Waiting for Pop 4 for settlers?

[darski]

When I play, I generally build my first settler just about even with the time my city gets to pop3. yes, i know it has to be three but I mean that it gets to three and on that turn or shortly thereafter I get my settler.

I have seen a couple of recommendations lately about letting the capital get to pop four before taking that settler off the top.

What do people recommend and why?

 

[Chamnix]

Where is the "it depends" option ?

If my capital only has +2 fpt, then I will almost always complete a settler on growth to size 3 - you get settlers so infrequently it is important to build each one ASAP.

If my (improved) capital has +5 fpt, then I will generally let the capital grow to whatever size it needs to be to get 30 shields every 4 turns (building a granary as it grows).

 

[rysingsun]

i guess i would let it get to size four if it has two cows so that when it drops back down to two it will still be using both.

 

[Padma]

"It depends".

My 1st Settler usually pops shortly after I hit size 3, but if it's food-rich and shield-poor, it will hit size 4 (or maybe even 5 ).

 

[iambenben]

usually pop 3.

 

[Yoda Power]

The first few cities 3, then 4.

 

[Aramazd]

Size 3, unless I can't get enough shields before it grows.

 

[darski]

I did a game today where it just made more sense to wait til pop 4 because I would be just 2 turns away from pop 4 when I got the settler and I had enough shields to be able to build an escort before the settler and still get it done soon. I think it really did strengthen my capital *in this game*. One try does not a sequence make.

 

[Simak]

I've been using the rapid expansion recommendations that I read on here. And I must say, this has been the biggest.....BIGGEST place of improvement in my games. When I first started playing, I would only get 8 cities at leisure. Now I try to get 20+ cities as fast as I can at the start of the game. I'm ready to move the difficulty up a notch due to this.

To answer the poll....I didn't vote, because the "I usually get to pop 3 at the same time as I get a settler" wasn't an option.

 

[PaperBeetle]

A slightly strange question, but I feel that I can settle on the first option; yes I wait for size 4.
Of course, as other posters have already mentioned, it really depends on the food / shield balance in your starting region, but assuming that my capital can get a food surplus > +2fpt, I would try to lay out a spreadsheet that puts a granary (and probably a worker) before my first settler. Normally, a settler pump would run from at least size 4, and I would in the first instance aim to have my spreadsheet finish the granary with the town on 4 citizens and 10 or 12 food in the food bin. Credit to my (now retired) SG colleague Wardancer for introducing me to the distillation of this strategy.

 

[Sweetchuck]

The faster you get another city up and running, the faster you continue to advance.

It's exponential.

I time it so that I'm building a settler once my initial city hits pop 3.

 

[Theov]

I've been using the rapid expansion recommendations that I read on here. And I must say, this has been the biggest.....BIGGEST place of improvement in my games. When I first started playing, I would only get 8 cities at leisure. Now I try to get 20+ cities as fast as I can at the start of the game. I'm ready to move the difficulty up a notch due to this.

To answer the poll....I didn't vote, because the "I usually get to pop 3 at the same time as I get a settler" wasn't an option.

link please!!
Do Not Forget To Link
It's pretty hard to search in here .
Thanks.

 

[ecuwins]

I hate to sound like a parrot but it totally depends on terrain.

 

[Simak]

Sorry, I'm not the best with computers. and HTML is a foriegn lang gwa hay to me. Honestly, I don't even know if links are HTML. But, I found this advice on the starting locations examples. The one that explains the despotism penalty and how to rapidly expand.....someone else provided the link that day and I took it.

 

[Aabraxan]

link please!!
Do Not Forget To Link
It's pretty hard to search in here .
Thanks.

Well, here's The Civ 3 War Academy. While it's true that some articles were written for vanilla and some contain information that was later discovered to be incorrect, overall, it is an excellent resource. I actually keep that bookmarked for reference.

More specifically, here are a few I'd recommend, if you're looking to improve your expansion-phase game:

Bamspeedy's Tutorial: Babylon's Deity Settlers

Cracker's Civ 3 Opening Plays

RFHolloway's Spotting Settler Factories

This should be a good start. Now, once you've read those, I think you'll find that your civilization will expand much faster in the early game. Naturally, this means that you'll be bumping borders earlier than before. Once that happens, you'll need to know about Warmongering 101: A Tactical Primer.

Hope this helps.

 

[darski]

Well, here's The Civ 3 War Academy. While it's true that some articles were written for vanilla and some contain information that was later discovered to be incorrect, overall, it is an excellent resource. I actually keep that bookmarked for reference.

More specifically, here are a few I'd recommend, if you're looking to improve your expansion-phase game:

Bamspeedy's Tutorial: Babylon's Deity Settlers

Cracker's Civ 3 Opening Plays

RFHolloway's Spotting Settler Factories

This should be a good start. Now, once you've read those, I think you'll find that your civilization will expand much faster in the early game. Naturally, this means that you'll be bumping borders earlier than before. Once that happens, you'll need to know about Warmongering 101: A Tactical Primer.

Hope this helps.

Scoutsout would be so proud... it all comes down to warmongering sooner or later (Better sooner than later)