Fast build out

[BillChin]

I am new to the game, having gotten it for Christmas. I have been playing non-stop since. Mostly starting new games with different civs experimenting with different early build outs.

I have tried all the civs at Monarch level and have a few suggestions for other newbies. Distance from the Palace is a major hindrance to production. At about 15 squares cities, no matter how large, produce one shield.

To counter this, I find the "magic square" to be an efficient build out method. In the early game, the capital can access all the squares within two, except the corners. This is where I build my first cities! Ridiculously close, but there is almost no loss of production or gold. There is also much less risk from Barbarians.

Using this method I can crank out early units, workers, settlers, research, gold, whatever I need. The magic square is almost as fast as using slavery and killing masses of population over time. I have used the slave camps, and it is very effective, but I find it distasteful.

For both the "magic square" and slave camps, these cities become worth little by the end of the first age. What I do is put a temple and a library and maybe a cathedral in these cities and limit the population to 2 or 3.

For slave camps that hurry the production by killing pop, the wheat and cow resources on grass are worth everything. With those I can crank out units every three or four turns. Usually, one slave camp to one resource is more efficient than one city hogging two icons. These cities are not useable later, so I often build a real city next to them to take over after the slave era.

If you choose slave camps, also know that this is a great way to boost production in distant cities, both by killing pop and disbanding units.

Best civs for a fast build are expansionist to scout out the best terrain and industrious for the double fast workers.

 

[Soul_Assassin]

You know, you aren´t actually killing off the population by rushing projects. The people just get pissed and leave your city. Yup, it´s in the manual.

 

[Dralix]

Interesting that you find the whip distasteful. What I find distasteful is having my capital city be less than productive. I have this image of my capital being the jewel of the world, people flocking to view it's marvels. So I would never try your strategy, or the slave labor camps, because it would hinder the growth of my capital

I guess one of the things that is so great about this game is that there is something for everyone. There are just so many ways to play that everyone can play their own style.

 

[BillChin]

Many people have no problem with slave camps. That is fine. Use whatever moral justification you want, it is in the game, and it is an effective way to play. Many of the civs included in the game were built on the backs of slaves so it is a good thing.

However, there are many players who want another way, and the way I have found is a much denser build. As for the capital being the jewel of the civilization, think of the close in cities as suburbs. Every great city, London, Paris, Rome, Cairo, has suburbs (or trading posts or mining camps in ancient times). For players that do not want to interfer with capital production, trim these suburbs down to pop 1 after the initial build out and you can have your cake and eat it too. I prefer this over a civilization built on the back of slaves, but again, other opinions differ.

As for playing without the dense build and without slave camps, that is fine as long as you play on the easier difficulty levels. On Monarch difficulty and above, some creative methods or some major luck are needed.

 

[BillChin]

As a follow up for the curious, I try the "magic square" dense build method on Emperor difficulty and it is effective! So it is goodbye to slave camps for me.

As for specifics of my current Emperor level game, it is random map, standard size. I am German on a small continent with Romans. I have a cow icon next to the capital, but mountains and desert nearby limiting expansion. What I do is shoe horn about twenty cities in a space that an AI player might build six to eight cities. This gives me enough production and unit support to build my army of Horsemen.

The Romans are tough, with Legionaire, unique swordsmen. It usually takes three Horsemen to take out one Legionaire on plains, and about eight for a city. Despite this handicap, my massive attack force of about 20 Horsemen and 5 catapults makes short work of the Roman Legion.

I am out of the first age with 30 cities, no enemies, all without cracking the whip. This on Emperor difficulty with mediocre land and a tough early opponent. So the dense build works. For those reading along, try it, you might like it.