How fast should I try to expand?

[Ultimate_Waffle]

I'm having trouble figuring out the best speed with which to expand. I want to expand fast, but not too fast that my empire starts losing too much money. I'm playing on an archipelago map if that makes any difference.

 

[The Navy Seal]

Well one tip is sometimes if you expand fast in the beginning even if it costs a bit in the end when your cities mature you'll be doing pretty good later on.

 

[LuckyAC]

Well, people give a general 60-70% science rule. However, obviously it varies by how competitive it is for space. If you have a continent to yourself, you are in no particular hurry, while if there are crucial resources or blocking spots, you should grab them even if it hurts your economy.

 

[Helmling]

It depends a lot on difficulty level, who's around you, what resources you have, commerce, your goals, etc.

On huge maps with 18 players, I generally expand quickly to about 4 cities and then start nurturing those. I like to get to eight cities eventually because that's the magic number of theaters, courthouses, forges etc. for the national wonders. Those other four can be tucked into my territory, settled on islands or um, "acquired" from my neighbors.

 

[Carnage04]

Since I've started playing Monarch, I've found that you have to expand quickly or you will get boxed in completely. It stinks when you feel you are ready to drop that fourth city and your options are bumping up against a more cultured enemy city or resource sharing with one of your own. Before that, You can take a slower approach to expansion.

 

[InFlux5]

Well I think it's a given you want your 2nd city ASAP, on any difficulty level. The question is how fast to expand beyond your first 2-4 cities.

60% is a good baseline. You will want to stray from the baseline at times, but do it temporarily with a plan on how to get back to it.

When considering a new city, ask yourself: how will I pay for it? Obviously if you are running a surplus at 80% you can afford a new city. But even if you have to drop below 50% for a bit while you bring the new one "online", it may very well be worth it in the long run.

This is where good planning comes in. It's ok to strain your economy for a city that you can see will ultimately be an economic powerhouse (lots of food, a gold mine, etc.) If, on the other hand, you foresee a new city being a production site, you have to make sure that your other cities can generate the cash to support it.

So as a rule of thumb, while running at 60%, I will hinder my science if I see a juicy city spot that I know will pay for itself before long. Otherwise, I will only expand if my economy is producing surplus.

 

[r_rolo1]

Ultimate_Waffle, you said that normally you play in archipelago maps. In that kind of maps ,if I can , i try to build the Great Lighthouse and the Collosus. If you do that, the combined effects of those wonders will allow to have a lot coastal cities almost paying them selfs right from the start. And more cities = more production + more $ (or €,£,etc) = bigger and better army = easier victory.
This strategy works extremely well with Ragnar, but is doable for almost every ocasion ( the AI do not prioritize these wonders)

P.S Use the 60% rule of thumb. It's useful.

 

[Ultimate_Waffle]

Thanks for all of the nice tips people . I also find using Julius Ceasar as my leader works well on these types of maps. He gives -50% civic upkeep and halves the production cost of lighthouses (so you can get the great lighthouse even faster). The +100% great general emergence and the 50% faster production of settlers is quite nice as well.

 

[Silver Marmot]

In my latest game (standard size, on prince) I hit a 0% research rate for a couple turns and still managed to pull off a domination victory. By the time I won I was running 100% with a small surplus.

 

[cabert]

In my latest game (standard size, on prince) I hit a 0% research rate for a couple turns and still managed to pull off a domination victory. By the time I won I was running 100% with a small surplus.

It's very usual for me to spend time at 0% research on 2 or 3 occasions in a game :
- very early (after expanding, before pop growth of my newest acquisition right or before culture expansion over this nice gold mine)
- during a conquest (running 50% gold and 50% culture to prevent WW while I finish off Brennus)
- in the final stage of the game (running 100% culture to get the cultural win or just the few missing tiles for domination)