Opening Build Order

[iamdanthemansta]

I was wondering what the opening build order of some player who play on Emporer or above are? I've been sailing along on the lower levels but on Emporer I hit a road block when I get out expanded by the AI pretty fast. I was just wondering what some experienced player's build order were on a pangea map.

 

[Mithris]

I have the same problems. On higher levels the ai start with archers + workers and are able to out expand you like crazy. Then you're left with one or two cities while they have 4-5 and eventually they'll attack and crush you . I find myself often giving my start city a slight bonus (an extra flood plain or resource) in order to counter this, but I'd really like to be able to compete without modify a couple of terrain squares at the start.

 

[swimrr]

Worker, chop worker, depending on barbs get a couple military and/or chop a settler. Hope for lots of forests. I usually find barbs to be a serious pain, sometimes on emperor they crush me out right. I almost always play raging barbs so that may be my problem. I also find the barbs hamper the AI though. Tough to hold ground with archers when axes and swords are rolling at you.

 

[Thomas G.]

Sad but true. I have grave problems pursuing other starts on emperor.
Build worker, research Bronzeworking and chop expansion is just so much better.

This is of course even more vital if you have a cramped position, otherwise AIs will take all your city cites.

 

[iamdanthemansta]

I wondering if the best strategfy might not be something like build a worker warrior worker then like 2-3 settlers. THen use all the cities to make an early war to grab a decent amount of land.

 

[voek]

Warrior for fast exploration then worker , hopefully steal another worker, settler (warrior maybe first if i need escort), settle near bronze/horses. Then chop another worker, barracks, axemen axemen, axemen, axemen, maybe a library, axemen.

Sometimes worker first if you have a direct improvable resource in the fatcross. But with pangea I want to map my surroundings fast so I know where my opponents are and where the bronze (horse) is.

Never build more then 2 city's (exc. capital).

 

[Tomb.]

I use two different starts:

but both use the same build order:
worker -> warrior -> settler -> copper (if near, else archery)

if i find copper ill build baracks and axemen/spearmen to attack a non aggressive neighbour like ghandi.

if not or if i am in a more peaceful mood i turtle till construction (building wonders,pressing religions) with 2 or 3 developed cities you can easily take on a 6 city ai (again not aggressive).

pangea in my opinion is difficulter than continents imo. on continents you have enough time and no big threats from other civs, once you cleared your continent.

on pangea you must always be able to counter a potential aggressor (after your first war, when the ai has advanced to the medieval age and your still using archers and try to rebuild to catch up).

 

[Dirk1302]

Is it possible at this level to win without an early war?

 

[voek]

It is possible, several have prooved this. Even without any war at all. But if you want to beat the level I advice start with early war. It's the easiest. I guess a lot of civ players need to get used to the idea you need military first and not building all buildings everywhere. The AI 'lack of warskills' forces human players to exploit this and compensate for the bonuses the AI receives. Another way is diplomacy.

 

[douglas_21]

Can I get a link to a peaceful emperor game win?

 

[Rast]

I'm the odd one out here but I always spam warriors until my city grows to 2 pop, then chop a settler with a kidnapped worker.

Getting a few fast warriors lets me steal my first few workers instead of building them, and if I'm Inca I can actually knock out another civ before BW and get a free 2nd city in a guaranteed good spot. Works on emp too, though getting a 2nd city *that* fast causes maint. problems (on emp, not monarch), nothing killer though.

 

[Roland Johansen]

There does not exist an ultimate starting build order. It depends on your starting position.

It is of no use to start building a worker, when you will not have finished a worker technology when it's finished. It is of little use to rush for bronze working if there are only a few forests around and not a lot of food around your capital for pop rushing. It is of no use to rush your enemy with axes when you are on an island. It is of no use to build warriors to steal a worker when you are on a huge map with your enemy so far away that your warrior will not arrive back before barbarians have killed it and the worker or the enemy workers are defended by too many units.

It can be very powerful to rush your enemy if the settings are tiny pangea. It can be very powerful to research bronze working if there are lots of forests and food resources around for pop rushing. It can be very powerful to research farming if there are two wheat resources near your starting location. It can be very powerful to build a worker and research mining if there is a gold resource in the neighbourhood. It can be powerful to chop some workboats if you start with a number of sea resources.

There is no ultimate build order.

 

[Rast]

While I won't aruge with your points, at the very start of the game most of the things you mention are unknown. Is there copper or horses nearby? Is there another civ nearby? Are you on an island by yourself? There may or may not be a lot of food near your starting city, but is there another site nearby with these resources? You just don't know - that's why I think most people fall into more or less set starting build orders.

Each has its ups and downs though.

There is no ultimate build order.

Very true.

 

[Roland Johansen]

While I won't aruge with your points, at the very start of the game most of the things you mention are unknown. Is there copper or horses nearby? Is there another civ nearby? Are you on an island by yourself? There may or may not be a lot of food near your starting city, but is there another site nearby with these resources? You just don't know - that's why I think most people fall into more or less set starting build orders.

Each has its ups and downs though.

You do know a lot by your settings. So if you play a tiny pangea map or a huge archipellago map should have an effect on your build order. And if you see 4 sea resources with only 1 forest or 9 forest squares and a gold mine should also have an effect on your build order.

Some things might be unknown, but I was trying to refer to things that you know or could reasonably guess. Maybe I was not very clear in that. Allthough we seem to agree in the conclusion.

 

[Tyrant Roger]

As others have said, there is no magic build order on Emperor. Usually, however, I prefer to build a warrior or scout first to allow my capital to grow. After that it is usually worker followed by settler, but this may vary depending on what my warrior/scouts have found about the neighborhood.

And yes, the AI's will build more cities than you during the ancient period. The easiest way to catch up is to borrow some of their cities with axemen, macemen, and catapults.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

Just moved to Emperor myself. First two games had absolutely awesome starts and I couldn't make it happen... lost my first game to a spaceship (didn't even have the techs to build along) and lost the second to an archipelago squeeze... (gave it up after a late beeline to astronomy... the ROTW was at rifling and I still needed gunpowder).

You gotta play tight and fight for an optimal build run early, but you still have to know how to play through the techs, too. I'm not there yet. worker, warrior, settler is a decent start but you really need all three units quick regardless of the order. Certain starts will let you grow your empire completely at the expense of the enemy (no settler or worker required) but that doesn't always happen.

 

[shivute]

workboat or warriors until city is level 2
worker, archer, archer, archer, settler, stonehenge
Chopping as I go

 

[petey]

What I like to do is build a Warrior to start off with and let the city grow to 2 and then build a Worker and a Settler. I send the Warrior off to guard the Settler while building another Warrior/Archer in the city. A decent spot close to my capital is most important to me for the second city and will wait until I have a bit more power before expanding out to the great spot further away.

This allows you to have your units do double duty defending both cities (need roads between them early) so that you can concentrate on building them up and maybe grabbing Stonehenge/Great Wall while you get ready to expand further.