Starting queue?

[jonny41177]

What is your starting queue and how many cities do you settle at the start? I think my downfall is i expand to much and it stifles my economy but i like building lots of units at the start so i pump out swords/horsemen only to find myself in the 10% research because my army is too large like 100 gold over limit so i have to war and take more cities but does this method ruin your economy because reserch is crap for huge empires when you should research 4 turns at 40% instead it's more like 30 turns.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

What level do you play on?

 

[CKS]

If you have a huge empire, you should be researching quickly using specialists in your corrupt towns. I don't typically have a huge empire, but the bigger it is, the better your economy is _if_ you use taxmen and scientists.

 

[jonny41177]

I usually play on the difficulty after monarchy immortal or deity but i thinkit has a lot to do with the civ you choose because some civs economy sux while others thrive. I just played as the germans on standard map and start out with like 6 cities or so on pangea and i was one of the most power which i tend to be in every game because after i set 2 settlers out i just use those 2 cities as workers/settlers sending out while i just pump out the best offense unit in the capitol and i only go after 3 wonders if i think i have a shot at getting them,pyramids,great library,leonardo workshop those are really all i need. Each age i just upgrade to next for cheap but i usually don't go for pyramids because i rather have units or i would be slaughtered if i didn't.

 

[iguana1]

I play the game in "story mode". By this, I mean that I mentally recode the story of my civ as the game goes on. I generally only play huge maps Witt he max number of civs and the course of the game is usually dictated by the map/proximity of other civs. I usually try to play "peacefully" and only go to war when it is "justified" (peaceful and justified are quoted on purpose, since those definitions can some times be very flexible). So, my starting queue can vary from game to game. However, it generally involves pumping out settlers in the early going with just enough military to help quell civil unrest and prevent barbarians from raiding my towns.

After that, it depends. If I selected the smallest % of land mass, then usually I get a little bottled up and someone will plop a city in land my people had allocated for themselves and a justifiable war over crucial land space becomes inevitable. If I chose the largest % of land mass, then odds are better that I just continue to expand to a point that I am "satisfied" and At the same time I start building a lot of infrastructure (I am a builder at heart).

 

[Verarde]

I rarely use the queue, as my strategy might need to change at any moment, and I need to be flexible.

I will use the queue if I am going to war and need to set my cities to just spam units.

 

[vorlon_mi]

I rarely use the queue, as my strategy might need to change at any moment, and I need to be flexible.

I will use the queue if I am going to war and need to set my cities to just spam units.

At the start of the game, I agree; my strategy and needs for "what to build next" change pretty quickly, from turn to turn. Using the build queue doesn't make much sense. When I'm going to war, I will go around to my most productive cities and set the queue to pump out the units.

A bit later in the game, when I have 12-20 cities, I get tired/bored of telling each one to do something every time they finish. I will decide that some are going to become farms, and give them a simple build queue: worker, harbor (if on the coast), wealth. If the city is sorta close to the capital or FP city, I might build a marketplace for the happiness benefit before switching to wealth.

 

[vorlon_mi]

What is your starting queue and how many cities do you settle at the start? I think my downfall is i expand to much and it stifles my economy but i like building lots of units at the start so i pump out swords/horsemen only to find myself in the 10% research because my army is too large like 100 gold over limit so i have to war and take more cities but does this method ruin your economy because reserch is crap for huge empires when you should research 4 turns at 40% instead it's more like 30 turns.

It's a balancing act. The initial builds in each city will depend on the terrain around them, and what your neighbors are doing. If you have a food-rich city, you can build a granary early on, and then pump out the settlers and workers even faster. Having more towns will let you support more troops, if that's what you want.

Remember that roads are not just for speeding up your troops movement as they're going to smash your neighbors; they give you commerce, too. Build enough workers, and make sure that each town has roads in all the squares that have citizens working on them. This, too, will help make sure that your research and economy don't crash.