Why settle on a foreign continent?

[acluewithout]

Is there any real benefit for settling cities on a continent different to the one you started on?

Obviously there is if there's a continent split next door to you. Just walk a settler across a few tiles and, bang, profit. But usually settling cities on a foreign continent (both actually settling or by conquest) is a massive palaver. Is it worth the effort?

Some thoughts:

- some civs get boosts to having cities on another continent. So, bully for them.

- access to strategic resources. Probably not worth it for horses or iron - by the time you settle the city horsemen, swordsmen will be too late. I can usually find coal or oil in my empire somewhere, so that's not a thing. So, maybe for Niter? But that's only one city.

- access to unique luxuries, which you might be able to sell for gold. Meh.

- access to unique luxuries, which boost your amenities - but there are surely easier ways to boost amenities?

- settling near natural wonders - but I find these are only useful in the early game, which is not when you'll be settling foreign continents.

- you can send traders to civs on the foreign continent without having your trader travelling over water from your original continent, and therefore without getting pillaged by barbs.

- there are some cards which boost gold for colonial cities (ie cities in foreign lands). But, my guess is those cards only really make sense when you have lots of colonial cities and less, uh, not foreign cities. Because if you had lots of not foreign cities, wouldn't you just run commercial hub adjacency cards?

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Settling on another continent also gives you a beach head that you can use to launch an invasion. Being able to produce units on the new continent means a shorter "supply line". You can get your reinforcements up to the front lines faster than if you need to send new units across an ocean. The key will be finding an empty area where you can settle 2-3 cities at once at a distance from other cities. That will help you avoid any loyalty issues.

 

[Giskler]

If you do it with the Hic Sunt Dracones dedication your cities start with 4 population and +2 loyalty per turn. Can be used to setup a powerful colony/beach head.

 

[Shorlin]

I am always surprised by how strong colonial taxes card is. Even with majority of cities on home continent it usually beats free market/town charters for income.
Also, if you are crowded out on your home continent without a good target for war, it might be better to set sail and start a colony

 

[Victoria]

- some civs get boosts to having cities on another continent. So, bully for them.

If this was on my own continent it would only be 15/15. bully for me I guess but its still a reason.

- there are some cards which boost gold for colonial cities (ie cities in foreign lands). But, my guess is those cards only really make sense when you have lots of colonial cities and less, uh, not foreign cities. Because if you had lots of not foreign cities, wouldn't you just run commercial hub adjacency cards?

The point is... you can run both., thats a lot more money but yes you either need a lot of cities off continent or... great Zim off continent, then you are really talking money difference.

Some of the arguments made like natural wonders and luxuries are nothing to do with on/off continent, just location

When considering location, you often start near the edge of a continent. For most people it matters not which way you go but for Victoria the difference can be huge and can be noticeable quite quickly. Pax Brittanica is just awesome when it works.

However

Attacking someone off continent is better than on continent as there are more loyalty cards for off continent. Also Victorias RNDY benefit then allows her to settle even in a -20 tile.

If you do it with the Hic Sunt Dracones dedication your cities start with 4 population and +2 loyalty per turn. Can be used to setup a powerful colony/beach head.

Having played Hic Sunt a few times now the biggest benefit is the speed of land troops/settlers across water.

 

[Nobody]

Because Empires are cool.

 

[Hactar]

The inspiration for one of the late game civics requires an aerodrome or airstrip on a foreign continent. Yes you could just send a military engineer over and build an airstrip without a city, but there’s another boost that needs two aerodromes so might as well kill two birds with one stone and have the foreign continent one be an aerodrome.

You might think that you could also kill two birds with one stone with the airstrip on the foreign continent, since the Combined Arms eureka is to build an airstrip. But the catch there is, even though it doesn’t say so, it has to be within your territory. So you’d need a city settled anyway. Back to “might as well build an aerodrome”.

 

[Victoria]

“might as well build an aerodrome”.

Unless you have an engineer just walking around

 

[Depravo]

Personally, once I have established a strong power base and have come up against rivals on all sides, the game is usually on the Medieval / Renaissance fault line and it just feels right to start spewing colonies out everywhere.

That's the stage I'm at in the current game. Trying to set up a map-spanning cordon sanitaire so Pericles can't get to the wealth on the other side of the map.

 

[LMT]

Not only does settling on another continent give you a beachhead for a military invasion, it also gives you one for a religious invasion.

Sometimes I build one on an island just so I have a holy site closer to other civs I want to spread my religion to.

 

[acluewithout]

I was looking at some of the changed policy cards and doing some thinking. Some of the 'Colonial' policy cards may have significantly boosted colonial cities - particularly colonial taxes which now boosts production as well as gold (which seems just made for Harbors).

Colonial offices is a funny one. I think using that card, particularly if combined with RND or Missions, you could end up with colonial cities having more loyalty that your domestic (?) cities.

 

[Zenstrive]

because you're just itchy to colonize that empty space across the vastness of sea (all 10 tiles of it)

 

[acluewithout]

I guess the point of my original question was that: I'm not sure there is sufficient incentive to settle (or conquer) cities on foreign continents given the effort involved (particularly when you don't have any civ / leader specific bonuses for doing so).

A small buff might be that improved luxuries on a foreign continent provide an additional +1 gold when worked. That's not a huge buff, would synergise well with some colonial policy cards, and would add a little bit of flavour.

Or, do people think settling on foreign continent has enough benefits already?

 

[Sostratus]

would synergise well with some colonial policy cards

The buffs to these cards in R&F are massive. The Casa De Contratacion bonus to governors is also very hefty.

More unique luxes is another benefit. The cost of providing amenities pre-zoo/stadium is actually pretty substantial- one lux is worth 2 ECs+2 arenas. The potential payoff of foreign continent colonies is huge. The risk is if you have the loyalty (and in some cases military) to hold onto it.
15% growth, production, and 25% gold boosts are incredibly strong. You should be at least running Colonial taxes if more than a few cities are foreign because +% gold modifiers literally multiply your gold. There are almost no percentage modifiers in the game, and some of the best ones are for foreign continents. Again, the gamble is figuring out the loyalty to actually hold onto those cities.

 

[Zenstrive]

does different continents on one continous landmass affected by those cards?
Because you can literally have different continents right outside your capital at random.

 

[Victoria]

does different continents on one continous landmass affected by those cards?
Because you can literally have different continents right outside your capital at random.

Nope, a continent is indeed that, merely a difference in one tile.

 

[Miravlix]

The reason for other continent settlements is that luxury resources is continent specific, so you settle other continents to get access to more luxuries.

 

[Sostratus]

does different continents on one continous landmass affected by those cards?
Because you can literally have different continents right outside your capital at random

This is always a good thing to check for in the opening turns. Not only does it mean more luxes, but you can settle most of your 'heartland' on a different continent and start stacking those boosts. That's +30% production and +40% gold if you can grab casa and put governors in the big ones you found!

 

[TomKQT]

Is there any real benefit for settling cities on a continent different to the one you started on?

Obviously there is if there's a continent split next door to you. Just walk a settler across a few tiles and, bang, profit. But usually settling cities on a foreign continent (both actually settling or by conquest) is a massive palaver. Is it worth the effort?

Some thoughts:
......
......

You answered your own question in the first post... Just forget all those "but" and you are ready to go.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

As someone who usually plays the culture game, I like to settle on or near foreign landmasses in order to facilitate trade routes to those exotic places to distribute travel brochures about the lovely places to visit in my empire.