The best way to rule the world!

[Pontus]

The best (and fastest) way to rule the worlds give you many cities and quite a good military.
The first thing you build in your first city is a defence unit. The second is a settler. Third a military, fourth a settler. Then you can start build wonders. When the city has grown you start to build improvements. If you do so with every single town, you'll get a good infrastructure, so many cities, you can't manage them, and a military that would punish almost anybody, in less than an hour.

 

[Dark Ascendant]

That sounds good in theory, but in practice, this needs to be more flexible.

 

[KingWilly]

Gotta agree with DA on this one. Each game requires a different strategy. It may be a good starting point, but some circumstances require a bit more flexibility. Say, for example, you were the only Civ on a small island. Building too many settlers would be a waste until you had discovered Map making and had built a Trireme.

 

[sawdust]

Well i've only played maybe 6 games and i agree with the need for flexibility. My first 2 games i had to keep asking my son "what does this mean, what do i do now etc" (i couldnt read the manual, he said we didnt have one) so i played for science and won the space race but was always pathetic (power rating wise) and had maybe a quarter of cities and units compared to other civs. I decided in my 3 rd game to go with "strength of arms" (played it just like u said above Pontus) It gave me my biggest score and a "supreme" power rating all thru the game and all the other civ's were dead scared of me. I thought that was way cool so i started my fourth game like that and just like King Willy said above i found myself on a small island and had to change tactics. The nearest land was a little bit away and i had lots of unhappiness probs. (i didnt understand the significance of locality to capital/unhappiness at that stage) but it taught me every game is different. I have taken to saving my start (before i even make a move) so i can "replay" the game different ways. I'm finding this has been teaching me heaps. Also saving just before critical decisions then replaying with different decisions. (sorry purists who dont like the reload function) But this all helps me learn, as well as this great site.

 

[duke o' york]

Hey! Don't worry about reloading for didactic purposes. It's fine when you're just discovering the game and can be a major boost to getting your feet at higher levels. As long as you don't reload in a GOTM game or a game you want to send in for the Hall of Fame then feel free to do so. It is cheating to save the game and then gift the AI with techs until they reveal their maps to you before quitting and continuing with this new knowledge but to do what you're doing is fine and will help you build a sound strategy.

One thing I don't get from Pontus' strategy is where he is planning to send the settler he builds first. In my games, then settlers are too valuable to send off exploring the black and I'll wait until my first warrior can be sent off to find a decent city site before moving them away. Obviously, before you've got a city then you have to find a suitable site and the settler may explore here but as soon as you get to barbarians then exploring with them is a huge no no.

 

[Pontus]

Yes it's a theory, but works quite well. Of course there is a need of flexibility, as always. This is the basics of how I use to play, and it works fine for me. However, as you say you may start at an island. Then the military may be a ship to transport the settler with.

Settlers to valuable? Well after a time playing this way, you'll get too many of them... But in the beginning it could be good to don't enter any huts... The exploring with settlers is quite undangerous at the very first time, cause there are not so many barabarians in the beginning, cause there haven't been so much exploring of the AI's or you. Finding an AI unit is in deed not very dangerous.

I use to send away settlers to close areas, sometimes I use my very first military unit to explore the very closest area. The settler then builds a road towards the foundation of the new city.

 

[la fayette]

Originally posted by duke o' york
Obviously, before you've got a city then you have to find a suitable site and the settler may explore here but as soon as you get to barbarians then exploring with them is a huge no no.

If you build no city at all, your settler may wander until around 1500BC without ever being attacked by barbs (some people do that in fast conquest games, in order to tip many huts, get numerous 'NONE' units and kick a$$ with those later on, but it is a very risky gambit ).

 

[Pontus]

Yeah, that's real gambling! Either you'll lose before anyone else has even built their first unit or you could even win. The only problem will be to colonize other islands and continents, if you're lucky enough to survive so long.

 

[Old n Slow]

Setting aside La Fayette’s “no city” gambit for a moment, look at the practicality of using settlers for hut tipping: it will cost 40 shields to build a settler as opposed to only ten for a warrior. Why not build a few searchers in those first few units? Send a few warriors out just for the purpose of searching. Let them stay on the fringe, ever pushing away at the darkness. Once that wave of units is out doing their job make the batch of settlers to found cities & build roads. If the few warriors discover (quickly) land’s edge -- i.e. island status, then research priorities can be redirected accordingly. Similarly, if the wandering warriors discover neighbors, then other options occur…

 

[Pontus]

Sure. But the whole idea of the concept is building many cities very early. The warriors will slow down the process. I don't use to make those Explorers before I built my third city, but there are other ways.