Minimal number of cities

[yanner39]

Having played a number of Monarch games, it's obvious the AI is a slow techer. I am usually happy if I can atleast get 6 cities in order to unlock the important National Wonders.

I used to get frustrated/concerned when I see the AI surpass me in the number of cities. In my last Monarch game, the AI had more cities, sometimes 3 or 4 more, and I ended up winning and maintaining a nice tech lead (apart from when I warred to get more land).

Those with more games under their belts and more experience could probably answer this: How long can 6 cities (or 7 cities) carry your empire with a tech lead, say ensure you win Lib or get to Rifles/Cannons first? I know for Culture wins, 6 to 9 cities is more than enough. I assume for space, later in the game, the bigger empires could start taking over in terms of tech lead with because the empire is that much bigger and more commerce/more production.

Ideally in a lot of my games, I go into them with the idea that if I can get 6 or 7 or 8 cities(essentially no rexing), developed/specialized them with the proper infrastructure, once I reach Rifles (Rifles/Spies and Rifles/Cannons), I can then get more land and from there decide with VC I would feel more comfortable with. Nothing too complicated or to ground breaking.

I assume that getting Gems/Gold makes a difference, but lets say simple cottages/GScientists to fuel the economy.

The city compoisition I would see would be a nice capital city, 3 cottage cities and 2 production cities. Makes sense?

 

[budweiser]

Having played a number of Monarch games, it's obvious the AI is a slow techer. I am usually happy if I can atleast get 6 cities in order to unlock the important National Wonders.

I used to get frustrated/concerned when I see the AI surpass me in the number of cities. In my last Monarch game, the AI had more cities, sometimes 3 or 4 more, and I ended up winning and maintaining a nice tech lead (apart from when I warred to get more land).

Those with more games under their belts and more experience could probably answer this: How long can 6 cities (or 7 cities) carry your empire with a tech lead, say ensure you win Lib or get to Rifles/Cannons first? I know for Culture wins, 6 to 9 cities is more than enough. I assume for space, later in the game, the bigger empires could start taking over in terms of tech lead with because the empire is that much bigger and more commerce/more production.

Ideally in a lot of my games, I go into them with the idea that if I can get 6 or 7 or 8 cities(essentially no rexing), developed/specialized them with the proper infrastructure, once I reach Rifles (Rifles/Spies and Rifles/Cannons), I can then get more land and from there decide with VC I would feel more comfortable with. Nothing too complicated or to ground breaking.

I assume that getting Gems/Gold makes a difference, but lets say simple cottages/GScientists to fuel the economy.

The city compoisition I would see would be a nice capital city, 3 cottage cities and 2 production cities. Makes sense?

I'm sure you can win space with just 6 cities on monarch and maintain a healthy tech lead while doing so.

If you want more cities than that, build less buildings at first and more workers and military units.

 

[kossin]

The city compoisition I would see would be a nice capital city, 3 cottage cities and 2 production cities. Makes sense?

Don't decide ahead of time. Play the cards you get, not the ones you would like to get.

1 city is enough to win on Monarch (not OCC... there's a guide about 1 city-non OCC space race on Deity somewhere...), anything else is just bonus

 

[Saltydog]

I agree with the above post. One of the things that helped me get to Emperor most was to stop trying to figure out what each city was going to specialize in as I settle them (and sometimes even before I settle them). As they say, play the map. Once National wonders become unlocked you can then decide. Even if it means mowing down a cottage.

 

[yanner39]

Don't decide ahead of time. Play the cards you get, not the ones you would like to get.

Oh yes of course. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. Everything has to be on the map.

1 city is enough to win on Monarch (not OCC... there's a guide about 1 city-non OCC space race on Deity somewhere...), anything else is just bonus

That's pretty impressive. Just to clarify, my goal isn't to stop at 6 cities if I can EX but simply trying to determine whether a minimum of 6 cities is enough early on if land is limited.

 

[kossin]

6 early cities is enough to win any condition as has been shown in many walkthroughs on the forum. The moment you unlock your national wonders, you're pretty much guaranteed a way to win if you can keep up in tech (or shoot ahead).