Do you build encampments?

[isau]

Just wondering about people's opinions of Encampments. I rarely seem to build them. I can never decide which city is "right" for them. High production is of course useful, and I suppose it's useful to place the Encampment where it can threaten enemies or block a path. Thing is tho I usually find by the time i get around to Encampnents I have already built my core army anyway and now it's not worth it.

What are your strategies?

 

[mayhemster]

I only really build Encampments so I can build Horsemen with just 1 horse rather than 2. I usually make my first 2 techs Animal Husbandry then Mining so I have had a bit of time to scout my starting location. Then I can make the decision on whether I need to go for Bronze working next and start building an Encampment, or if I can settle a 2nd city location that allows me to build Horsemen without an Encampment.

I don't normally build Encampments for the bonus' you can get from the Encampment buildings as these aren't that big really. I don't want to waste the district slot if I can help it.

 

[VicRatlhead5199]

More often than not I put them off until late game. They are nice for building corps and armies at that point. Not sure if that's strategically sound or not. Haven't crunched the numbers.

I am playing Japan right now and with the shortened build time and adjacency bonuses encampments are more attractive. Will probably build them earlier as Japan.

 

[greygamer]

As mayhemster posted, only if I have only 1 iron/horses in the early game

 

[Mr. Shadows]

I usually want at least one just in case I'm short of a resource, but they aren't a priority at all. In my last two games I captured one early from a neighbor, and that was plenty for the whole game.

 

[Victoria]

Yep, Often

I often build one earlyish if I see my capital is going to be big. The extra cog to my new babies helps their growth considerably. One naturally has to consider district numbers, growth speed and just what civ you are playing.

When settling the colonies a well placed encampment does wonders for defense.

When I have tundra aplenty below me, having a 2 shot city just helps.

When I settle close to teddy at the beginning of the game I just know he's gonna gun for me, such a two faced sod that he is. I'll probably leave it one turn from completion with the city walls also.

When getting another Civ to attack me I will build a troll city near them with walls and encampment 1 turn off completion for that pleasant surprise post declaration.... I love troll cities, they keep me amused. If you troll enough civs like this it seems to increase friendship, not really tracked it but maybe I should. Its that passive aggressive play I love.

When I want to be aggressive agressive they give the extra experience also, a small thing but yes, underrated and a nice discount build card for encampments.

Perfection is not doing something right, its doing it right for you.

 

[Mr. Shadows]

I'll probably leave it one turn from completion with the city walls also.

When getting another Civ to attack me I will build a troll city near them with walls and encampment 1 turn off completion for that pleasant surprise post declaration.... I love troll cities, they keep me amused. If you troll enough civs like this it seems to increase friendship, not really tracked it but maybe I should.

That's funny. It would be especially fun to do that in an MP match if you could pull it off.

 

[Captain Potato]

I think it's a good idea in your capital to give your domestic trade routes some extra production. Theoretically, your capital should be big enough to not have to worry about the district limit, but I've had some mixed results with different civs. The +1 district that some civs get from having a unique district seems to make a very big difference.

Say when I played as Russia I found my capital seemed to be just the right size whenever I wanted a new district down, but when I tried playing as Japan I found myself hitting that limit at several key points through the game, and I wonder whether skipping the early encampment would have made me better off. It's hard to say because the extra hammer going to all your other cities is obviously really strong.

 

[Victoria]

and I wonder whether skipping the early encampment would have made me better off. It's hard to say because the extra hammer going to all your other cities is obviously really strong.

You are correct, the ideal build is rush CZ then IZ as both produce prod without running out of districts. Especially with lock down. I just like playing differently

 

[jollywonk]

In MP an encampment is sometimes my first district if an opponent is close. It gets the GG points going, and gives my other cities +1 hammer on a trade route. Meanwhile getting a ranged unit in an encampment with walls is the cornerstone of my defense. Placement of the encampment depends on whether any type of chokepoint exists or whether it's open terrain. If it's relatively open terrain I often put the encampment farther back so my city center and encampment can mutually support each other, in terms of being able to attack tiles near roughly one-half of the other district. You don't want an encampment sticking out there that can be attacked by 7+ tiles and you can only put 3-4 additional units around it for defense.

If the opponent is far away I delay encampments until later (the boost for making an armory, or faster corps) and go full econ. My last expand before conflict starts out building an encampment in a worthwhile location.

 

[weregamer]

In a long-term game, like if you are going for science, you may want to have one "destination city" for domestic trade routes that has all the districts that boost hammers to trade routes sent to it. For that purpose, encampment comes after IZ and CZ; if you can do a harbor instead maybe not even then.

 

[Kelmort83]

I like going something like Astrology / Mining / Bronze Working + whatever my civ unique building is. This way I can get an early Eureka for Mathematic while teching for Campus and Commercial District.

Or something like Holy Shrine / Naval district / Encampement in my Capital. By the time it's reach 15 population it's will have every district possible anyway. Capital must have good growth tiles tho.

 

[joncnunn]

It's a very good idea to eventually build an encampment in intended land military production cities:
1. At some point you'll have only one copy of the strategic resource for the most advanced unit at the time; and so would need an encampment in order to build that unit.
2. There are civics that when combined with military academy allow corps / armies to be built at once at a significant discount compared to building individually and then combining.

In addition, if you are planning on being on the defensive in the next war; in cities that have walls, and encampment gives you an extra bombardment.

 

[Tabarnak]

In MP an encampment is sometimes my first district if an opponent is close. It gets the GG points going, and gives my other cities +1 hammer on a trade route. Meanwhile getting a ranged unit in an encampment with walls is the cornerstone of my defense.

Yeah i realized after a couple of mp games how useful encampments are. Most people i played built one very early, probably to say to his neighbor something like: ''Don't try your luck OK?''

Also, a barrack and a stable can give extra housing which is great since you can run out of houses early on and an aqueduct takes a long time to build maybe excepted in ur capital.

 

[jaegybomb]

Encampment projects are super powerful early. I almost always get 1 encampment just for the projects and a quick general or 2.

 

[Victoria]

. I almost always get 1 encampment just for the projects and a quick general or 2.

And playing MP you deny other people the generals by grabbing them

I must stress... in SP most "high efficiency" players do not build them. I see the main reason for this being that the commercial zone provides a production for internal trade routes while it should produce gold. A poor game design IMO.

 

[Bluetooth]

Usually I build it in one City so I can build the Terracotta Wonder. As I only build military units from Production early in the game I can’t see any reason to build more Encampments. Later I use faith to build my military units. For City protection, I build City Walls and Ranged Units.

 

[Joebles]

I haven't been building them very often, usually only if I'm lacking a second source of a later game resource. I usually have pretty aggresive military production in the early game, so I can get by with upgrades for quite a while.

 

[GKrause]

They are useful for those low production outpost-y cities I settle mostly for strategic or luxury resources, with some housing yields as a bonus.

 

[Jarms48]

There's only 3 reasons I'll build an encampment:
- if I only have access to one horse
- if I'm the suzerain of Carthage (bonus if I can get Valletta as well)
- or if I want to make a choke point / defend a choke point