Hi, Im playing on noble and I always tend to be shut in by some major computer. this means he's got like 10 cities against my three and they've all pretty much got the same or better levels on em. What do i need to do to prevent getting so few cities without building to many and still be able keep decent quality in thouse I have?
How to Counter
- Thread starter Punkatt
- Start date
thadian
Kami of Awakened Dreamers
Attempt to expand early, your first 3 cities should be placed on 2 ideas: Resources and Spacing. If you have an AI up your wazoo in the begining, it will probably try to "build you in" with cities. to counter this, place your own cities in a fashion that "blocks" them from doing so. It is ok to have 5 cities before you research CoL and currency. Look up some threads on "ReX" which means "Rapid Expansion" of your early cities, followed by building courthouses and markets to stabilize your economy. If an AI is too close...
you can "Choke" the AI, where you send in 2-3 warriors or an archer and a warrior to DoW and steal a worker, then move to a forest/hill/forested hill next to their city to prevent it from building. Normally the AI will stupidly build warriors and by the time they can retaliate you have 5 cities, and can peace them.
The important thing is to build a city or 2 "in the way" of where the AI will need to go in order to block you in. you can "fill in the space" later. Otherwise, if it isn't too late, you can give techs to incite a mass war. this lets you wait until the AI abandones the cities on your peaceful border to attack its other enemies, then you suprise strike.
you can "Choke" the AI, where you send in 2-3 warriors or an archer and a warrior to DoW and steal a worker, then move to a forest/hill/forested hill next to their city to prevent it from building. Normally the AI will stupidly build warriors and by the time they can retaliate you have 5 cities, and can peace them.
The important thing is to build a city or 2 "in the way" of where the AI will need to go in order to block you in. you can "fill in the space" later. Otherwise, if it isn't too late, you can give techs to incite a mass war. this lets you wait until the AI abandones the cities on your peaceful border to attack its other enemies, then you suprise strike.
PureE
Nothing but E
it could also mean you're doing too many things before your first settler. Keep in mind that barbarians that can enter your borders arrive late(r), so you don't need a lot of defence at the start. Also keep in mind that settlers hamper city growth, so don't let your city start by building a settler, because it will take to long.
Usually, I will start by building a scout and an archer, than a worker and by city size 4 I build a settler (may vary, depending on resources and all that).
edit: this is on monarch. You may find you have a bit more time on noble.
Usually, I will start by building a scout and an archer, than a worker and by city size 4 I build a settler (may vary, depending on resources and all that).
edit: this is on monarch. You may find you have a bit more time on noble.
thadian
Kami of Awakened Dreamers
You can also get a city to 4, then whip/chop the settler. If you NEED defense, you can always prod a worker when the settler is 50-60% done and "stagger" your settler build like so.
silk1976
Building empire
I've been finding that on non-custom maps (the Play Now! option, where you dont choose the # of civs you are playing against), I do better by either warrior or axe rushing the nearest opponent (depending on distance and whether it looks like they have hooked metal or not), and capturing their capital city.
Their capital city locations are usually pretty good - oftentimes second to my own capital city. So I get a really good free city out of it, some warriors or axemen that can then double as defense against barbs, and I lose a neighbor who would otherwise end up cramping my style.
(This is on noble - results may vary on higher levels. I have no experience to comment on that).
Their capital city locations are usually pretty good - oftentimes second to my own capital city. So I get a really good free city out of it, some warriors or axemen that can then double as defense against barbs, and I lose a neighbor who would otherwise end up cramping my style.
(This is on noble - results may vary on higher levels. I have no experience to comment on that).
thadian
Kami of Awakened Dreamers
on Monarch, it's harder because if i am right they get that free archer. you can do something different though, as i mentioned in choking.
send 2 warriors to a forest or hill (pref a forested hill) next to their capital immediately, and fortify it. it will be a while before they fight your stack and instead of REXing, they will build an army. then, once you can get a second-third city, peace them. at this point, they should be well crippled.
on emperor, they get multiple archers, workers and settlers free! i don't know any way to approach this, because when i finish my first warrior, i usually have to pre-start a barracks, let city grow to 3 then build a worker, finish the barracks and use the overflow to chop a settler. even then, i am unable to get good grabs.
send 2 warriors to a forest or hill (pref a forested hill) next to their capital immediately, and fortify it. it will be a while before they fight your stack and instead of REXing, they will build an army. then, once you can get a second-third city, peace them. at this point, they should be well crippled.
on emperor, they get multiple archers, workers and settlers free! i don't know any way to approach this, because when i finish my first warrior, i usually have to pre-start a barracks, let city grow to 3 then build a worker, finish the barracks and use the overflow to chop a settler. even then, i am unable to get good grabs.
QuixotesGhost
Warlord
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2005
- Messages
- 272
It could also mean that he's doing too few things before his first settler.
Your priority early game is quickly improving tiles and working them. You almost always want to get a worker (and often two) out before your first settler. Techs that allow you to improve and work tiles, such as animal husbandry, agriculture, or mining, are a priority. Early Religion can hurt a LOT because it often means delaying these vital techs. Generally before your first settler you want to build two things (not necessarily in this order).
1. A worker or two.
2. Something that isn't a worker or settler that will allow you to grow the city to around size 3 or 4. This something can be an extra warrior, a fishing boat, or even a cheap early wonder such as Stonehenge or the Great Wall (it's advisable though to supplement your production through chopping forests if you go for a wonder).
It's no use building a settler for a new city if you don't have the workers to quickly improve the tiles around the new city.
For new cities, you want to take advantage of the two methods of hastening production in the early game: Slavery and Chopping forests. If possible you should always attempt to whip or chop the monument and the granary instead of relying on the production of the city to build it slowly. A note on slavery that a lot of newer players don't realize: generally slavery is more efficient the more citizens you whip at once. If you whip two citizens at a time instead of one, you get double the production but still only the single happy-face. Just make sure you have the food to grow back your city quickly.
Also on Early Defense, you want to try to rely on either axes from bronze-working or chariots from animal husbandry. What makes archery inferior is that while animal husbandry allows you to start herding, and bronze working allows you to chop and whip - archery gives you nothing but archers. It's better to try to hook up horses and bronze early then delay your tech for hunting and archery. Your other barb defense option is the great wall - and the great wall gives you a really handy early Great Spy; making it better than archery too. Also learn how to use your warriors with the terrain intelligently to fight early barbarian archers. Fortified in forests/hills - Forested hills if possible, and across rivers even.
I'm just taking some stabs in the dark though,
How bout you tell us exactly what you build until you get to your first settler and what your early teching is like?
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