Yea im at the point where I generally assume the offer of friendship is a ruse to prevent you from attacking them when they are about to do something that would piss you off, like forward settle or conquer a city state you are benefitting from. I will only accept an offer of friendship from an AI on the othere side of the planet.
How do you typically open the game?
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Spudsie74
Warlord
They do do that...I am afraid I reverted to killing anything in range of my rapidly growing empire. When I meet another Civ, my first thought is, "How can I wipe out this entity?" It's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel (at King/Emperor, depending on Civ & Game Speed). Sad, but it's a lot less work that way! 
EgonSpengler
Deity
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I'm not quite at the point where I automatically and immediately declare war on the first Civ I meet, but close. Generally, the first Civ I meet is a dead (wo)man walking. The exceptions are the Civ who sends a trireme or a scout from really far away, and if I get into a big fight with one of those barb camps that opens a firehose of horsemen and horse archers on me. My early build order is warrior-slinger-warrior-slinger, get the archery eureka, then archery, then capture a couple of cities (and hopefully a couple of civilian units) and wipe out my nearest neighbor. Then I switch to build mode. This is at Emperor, btw.
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If you are gearing up for war, you are missing a trick.... Always check their military might, if its going to be smaller than yours in 10 turns hell, declare war and 10 turns later you often get a nice golden reward.... in the current patch I'll sometimes get a crappy city... which is fine, a great beachhead later.
Its not like you get double war weariness from being in 2 wars.
Art Morte
Prince
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I play either on Emperor (when I feel like playing a bit more peaceful) or Immortal (when feeling aggressive).
On Emperor my first four builds are nearly always Slinger, Builder, Settler, Slinger. There was some talk about Scout starts, but I rather wait a bit before building one. I don't think a Scout is very beneficial right from the start.
On Immortal, well, it seems to me there's a big difference in the AI's aggressiveness between these two difficulty settings. My closest neighbour is always keen on attacking me pretty much as soon as possible on Immortal. On Emperor I can have some peaceful starts. So, when playing Immortal, I usually build two or three military units, then either a builder or settler (depending on the situation) and by that time my troops have usually demolished the attacking AI army and I build a couple more military units and go take their cities.
On Emperor my first four builds are nearly always Slinger, Builder, Settler, Slinger. There was some talk about Scout starts, but I rather wait a bit before building one. I don't think a Scout is very beneficial right from the start.
On Immortal, well, it seems to me there's a big difference in the AI's aggressiveness between these two difficulty settings. My closest neighbour is always keen on attacking me pretty much as soon as possible on Immortal. On Emperor I can have some peaceful starts. So, when playing Immortal, I usually build two or three military units, then either a builder or settler (depending on the situation) and by that time my troops have usually demolished the attacking AI army and I build a couple more military units and go take their cities.
EgonSpengler
Deity
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Ha. Good idea.
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Its the extra warrior that does it more than a higher first impressions I believe. I tend to find having played many of both that its more down to starting position than between these 2 levels, if they are closer they are more likely to attack... but with that extra warrior also.... no brainer
Art Morte
Prince
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Yes, I thought the same, that their higher military strength makes them keener. Initially when I moved from Emperor to Immortal I was caught out a few times, as my Emperor start of slinger, builder, settler left me in trouble on Immortal. As for distance, I've played about 10 Immortal starts so far and have yet to see a situation where my closest neighbour wasn't keen for some fisticuffs.
Bad_Viceroy
Chieftain
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Slinger, builder, settler, slinger... I take it you keep your warrior and first slinger close to your cap for escort and anti-barb duties then at leat initially
Art Morte
Prince
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Yes. My warrior and slinger perform a little circle around the capital to reveal the spot for my 2nd city and deal with the closest barbs. Try to get the Archery and Iron working boosts. The Craftsmanship boost with the builder. If I meet another civ, I can usually guess where they're based even if I don't see their territory yet. I don't feel I need to send out a scout yet. This is on Emperor. On Immortal (or Deity) I build more military.
Ps. It's kinda lame that you don't get the Archery boost if your slinger kills a unit while defending...
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One half of me agrees with you, the other half likes the additional tiny challenge it presents. hence I guess the "kinda" you use I guess.
civtrader6
Warlord
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I'm mostly playing for (quick, below T160) science victory and, regardless of difficulty levels, I now believe that it is essential to either start with a scout or builder/settler combo as it provides the best return.
For far too long, I've been stuck with slinger/slinger opening, especially on deity, without realising the benefits of an early game scout: namely:
* on some maps, having a scout is the only way to hit a eureka for Political Philosophy (how many turns of culture does that save?)
* in most games, the scout will hit at least one goody hut boost (or a builder) that will save you turns of research/science/production
* I can't remember when was the last game I played that the scout did not steal at least one settler, and in most games two or more (I do try to make use of aggressive scouting and wandering into enemy territory) - which is a huge benefit early game.
Additionally, unless there is imminent threat, having an early settler before starting the slinger rush is a must - putting your second city up before T20 is just a huge edge, and will extremely speed up your expansion (through giving back at least 2 extra settlers) once you slot in colonisation.
For far too long, I've been stuck with slinger/slinger opening, especially on deity, without realising the benefits of an early game scout: namely:
* on some maps, having a scout is the only way to hit a eureka for Political Philosophy (how many turns of culture does that save?)
* in most games, the scout will hit at least one goody hut boost (or a builder) that will save you turns of research/science/production
* I can't remember when was the last game I played that the scout did not steal at least one settler, and in most games two or more (I do try to make use of aggressive scouting and wandering into enemy territory) - which is a huge benefit early game.
Additionally, unless there is imminent threat, having an early settler before starting the slinger rush is a must - putting your second city up before T20 is just a huge edge, and will extremely speed up your expansion (through giving back at least 2 extra settlers) once you slot in colonisation.
Bad_Viceroy
Chieftain
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Won my first Immortal game on w/e, had three horsemen and two horse archers on my cap in first 10 turns, not sure builder settler would have helped!
Bad_Viceroy
Chieftain
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Not sure I can fathom winning that quickly at all at this point.
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There is a bit of luck involved including avoiding horsemen that early... if they happen while you are going builder/settler it is possible to survive... for a start the horsemen are only strength 20
Bad_Viceroy
Chieftain
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Yeah, I went slinger into builder but switched out of builder to head back into slingers/archers as they killed my 1st slinger when he found the camp. They also took out my warrior later but that was my stupidity. Wasn't really going for a quick one anyway that time so just played it out.
civtrader6
Warlord
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Happened to me recently on one of GOTM games with Norway. Started with a builder, and then got run by horsemen from S/SE before Turn 10. Went for a slinger and then China DoW on me from North. Then warrior/slinger. Although I did lose a warrior and later a slinger, I've built a settler next, somehow managed to survive and finish with T159 Science victory. I'd say for that victory, the decision to risk and go with a settler before more military - while the attack on me was ongoing - was crucial.
There was however a time or two where this decision ended up with a defeat.
Bad_Viceroy
Chieftain
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Must say I find very frustrating to improve those three early tiles and then see them get pillaged for lack of defences. That said, starting with builder into settler - I sèe the growth power from a tightly packed second city that early but I've never done it as it feels so exposed. Might give it a go, starting with a slinger will be a hard habit to break though and I think it is probably the safest start.
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