Getting back to the Basics. Your first moves?

[Eddogegr3]

I am still in the Civ 1-3 mentality, City Spam! Then it comes and bites me later.

When you found your first city? What is the first 3 things you build? I generally go (1) Settler (2) Worker (3) Monument.... then I will worry about Defense (I usually nix barbarians as an option). I repeat this until I have about 5 cities. I worry about founding religions right off so I don't get Archery - so I leave my cities unprotected.

Can anyone tell me what they do in the beginning? and if my strategy is flawed? I know each leader has different traits, but I assume the beginning is the same across the board no matter who you are?

 

[LiberiGlacialis]

I found the first city within reach of a few resources (metals take priority over food, which is over luxuries). With barbs on, I usually go Warrior -> Something -> Settler

 

[Seras]

personally i build a few warriors first....i don't build workers/settlers till my city is size 3 and up. i know some ppl will argue that getting a worker out first to chop is the best but i'd rather wait till i have mathematics before i start chopping anyway.

i almost never build monuments and i limit myself to 3 cities untill i get calendar/currency.

oh and don't worry about founding religions...unless you are specifically going for a culture victory it's not that important.

 

[thomson_2001]

depends on the difficulty level. i norm play fairly high so i like to grow first (thus not worker or settler as they prevent growth). monument can be useful to get nearby resources quicker. or barracks as it will be neaded and gives you soldier points which affects your power rating. not to mention the unit upgrades.


so typically (if my civ starts with a scout to run round to the huts):

1- monument
2- barracks
3- warrior

then wait till my city is size 4 before pumping out a settler or worker. this way they are quicker. poss aim for stonehenge also.

but again, depends on the starting techs, the leader traits, difficulty etc. there is ultimately no one right way...just different ways that lead you different paths. thats why i love the game so much.

Edit: i personally think foundig religions is HUGE! the money you can generate is so important later in game (science and fund millitary), not to mention relations with civs with similar religions (spread to them like mad and let them make u money!) . In fact, every game where i found a religion i tend to win or do well. its that big!

 

[Eddogegr3]

personally i build a few warriors first....i don't build workers/settlers till my city is size 3 and up. i know some ppl will argue that getting a worker out first to chop is the best but i'd rather wait till i have mathematics before i start chopping anyway.

i almost never build monuments and i limit myself to 3 cities untill i get calendar/currency.

oh and don't worry about founding religions...unless you are specifically going for a culture victory it's not that important.

For what it's worth, I turn off all victory options except Conquest. But I try to maintain peace until modern times. I rather fight with tanks over horseman.

 

[Eddogegr3]

It kills me to only have a couple of cities for the first several turns of the game. it seems i need to at least establish my territory - even if I am not city spamming.

 

[thomson_2001]

very hard to deal with the maintenance that early in game if pump out loadsa cities. plus your capitol will likely be rubbish thus might miss early wonders etc..which makes later wonders harder . try to aim get your capitol in top 5 cities!

 

[eewallace]

Usually settler/warrior/worker. But if I start with mining, I might start with the worker. Also, if I have fishing and there is seafood, I might do a workboat second or third. (I never build barracks or monuments that early.) I usually try to grow quickly to 3 or 4 cities, then slow down considerably until I get my finances and defenses in order.

 

[Eddogegr3]

So it seems 3 cities max before - things settle down and you can increase. It is so hard though when you have neighbors on all sides.

 

[thomson_2001]

i say 2 but hey, each to own. find having two really good ones beats 3 mediocre but guess its way play. i tend to pump a third out relatively soon after the 2nd though and thats generally the big 3 cultural ones

 

[aberwak]

I usually go warrior/archer, settler, something else (a wonder?), and then a worker... depending who I play as. I might get in a scout as soon as I could if I don't start with one.

 

[thomson_2001]

wonder before worker, i generally like a mine or to chop rush the wonder.

 

[ShannonCT]

1. Worker or workboats to improve resources (especially food).
2. Warriors until population grows big enough to work 3-4 improved resources.
3. Settler.

 

[BENdage]

1. Settler
2. Warrior
3. Worker

unless I can build a work boat and there is a water resource then its

1. Work boat
2. Settler
3. Warrior

I normally go for an early religion and then spread it like mad so that once I get the religios building it can finance my expansion into a stupid number of cities

 

[Merkinball]

What's the aversion to workers? I'll always chug out a worker first. What good are those food resources if they can't be developed? Isn't it ideal to slave pop at level 4 back to three? You need to have 2 developed food resources to make use of maximized slaving and growth correct?

I'm always creating a worker first in order make benefit of local resources.

The first settler will be the third or fourth thing produced. The middle items vary.

 

[Quagga]

Depends on terrain and starting techs.

If I have Mining and lots of forests, then it's research BW and build worker, (chop) worker, warrior, (chop) settler.

If no Mining but have Fishing and some good water food, then build fishing boat while researching Mining, then same as above (unless no forests).

If I have a bunch of flood plain tiles, then I might let the city grow more before building the 2nd worker and settler. I also might go for Pottery before Bronze Working, especially if there are few nearby forests.

Edit: I've been playing Emperor lately. Though still losing, I get ahead in this part of the game. I seem to lose the plot later on...

 

[DilithiumDad]

1. Barracks
2. Warrior --> Garrison
3. Worker
4. Warrior --> Send to second city site
5. Settler
6. Archer --> Send to third city site
7. Settler
8. Granary
9. Library
10. Archer
11. Settler

Larger cities can make settlers must faster than small cities. I let my city get up nearly to its unhappiness limit before I start with settlers. Once I start I make up for lost time and crank them out.

 

[BENdage]

What's the aversion to workers? I'll always chug out a worker first. What good are those food resources if they can't be developed? Isn't it ideal to slave pop at level 4 back to three? You need to have 2 developed food resources to make use of maximized slaving and growth correct?

I'm always creating a worker first in order make benefit of local resources.

The first settler will be the third or fourth thing produced. The middle items vary.

No aversion to workers, but I normally play as germany so the only terrain imps I can build to start with are camp and mine, which normally arent enough to keep a worker busy, so I get the settler first and then the worker has 2 cities to look after.

 

[House Atreides]

i play prince/epic/large on continents or hemispheres.

i generally begin with the same opening. found first city, then settler, warrior and worker. i always go for priesthood asap and make sure to build the oracle first thing in my second city (get it 99% of the time). once oracle is complete, i get COL and found confucianism. i had been building the oracle in my capital after completing the first settler, but decided its better to keep the confucian holy city and oracle in same place(so i dont go popping Great Prophets everywhere).

been playing civ since the beginning, and was used to going crazy city spamming in the previous versions. civ4 took awhile to get used to. the first few times i played, i built lots of cities right from the start and watched my $$ go down the drain. Then i thought that i would only build three cities at most before 0 AD. that usually lead to me getting dwarfed by the AI before i could get my empire going. in the last month, i've been reading lots of posts on here and decided that it would be good to expand carfully, but as quickly as possible. i can usually get 5 - 6 cities at 80% research by 0 AD. i find its helps a lot to found as many religions as possible for the shrine income. good luck.

 

[jray]

The difficulty level makes a huge difference on initial units. I'm currently playing on Monarch, where it's useful to pump out 1 or 2 warriors/scouts first to help beat the AI (with their extra explorers) to some huts and replace your original explorer, who will probably get eaten by a Bear or Panther before too long given the reduced vs.-Animals bonus on Monarch. And it's great to give them plenty of time to get up to 10xp to unlock Heroic Epic early.

I think it also depends heavily on whether you start out with Mining. If you start out with Mining, it's great to research BW while you build a Worker right off the bat (after an initial explorer). Or if you have a killer resource like Gold or irrigated Corn in your fat cross, it's great to get on that ASAP. Otherwise the first Worker can probably wait, timed to pop out when you finish researching the first useful Worker tech.

If on a coast with sea resources, I definitely build Workboats before Workers. I don't start on a Settler until after BW with a couple Workers ready to chop... unless there's a tight competition for a strategic resource.

So every game is different, but here's my most common Monarch opener:

1. One or two Scouts/Warriors
2. Enough Workboats to work all sea resources, if relevant
3. Worker
4. Replacement Scouts/Warriors until Worker is about to finish a chop
5. Another Worker
6. Settler