Starting strategies (higher difficulty levels pref)

[Sjaramei]

So what strategies are there about the start? (i play monarch now and want to know all so i can do it better at start when i move up a difficulty again)

Mine usually goes like this:
- Tech to bronze working (mining first unless you start with it).

- Worker-Settler-Settler (all chopped) and maybe another worker chopped if it's enough trees.

I might start building a granary/barracks/(warrior sometimes too) in between settlers depending on my tech pace/food supply to get to size 2. This seems to work okay. I usually get 3 cities before any AI.

I think my start works okay at least in monarch, but is there other openings i should consider? (detailed ones involving different leaders/civs is good too )

 

[slowcar]

you can't start monarch+ without warriors to fogbust and/or fight barbarians.
if you get bronze fast whipping the worker is an option, at least if you have fields with more then 2F. The same is true for your settler.

 

[Giaur]

I sometimes build settler first, but this is bad habit. In my recent game I build Worker first, then Settler, then allowed city to grow to pop of 2, and settler again and I was pleasant with the results. But it depends on the particular game, especially if you have Gold near the capital. If yes, you can expand more quickly.
There should be always unit to fogbust, at least worker. You can lose worker, but not settler. You can also explore only the neighbourhood, just to save initial scout/warrior.
There are many different strats. I used to build settler first for a long time, but it's very risky. I could still do that, if f.e. Stone near capital, and my desire was to have two cities building wonders. Also Exp or Imp traits change a lot ...

 

[CivSetä]

Try worker-warrior-settler. While building warrior your city can grow to size 2, which means faster settler. I suggest building improvements before chopping, two mined grassland hills is optimal for building settlers and/or warriors in early expanding phase. Then chop. And as slowcar mentioned, you have to build more troops to handle with barbarians on monarch.

 

[Dirk1302]

Always depending on map and starting techs i favor starting agri and AH quite often compared to mining bronzeworking. In this case i start a worker, grow capital to 4 very quickly with the improved food resources, then start settler, next settler can usually be whipped because BW is in by then. You don't need more than 3 cities on emperor until approximatley 750 BC.

If the captital is coastal with seafood, starting fishing almost always works best, the added research from the seafood commerce compensates for the time lost by researching fishing.

It basically comes down to researching the techs matching your resources first. If you start with mysticism you might consider going for hinduism, especially if there are no happy resources near.

 

[Sjaramei]

Okay so i do mostly the right things then

And barbs isn't a problem usually on monarch. (unless i don't have horses/copper reasonably near me)

When the bad barbs appear i always have at least one well promoted warrior and either axemen or chariots on the way. I have yet to lose a city to barbs so that isn't an issue.

 

[slowcar]

on emperor barbs start to be a problem - and by the time your settler moves unescorted there may very well be a whole bunch of them as no units where used to fogbust.

the OP was asking about moving up from monarch (to emperor)

 

[futurehermit]

you cannot neglect your military. i go ag-ah first to see if horses (best barb-buster imo) and also for growth. then mining-bw to see if copper. 2nd city claims horses if available. 3rd city claims copper regardless if available. if no horses some warriors are necessary for fog-busting until the copper is hooked up at the very least...

after that wheel obviously to connect your military resource or hunt-arch if neither resource (unlucky).

alternatively, you can just go arch first (esp if mansa) and forget about strategic resources initially and get the highest commerce (e.g., gold pit) sites first...

 

[lilnev]

General principle: Get your best tiles developed ASAP!

Worker-warrior-settler about 80% of the time. Main exceptions involve workboat. Occasionally warrior-worker-settler if the worker won't have enough to do.

First techs should unlock your best land improvements. Usually that's Ag or AH. Then BW.

peace,
lilnev

 

[ownedbyakorat]

You only need BW asap if you are also building a worker asap. I most often pop a warrior first, letting my city go to size 2 in the process, to help with uncovering terrain. After all, copper does you no good if you don't know it's there... so warrior, worker, warrior, settler is my usual, picking techs based on what will best increase the total output (food/hammers/commerce) of my capital. So I'll often end up with AH as a priority before BW... horses are a viable military resource, if used properly.

 

[Pe Ell]

I tend to get a warrior out first, city up to 2 then follow with a worker and a settler. Depends though. worker steal can be pretty powerful if you're planning on an early war anyway (I axe/sword rush in 90% of my games). So I might skip early worker and go directly for settler. Research is simply looking at what is near you, research the neccesary tech and get it hooked up. If I don't find bronze I type GG no re and reroll. I'm to lazy to play the poor starts.