Early Expansion on Warlord

[kmad]

I'm a beginner mainly, i'm on warlord, I have two main points..

When I'm expanding early, I find other civs on my continent.. I try to block them off with cities, but once in a while, even if the civ is polite to me, they'll declare war and take up to three of my border cities in one turn. Is this because of a civ specific ability or does this happen in general?

Another, I am always the Vikings so I can start out with that scout. I always find a lot of resources and luxuries. Is it a good idea to build cities extremely far away from your main area just to gain a monopoly on resources?

 

[Renata]

Wars seem to be at least partly random, so you may get some started against you no matter what you do. Civs will also declare war on you if you have a resource they don't, if you try to kick them out of your territory, or if you build cities too near theirs, among other reasons.

They will be highly more likely to declare war on you if they don't like you, or if they are militarily stronger than you.

As to the other question, I guess it depends what you mean by extremely far. If you can connect the city fairly quickly by roads or harbors it's quite likely worth it. If not, the city will probably just wind up being a drain on your resources, and constantly in danger from nearby AI civs.

Renata

 

[Strider]

The AI is 99.9% unpredictable.

As for the resource thing.... If it's something you don't have... then go for it... also if you don't get it... then someone else prolly will... better you then them huh?

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

I have diffuculty on Warlord in the early stages of expansion. The comps always get ahead of me. What should I do?

 

[DaveMcW]

I only build cities near the capitol, except to claim iron/horses. Then I build military units and finish my expansion by force.

 

[elpadrino87]

I'd take a look at the War Academy and read the article on Optimum City Placement. It has some helpful hints that are very good to remember. Personally, I like to make sure that my cities near the capital don't overlap the city radius of another city, but once I start to build faraway from the capital, I build cities closer together.
One way to really get a head start is also by reading the expansion tips in the Academy. I remember that one of them gave a pretty good build sequence for your very first cities. I believe it goes like this: warrior, scout(if not exp., then another warrior), granary, settler, and repeat. This sequence will vary depending on the surround terrain, but works best in a city that has grassland and a few patches of forest.
As for resources, I try to secure the ones that I know will be valuable later on, mainly luxuries. This is because another civ will make you pay more for a luxury if you have marketplaces in a lot of your cities, while the cost of strategic resources don't usually vary as much. But its because of my strive to get resources within my borders that I almost always end up in a war early in the game. I perfer to initiate the war myself when I'm confident I'm prepared, and while I'm still in a despotism. Once my warring phase is over, I switch into a republic.

 

[Pal {UI}]

Originally posted by kmad
When I'm expanding early, I find other civs on my continent.. I try to block them off with cities, but once in a while, even if the civ is polite to me, they'll declare war and take up to three of my border cities in one turn. Is this because of a civ specific ability or does this happen in general?

Remember to always protect your cities. Civs will declare war often just to grab a city that you have left undefended, especially if it is on their border.

 

[Greyhawk1]

Have your capital producing Settlers. Have all your other cities produce a defender then a worker then churn out units as fast as possible.

If you find a resource use 'denial' tactics to deny that resource to the enemy (place units all around the resource so they cant settle near the resource to take advantage of it. If you can, use units to block any settlers on their way through to your territory.

I used this tactic to hold off an Ottoman settler from grabbing the only iron on my island for about 8 turns using blocking moves from my units.

Grab rivers, deny the enemy access to rivers, luxuries and all strat resources.

DONT irrigate on the tiles bordering their territory if they dont have river access until your sure they have researched Electricity!

Move all your forces to the border with the other civ leaving one defender.

If you are bordering an aggressive civ like Germany or the Zulus you *will* be at war very quickly. Assume you are at war from day one and produce units accordingly. Strike them before they strike you and dont declare peace until they are utterly crippled or destroyed.

You will almost never be able to avoid war, always keep up unit production up to what you can reasonably support and always keep them modernised.

Far flung colonies should be reinforced by sea at every opportunity - replace older units currently garrisoning the city with newer ones ferried there. Carry the old ones back and upgrade them.

Smaller island cities can be 'denied' up till Marines or the Vikings Berserkers by placing a unit on each tile on the island. Denying any landing spot for enemy forces.

If you are on an island, prevent parasite colonies by placing a unit on each tile its possible to land a settler on until your borders cover it, preventing any other civ from landing on your island.

If the Persians are in your game assume they will be your closest rival, target Mutual Protection Pacts accordingly and try to get them into Gold per Turn deals as often as possible to slow down their rampant research.

I've used these tactics in my last few Warlord games quite effectively - still working on my game though.

 

[whstaff]

I've lurked here quite a bit, and until recently I expanded in a systematic way, inside out or outside in. The whole idea is to create defensible borders. It's a decent way to go, but I've moved on.
Playing on warlord(ptw)huge map, at the start I go for iron working and iron production, then either use scouts or warriors to explore, get horses and explore more. All the while popping out settlers, and building citys. Now though, I make it a priority to acquire all the luxurys I can even if my civ looks a little "unpretty". My thought is I can always fill in later. My goal is to acquire 5-6 luxurys, the more the better. When your civ is awash in luxurys, the game becomes a lot easier. You rarely face civil disorder, and you can often trade the excess for tech or GPT. You can amp the research slider way up there in mid and late game also. Keep in mind with all 8 lux resources and a marketplace will keep 20 citizens happy. You can pump out lot's of culture systematically . Since I've adopted this technique I won my first culture victory ever, and a space race in the 1500s.
Iron is the key strategic resource though. Very difficult to win the game without securing a source real early in the game.

 

[zebomba2]

Originally posted by Greyhawk1

If you find a resource use 'denial' tactics to deny that resource to the enemy (place units all around the resource so they cant settle near the resource to take advantage of it. If you can, use units to block any settlers on their way through to your territory.

I used this tactic to hold off an Ottoman settler from grabbing the only iron on my island for about 8 turns using blocking moves from my units.

Grab rivers, deny the enemy access to rivers, luxuries and all strat resources.



Why spend units blocking them? Simply declare war, or build among their cities. You can even "peacefully" steal resources by building VERY close. Don t forget to rush a temple or library, of course!





If you are bordering an aggressive civ like Germany or the Zulus you *will* be at war very quickly. Assume you are at war from day one and produce units accordingly. Strike them before they strike you and dont declare peace until they are utterly crippled or destroyed.




I think the same apply to uber researchers/industrious, like persians and ottomans.







Far flung colonies should be reinforced by sea at every opportunity - replace older units currently garrisoning the city with newer ones ferried there. Carry the old ones back and upgrade them.


IMO a local barracks is better. A harbor and walls is good as well.





Smaller island cities can be 'denied' up till Marines or the Vikings Berserkers by placing a unit on each tile on the island. Denying any landing spot for enemy forces.



True, but very dangerous if the vikings are around. If there are more than a hadnfull of landing spots, don t bother.






If you are on an island, prevent parasite colonies by placing a unit on each tile its possible to land a settler on until your borders cover it, preventing any other civ from landing on your island.


Or try to figure out when their settler is going. Have a worker build a road to that point(s), and move units around there sometimes, to lock down many AI settlers.





If the Persians are in your game assume they will be your closest rival, target Mutual Protection Pacts accordingly and try to get them into Gold per Turn deals as often as possible to slow down their rampant research.


You bet.





I've used these tactics in my last few Warlord games quite effectively - still working on my game though.


They work well on any difficulty.