Land Quarentine

[MikeEdward]

I didn't know if this was a standard strategy/best practice, or just some odd thing that I do: when settling land, I use the cities settled to cordon off large swaths of land, i.e., making a b-line from one coast to the next, forming a contiguous strip of territory the prevents the AI from crossing, and settling the rest of the peninsula or continent.

Is this something other people do (if that makes sense)?

 

[glokkonn]

Sounds good in theory.

How does it work in practice ?

 

[nealhunt]

Depends on the geography but if it is possible, absolutely.

Usually I only push for it if it is a narrow strip that requires no more than 2 cities. On higher levels if you don't start with a metal resource nearby getting that is more important than just about anything and the AI outbuilds you so much that it's tough to have the time to block off anything larger before the AI gets there.

If you ever play the Earth Map, there are many tight squeezes to box in opponents with that strategy.

 

[Hans Lemurson]

Yes, it does work, as demonstrated by this rather famous game: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=133492

Get a solid line of culture (easiest for creative civs), and keep your borders shut. They can't go through it, and can't sail around it (assuming your borders cover the coast), so they are stuck.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

That would have worked beautifully for me once if the Barbarians wouldn't have gotten axemen before I could get my copper hooked up...

 

[Pbhead]

i love that stratigy, and i have used it in pervious versions of civ also.

 

[NightReaper]

Ack, I just tried that on one of the last games I played.
Sectioned off a large peninsula from a large pangaea map and 3 barb cities poped up on it

 

[obsolete]

It works on easy levels (as most any strategy does). But after Monarch you run into serious problems. It is too costly to spread towns around early (and even later across distances). Also the AI will just end up declaring war on you if your territory is in it's way. And you will be LUCKY if it's only one AI that comes at you and kills you.

 

[The Lardossen]

You will always will have to build your stack of Axemen.

Seal off one part with one or two cities, which is easier to defend, and try to conquer a few cities the other side.

Now you have choked one side (only border penalty at most), and reduced the other side. Fill in on coastal city sites, then sites very close to AI while not crushing your economy (you should have found CoL by now with your pillage money) and open borders, then settle the best spots inland. Watch those AI settlers walking into your borders, close them before they get dropped on the other side of your cultural borders.....

If you've done well your economy starts picking up, you can research one or two techs the AI doesn't have and backtrade for the ones you didn't research, and then try to slowly pull ahead.

 

[civzombie]

I also use the geography of the landscape to f%^* my opponents. I call it f%&*ography.

At the beginning of every game, I evaluate the geography of the landscape including mountain ranges and oceans. I look for mountain passes, ithmuses, chockpoints, etc. Next, I use that geography to f%&* my opponents by using two quick cities to seal off a bunch of land and claim it for myself.

Sweet sweet f%&(ography, it is one of my favorite strategys.

 

[Hans Lemurson]

Only works in single-player, against the helpless AI. Anybody with half a brain would just declare war and march through your borders as they please, burning and pillaging, since you sacrificed early development for the quarantine.

But most of us just play against the AI, so it's not too much of a matter.

 

[Pantastic]

I tend to use it in a limited form, settling some front areas to block off a bit of 'later expansion' land. I find that as you up the difficulty slider, building more cities spread farther hurts your economy more, it's harder for a non-cultural civ to do 'unnatural' explansion and get stonehenge/obelisks/religion in place before someone slips through, and I tend to like open borders for the diplomacy bonus. It's also a very catastrophic strategy, if someome does pop a city down that 'opens the door' to your closed off area, you went through a lot of effort for nothing.

 

[Howitzah]

It works fine but be careful; the AI WILL make ships and try to go around, so don't just let it sit, thinking you have that land secure.