Apolex
Chieftain
I've noticed that when settling a new city, the population that it starts with isn't always 2. What makes it more, the era you're in? The population of other cities?
I really used this to my advantage with an expansion strategy with the Americans in my last game. I had about 4 cities widely spaced out over a big continent. I saved up to over 250 gold (and got banking free), got code of laws, and switched to Republic.
So I rushed settlers in all 4 cities. Since I was in the next era, I got 1/2 price rush from the Americans. I moved all these settlers to snag all the rest of the great spots between the cities. But, as soon as the new cities settled, they already had over population 2, so I immediately rushed new settlers from them, and so on. Within 2 turns, I had over 20 cities covering the continent... KABOOM, explosive expansion. That was fun.
Even more fun was 2 turns later, I found the Ark of the Covenant. 20 free Temples. Culture boom. Once I got to that many cities, I went for irrigation, and got a population boom.
I really used this to my advantage with an expansion strategy with the Americans in my last game. I had about 4 cities widely spaced out over a big continent. I saved up to over 250 gold (and got banking free), got code of laws, and switched to Republic.
So I rushed settlers in all 4 cities. Since I was in the next era, I got 1/2 price rush from the Americans. I moved all these settlers to snag all the rest of the great spots between the cities. But, as soon as the new cities settled, they already had over population 2, so I immediately rushed new settlers from them, and so on. Within 2 turns, I had over 20 cities covering the continent... KABOOM, explosive expansion. That was fun.
Even more fun was 2 turns later, I found the Ark of the Covenant. 20 free Temples. Culture boom. Once I got to that many cities, I went for irrigation, and got a population boom.
