When, in your opinion, is the best time to create settlers/workers?

[Falken65]

Since settlers and workers stop city growth, when do you wait till to start making them?

When do you make you first worker?

When do you make your first settler (for expanding to create your next city)?

So far, I have found it best to wait to interrupt city growth till city is at level 7-8... usually taking the time to build a granary and barracks whilst waiting...

 

[Cam_H]

While it does have its flaws, and might not work 100% of the time, I'm nonetheless a fan of the 'Catherine Cottage Spam' approach - so I would say 'pretty well from the outset'.

 

[jams]

If youre interested in the details, read this. The summary is - its much better to stop your city growth and go workers/settlers asap. Keep expanding as your city maintenance allows (depends on difficulty, but 3-4 cities right off the bat should be a minimum).

Expanding fast is also the only way to go on higher difficulty as the AI will hem you in before you can say cheese.

 

[zyphyr]

Right at the begining, I either build right off or wait for a single defensive unit has been built (only if 2 conditions are both met - 1:I don't have one there already built elsewhere and 2:the city will grow to size 2 by the time the unit is built).

Later on, I always send a defensive unit to new cities at aproximately the same time as I send the settler, so it changes to either build a worker right off or build a forge then straight into the worker..

My 1st city's imediate build order is generally either 1 of the 2 following queues:

1)
Warrior (defend the city and buy time to grow to size 2, thereby speeding later construction)
Worker
Settler
Warrior (to be sent to the city built by the settler)

2)
Worker
Warrior (defend city)
Settler
Warrior (defend new city)

 

[AngryPants]

As a general rule, it is advisable to build a worker right off, especially if you can snag bronzeworking quickly. However there are exceptions.
A) You are playing on a large map size and you start with hunting. Serious consideration should be given to building a scout or possibly two to explore the world and find those huts. Huts decrease in value as you go up in difficulty level, so take that into account.
B) You start with fishing, and there are fish, clams, or crabs in your city radius. By the time you knock out a boat, you will be at size 2 and will have 1improved tile. This will speed your worker's production.

 

[Matthevv]

If youre interested in the details, read this. The summary is - its much better to stop your city growth and go workers/settlers asap. Keep expanding as your city maintenance allows (depends on difficulty, but 3-4 cities right off the bat should be a minimum).

Expanding fast is also the only way to go on higher difficulty as the AI will hem you in before you can say cheese.

You won't keep up with the AI at fast expansion on higher levels, so why try? Let the AI and the barbarians build the cities, and then take them when you need them. It doesn't make sense to play the AI at its own game. Nor does it make sense to chop all the trees down, so that your cities can't produce anything, and lose 2 or 3 bonus health.

Example: Playing Romans I concentrated on building 2 big cities, took a third from barbarians when I got axemen, settled a fourth to get iron, built half a dozen praetorians in my 2 big cities by whipping and a couple of spare forests, took apart the #1 on the leader board, which had about 8 cities each with 2-3 archers in (and two spare settlers - I razed the same place 3 times). I then had as many cities as I could handle, and still had my two big cities. If I had chopped for settlers and workers to settle lots of cities, I would have been behind in tech because of the extra maintenance, and wouldn't have any population to whip, nor any trees to chop for units, so by the time I attacked I would have been facing axes and swords.

 

[Matthevv]

I would say if you find a place with some key resource, then build a settler and make a city there straight away. Otherwise its a question of personal preference. I prefer to get my capital big early, then build settlers and workers (apart from one that I build right at the start) once it hits its population limit. I can often get an early wonder too, plus barracks in there. This gives you better research I think, and lets you go on the attack early. The AI will hem you in, but there is no way you can grab enough land in the initial expansion to win, so you will have to take a neighbour's cities to get enough land at some point anyway.

 

[ellie]

My opening moves for last game (fishing+ mining start techs).

Started with fish in city radius.

Research: Bronze working, worker popped just before i got it.

Chopped a boat.

Started work on a warrior, started chopping

just before chop due, switched to worker.

Finished warrior

Chopped a settler.

I like workers asap. I have to admit im a bit of a chop-aholic but it seemed to get my going early.

One worker hooked up stone, then the other chopped stone-henge/oracle. Even managed to chop pyramids in
a second city surrounded by forest. (monarch difficulty)


So ontopic, if i want to rush something like a boat i go for a worker off the bat, or if i see a square
i can improve when the worker comes out.


However, when i have mystism as starting tech, im going polytheism first..so the worker might
not have much to do ..so i do a warrior and let the city grow.

 

[MrCynical]

For the worker, almost invariably it's the first thing I build. The only exception is if I start with fishing and have a seafood resource nearby, when I go for a workboat. In your case Ellie I'd certainly have gone for workboat, then worker, since the extra food from the fishing boats would allow you to build the latter a lot faster, and your city may well be able to grow to size 2 before you start on the worker, speeding it up even more. I'd never build warriors before the worker in a single player game as they're no use to you. 18 out of the 26 leaders will have one of hunting, mining or agriculture, so there's usually something for a worker to do, and in any case you can usually research one of these before you complete your worker even if you don't start with them.

For the settler I'll generally either let the city grow, or chop rush it, but it'll still be after at most a couple of warriors (or occasionally another worker).

 

[ellie]

I did consider workboat first, but figured id then have bronze working + no worker to exploit it.

Have to cure myself of chop-addiction, sometimes my second city immediatley builds a worker to chop, and i send a worker over to chop that budding lumberjack as well!!.


Of course if hills are scarce it can backfire later as i deforest huge tracts of land.