Expansion Tip--Outside In!!!!! (Or: What I wish I would have known a few days ago!)

[Mano3]

Originally posted by RobertBaratheon
i havent tried your theory but im not sure how it would work. the ai tends to walk right through my land, at any point in the game, even without right of passage. telling them to stop results in them promising to leave and then continuing on their path. the only solution is to block them with units, if they find themselves blocked they usually turn around. barring that, settlers will treat my teritory like their own.

That's my question. The AI just barges in and will build anywhere there is enough land to do so. If you don't have enough units to halt their movement, then what do you do? Going to war could be dangerous with your cities extended out to the enemy border.

I've gotten so fed up eith the AI doing the above, that I go to war very soon so that my map of my land is just my color.

 

[Sadseh]

I think that the computer only sends settlers across one's territory when it has exhausted all other directions of expansion. This is bound to happen early if the computer starts at the edge of the continent.

 

[Ribannah]

Butsam,

This tactic is always suboptimal.

First of all, your faraway cities aren't that productive.
Now, at lower levels (which for you includes Regent ), it's much easier to build from the inside out and simply conquer or destroy the border cities that you encounter (or they will flip to you).
At higher levels, the AI will conquer your outlying cities (or they will flip to them).

A good reason to build an outside city first would be the presence of a resource or luxury, or to create a beachhead for a future invasion. But that will be a single city, and therefore easy to improve and defend.

 

[dreamvirus]

I'm not sure this tactic would work on Emperor or beyond. On deity the AI is out-expanding you so fast due to their extra settler and other bonuses that you can't afford the time to send your settlers all that extra distance. You will lose turns and turns of productivity and growth that you would have got from building your cities sooner and closer, the faraway cities will take ages to connect up with roads, and corruption will be way too high. The AIs will simply walk through your borders with their settlers as had been pointed out, and you won't be able to ask them to leave because the AIs will declare war, because they have so many more military units than you and are more aggressive.

On the high levels it's a much better strategy to build your core cities close and focus on getting iron hooked up or building a big stack of archers, for example. Then you don't have to worry about the rapid AI expansion encroaching on your borders. Those cities will be YOUR cities when you decide to attack!

This strategy is probably excellent on lower levels. Plus I should say that you can use this strategy in places on the map where it's appropriate. I'm playing an Emperor game with the Bablyonians where I am on a long peninsula with my capital far away from the part where the peninsula connects to the rest of the continent. If I hadn't sent a settler and a couple of warriors to block off the entrance to my peninsula I would have lost lots of land and some resouorces to the Egyptians. So it's a useful thing to do, I just wouldn't recommend it as a total opening strategy on the higher levels.

 

[Chieftess]

You have to remember that this is a *REALLY REALLY OLD* article. (Look at the date of the first post). In C3C, I believe that city order affects corruption (see alexman for more info ), so it might not be as effective.

 

[Arklain]

I have found that this only works some of the time! Most times the computer will just walk right through my borders! It doesn’t help to tell them to get out ether because instead of moving back to their territories they just jump forward to the open land! So it’s like giving them free movement or worse you get your self into a war you are not prepared for! I found that it is more difficult (at least for me) to evenly space my towns (4 spaces in every direction with no over lapping) when filling in the hole! Also spreading you self out to thin can leave you in a world of hurt if you are not careful!

 

[microbe]

This probably works at low levels (the original post says Regent), when AI expands very slow. At Monarch or above this in general doesn't work (unless there is a choke or sth like that). You'd leave yourself a horrid territory with AI settling in the middle.

So forget about this strategy. It is not only not applicable at higher levels, it also means your first few towns have high corruption so it's not worth at all. Expand from your core and settle good spots and resources.

 

[Choffy]

At emperor+, I found corruption to high in cities far from Capitol. I can't afford that. First build 4 / 6 cities around you capitol to have a few good cities with improved tiles.

Meanwhile you have time to discover the map and find great spots to settle a few cities far from capitol (choke point, ressources or luxuries).