Optimum Early Growth Strategy

[Crusher1]

I'd suggest one of the following:

1. Worker, warriors to 3 pop, settler, settler, worker or settler, worker, settler
2. Worker, warriors to happy cap, worker, settler/s - my preference with no close neighbors.
3. Worker, Chop Worker, Chop Settler

Reasoning behind my suggestions revolve around: when building a settler you want improved tiles to expedite the process. Starting a settler at 3 pop usually entails 2 improved tiles while working on a 3rd or chopping a forest. This gets you earlier sites but slows down the overall rate of expansion in most cases.

Growing to the happy cap first then adding a worker ensures 5 tiles will be improved + you now have 2 workers to chop out subsequent settlers very fast. So although your 1st and 2nd city are out slower your 3rd, 4th, and 5th, etc. city will be much faster. Works very well if you don't have close neighbors. This method also offers the greatest speed in tech and gives you more time to scout for ideal city sites.

Choice 3 is very powerful with expansive leaders that start with mining and the timing usually works 2 chops into the 2nd worker with overflow from the 2nd into the settler. Then both workers chop 1x and the settler is complete with 4X forest being used.

These guidelines drastically change with IMP leaders, and even more with IMP leaders with different traits

 

[ston]

I don't understand this strategy.

If you don't start with mining, then it's going to take you 21 turns before you can start chopping, i.e. 6 turns after the first worker appears. Let's say you have Ghengis...he doesn't have agriculture so you'd need to tech that to give your worker something to do, pushing back the ability to chop by another 6 turns...there'd then be 12 turns after the first worker appeared before you could start chopping. I guess you could knock a mine up waiting for BW if you don't tech agriculture, but what if the hills have trees on them?

So, what does the worker do for 6 turns...make roads towards the trees? Would it be better to put those 6 turns into a Warrior first?

 

[Shurdus]

I see the merits of growing then starting on workers and settlers, but worker worker settler seems like madness to me. On immortal or even emperor barbs get a little frisky meaning lots of spawning. You won't even be able to settle the settler because traveling is not safe and building a city isn't either.

Maybe this start is higly situation specific? I have yet to see anyone open like this.

 

[MkLh]

I see the merits of growing then starting on workers and settlers, but worker worker settler seems like madness to me. On immortal or even emperor barbs get a little frisky meaning lots of spawning. You won't even be able to settle the settler because traveling is not safe and building a city isn't either.

Maybe this start is higly situation specific? I have yet to see anyone open like this.

I've done that many times in Immortal and Emperor. Barbs are not a problem: you can fogbust with your initial scout or warrior or just trust your luck. I don't remember i've ever lost a settler to barbs.

This is a strong way to start if you have a rich city site (like goldmines & floodplains) near. In commerce poor maps research may suffer.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I truly do have a hard time buying w w settler just because you often have multiple 5+ yield tiles that can be worked. Delaying a 5 or more yield tile for THAT long just to rely on chops to get a semi-faster 2nd city doesn't feel appealing to me normally. If IMP or possibly EXP I might consider it to get the hammer bonuses (and to try to circumvent bad starting techs possibly), but usually I want to work that cow, non-irrigated corn, pig, etc sooner rather than later. Chops can also be applied in strong fashion later, and its not all THAT frequent that you need a 2nd city with such speed.

Compare w w s to say, worker, improve 2 food tiles while growing to 2 or 3 (5+ yield tiles), immediately starting settler after growth, maybe improving another tile or two (or now chopping), etc. Then again, sometimes the techs to get those resources are harder than BW, or sometimes you only have 1 good early viable tile, so it can work on occasion.

 

[zizzeus]

On Immortal level, I agree with TMIT in improving two tiles first. No matter what you do, you will not beat that free settler to his preferred city location, so speeding yours up by two turns or so is irrelevant, provided you do still beat his THIRD settler. Better to improve land and then chop out your expansion.

On Emperor, it's been awhile but I don't recall beating enemy settlers comfortably to the second site. Perhaps it's possible with IMP and/or EXP, and then chop first would make sense assuming you have the techs. Otherwise, improve first.

On Monarch, you should be able to beat their settlers but things will be tight depending on how aggressive you want to be with your settling. Chop first would make sense, unless you don't find anyone nearby.

On Prince and below, weirdly, it makes sense again to improve first, since you can easily beat the enemy settlers out, and would be wasting your classical growth by beating them by 10 turns instead of 3.

This reasoning leads all the way down to Settler level, where some HoF players have shown that it's actually optimal not to settle the initial city AT ALL, and simply scout around popping huts for free settlers. With such a variation, I think everyone should keep in mind that advice is heavily level-dependent, as well as game speed and starting techs.

 

[Crusher1]

Grow to happy cap for better long term settling! If you happen to lose out on a good early site, don't worry because that city will become yours with your 1st war and will have population and improvements waiting for you. I'd rather give up a city site then slow down long term expansion.

 

[oyzar]

Grow to happy cap for better long term settling! If you happen to lose out on a good early site, don't worry because that city will become yours with your 1st war and will have population and improvements waiting for you. I'd rather give up a city site then slow down long term expansion.

This is not so much true in MP... That first city might very well contain the only copper nearby, which then means it is likely that your mentioned first war won't be very much in your favour .

 

[Crusher1]

Who plays MP?

MP = starting position > skill. Human vs AI can overcome but human vs. human with same skill is Game Over.

MP is idiotic for the above reason and = no thanks.

1 player gets 6 hills with 1 gold, 1 gem, 2 irrigated corn, and 1 pig.

2 player gets 1 wheat, not even irrigated with no hills. Yea, MP is fun - NOT.

 

[Krill]

You forget the power of the choke.

 

[Indiansmoke]

You forget the power of the choke.

He doesn't forget, he is just completely ignorant

 

[Seanner]

I skipped a couple pages, so forgive me if this was mentioned...

I've seen some points and counter-points about chopping like 30 hammers now is stronger than 30 later, and improvements more or less equaling chopping over x turns except you still have the forests for wonder-chopping... (inclined to agree with the latter, if you can almost not-chop a starting position as fast as clear-cutting and still have the forests, you have far more potential energy later on..)

But one thing I hadn't seen was a mention of mathematics. If indeed improving resources can be almost as good as chopping, then in fact it's superior, because 30 hammers now is worth 45 hammers later...

 

[oyzar]

Chopping trees right before you descover math isn't a good thing, it is better to wait a tiny bit and then chop afterwards. How long before you should wait and instead improve other tiles depends on what tiles you have to improve and what improvements you have already...