How to play food-poor starts?

[Culture Bomb]

I'm sure you've all seen the kind of starts I'm talking about; surrounded by brown tiles (plains, desert) not many grasslands or floodplains, and few food resources as well. They tend to be quite common on tectonics and great plains maps, but you sometimes get them on other map types as well.

So what's the best way to play these? A cottage economy doesn't seem like a good idea as cottages on plains do not provide enough food, and the grasslands or floodplains you might normally build cottages on might have to be farmed to allow you to work commerce resources like gold mines. Running specialists might be a bit easier, as there are always some food resources, but the general scarcity of food often means that your cities stagnate at a fairly small size (less than happy/health cap) if you take people off working the land to make specialists. Whipping is also less productive as it takes longer for the cities to grow back afterwards.

The one advantage of plains is that unlike grassland and floodplains they produce 1, so if you farm them and work them, the cities will at least have some production (though worse than working good food resource + hill mine) and after biology this can make them quite good.

I know there will be those who say either 'don't settle there' or 'conquer someone else and take their land,' but the first can't always be avoided and the second can only happen after you've used your starting position to build stuff.

 

[TheWilltoAct]

I think some would city spam taking advantage of the fact that each city starts with a 2 surplus.

Founding a city on a tile causes it to generate at least 2 (thus the surplus), which can also help you deal with those pesky hills (assuming you don't need the production).

 

[futurehermit]

Food poor, but production heavy. Could run more of a hammer economy prioritizing alpha/currency to build research/wealth. The conversion isn't good, but neither is the land, so what are you going to do, really?

 

[Gumbolt]

Reroll

 

[mariogreymist]

I also like rushing from a food poor start, assuming I have a strategic resource. Food poor starts are frequently excellent for , making it a good candidate for HE. Usually my neighbor's capital will have better food, making it a better long-term bureau capital when the time comes. A couple of plains cows, some copper and a plains hill can push some serious axes out.

 

[DigitalBoy]

Look to the coast. Seafood will allow for some good cities, and coastal tiles will give you something to work once you've exhausted your food surplus.

Of course, I am also fond of the "find better land and conquer it" approach.

 

[TheWilltoAct]

I dare say every poster has a unique (useful) tidbit of advice

 

[vicawoo]

If only your capital is food poor, expand really quickly (say at size 2) to a high food second city.

If the entire map is food poor, hammers are emphasized and empire wide wonders become even better, like great lighthouse, colossus, sangkore. Hammers->wonders->great people->beakers is also nice.

 

[Riot]

Try not to whip.

 

[Negator_UK]

Chop out a new settler ASAP, go live somewhere more green, possibly with horses or bronze.

Then maybe take better land....

 

[jihe]

lib for biology

 

[McThomas]

Settle at the coast

its very reliable, if your Organized you can pump lighthouses out very fast and get 2 food that way..

 

[Moroktonos]

..."Since Zeus has given leadership to the Persians and, among men, to you, Cyrus, now that you have destroyed Astyages, let us move from this land of ours - for it is little and rocky, too - and take something better than it. There are many lands next to ours and many further off, and if we take one of these we shall be admired for more things. It is natural for those who hold rule to do so. When shall we have a fairer opportunity than now, when we are rulers of many subjects and of all Asia?" When Cyrus heard that, he was not amazed at their argument but said that they should do as they said; but in that case they should prepare to to be no longer those who rule, but those who would be ruled. "From soft countries come soft men. If is not possible that from the same land stems a growth of wondrous fruit and men who are good soldiers." So the Persians took this to heart and went away; their judgment had been overcome by that of Cyrus, and they chose to rule, living in a wretched land, rather than to sow the level plants and be slaves to others.
Herodotos' History (book IX, paragraph 122)

There it is. Advice from Cyrus himself! Straight from the horses mouth. Go kill someone and make them sow the level plants for you. Sometimes I wish he would take it himself instead of sitting around spamming wonders and thinking that he's best friends with everyone. Not that he isn't trutworthy, a relatively reasonable trading partner, and hasn't saved me a million times with his pleased defensive pacts (what's that Catherine? You have enough on your hands? Hey Cyrus... you know how you have that huge army that you're never going to use... how 'bout you help me kill your best friend!)

Maybe you could post a save or something for us to try. As I think the other posters have done well to point out, not every low food start is the same. That, and I hate tectonics maps even if they look cool, so if you do, at least make it a map that has at least one good city site somewhere. Rushing is my favorite solution in gereneral however.

 

[noto2]

Lots of production and little food? Well basically you can use that production advantage to build an army and take someone else's land, or you can use it to build wonders and put those hammers to an economic advantage through the effects of wonders. Which resources you have will help decide this too. Do you have copper/horses/iron? Do you have stone/marble?