Settle tundra?

[Pacioli]

I’m currently playing a warlord game with the following settings: Huge, Pangaea, 60% water, 7 opponents. It’s currently around 500 AD and I’ve expanded to all unoccupied productive territory nearby. There is a significant amount of unoccupied tundra to my south. I’ve started to settle this area using CxxxxC placement and building a temple in each town. More territory = higher score, right? In coastal towns, I plan to also build a harbor. Is this a sound strategy? Should I forget the tundra and improve my productive territory and/or build my military?

 

[Theryman]

May as well do CxC, get a bunch of unit support and turn them all into scientists. Improve productive territory, yes, but definitely grab the tundra- you will be almost guaranteed oil.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

If the town is near your core and not completley corrupt, a harbor to allow for a bigger population makes sense and planting forests on already roaded tundra can boost production before railroads (Tundra alone 1-0-0, tundra with mine 1-1-0, tundra with forest 1-2-0 for Food-shileds-gold). I learned here on civ fanatics that a corrupt city you're building to be a specialist farm will not benefit from a harbor unless you have a food bonus on a coast or sea space.

 

[Fiddlin Nero]

Sounds like a priority question. You want to get the tundra under your territory so no AI does. Maybe at a slower pace so you can do those other things. CxC or CxxxxC, depends on your victory conditions. I like CxxxxC with the temple and don't even worry about harbors unless you can get a good production center or science/settler farm out of them that is worth the effort.

 

[Pacioli]

I appreciate your comments. There is so much I still need to learn. I only discovered CFC only a few months ago.

 

[Optional]

You're right to leave the tundra for last, as it's the least useful terrain. I believe the normal settle pattern for tundra is CxC. More towns means more unit support and if you're talking about score, then more citizens also translate into a higher score.
For scientists you need surplus food, you're never going to get that on tundra.
If you have a lot of tundra nearby it becomes more important to make your foody centres into settler farms, as tundra towns can't generate their own growth. Expansion is always useful, whatever the terrain is, but if your AI neighbours have better terrain and resources, and that is nearer to you, then I would probably make a priority of military action.

 

[timerover51]

In the standard game, about the only time I settle tundra is if a resource such as oil or aluminum is located there, or there is a coastal resource that I can tap into. I learned that lesson the hard way. As for the AI settling it, unless it gets a resource, I figure it is just burning through settlers in a very unproductive area.

 

[Bartleby]

I would say settle cxxxc first, to claim the space, then fill the gaps to get cxcxc. I's automatically make the single citizen into a specialist.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

It's an interesting question.

If the tundra is in your first or second core, I might just leave it be, because it's never going to get big and it'll just get in the way of more important and larger cities.

If you can get a coastal city with a couple of food bonuses and can plant trees, that's a different issue, of course.

If it's in a highly corrupt area, then go ahead, too.

 

[Snarkhunter]

It's an interesting question.

If the tundra is in your first or second core, I might just leave it be, because it's never going to get big and it'll just get in the way of more important and larger cities.

If you can get a coastal city with a couple of food bonuses and can plant trees, that's a different issue, of course.

If it's in a highly corrupt area, then go ahead, too.

Another approach is to settle the edge of the tundra, if there is productive land just beyond it. You let the productive land underwrite the rest of the tiles. This won't get all of a big tundra area, but can make more of it useful.

kk

 

[Takhisis]

You'll get oil, aluminum perhaps. Building a city on any ile automatically gives it a minimum production (otherwise it would starve on itself, so unrealisitc) My advice is to build roads -railroads if available- and then forest it. Or mine the tundra if you've put railroads on it.
Which civ are you using? Strategies can vary between 'em, if you're doing seafaring and/or own the Great Lighthouse then every harbour's a nuisance to enemy fleets, since you can pop in and out and hit their transports (especially with Byzantine Dromons) without being subject to retaliation!!
Try to build close to the coast since you can build harbours and get more food than you'd get on tundra, as well as making it easier to garrison the city with fleets; eventually you'll be able to build oil rigs and the like (I suppose you're going for the standard 1.22 version of Conquests and not a mod). Also, be wary of Vikings. If you find any hills, build close to them and get more shields.

 

[Pacioli]

Takhisis, you're right. I am using the standard 1.22 version of Conquests. I have not tried any mods yet as I'm still having fun with the standard version.

Thank you all for your advice!

 

[Pacioli]

I appreciate everyone's comments and patience. I'm trying to learn some concepts that many of you learned years ago.