Early Expansion

[jimmythomason@e]

I currently play on noble diffculty and generaly suceed, especially if I'm ahead of most AI by the industrial era. But one of the things I've noticed when I try to move up to prince difficulty is that the AI expands much faster while keeping a heavy military prescence as well, while I can only do one or the other.

So my question is this: How do I expand effectively in the early game? How much should I emphasize military over settlers/workers? Should i just be chopping a lot more? How high should I try to keep my science slider?

 

[iamnleth]

As you move up in difficulty, you must realize that the size of your military is usually going to be much smaller than the average AI military throughout the early game.

Diplomacy is your defense. Barbarians are the only real threat if you maintain good diplomacy with the AI. This is the key.

 

[shulec]

Go to war with one of your neighbors (maybe one with a different religion or aggressive like Montezuma/Ragnar). Take his cities and make sure you take his capitol. Don't vassalize him either.

Try running a specialist economy or hybird specialist economy. I am in my first game using a specialist economy (on monarchy; and I am rockin!). Early expansion is much easier because you don't rely on cottages.

 

[jimmythomason@e]

how many cities should I shoot for before i start building/gearing for war? I usualy play on stadard size maps

 

[CCRunner]

Generally two. One is your capital and the other hooks up copper

Seriously though, it depends on what your needs are. If your boxed in then what I said might actually be right. Swords might want three or four in order to get more cities pumping out troops.

 

[MkLh]

I wonder if war with two cities and axes/chariots is a good idea after all. In some cases maybe, but generally it seems slow way to expand. For me it takes always to 1500-1000 BC until the war is over. By then, you have 2 cities and enemy capital, and maybe 1-2 other enemy cities you don't really want to keep (badly placed). And other opponents have claimed best spots by then.

By expanding peacefully, you can have 5 well placed cities by 1000 BC. Sometimes it's possible to have 9-10 cities peacefully by 0 AD (standard maps, continents). With these, prince can be easily won (space, culture) without any offensive war. Science slider drops to 0% but it doesn't really matter as long as you don't go to strike. Libraries & scientists in 7-8 cities are enough to tech some crucial techs (code of laws, currency..) and when cottages develop, slider will go up. Imperialistic trait helps early expansion a lot (cheaper settlers)

And how? Build worker first (workboat if coastal+seafood), tech food techs and then bronze working, improve food resources, grow capital to 4, chop and whip a settler and second settler right away + warrior(s) to escort them. One settler goes to claim bronze/horses, other goes to claim some great city site near your opponent that is likely to go fast. In every city build monument (if not creative), granary, library, and after city reaches size 3-4, build and whip worker/settler. One city builds barracks and then nothing but troops (axes + some spears) that are sent to border cities. My tech line is usually food techs --> mining --> bronze --> mysticism (if not Creative) --> The Wheel --> Pottery --> Writing (for getting this crucial tech, I sometimes have to slow my expanding a bit).

 

[Belisar]

The rule of thumb is:
Take out your neighbour fast if he is close -
choke or block him if he is in reasonable distance -
settle cities peacefully if he is far away.

 

[Gwynnja]

Also... If you don't want or need to rush your opponent and want to expand peacefully, get your copper and/or horses, then REX like mad. Chop and whip out settlers in your capital, build axemen or chariots to escort them and fogbust and scout in your newer cities. The more cities you have the worse off your economy will be, but it's temporary. Research libraries, hire scientists to research currency, then research catapults, then kill your neighbors if you want or need more room. IIRC, prince is the first level that the AI gets research and production bonuses, so that's where they're the slightest. A little planning and diplomacy can go a long way. Remember to specialize your cities, keep your power up, know who your friends and enemies are, and keep them busy. (I personally rarely play this way . I usually wipe out my continent as early as possible THEN REX and cottage spam so that by the time I meet the other continents I have way more land and beakers, but I wanted to present an alternative strategy to war.)

 

[Gumbolt]

I wonder if war with two cities and axes/chariots is a good idea after all. In some cases maybe, but generally it seems slow way to expand. For me it takes always to 1500-1000 BC until the war is over. By then, you have 2 cities and enemy capital, and maybe 1-2 other enemy cities you don't really want to keep (badly placed). And other opponents have claimed best spots by then.

By expanding peacefully, you can have 5 well placed cities by 1000 BC. Sometimes it's possible to have 9-10 cities peacefully by 0 AD (standard maps, continents). With these, prince can be easily won (space, culture) without any offensive war. Science slider drops to 0% but it doesn't really matter as long as you don't go to strike. Libraries & scientists in 7-8 cities are enough to tech some crucial techs (code of laws, currency..) and when cottages develop, slider will go up. Imperialistic trait helps early expansion a lot (cheaper settlers)

And how? Build worker first (workboat if coastal+seafood), tech food techs and then bronze working, improve food resources, grow capital to 4, chop and whip a settler and second settler right away + warrior(s) to escort them. One settler goes to claim bronze/horses, other goes to claim some great city site near your opponent that is likely to go fast. In every city build monument (if not creative), granary, library, and after city reaches size 3-4, build and whip worker/settler. One city builds barracks and then nothing but troops (axes + some spears) that are sent to border cities. My tech line is usually food techs --> mining --> bronze --> mysticism (if not Creative) --> The Wheel --> Pottery --> Writing (for getting this crucial tech, I sometimes have to slow my expanding a bit).

If your not food happy you could go direct for bronze working and chop your way to 4 cities and build axemen then. An early war is not always about beating the AI. If you can make the Ai sit in his capital for 300-500 years and not build a city you can expand more.

I see no reason if you have 3-4 cities why one cant still pump out settlers. Food cities are hardly production heavy.

Although I will admit most of my last few games have not had an early rush. If your boxed in with only 5-6 cities early its sometimes the best option.