Questions about my newb strategy!

[rladngus]

I noticed that whenever I started a game, my settlers are positioned near a water source, which means lots of 'Fresh Water' tiles. Because my city grows, I need food to support the population, so I always start out building lots of farms (no cottages and mines unless there's a gold/silver/iron/copper source nearby). Usually, I build no cottages at all until I found a new city.

Should I change this and build a mix of cottages and farms at the beginning? Or should I automate all my workers? (most of my friends disapproved this strategy at the beginning of any game).

Thank you for your help! (Please do post extra tips and strategies regarding this issue)

:://NOTE//::
Some of you might think that I'm just wasting this thread away because there's a stickied thread wherein dozens of expert players have posted tons of tips, advices, and new strategies. Of course, I've read them (not all of them!) But I just can't seem to find anyone talk about anything regarding my issue. So, please do not think of this thread as a spam.

 

[fuzzynutz]

I know for sure everyone will say don't automate workers.

 

[Jtownsend]

Very shorter version? You probably want to spam cottages on river tiles so long as you can maintain growth without using farms. But there are a lot of details.

I think, in spite of what you said, that Sisutil's strategy guide for beginners would be an excellent thing to read; it cleared up a ton for me.

You don't need to spam farms to 'support' your city because of its growth; growth is a product of food surpluses so you're actually 'exacerbating' growth, if you are considering it to be a bit out of control. How many farms you do has largely to do with whether you intend to pursue a "Cottage economy," a "Specialist Economy" or something in between; mass farms are typically part of the latter, which is a somewhat more complex and managed strategy that I haven't tried yet.

As a beginner it's typically a good idea to only develop very useful squares for food - such as seafood and special food resource tiles - unless your city is very unlucky in terms of food.

There are other considerations, like growing tons of population only to whip them to death using the slavery civic, but you didn't mention that as a particular strategy.

 

[Sjaramei]

If your capital have lots of food, cottaging a couple of riverside grassland tiles can speed up your research a lot. In my games i usually will do both cottaging and farming in my capital. (my first Great People is born in the capital 90% of my games)

But deciding what to do depends on your city site, sometimes you get plains and sea food, and cottaging it might not be the best idea. Riverside and good food is always worth cottaging early. Just don't cripple your growth too much by it

 

[rladngus]

Sisutil's strategy guide for beginners

Thanks for that Link! And sorry that I talk too much... that's just one of my weirdest habits yet.

 

[rladngus]

Thanks Sjaramel!

 

[Jtownsend]

Oh, by "shorter version" I meant "Build cottages" was the shorter version of my spiel about the different options you have; as a beginning strategy cottages are great, especially with Financial leaders.

SJ's point about location is also quite valid; if you get a totally non-riverine start but you're next to a clam or a wheatfield, by all means get the food resource first rather than not developing the area at all. But unless you're going for a specialist economy it's almost certainly a good idea to plant cottages ASAP to get them developing and speed tech. Building them in the right location (with <2 food) keeps growth from stalling when you're getting early pop to work tiles and build settler(s).

I'm quite new to the game and the thing that strikes me most is the extent to which different strategies for early expansion apply to different start locations; merely appling the nostrums of ICS is apparently very sub-optimal.

 

[DaveMcW]

My general plan is:

1. Improve all resources in the capital.
2. If very resource-poor, build a couple mines.
3. Build 2 settlers and 2 more workers.
4. Build cottages.

 

[Verge]

In general, I improve resources then build cottages at my starting location. If lacking resources or land tiles, then I'll consider turning my capital into some other specialty.

 

[Defiant47]

3. Build 2 settlers and 2 more workers.

The order of which is pivotal to success, and undoubtedly not in that order.

 

[Bleys]

One of the primary reasons for cottages in your capitol is the very strong civics that take advantage of it. Running farms in other cities with strong "farming areas" (like floodplains, grass-river tiles, etc) allows you to run specialists there, if you choose, or whip more aggressively, but a few cottages and mines/hammer rez in your capitol is very good when you run Bureaucracy.

 

[eewallace]

How many farms you build in your first city when starting out has a lot to do with how fast you can successfully grow your city. On the lower levels, your city can support a pretty big population before having problems with unhappiness, so you may want to farm alot to grow big (can be useful in conjunction with slavery, too). But as you move up levels, you may need to get by with smaller cities until you get happiness resources/buildings. To maintain multiple cities, you need revenue, hence cottages. To build those happiness buildings, you need production, hence mines. And don't be afraid to tear down your improvements to make way for something more useful! I do this regularly.