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What this thread is for
I am starting this thread to make notes to myself in, and as with the Civ III strat threads, it is my hope that others will come, read, and participate in the discussions that are genereated by the various strategies brought to the fore as we all begin exploring the game that is Civ IV! I'm also hoping that players new to the game will take to coming here if they're having a tough time getting certain strategies to work, or if they're not sure even HOW to formulate a strategy, and in this way, the thread can become someting of a repository for ideas.
The notions presented in this thread will no doubt evolve and change as time goes by, and the ideas themselves are subject to discussion, trials by fire, and a variety of stresses that we'll all subject them to as we put them through their proverbial paces.
If you agree, if you disagree, or if you just want to share in the fun, please, feel free to join in!
***
The Dawn of Civilization
Warrior/Scout
Worker
Settler
These are your only three choices in the extreme early game, where your future is made or lost, and there are a number of valid methodologies for getting "out the gate," as it were. Which methodology works best for you is a function of several considerations:
* The level of risk you are willing to assume
* The technologies you begin the game with (and to a lesser extent, your civ traits)
* The prevailing terrain
* Your early game strategy, aims, and goals
Essentially, however, it can be boiled down to the question of what to build first:
Warrior/Scout
Worker
Settler
All other considerations aside for the moment, the first, best thing you can do to advance the power of your civilization is found a second city. Do that faster than your rivals, and you have a leg up on them. Do it several turns more quickly, and you can parlay that into a powerful advantage (turn advantage).
For me...I like risk, and so have gravitated toward building the Settler on turn one, as soon as the city gets founded.
Yeah, yeah, I know...the buzz is that you should wait until the city grows to size 3 before you start, and that's nice. Problem is...by the time the city GETS to size three, it's been 25 or so turns, which means that had I just done it the other way, then said settler would already be on his way to founding a new city. Besides, I don't like to wait.
Risky? Sure is, but so far, it's worked nearly every time (I've yet to LOSE a settler, but I have had to re-route a couple).
The only exception to this is if I can get a warrior cranked out in nearly the same number of turns as the city will grow...in that case, it's advantageous (or at least safer) to build the warrior first and then the settler.
Still, that kind of total defenselessness might not work for the squemish, and if that's the case, then take heart, there are ways to "make up the time," as it were.
Your Civ, does not exist in a vaccuum, and so, "all things" are NOT equal, and since they're not, they need to be given due consideration.
The good thing about Civ IV is that there are TONS of different ways of going about any given task, and the extreme early game is no different.
The following are the basic, essential techs to unlocking early game productivity (and as you can see, it's pretty much the entire ancient era tech segment).
The Wheel - Roads
Agriculture - Farms
Animal Husbandry - Pasture
Hunting - Camp/Scout
Mining - Mines
Pottery - Grainary
And then, slightly later:
* Religious Techs (if founding a religion is important to you and your strategy)
* Bronze Working (better units, and "chop")
* Alphabet (tech trading enabled here)
** Fishing and sailing are dramatically more important building blocks if you're on an Island and/or are all alone. For the most part (using a continental, average sized map), this does NOT describe a typical game, which is why they're not covered in more detail...yet.
So how does one go about the business of outlining a solid early game strategy, exactly?
Well, it begins with your civ of choice, their abilities, and where they start on the tech tree. Hand in hand with this, the prevailing terrain will color and shade your thinking, but this is typically in obvious ways (ie, if you have no cattle, pigs, and the like nearby, then your gut instinct will (rightly) steer you away from pursuing animal husbandry as an immediate priority. For that matter, if you have ANY access to fresh water, I'd not give Animal Husbandry a second look in the *extreme* early game...too much else to do. It's important as your cities begin to grow, but in getting yourself initially situated, it's typically not important to grab it first thing. There are health benefits to consider too, though. So, for example, if you are playing at higher levels of difficulty (less health bonus), or find yourself mired in a jungle-heavy start, or are making use of floodplains, without the health benefits of a forested region in the vicinity, then Animal Husbandry begins to develop more of an immediate-term shine to it (once again, prevailing local geography will dictate this to you).
Some examples of different Civs and their starting points:
Let's say you start as the Egyptians. Right away, and from turn one, you can build roads and farms without researching anything at all, so your workers have plenty to keep them occupied with from the get-go.
If your settler happens to be near flood plains (nice food production), then building a worker first might be a good move for you, cos you'll be able to road-build to the next city site (which will speed your settler's eventual journey), and start making farm improvements even as you research the other techs to unlock additional worker abilities. Also, having stuff for your workers to do right off the bat means that you can wait, at least a bit, to get more, which frees you up to do stuff like...pursue bronzeworking (for chop and better units), or a religion (tho you will be at a bit of a disadvantage in that regard, as some of the OTHER civs have the pre-requisites to found the really early religions, so it might mean you have to pursue the religious "branch" of the tree for longer than you'd like, if you're dead set on getting one (on Noble level, I usually get Judiasm with these guys without difficulty, if I start chasing it on turn one)....your mileage will no doubt vary, and on the harder difficulty levels, it might not even be worth pursuing.
To give another example....take the Arabians. They're not geared up well for an early worker, as said worker would have precious little to do. On the other hand, however, they are in a *prime* position to be one of the early founders of a religion (they start with Mysticism, and from there, it's a short hop to all the early game religions), and this could have far-reaching benefits and consequences for them.
Thus, your starting position on the tech tree, coupled with how much importance you place on certain in-game abilities, will dramatically influence how and where you begin to tackle the tech tree.
Early game Civics choices are also worthy of mention at this point. If you DO pursue the founding of a religion, for example, you'll be in a prime position to take advantage of the "Organized Religion" civic, and the construction bonus to buildings and wonders that comes along with it (note: the current buzz is that the benefits of the Org. Rel civic does indeed apply to wonders as well...I've not tested this personally, but if that's the case, then combining these abilities with a civ that has the Industrious trait will further enhance your wonder building capabilities).
By the same token, if your Civ has the Expansive trait, then founding cities in "less healthy" environments becomes viable without having to pay immediate concern to the health benefits gained from Animal Husbandry (again, we see examples where something that seems simple on the surface actually has quite a number of fascets...that's good gaming!)
So...let's get back to the prime factors to consider, and distill them out into easy to digest bullet points:
Risk Assessment
What level of risk are you willinig to assume? If you're a risk taker, then starting on your settler to found that second city in 4k BC is prolly right up your alley.
If you're a bit risk averse, or if the place you founded your first city has the production to support a warrior-first, timed to complete at around the same time (+/- 2 turns) that the city grows, then a token warrior might serve you better.
If you're very risk averse, then warrior/warrior/settler would probably be your safest move.
If your planned tech tree assault gives workers something to do very early on (or, of you start with stuff for the workers to do), then a worker out the gate can yield immediate benefits as well (and you recoup some of the slower settler build time by road-building to the future city site). Again, the question of risk comes into play here, and if you are risk-averse, then additional warrior guards might be in your future.
Keep in mind, however, that the more time you spend building support units (escorts and such), the longer you push back your horizon of starting on that settler!
On standard sized maps, your first and second cities don't come with any maintenance costs (there may be some cost due to distance, so I'd not get carried away with sending your first settler to some far-flung part of the map...but again, if speed is the watchword here, you'd likely not be inclined to do that in any case). Cities 3-4 come with nominal maintenance fees, and after that (depending on the difficulty level you are playing, and your overall strategy), cities begin carrying increasing costs that could start degrading your early game research (remember, at this point, you have no research enhancers, so if you want to keep pace, technologically, you can't afford much in the way of maintenance, and courthouses are still some distance off)
Note: At Noble level and below, it is entirely possible to pursue a policy of rampant "ICS-Like" expansion that will TOTALLY cow the AI. This becomes increasing LESS possible as difficulty level increases....bear it in mind when formulating your plans.
Starting Techs/Traits
This answers a number of questions for you, all of which will have bearing on the strategy you formulate. Don't look at your starting techs as "techs," really, but rather, as abilities that you begin with. Play to those abilities. Run with them, and design your strategy accordingly (going back to the Egypt/Arabian example...with the ability to construct roads and farms from turn one makes a very early worker a solid choice for Egypt--assuming the terrain cooperates, and there are solid gains to be had--and not such a good choice for Arabia. It will also inform you of your chances at founding one of the earliest religions, which could alter your strategy.
Prevailing Terrain
Hugely important to take into consideration when getting your arms and head around the strategy you mean to pursue. A sub-set of terrain would be the health impacts that the terrain has/will have on the city you found (which, in turn, relates back to your civ traits, and your approach to the tech tree).
Goals and Aims
Want to be one of the founding fathers of religion?
Focus on the fundamentals (get all the basics of terraforming under your belt asap)
Penetrate deeply into the tech tree fast (beeline to Alphabet, or found multiple religons, or others!)
Build an ancient-era conquering army?
Very different aims, and each requires a very different "plan of attack" where the tech tree is concerned.
All of these taken together, must form the basis for your early game strategy.
No previous version of Civ has ever presented the player with such an array of considerations, and it is a heartening thing indeed to see.
Personal Recommendations so far
Keep in mind that I, like you, am still very much feeling my way forward into the waters that this game represents, and as such, these impressions will no doubt change over the course of time, and that is as it should be.
For the time being, based on the games I've played thus far, and some experimentation with the system, my recommendations would go something like this:
* The computer is typically pretty kind where starting positions go. I usually move the starting warrior first, to get a better lay of the land, and either move the settler once, or hit "B" and found my first city right where I start. Either way, the first city gets founded on turn one, unless I'm just in a wretched spot.
* Start the settler to found the second from turn one (provacative, I know, and I expect there will be disagreement with me on this point, but in the tests I've run so far, it's actually safer than it looks, and a good deal faster to boot!).
* Once you have two cities up and running, focus on protecting them (warriors), and a worker apiece to begin doing whatever terraforming you are presently capable of (roads, farms, or whatever you can muster), and then push to double the number of cities you control (by this point, your initial cities will be large enough to have the financial resources to absorb the slight maintenance hit created by adding two more cities, with a net gain as soon as they grow, or perhaps a slight gain immediately).
At this point, you can begin specializing your cities out to a degree, and that's an important point to get to.
Early game Terraforming
This is actually pretty straightforward (at least early on!).
Farms can only be built adjacent to fresh water, so it's no big surprise where they go! HOWEVER, if you're looking for some extra cash, a cottage on the river pays some fine rent, and if built early on, will grow handsomely for you (Note to fans of Financial Civs: your bonus kicks in, providing +1gpt in squares that are already generating 2+. Tiles with rivers running thru them are +1 commerce, the cottage gives +1, and your bonus kicks in....I've not tested this yet, but that's the way it's described in the rules, and assuming it's accurate....there you go).
Deforestation:
Forests provide health benefits to your people, and you can't plant more (tho they DO grow back sporadically), so don't clear-cut! I typically cut trees along the rivers, and then place something else there...this gives me a shot-in-the-arm hammer bonus when I need it, and gives me good real estate to further improve.
Don't cut until you're building something big and/or important (ie, if you need an Archer NOW cos the Barbs are coming, by all means, have at it, but keep in mind that a Settler only costs 70 if you cut once, and wonders can be hurried along nicely, so save your cutting for the good stuff and don't overdo it!).
More later...wanted to get these notes down and get started!
-=Vel=-
I am starting this thread to make notes to myself in, and as with the Civ III strat threads, it is my hope that others will come, read, and participate in the discussions that are genereated by the various strategies brought to the fore as we all begin exploring the game that is Civ IV! I'm also hoping that players new to the game will take to coming here if they're having a tough time getting certain strategies to work, or if they're not sure even HOW to formulate a strategy, and in this way, the thread can become someting of a repository for ideas.
The notions presented in this thread will no doubt evolve and change as time goes by, and the ideas themselves are subject to discussion, trials by fire, and a variety of stresses that we'll all subject them to as we put them through their proverbial paces.
If you agree, if you disagree, or if you just want to share in the fun, please, feel free to join in!
The Dawn of Civilization
Warrior/Scout
Worker
Settler
These are your only three choices in the extreme early game, where your future is made or lost, and there are a number of valid methodologies for getting "out the gate," as it were. Which methodology works best for you is a function of several considerations:
* The level of risk you are willing to assume
* The technologies you begin the game with (and to a lesser extent, your civ traits)
* The prevailing terrain
* Your early game strategy, aims, and goals
Essentially, however, it can be boiled down to the question of what to build first:
Warrior/Scout
Worker
Settler
All other considerations aside for the moment, the first, best thing you can do to advance the power of your civilization is found a second city. Do that faster than your rivals, and you have a leg up on them. Do it several turns more quickly, and you can parlay that into a powerful advantage (turn advantage).
For me...I like risk, and so have gravitated toward building the Settler on turn one, as soon as the city gets founded.
Yeah, yeah, I know...the buzz is that you should wait until the city grows to size 3 before you start, and that's nice. Problem is...by the time the city GETS to size three, it's been 25 or so turns, which means that had I just done it the other way, then said settler would already be on his way to founding a new city. Besides, I don't like to wait.
Risky? Sure is, but so far, it's worked nearly every time (I've yet to LOSE a settler, but I have had to re-route a couple).
The only exception to this is if I can get a warrior cranked out in nearly the same number of turns as the city will grow...in that case, it's advantageous (or at least safer) to build the warrior first and then the settler.
Still, that kind of total defenselessness might not work for the squemish, and if that's the case, then take heart, there are ways to "make up the time," as it were.
Your Civ, does not exist in a vaccuum, and so, "all things" are NOT equal, and since they're not, they need to be given due consideration.
The good thing about Civ IV is that there are TONS of different ways of going about any given task, and the extreme early game is no different.
The following are the basic, essential techs to unlocking early game productivity (and as you can see, it's pretty much the entire ancient era tech segment).
The Wheel - Roads
Agriculture - Farms
Animal Husbandry - Pasture
Hunting - Camp/Scout
Mining - Mines
Pottery - Grainary
And then, slightly later:
* Religious Techs (if founding a religion is important to you and your strategy)
* Bronze Working (better units, and "chop")
* Alphabet (tech trading enabled here)
** Fishing and sailing are dramatically more important building blocks if you're on an Island and/or are all alone. For the most part (using a continental, average sized map), this does NOT describe a typical game, which is why they're not covered in more detail...yet.
So how does one go about the business of outlining a solid early game strategy, exactly?
Well, it begins with your civ of choice, their abilities, and where they start on the tech tree. Hand in hand with this, the prevailing terrain will color and shade your thinking, but this is typically in obvious ways (ie, if you have no cattle, pigs, and the like nearby, then your gut instinct will (rightly) steer you away from pursuing animal husbandry as an immediate priority. For that matter, if you have ANY access to fresh water, I'd not give Animal Husbandry a second look in the *extreme* early game...too much else to do. It's important as your cities begin to grow, but in getting yourself initially situated, it's typically not important to grab it first thing. There are health benefits to consider too, though. So, for example, if you are playing at higher levels of difficulty (less health bonus), or find yourself mired in a jungle-heavy start, or are making use of floodplains, without the health benefits of a forested region in the vicinity, then Animal Husbandry begins to develop more of an immediate-term shine to it (once again, prevailing local geography will dictate this to you).
Some examples of different Civs and their starting points:
Let's say you start as the Egyptians. Right away, and from turn one, you can build roads and farms without researching anything at all, so your workers have plenty to keep them occupied with from the get-go.
If your settler happens to be near flood plains (nice food production), then building a worker first might be a good move for you, cos you'll be able to road-build to the next city site (which will speed your settler's eventual journey), and start making farm improvements even as you research the other techs to unlock additional worker abilities. Also, having stuff for your workers to do right off the bat means that you can wait, at least a bit, to get more, which frees you up to do stuff like...pursue bronzeworking (for chop and better units), or a religion (tho you will be at a bit of a disadvantage in that regard, as some of the OTHER civs have the pre-requisites to found the really early religions, so it might mean you have to pursue the religious "branch" of the tree for longer than you'd like, if you're dead set on getting one (on Noble level, I usually get Judiasm with these guys without difficulty, if I start chasing it on turn one)....your mileage will no doubt vary, and on the harder difficulty levels, it might not even be worth pursuing.
To give another example....take the Arabians. They're not geared up well for an early worker, as said worker would have precious little to do. On the other hand, however, they are in a *prime* position to be one of the early founders of a religion (they start with Mysticism, and from there, it's a short hop to all the early game religions), and this could have far-reaching benefits and consequences for them.
Thus, your starting position on the tech tree, coupled with how much importance you place on certain in-game abilities, will dramatically influence how and where you begin to tackle the tech tree.
Early game Civics choices are also worthy of mention at this point. If you DO pursue the founding of a religion, for example, you'll be in a prime position to take advantage of the "Organized Religion" civic, and the construction bonus to buildings and wonders that comes along with it (note: the current buzz is that the benefits of the Org. Rel civic does indeed apply to wonders as well...I've not tested this personally, but if that's the case, then combining these abilities with a civ that has the Industrious trait will further enhance your wonder building capabilities).
By the same token, if your Civ has the Expansive trait, then founding cities in "less healthy" environments becomes viable without having to pay immediate concern to the health benefits gained from Animal Husbandry (again, we see examples where something that seems simple on the surface actually has quite a number of fascets...that's good gaming!)
So...let's get back to the prime factors to consider, and distill them out into easy to digest bullet points:
Risk Assessment
What level of risk are you willinig to assume? If you're a risk taker, then starting on your settler to found that second city in 4k BC is prolly right up your alley.
If you're a bit risk averse, or if the place you founded your first city has the production to support a warrior-first, timed to complete at around the same time (+/- 2 turns) that the city grows, then a token warrior might serve you better.
If you're very risk averse, then warrior/warrior/settler would probably be your safest move.
If your planned tech tree assault gives workers something to do very early on (or, of you start with stuff for the workers to do), then a worker out the gate can yield immediate benefits as well (and you recoup some of the slower settler build time by road-building to the future city site). Again, the question of risk comes into play here, and if you are risk-averse, then additional warrior guards might be in your future.
Keep in mind, however, that the more time you spend building support units (escorts and such), the longer you push back your horizon of starting on that settler!
On standard sized maps, your first and second cities don't come with any maintenance costs (there may be some cost due to distance, so I'd not get carried away with sending your first settler to some far-flung part of the map...but again, if speed is the watchword here, you'd likely not be inclined to do that in any case). Cities 3-4 come with nominal maintenance fees, and after that (depending on the difficulty level you are playing, and your overall strategy), cities begin carrying increasing costs that could start degrading your early game research (remember, at this point, you have no research enhancers, so if you want to keep pace, technologically, you can't afford much in the way of maintenance, and courthouses are still some distance off)
Note: At Noble level and below, it is entirely possible to pursue a policy of rampant "ICS-Like" expansion that will TOTALLY cow the AI. This becomes increasing LESS possible as difficulty level increases....bear it in mind when formulating your plans.
Starting Techs/Traits
This answers a number of questions for you, all of which will have bearing on the strategy you formulate. Don't look at your starting techs as "techs," really, but rather, as abilities that you begin with. Play to those abilities. Run with them, and design your strategy accordingly (going back to the Egypt/Arabian example...with the ability to construct roads and farms from turn one makes a very early worker a solid choice for Egypt--assuming the terrain cooperates, and there are solid gains to be had--and not such a good choice for Arabia. It will also inform you of your chances at founding one of the earliest religions, which could alter your strategy.
Prevailing Terrain
Hugely important to take into consideration when getting your arms and head around the strategy you mean to pursue. A sub-set of terrain would be the health impacts that the terrain has/will have on the city you found (which, in turn, relates back to your civ traits, and your approach to the tech tree).
Goals and Aims
Want to be one of the founding fathers of religion?
Focus on the fundamentals (get all the basics of terraforming under your belt asap)
Penetrate deeply into the tech tree fast (beeline to Alphabet, or found multiple religons, or others!)
Build an ancient-era conquering army?
Very different aims, and each requires a very different "plan of attack" where the tech tree is concerned.
All of these taken together, must form the basis for your early game strategy.
No previous version of Civ has ever presented the player with such an array of considerations, and it is a heartening thing indeed to see.
Personal Recommendations so far
Keep in mind that I, like you, am still very much feeling my way forward into the waters that this game represents, and as such, these impressions will no doubt change over the course of time, and that is as it should be.
For the time being, based on the games I've played thus far, and some experimentation with the system, my recommendations would go something like this:
* The computer is typically pretty kind where starting positions go. I usually move the starting warrior first, to get a better lay of the land, and either move the settler once, or hit "B" and found my first city right where I start. Either way, the first city gets founded on turn one, unless I'm just in a wretched spot.
* Start the settler to found the second from turn one (provacative, I know, and I expect there will be disagreement with me on this point, but in the tests I've run so far, it's actually safer than it looks, and a good deal faster to boot!).
* Once you have two cities up and running, focus on protecting them (warriors), and a worker apiece to begin doing whatever terraforming you are presently capable of (roads, farms, or whatever you can muster), and then push to double the number of cities you control (by this point, your initial cities will be large enough to have the financial resources to absorb the slight maintenance hit created by adding two more cities, with a net gain as soon as they grow, or perhaps a slight gain immediately).
At this point, you can begin specializing your cities out to a degree, and that's an important point to get to.
Early game Terraforming
This is actually pretty straightforward (at least early on!).
Farms can only be built adjacent to fresh water, so it's no big surprise where they go! HOWEVER, if you're looking for some extra cash, a cottage on the river pays some fine rent, and if built early on, will grow handsomely for you (Note to fans of Financial Civs: your bonus kicks in, providing +1gpt in squares that are already generating 2+. Tiles with rivers running thru them are +1 commerce, the cottage gives +1, and your bonus kicks in....I've not tested this yet, but that's the way it's described in the rules, and assuming it's accurate....there you go).
Deforestation:
Forests provide health benefits to your people, and you can't plant more (tho they DO grow back sporadically), so don't clear-cut! I typically cut trees along the rivers, and then place something else there...this gives me a shot-in-the-arm hammer bonus when I need it, and gives me good real estate to further improve.
Don't cut until you're building something big and/or important (ie, if you need an Archer NOW cos the Barbs are coming, by all means, have at it, but keep in mind that a Settler only costs 70 if you cut once, and wonders can be hurried along nicely, so save your cutting for the good stuff and don't overdo it!).
More later...wanted to get these notes down and get started!
-=Vel=-
I feel my game getting better already
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