Coastal ICS

[TheNoodle]

On a large or huge map, archipelago type, I try to build a coastal ICS to take advantage of commerce SP (+navy +3 prod/city) but, whenever I build (and don t rush) the cultural costs are so prohibitive that It s very hard to get the planned economy/communism from Order SP. Has anyone tried that kind of strategy. I need a few tips..

Normand

 

[S.K. Ren]

I find ICS works in 2-3 Stages:
First the the preparation. This usually involves saving up for Meritocracy before expanding for the first time. This step can be skipped if you don't want Meritocracy.

Next is the initial expansion. Here I've seen people expand to 4-10 cities and the bunker down till the industrial age. Its not as far away as you might think if you beeline Biology. Once you grab Planned Economy, you can move on to the final stage.

The final stage is just plain old city spamming. You just need to keep you number of cities as small as you can till you can nab your preferred SPs then explode. The exceptions are Songhai and France.

 

[CarloTheCurious]

I find that it's also very helpful if you can generate a few great scientists to rush the last few techs to industrial.

 

[Monthar]

If you build all the + culture buildings in the cities you should be able to get your SPs with any civ.

 

[TheNoodle]

TX I generally go to the top of the tree to get to medieval as soon as possible, and unlock commerce. Not sure if meritocracy is so huge, but when i tried it was ok... Of course i kinda cannot build roads for a while... Thanks for the replys anyhow.

Normand

 

[Ulti_mecia]

The best thing about coastal cities is that you don't need to build roads.
The even better thing is when you research Railroad, all your coastals get free railroad access without the upkeep


P.S.: Merchant Navy+Communism is very amusing

 

[tokala]

TX I generally go to the top of the tree to get to medieval as soon as possible, and unlock commerce. Not sure if meritocracy is so huge, but when i tried it was ok... Of course i kinda cannot build roads for a while... Thanks for the replys anyhow.

Normand

If you use Hiawatha, with a good start you won't need any roads

 

[Nunya]

Freedom is extremely helpful for ICS, arguably better than Meritocracy or Planned Economy. Every 2 specialist you assign effectively become +1 . It even works for unemplyed citizens.

 

[TheNoodle]

Well my idea is to go library (as chinese) then enter medieval era trough theology (fastest) and get commerce as 1st policy. Of course I had Otto and Catherine as neigbours so it turned out into yet another horse rush. I hit -10 happiness very fast and it went worse from there... guess I ll start again... On huge maps even archipelagoes sometimes give you a 2-3 persons small continent to start with... Paper makers are very nice, and of course the choku unit is the best garrison i ve ever seen nothing comes through. Beelining biology is ok, but even with 3 cities to makes GS it s very long.

 

[MkLh]

Freedom is extremely helpful for ICS, arguably better than Meritocracy or Planned Economy. Every 2 specialist you assign effectively become +1 . It even works for unemplyed citizens.

I agree. Meritocracy is suboptimal for ICS - you need to spend culture points for almost useless Citizenship policy. Unlocking freedom gives the same happiness bonus after you assign two specialists.

 

[TheNoodle]

Finally managed the semi/ICS style Random map and civ got me arabia on some peninsula/archipelago. setlled 3 core cities on my starting island and one one an adjacent isle, where i left a few warriors/spears all game long. The 4 cities with libraries generated a lot of GS and I had rifles by turn 111, had unlocked merchant navy, then I went into renaissance and almost simultaneously modern by burning my GSs. Unlocked Order, switched to production mode, settled 10 more cities and every one was operational by the time I teched Mech inf. Then mop up after having spend all game with no military except my warrior watch (keeping an eye on the big idle/continent where I ICSed in the late game. from last to 1st in pointy sticks in one era

Normand The UU was never built, the trade bonus not significnt, but bazaar are really powerful UB for haroun el pussah ( héhé )

 

[Danceofmasks]

I don't really ICS, but I do like large empires.
On archipelago maps, I found those sea tiles to be very lucrative.

With lighthouse, seaport, and fishing boats, just having access to 3 or more is a great site for a mid size city.
The harbour (railroad) connection is an awesome bonus, too.

So, I'd randomly drop cities on small islands or deserts, just to get at those sea tiles.

Then I figured since the landmass is small, it's actually more efficient for the coastal cities to mostly have sea tiles and specialists.
...
And the highest pop city possible amongst them working the land tiles, for dumping every single building possible on and cranking out the wonders.


ICS with arabia got me thinking, though.
If there's a luxury resource inbetween 2 cities, and they both have a bazaar, how does that work?