NONE settler after 2nd city

[sethos]

My exploring units sometimes find a NONE settler after having founded the first two cities with my start settlers.
Would you build a new city with this settler or would you keep it to build roads and mines?
Or does it depend on a good city site nearby (4 specials, for example- possible SSC).
Please tell me your opinion and your experiences

 

[Hawkster]

Depends on location - if the settler is near to a good resource (or is too far away from start cities) then I would use it to found a city (which is probably 90% of the time).

Only if the settler is close enough to the start cities to get back there quickly and it is in a location I don't want to build a city would I use it for raods etc.

 

[Titi]

I usually keep this settler to improve the land, even if that means "walking back". But it's not a long trip in my games, because most of the exploration is performed by my settlers on their way to build a new city.

The reason is of course that a NONE unit doesn't cost any shield, and a NONE settler doesn't eat...

 

[Sodak]

If I am near enough to my capitol to have reasonable corruption, I'll use him for a city every time. I'll often take the time to first road a square or two, tho.

The saving of 1 or 2 foods each turn over the course of the game is far less than the production a city will net you. When I first played CivII, I usually kept a NON around for free improvement work. Now I never do, the city is so much more valuable.

 

[sethos]

@Sodak
I think so, too. I once had a game where I had 5 cities in 3600 B.C. - advanced tribes. In that game I nearly doubled my personal record - had about 320.000.000 people at the end )deity!).
A city (and the daughter cities) is the seed of an empire ...

 

[knightblk]

i usualy use my second NONE settler for roads etc., and just build new ones for founding cities due to the fact they don't need food or oter resources from your cities, and due to leonardo divinci's (don't rub it in if i didn't spell it right) i end up with a NONE engineer at the end of the game.

 

[Ace]

Since I started playing on Diety a few years ago, I had always kept the second "none" settler to build roads, explore and irrigate as necessary. I used to do this, even knowing that a second city early is important, but the final straw was a review of many games with the conclusion that the second "none" settler is a dead unit in the long run. it is a surefire attraction for barbs. I have even seen them pass up an unprotected new city just to kill the none settler. So, I have become a convert to the build a second city asap group. Well, maybe one or two road hexes to get trade if necessary, than build cities.

Besides, late in the game when you need tons of engineers, you can always put a spy on a transport and go "buy" some from the AI civs!!!

As for a none from a hut, if its far away from core cities, build a new city. If its within range of main group and I have already switched to monarcky, I usually keep it.

 

[Xin Yu]

If close to my capital I'll move the settler back and build a city; otherwise I'll use it as an exploror unit.

 

[sethos]

If it's far away from the core of my empire, I search a good site, build a trireme and two diplos and let them explore the darkness.

 

[starlifter]

For me, it depends. I tend to start preparing a city site, and give high priority to moving/transporting a settler over to the area. In some cases, I do like Sodak & road once or twice, then found.

LOL, like Ace observed, it seems the Barbs like to home in on NONEs, though I don't know if this is actually true or not .

BTW, Sea Barbs will, and do, home in on cities.... any cities (Human, AI, or Barb)... once a city is within 6 squares of a Sea Barb ship.