initial build strategy

[Brewster]

I always try to get a few units to discover the lands around my start position before building a granary and producing settlers. The key to outpacing the AI at the start of the game is to micromanage your cities. Get one city producing settlers (usually the one with the most food bonuses) and have your other cities creating militay units and workers.

A good article on early game expansion is Bamspeedy's "Babylon's Deity Settlers". This walkthrough shows some of the finer points to micromanaging your growing empire.

 

[benstandby]

OK, I'm a Veteran of Civ, Civ2, and I play a lot of Civ3 (on and offline). This is how I start. Of course, its flexible, but it's similar each time. This works on all but diety.

In a perfect world:
1) Barracks
2) Warrior--> finds a suitable city location
3) Settler---> makes a coastal city (city 2) w/ balanced resources
4) Spearman
5) Settler---> builds a "settler factory"
6) Troops & improvements
NEVER BUILD A WONDER IN YOUR CAPITAL DURING THE EARLY GAME; YOU NEED THE FLEXIBILITY OF PRODUCTION THAT A POWERFUL CITY PROVIDES!!

City2 builds:
1) Temple
2) The Collossus
3) troops (after mapmaking, boats mostly) and improvements that augment the above-mentioned wonder

Settler Factory builds:
1) Granary
2) guess...

This works, let me tell you. From this point on, each city must have a focus (food, shields, or cash)
Happy Civing

 

[Chutney]

Warrior
Warror
Warrior
Granary
Settler
Warrior
Settler

etc, etc, throw in a temple

Mind you I'm playing on Warlord, probably get my clock cleaned on higher levels

 

[Norlamand]

I'm glad to see that there is so little concensus on the right path to take. It speaks to the complexity and flexibility of the game that so many paths can lead to victory. In non-MP games I generally play at least regent and have the following build pattern:
warrior - explore
warrior - explore (and meet first settler at good site)
warrior - defend
settler
granary
warrior
settler

If I can I use my first few settlers to block strategic choke points to delay AI expansion and to grab strategically important ground (high food or production lands, lux and iron). Once I have established 3-5 cities to define my empire limits I work earnestly to fill all the gaps with cities. Early cities beyond the capital get assigned work orders based on what they can best do [usually a settler/worker factory (builds granary) or a military factory(build barracks)]. If I can successfully avoid war with my neighbors for the early expansion I usually win the game.
No temples or other improvements until the expansion phase is done. I rely on a rapidly build road network to whatever lux are available. If I have none temples come earlier. Flexibility is key, every game requires a different approach.

 

[bewareofgnomes]

my build order, which works on deity for me, is very simple.

Warrior
Warrior
Pre-Build Granary
Settler
Warrior
Settler

IF i have a food rich capitol, then i dont build the warrior inbetween. i also like to setup a worker factory and a military factory. it works very well for me

 

[mreineck]

I've found that if I can take out one civilization pretty early (usually before they can build more than 2 or 3 cities) and capture those cities intact. This give me an edge in production and resources that I can hold for the rest of the game if I decide to play a peaceful game. Usually I take them out before anyone knows anbout them so no one is mad at me. And if I don't play a peaceful game I'm in the best position to produce military units.

 

[dreamdeferred]

I tried the warrior warrior warrior granary strat on regent, and it worked great. I out expanded the AI until I got immortals. Hehehe. Then I stopped building cities, and starting taking them.

 

[Arturo]

Wonderpup - great post. It helped me (an untra-green novice) heaps!

Where can I find the Pope Strategy you mentioned? I searched and searched (and searched) but no luck.

 

[kb2tvl]

Depending on what food bonus you get, I try to get a warrior -> granary ->warrior ->settler.

Anyway, I try to place my city where I initially start but I may move the settler one tile to pull in a luxary or food bonus. So, I move my worker and see if there is a slightly better spot one move away.

Once I have my city, I irigate the food bonus and all food bonus near the city. Floodplains also get irigated. In any case, you don't need more than 3 irigated food bonus/flood plains.

ok, my first tech is pottery or if im expansionistic I go for alphabet.

Now, in typical start the path is warrior ->warrior ->granary -> settler. Where I have a ton of food, I may go war -> war -> settler.

In any case, chop down trees and get that granary up and you will find that you can keep up with the other civs.

 

[sampedestal]

i use this strategy on warlord... its fun but i haven't been able to use it effectively on higher levels.
1. play as persians
2. toggle off culturally started locations. otherwise, ur always near the greeks and early wars drag on.
3. build right away. if ur in a bad location, restart.
4. good location=at least a couple squares of grassland, not a lot of mountains, no jungle/marsh
5. as far as research goes, start with alaphet and work towards literature. u can buy everything else from other civs. keep the science rate as high as possible and use barbarian tribes to get the extra cash.
6. explore with worker. if what he finds doesn't look good, restart.
7. build warrior and send him off in the opposite direction
8. start building settler
9. when the worker finds a good city spot, start building a road back to the capital
10. finish settler and build city.
11. spearman in capital, warrior in new city
12. explore with new warrior
13. have worker build road to another good city location
14. as soon as u can, build settler and go there
15. find another civ and start expanding in their direction. expansion must be aggressive; the less land they get, the better. if theres civs in multiple directions, expand towards the closest or the best land. ignore the ones with lots of jungle or mountains between u and them.
16. once ur borders meet, fill in everything else with cities.
17. get iron working from someone and build immortals. lots of them too.
18. bully a bordering civ into giving up money and then declare war. this usually happens to me around AD 1-100. u must have enough immortals to make it a swift war, or else ur in trouble. once u start the golden age, switch everything's production to libraries.
19. if the war is over quickly, u've bascially won the game. go after ur next neighbor, and ur next neighbor, and ur next neighbor...

 

[JMK]

CIV 3 and PTW up to Deity, Standard Map size, Continent.
Although you can find some exception, my build order is not very different from many other players:
Warrior sent out for scouting (if no hut within the 21 tiles) Otherwise I will start by barrack or Temple or Granary whatever is available.
Warrior sent out for scouting
Warrior stays home
Granary
Settler
Then I like to get another Worker now, but this will depends on how much food I have. Second worker may have to be built from my new founded city.
Warrior
settler, Warrior, Settler ....
I also try to build an early Temple between two settlers (IMO, i think that early culture is very important especially at high level).

 

[sorky]

Yup, when you aren't expans. and there's a hut in the 21 tiles, a temple first is very great for culture. 4culture points after few turns

I used to do like JMK but it depends on the situation. In a 5CC without barb I build the first military unit when my 2nd city have the barrack to do it ^^
No scout, no defend against AI rush... but it pays on the long term if no war is declared.
With the world map tradable with Navigation, early scout is not *so* great (it is but less than before)

 

[PoweredBySoy]

I notice a lot of you guys pump out the granary very quickly....sometimes within the first three.
How do you get the tech so fast?
If you crank science to 100%, is it possible to research pottery this fast, or are you guys just using Civs that start w/ pottery (not that I know of any that do this)?

 

[yoshi74]

Yes, pottery is often researched at max when its not already known. With some luck it can be traded for early, but that means a close neighbor, not always a good thing.

 

[JMK]

I notice a lot of you guys pump out the granary very quickly....sometimes within the first three.
How do you get the tech so fast?
If you crank science to 100%, is it possible to research pottery this fast, or are you guys just using Civs that start w/ pottery (not that I know of any that do this)?

Pottery is very cheap Tech to research, time to research will vary but you will get it (even playing Deity on huge map) while you are building your 2 or 3 first warriors. if not a prebuild will assure a fast granary once Pottery is found.
You can also get Pottery from trading.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

if not a prebuild will assure a fast granary once Pottery is found.

Might I ask what a 'prebuild' is? Is the the same as hurrying production?

 

[JMK]

Might I ask what a 'prebuild' is? Is the the same as hurrying production?

Let's give an example you already built 3 warriors and still need 6 turns before getting Pottery, and you do not want to build anything else than a Granary.
Then comes the PRE BUILD, so you start building something that require at least 6 turns before completion, and when Pottery is discovered, you change your build order to Granary. All shields that have been produced during the past 6 turns are being used towards the Granary.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

Let's give an example you already built 3 warriors and still need 6 turns before getting Pottery, and you do not want to build anything else than a Granary.
Then comes the PRE BUILD, so you start building something that require at least 6 turns before completion, and when Pottery is discovered, you change your build order to Granary. All shields that have been produced during the past 6 turns are being used towards the Granary.

Aahhh...I see, I see.... Nice. I've done that to an extent in my games, but never really thought of it as a strategy or knew that it was referred to as 'prebuild'. I'll have to start actively using this more. Thanks.

 

[sampedestal]

i've noticed a lot of people tech advance rather quickly. despite building libraries/universities in city where they'd make a difference and setting the science rate to 90%, i'm only a hundred years or so ahead of real world history (i.e. gunpowder in 1200 or so). what am i doing wrong?

 

[sorky]

It's not the player who tech advance quickly, it's the AI at the upper lv. Player just buy and trade tech from AI to AI with the science rate at 0%, or focus science on very few tech in the hope to have it before AI (hard to do ^^).
You have to know which tech AI don't focus on, ie Math->currency quickly for example.