How soon in the game so you build settlers? And what is their first task?

[stwils]

I've never been sure how soon to build settlers. The first three units are militia, right? Then maybe settlers. But then you are faced with whether to have them improve the land or to go out and found a new city.

What do you do?

Are there any good strategy articles on the forum about the early game?

stwils

 

[trada]

I first raise a Phalanx to defend and then a settler.

 

[Judge_Deadd]

I build Phalanx, Phalanx and then a settler.

 

[trada]

Many FAQs on the net say you should raise, like, three militia first but I think it's a waste of time (and resources).

 

[Alex Johnson]

I generally (in my capital) build a defender, an explorer, and a settler. That gives my city time to grow while it builds the two military units. The first thing my settler does is go to the best spot my explorer found. Once I have two cities, the next settler may start building roads, but the biggest priority is to have a second city. Chances are good that starting the game you are a despotism, which doesn't get enough food to grow when there is a settler out there, so you don't want to hinder the growth of your capital. Build a second city and then any "improvement" settler should be built off the secondary city.

 

[trada]

I see two defended cities as the stage to creating an empire. You must get that 2nd city planted ASAP because from there you can create two building/units at once and it gives so much more flexiblility.

 

[nock371]

Yes I also get a defender ASAP, then build a settler to build a second city and then a settler again from 1st city for roads, irrigation etc and a settler from second city to found 3rd city and then next settler from 2nd city for roads etc and so on, after that build a grannery, market place and library to then get my tech's...

 

[MrShadow]

I wait until city is size 4.

The best thing is to have a city dedicated to settler production. A city with good food production can easily support 3 settlers.
You can bring settlers to larger cities and make it it's home city. Building a settler from a size 12 and over city is a bad idea because of the population drop it causes.
Once any of your 3 settlers founds a new city, build another on from you settler-making city.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

It is best to build settlers as soon as possible. The first unit of course needs to be an explorer to reveal the map and allow you to pick you city site. I do not bother with a defender early on. It slows growth down too much.

It is best to make settlers in smaller cities because you lose less food that way. When you build a settler your city size goes down by 1. To grow back you need to fill the food box. The smaller the city, the smaller the food box.

The only exception to the above, is when you are celebrating in Republic/Democracy which causes your city size to increase by 1 every turn. Then, it is best to make the settler in a city with the most amount of excess food so as not to prevent growth through celebrations.