adequate defenses.
  • Important early techs: Animal Husbandry (reveal Horses, early worker build), Mining (Luxury access, early worker build), Astrology (for Religious or Naval civs), Bronze Working (reveals Iron), Archery (Archers are boss)
  • For both Science and Culture, pay attention to the bonuses of your particular Civ. You'll want to focus on getting access to your Civ's bonuses as soon as you can. Otherwise, focus on Civics and Techs that will aid your early expansion.

4. Expansion


Civ V players might recall that that game was a back and forth balancing act between rapid expansion (going "wide") and having a few high-pop cities (going "tall"). Well, Civ VI has definitively answered that question! There is only wide. THERE. IS. ONLY. WIDE. There is no such thing as having too many cities in Civ VI, and it is the best way to ensure your success. So, here is how to do it!


You can expand peacefully or through early war, or through some mixture of both. A good rule of thumb is to have about 10 cities by turn 100.

Peaceful expansion - Build Settlers early, and build them often. Know the sources of boosts to Settler production:

  • Colonization (+50% production to Settlers)
  • Ancestral Hall (+50% production to Settlers, free Builder when you found a city)
  • Magnus w/Provision (His city does not lose a pop when building a Settler)
  • Monumentality Golden Age (You can buy Settlers with Faith for cheap)
  • Buy Settlers with Gold - This isn't necessarily a bonus, but Gold is easier to come by than production!

If you can build a Settler in about 12 turns or less, then you should probably build it. Also, practice the art of forward-settling. Remember all the guidelines for founding your Capital, but you should also try to found your cities closer to the AI if possible. This makes it harder for the AI to expand and generally blocks off large swaths of land for your cities that you can backfill later.

Expansion through War - Basically, beyond just building a lot of units or getting better at tactics, you just need to know when to quit. The best scenario by far is that you completely wipe out a neighbor or two in the first 50 turns, and now you have several "free" cities and a ton of open land for you to expand into. However, that isn't always possible or even optimal. Don't force the issue. The AI will often grant you a hefty tribute for making peace. Even if you only take one city, or even if you just kill a bunch of their units and pillage their Districts, you have already significantly slowed the AI, which is really all you need to do. It is not really helpful if you spend all your time trying to whittle down a city while hemorrhaging troops.

It is helpful to know how to do a "timing push." This is where you build an advanced unit earlier than your neighbors and then proceed to pound face. You can rush with Archers, Swordsmen, Horsemen, or Knights in the early game. This is obviously particularly effective for Civs like Rome or Macedon that have Unique Unit replacements for these or other early unit types. It is often better to use gold to upgrade early units rather than to build these advanced units from scratch. As with peaceful expansion, know the appropriate boosts:

  • Agoge (+50% when building melee and ranged units)
  • Maneuver (+50% when building light and heavy cavalry)
  • Oligarchy (+4 combat strength to land and naval melee units)
  • Great General (+5 combat strength for nearby units of the appropriate eras)

Know also that siege units in Civ 6 are rather weak. All you really need to counteract City Walls though is a Battering Ram.

What if I don't have a lot of room to expand? - Depending on your map and the location of City-States and rival Civs, you may not have a lot of room to settle cities, but early conquest is also not particularly feasible, or you may want to focus on a primarily peaceful strategy. These are cases where the Audience Chamber is probably more helpful than the Ancestral Hall. Carefully plan out your city locations, and try to wedge in two or three cities in an area instead of locking up large swaths of territory using one central city. Remember, you only need 3-4 strong tiles per city to make it viable. Sometimes, you don't even really need a viable city - you just need another place to build that next Campus or Theater Square or to claim a particular resource. Remember, however, that the Audience Chamber actively punishes you for not having a Governor in a particular city. -2 Loyalty isn't a particularly large penalty, and I would not suggest only building as many cities as Governors you plan to recruit or anything like that. Just remember think twice about where you place your cities and keep your Governor plans in mind as you go.


5. Building Districts


After you've done your initial expansion, you will move into the mid-game, where you are now expanding and improving the cities you have built or conquered. This often means building Districts in your cities. Districts are at the heart of Civ VI, so it is important to know how they work. After every 3 population, you can build a new District. Districts go up in production cost as the game goes along, but you can lock the production cost by placing the District. You can then build other things and finish the District later. They unlock important Eurekas/Inspirations and move you towards different victory types. I like to think of cities as having "slots" for Districts. You don't want to spend your District "slots" frivolously. Pay attention to your surrounding land and how you can maximize your District adjacency bonuses.


Don’t build Districts too early. Focus on expansion and defending yourself first. Wait until turn 80 or so. But do lock in production costs!

Remember that Districts get bonus resources from your City State Envoys. That means that if you have, for example, a lot of Campuses, you should search out Scientific City States. The reverse is less true, but still a consideration.

Here are some likely options you'll be locking in, if not completing, in your first 100 turns:

Holy Site - You need to build 1-2 of these early to found a Religion. They like Mountains, Forests, and Natural Wonders. Faith is a strong resource that can be abused easily, but building a District this early in the game is a big downside. Religion is just not as powerful as it was in Civ V. Build them only if you are going for a Religious or possibly a Cultural Victory, or if you know what you are doing.

Campus - These come early and are always useful, even when you are not going for a Science Victory. It is important to keep your military up to date with your rivals, and that requires Science. Great for getting that State Workforce Inspiration. They like Mountains and Jungles. You should have at least 2-3 when not going for a Science Victory.

Commercial Hub - Trade Routes are strong in Civ VI, and are a main source of Gold in the mid and late game. Commercial Hubs like Rivers and Harbors. You should start building 2-3 before the Medieval era.

Encampments - The buildings are pretty uninspiring, but Great Generals are pretty good. You never NEED these, but they can be nice and are obviously helpful for a Domination Victory. They don't give bonus yields, but instead become mini-city fortresses guarding your land.

Theater Square - These are primarily useful for a Cultural Victory, but it is always nice to have a few of them. They really like World Wonders, but that's it. Build these near any Wonders you have built or captured, or if you are going for a Cultural Victory.

Harbors - They are primarily useful for their Trade Route. You only get one Trade Route if you build a Harbor and a Commercial Hub in the same city! Later, they help with production in their city. They don't get any bonuses from City States. They are better than nothing in coastal cities which often don't have access to many other good adjacencies, and they can give very nice amounts of Gold. They like coastal resources.

Industrial Zones - They come a bit later than turn 100, but I wanted to discuss them. IZs used to be really good. Then Factories were nerfed. Their use is rather more marginal now. Workshops are just really bad, but Power Plants actually make them somewhat worthwhile (balanced by Climate Change, obviously). Factories are still pretty nice, if for no other reason than making one city (the one with Magnus and Vertical Integration) very high in production. You'll want a few (if for no other reason that to turn off the low power notifications late game) but think hard about how many you want.


6. Setting a goal/win condition


In Civ VI, it is important to have your win condition in mind fairly early. Generally, win conditions center around building certain Districts, so with every new District you lock down, you are also locking yourself into a certain playstyle and win condition. You can change your focus, but you have to wait until your cities are big enough to build new Districts, and by then you are behind. Your first 50-100 turns or so should be less focused on your win condition and more about expanding and building a solid base (about 10 cities, 4 trade routes, a decent army, 2-3 ships, and maybe a Wonder or two) by turn 100. You might be behind in certain areas, but that’s okay, just get caught up. The most important step is to have a lot of cities and a lot of land.


Here’s some general guidelines on setting up your victory types:


Domination: The most important thing to do is of course building a large and diverse army. Focus on the unit type that includes your Unique Unit, use those unit for your first timing push, and then fill in the gaps later. You’ll want at least two Encampments to generate Great Generals for each era fairly reliably. You are not going to make many friends, so depending on your border situation you might want to put a few walls and ranged units in cities who might be vulnerable to surprise attack while your main army is gobbling up territory somewhere else. On Continents maps loyalty can give you trouble with getting a foothold on the other continent. Population pressure is a big part of loyalty, so it can help to conquer several cities at once to reduce the pressure. Hit hard and fast and don’t give up!

Religion: I don’t tend to go for Religious Victories very often, but what I can say is that Faith generation is really important so you can buy Apostles and Missionaries, both to spread your religion and fight the AI religions. You also need to found a religion, so build 1-2 Holy Sites very early to get that Great Prophet. If you can get a Prophet using Shrines, that’s more efficient, but if you’re desperate Holy Site Prayers will get you a Prophet faster.

Science Victory (SV): Build a lot of cities, build a lot of Campuses, run Natural Philosophy and Rationalism, hit the End Turn button 100 times, win the game.

But really, the bottleneck for a Science Victory is often late game production. Seondeok is the best leader in the game for Science not only because of Seowons but because she has a Hill start bias. You will want a few Industrial Zones as well as Campuses (or go and find all the threads about fast Science Victories, which abuse chopping and other tactics to make things like IZs unnecessary).

Culture Victory (CV): Culture is pretty similar to a Science Victory in how you just build a ton of Theater Squares and run bonus Culture cards, but there are a few twists. Religion is more directly helpful for a CV than an SV because Holy Sites generate a good amount of Tourism, and Faith is used to build National Parks and, more importantly, Rock Bands. Wonders in Civ VI are relatively low in power, but you are basically building your own major Culture adjacencies. That’s why it often doesn’t matter as much which wonders you build for a CV, just that you build enough to boost your Culture generation from your Theatre Squares.

Diplomatic Victory: I haven’t won this way yet. It looks like you build a generally strong Empire, play well with others, and try to become the Suzerain of many City States. Certain Wonders give Diplomatic Victory Points. You can also trade for Diplomatic Favor, although it seems the AI values it pretty highly.


There you go! The most important thing to remember: BE FLEXIBLE. However, in order to do that, you need to know how to prioritize. Hopefully I've given you some ideas in order to do just that!
 
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For someone who has played a lot of Civ II - V but never touched VI but just bought it, this was a great read. Really helpful stuff.
 
I agree with most of it, except the campus part; staying ahead in science is important for military in general, and 1-2 campuses isn't going to provide any science of worth since they pretty much need to be spammed. There's also very little reason to not build them either.
 
Depends of map for ancestor hall. If you are stuck with 5-6 city spots with neighbors around a warrior throne push can be helpful, especially if you are slingshotting to a fast dom. victory.

Maybe discuss a bit more about governor openings. Only Magnus is mentionned.

But great guide overall the basics are there.
 
Good read, great effort.
you should also try to found your cities closer to the AI if possible.
This will often lead to the AI DOW you. They will do this if within 10 of their capital roughly speaking. So for peaceful players it may not be best.
 
Nice work and a good general approach Knighterrant81! I'll add my grain of sand :)

I've lately been trying some different strategies for the early game, mainly peaceful ones as they're which I most enjoy.

Talking about governors, Magnus has always been a good opener, since he can help a lot with some really early builds (Oracle, Pyramids, settlers, etc.). He's essential if you're going for a classical era Monumentallity + Goddess of the Harvest combo. Liang is a good option as well. Her basic ability is strong enough itself, since you're probably building/buying a few builders before you reach feudalism, and that extra charge makes a difference. Which I've found to be particularly suitable in this kind of openers is Pingala. With one promotion he's gonna generate 4 or 5 culture on turn 30, which is actually A LOT. Couple him with two or three monuments and there you go, Political Philosophy on turn 50.

In my current game, I'm trying an early strategy based on him that's been proven to be succesful - at least for me :D Note that you need at least 3 - 4 chops in your first 3 cities to be really efficient.

Rush culture everywhere you can. Beeline Mysticism. Hire Magnus with Early Empire. Chop the Oracle - if you're lucky, chops can be saved for later wonders like Kilwa to give an example.

Transfer to second city, and plan there an Entertaiment Complex + Arena + Colosseum with Magnus (6 - 8 founded or projected cities in range is optimal).

Get State Workforce and Governmental Plaza in your third city. Hire and promote Pingala on your Oracle city. Grow this one to 7 ASAP.

Build ancestral Hall. Begin your 2nd wave of settlers - good timing here is essential, since you'll need Magnus with one promotion to make Ancestrall Hall reach its full potential.

Transfer Magnus and chop settlers as needed when he's finished Colosseum - or pair him with Agoge or Maneuver to quickly form an army if you need to.

At this point you should have reached feudalism, which will lead your empire in settling the cities you need, popping a 5 charge builder on each. Pre-place districts whenever available, as their cost will grow at an exponential rate at this stage, but don't build them. Have some monuments and granaries instead - again chopping becomes so useful to speed up things. You will find yourself managing a good number of initially well developed cities by turn 100, being them able to build your pre-placed and future districts at a good pace.

Monumentallity + Goddess of the Harvest is a very powerful combo, although I really prefer Divine Spark for these peacefully strategies to be honest. Personally, I find it more profitable in the long term since you can buy builders with gold or use the 30% discount policy to build them. It's interesting to note that a lot of Great People Points will have been and gonna be earned by this time - Pingala + Oracle + Divine Spark can generate 8 GPP per turn for campus and theatre, and 6 GPP for commercial hub and/or industrial zone. Only in ONE CITY. Powerful.

I consider this opener to be viable in both culture or science oriented games. You can be hitting around 200 culture per turn at T100, lots of GPP's and can also skyrocket your science if you feel it appropriate.

Well, I hope this can help someone, or just to be enjoyable for some Civ lovers like me :crazyeye:

Cheers!

Edit: If you're really lucky with the map I think you can add the Pryramids into the opener, but it all depends on available chops. Otherwise it will slow you down enough to not to be worth it.

Another option would be to sacrifice Colosseum for them, but you'll really notice these +10/+14 culture and amenities not being there.
 
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Pyramids are like having Pingala in every city... you get a free builder at completion but also all existing builders get an extra charge. Do not underestimate the pyramids. 220 production for what you get makes it a no brainier, now where is that desert.
 
Pyramids are like having Pingala in every city... you get a free builder at completion but also all existing builders get an extra charge. Do not underestimate the pyramids. 220 production for what you get makes it a no brainier, now where is that desert.

You probably mean Liang instead of Pingala.

The early golden age with faith combo is quite nice too. You need some luck tho. Are Pyramids help this in that regard? Yes! As long as you build it before you choose dedication. If you can have both, you are in good good shape. Buying workers with faith with extra charge with faster moves etc, etc. :)
 
Completely agreed with both of you, I explained myself badly before.

You must be lucky with the map having a flat desert tile near your core cities of course, and having some extra chop spots as well. If you don't meet one of those conditions, you must delay Colosseum - not a good idea since it's likely to be built by AI around T80-90 almost all games - Oracle - same reason but earlier - or Ancestral Hall - which I consider the core of this opener.
 
Pyramids are like having Pingala in every city... you get a free builder at completion but also all existing builders get an extra charge. Do not underestimate the pyramids. 220 production for what you get makes it a no brainier, now where is that desert.

I've finished that game I described. The strategy worked pretty well. Touched the stars on turn 188 with the magnificent beast Pericles :thumbsup:

I've just started another one focused on science as well, this time with Frederick. He's not that early beast, but his mid game is amazing. I remembered what you said about the Pyramids and built them on my second city. I'm now spamming faith-bought 7-charge builders - Pyramids, Feudalism and Liang - every turn. Absolutely broken.
 
Transfer Magnus and chop settlers as needed when he's finished Colosseum - or pair him with Agoge or Maneuver to quickly form an army if you need to.

It's incredible how efficient development is with good timed transfers of that guy. It's one of those core features that you need to execute well regardless of other plans.

My limited experience with Civ vi also suggests rushing culture is key, I'll definitely try your plan in a game.

But can you reliably get those wonders on the high difficulties? Is it dependant on which AI's are in the game (wrt preference for wonders and bonuses). If so, it won't be that robust of a plan.
 
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My limited experience with Civ vi also suggests rushing culture is key,
Very much so but not too much, if rushed too hard you do not get the inspirations but rushing too hard you have to be lucky with or play as Rome. As a rule going for about 8 per turn culture by T30 for some type of measurement as to how well you are doing in this regard. Meeting a culture city state, culture luxuries and natural wonders all help in this regard.
But can you reliably get those wonders on the high difficulties
reliably? no, Frequently? yes. Your advantage is chopping which the AI does not do so magnus, the wonder card and the wonder government all help. If Cleo wants to start early wit Pyramids you may struggle but as long as you do not delay the Coliseum you should be fine.

The issue as with everything is finding the time to do everything, just appreciate how much value Pyramids and Coliseum give you and realise they are pretty damn important for a fast victory but you can win without them, it just can take a lot longer. For a CV Oracle and Great Library are also useful.
 
I'll definitely try your plan in a game.

Nice to hear that incroc, share your experience with us when you've done it :) I would also take what Victoria said about not rushing too much into consideration.You can easily found yourself having to waste that precious culture into civics you couldn't have got the inspiration for, making your early efforts useless.

Very much so but not too much, if rushed too hard you do not get the inspirations

I've found this problem in my games, particularly meeting the 4 trade routes requirement - not in the case of Germany :lol: - and the farms one for feudalism - not a great fan of farms here.

As a rule going for about 8 per turn culture by T30 for some type of measurement as to how well you are doing in this regard.

Nice takeaway! I've always played instinctively for early culture, but keeping that in mind simplifies decisions.
 
Thank you everyone for your input!

I agree with most of it, except the campus part; staying ahead in science is important for military in general, and 1-2 campuses isn't going to provide any science of worth since they pretty much need to be spammed. There's also very little reason to not build them either.

I have found in Civ VI that, depending on what my victory type is, I sometimes have to restrict myself from building the "other" victory District (Campus for Culture Victory, Theater Square for Science Victory, or Holy Site for Religious Victory). This is unlikely to reflect optimal play and is just a habit I have that helps me focus my efforts on my current victory type. I would say that as I play now, I probably follow a rule of "build the appropriate 'victory' District in every city or almost every city, then build Campus/Theater Squares wherever you can get significant adjacency bonuses/enough to keep up with the AI" anyway. I'll change the guide to reflect this - is this more along the lines of what you are thinking?

Depends of map for ancestor hall. If you are stuck with 5-6 city spots with neighbors around a warrior throne push can be helpful, especially if you are slingshotting to a fast dom. victory.

Maybe discuss a bit more about governor openings. Only Magnus is mentionned.

But great guide overall the basics are there.

Yes, that was the goal - the basics. I don't feel fully qualified to write a full guide, but I think the community needed some stuff spelled out. My Magnus addiction is a holdover from Rise and Fall. I have also experimented with using Pingala first, and I could see Liang also being a useful first Governor. Can you give me more details on Governor openings you use beyond Magnus?

Re-reading the guide, I meant for the section on peaceful expansion to be one example of a strategy, but it reads as THE ONLY WAY TO DO IT. I often use the Audience Chamber (depending on the map) and the Warlord's Throne (if I plan on doing a lot of conquest). I'll adjust the guide.
 
Also, practice the art of forward-settling.

Underrated notion, or at least underappreciated by me when learning the game.

Almost exclusively in my games, the AI DoW if you forward settle him aggressively. But making 3 warriors and 2 slinger/archers to handle it is definitely worth it if it enables you to delay expansion until the Ancestral Hall is up, or even better Feudalism.

Chopping easily gets you back 10 or even 20 turns delaying expansion if you wait and get 3 or 5 builder charges.

The only problem is that you lose if you're not prepared when they start dancing on your borders, so it requires you to pay more attention.
 
Beeline Mysticism.

Maybe I still don't juggle the early game as best as I can, but this doesn't feel worthwhile to me. The power of Political Philosophy then Feudalism outweighs it.

It's not that easy to do the math, but the adjacency and added gpp you get from getting districts in your outer cities asap seems more worthwhile than the boost in one city.
 
or at least underappreciated by me when learning the game.
So settling within about 10 tiles of their cap does freak them so you avoid it unless you have your slingers and are near archery. It does take them a few turns to get over and they tend to dribble in but the idea is to kill their army with archers and take their cities. It is not an underrated approach it is a fast attack approach which can get dull.
One prob is I have time to get a settler before agoge and so I just get careful where I plant it.

It's not that easy to do the math, but the adjacency and added gpp you get from getting districts in your outer cities asap seems more worthwhile than the boost in one city.
It about getting your phases right. Expand before getting districts, chop in districts with Feudalism (5 charge,6 with pyramid, 7 liang) monumentalise really speeds this up even without harvest.
 
So settling within about 10 tiles of their cap does freak them so you avoid it unless you have your slingers and are near archery. It does take them a few turns to get over and they tend to dribble in but the idea is to kill their army with archers and take their cities. It is not an underrated approach it is a fast attack approach which can get dull.
One prob is I have time to get a settler before agoge and so I just get careful where I plant it.


It about getting your phases right. Expand before getting districts, chop in districts with Feudalism (5 charge,6 with pyramid, 7 liang) monumentalise really speeds this up even without harvest.

I didn't actually mean going offensive necessarily, although it's tempting when you have an army and probably the efficient choice. I meant that just the benefit of cutting off the land so you can delay expansion until you get free builders and cheap settlers is worth the investment in a small army to stave off an early DoW.

Capturing cities, stealing civilians or gold in peace deals is even more added value on top of that. You even get the culture boost for being declared on!

That said, it's probably that I've underrated it more than that everyone has.
 
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