How do you typically open the game?

[Chibisuke]

On deity your opening should involve units to steal settler(s) and building at least 1 settler of your own. If you don't have 3-4 cities by turn 40-50, it will be a very tough, long slog that a runaway AI will have the edge in (except for domination).

 

[EpicWestern]

I've said this is a number of threads but slinger slinger into archery is really the only way to stop certain types of double rushes on deity. Without that you're just accepting a fail-rate.

 

[cazaderonus]

I started a game on deity with alexander this week end. Went slinger\slinger\warrior\builder\settler\encampment\UB\UUx10. This was the only settler i built and i founded only 2 more cities using stolen settlers. I got a TR from a hut, and hard bought a battering ram with gold.

The early encampment\UB gave me the first GG which combined to Alex's UU allowed me to get 4/5 cities from brazil in less than 25 turns. Then Persia got the stick (3 more cities including his capital).

It was a very strong start, especially considering that brazil was #1 in military strength when i DOWed.

 

[TurboJ]

It all depends on the map. On Pangaea you must have scouts. On islands maps you must have galleys. On all maps you need warriors and slingers. Depending on neighbouring civs I either steal or build my first builder. Same with settlers. And in most cases some early warmongering is beneficial to stay competitive. But if you don't play on deity, you have much more flexibility - just make sure you 2 melee 2 ranged troops and everything else you can do as you please.

 

[Securion]

Builder, Settler, Scout, Settler/Units.

 

[Victoria]

One does not have to have scouts.
I play scouts sometime but they are not a must.
If I replace with an early monument I get civics twice as fast, just one example. An extra slinger also helps.

One thing I have noticed with scouts is they upset anyone with the explorer agenda.

 

[historix69]

Early scouting in every direction is helpful to locate neighbours and get in contact with near City States and get their level 1 bonus. +2 Production on units or buildings, +2 Faith, +2 Culture, +2 Science. +4 Gold ... at the very beginning of the game these are nice boni. If you are second to a CS, you still get quests which often include heurekas you do anyway.

 

[Victoria]

If you look back to the early threads I was one of the few defending scouts when all else said they were crap.
I just take the view that there is so much choice early game..... for example

You get 1.7 culture per turn at the start... if you built a monument you more than double your speed getting to governments or other key civics.

I am not saying get a monument... I am saying you choose one thing and some troops at the start ... that one thing is sometimes a builder, other times a scout. I do not believe the value is that clear cut you can always choose a scout

 

[Canadian Bluebeer]

I always do a scout first and send him off to find stuff (goody huts)
Warrior kills things that get nearby (always seems to be a barb camp about)
Slinger next, at least 1 maybe more depending on who I find.
1 builder, then it depends.

Of course, a lot depends on what my scout finds too.
(I love the eurekas and the free scouts)

 

[liv]

I almost never build a scout anymore unless I am playing Germany and feel like I need to take advantage of that scout upgrade card. The warrior will explore as much as possible in the surroundings.
It is just too risky to not build a slinger. There may be camps and the nabour almost always attack early. While finding city states is good I need to survive to be able to take advantage of them. The slingers also need to be out there to catch my nabours settlers.
Usually build three slingers to start maybe 2 and a builder if it looks like I can get away with it or did not raise enough funds to buy the builder.
In some games I do not build that many settlers either. (I usually play continents)

 

[EpicWestern]

Yeah its not that scounts aren't great its just early slingers into archers is just so much more important. In a game where you aren't being attacked or countering (in which case you're building units), you should probably have a scout 4th or 5th in your build order.

 

[Eliminator_Sr]

I will occasionally build a scout first but it's a bit of a gamble (usually for specific strategic reasons like founding an early pantheon via RS). They can be somewhat useful against barbarians once you have the + 5 combat card in place so it's not too risky but I usually find that I do better with slingers and warriors and on highest difficulty scouts don't really help that much with CS bonuses since the AI has so many early units. The ones I manage to find with scouts are usually really close and there's a decent chance I would get that anyway with a unit.

My usual open is 4 to 5 straight military units on Immortal + and probably 2 to 3 units first on emperor with a builder mixed in.

 

[TurboJ]

One thing about scouts is if you play as Greece, you can build like two scouts and keep the 'double experience for recon units' going for a time (since you get an extra policy slot). Then you do early war with one warrior, two slinger/archers and two scouts. If you can get the +20 battle strength promotion for two scouts early enough, you will have a real boost to your melee army. This is relatively difficult to achieve but if you get lucky, you will be surprised how strong the super scouts are as melee fighters. You see, they also get to retreat after they attack... Then once you reach rifling and combine the scouts into a ranger corps, they will beat any musketman stuff the AI can throw at you.

Remember, this is a gimmick rather than a real strategy, but it's a fun one if you can manage it. 3 movement, hill/forest movement penalty removed; move after attacking... In one game I killed infantry level stuff with my super boosted ranger armies

 

[Abraxis]

Often I have been starting with a scout -> slinger -> warrior. Then Whatever follows depends on what information I get. Scouts I find invaluable not just for scouting but for early wars too, If I do start an ancient war I like to have two scouts actually, though I usually get one from a hut. Not only are they great for catching builders and settlers, but they can also be used to quickly get behind a city to encircle it, to screen the movements and exert zone of control for more valuable archers, act as decoys or as sacrifices when needed, pillage improvements/trade routes, and catch an enemies running away with a sliver of health. My success in ancient wars has skyrocketed since I started using them actively in fights. The extra movement they get is just too vital to pass up when dealing with archers, any other unit will get shot to pieces the moment they hit a forest or mountain. Scouts go where they want and do what they please.

They're kind of like cavalry before you get cavalry. I like using them so much I actually wish there were a civ with a unique scout.

 

[Victoria]

Nice, will have to have a play this way

 

[Abraxis]

Make sure to keep an eye on your neighbour's borders with them once you find them and wait for builders/settlers to poke their heads out then declare war and grab them up. It's also the surest way of warning about an incoming invasion and preventing them from expanding anymore cities toward you.
A scout can move two tiles up and then one tile back, a weary AI at peace will often pull a builder away from a border with a military unit one tile away, but not two.
Later on, in war, it seems like the AI often leaves builders and settlers exposed specifically to bait you into moving a 2 move unit into the range of their archers. At first I thought it was bad coding but it happened so often and I'd get punished for it so consistently I think it must actually be very good coding. Except they do not count on scouts
In these situations scouts can move two spaces in, grab the unit and retreat one space turning their trap against them. Now the AI has to move in to retake the unit and expose themselves to your fire or give it up for free.
It sounds like a specific situation but I find it happening very often when you run into these defensive warrior archer positions that are difficult to break into.

 

[WackenOpenAir]

I remember the pre-release discussion on this issue. Some folks were thinking monument first (like CIV V?) would be viable. But every CIV is its own fish. . . .

Its unfortunate a monument is not viable for the sole reason that you must build a (more than 1) unit to kill barb scouts

 

[Abraxis]

I build monument first sometimes up to immortal. It's not a terrible idea, particularly if you find yourself in a naturally defensible position. The sooner you can get those production saving policies the better.

 

[Victoria]

Look, you have time for 1 other thing early, be it builder or scout or monument.
On deity it should be ignored and just build slingers, yes

But despite what some people assume, these threads are not just about deity and warmongers.

 

[cazaderonus]

Scouts are nice. I will build one 2nd or 3rd depending on the geography of the area i scouted with my warrior. I also tend to not build it first because if i get one from a hut, i just do not need 2 scouts.

Slinger first seems like a no brainer in any game : defense vs barbs, eureka toward archery, cheap, quickly upgraded, cheap again.