Specializing Cities

[drsparnum]

Unlike most turn based strategy games I've played I'm kind of getting the idea that I shouldn't be building every single building in every single city. I've found that when I do that, my building build queue is so long I cannot field a decent army until mid-late game, and I know once I up my difficulty a bit, that I'll be crushed before I ever see mid-late game. Furthermore, the buildings all contribute to maintenance (I think).

So, I've been specializing my cities. Basically they fall into 3 types.

Military: These cities build a barracks, and all the buildings that improve production. Workers around the city might build a farm or two, but they try to build things that keep production high. I'll build health or happiness buildings as needed.

Culture: These are my cities on my front line. For example, if I build a city just to reduce computer encroachment, I'll also build culture increasers to push my borders out and maybe take over a city culturally. I'll still build buldings like the forge that increase production here, only to speed the construction of my culture buildings. I'll build health buildings as needed, but since happiness buildings usually also generate culture (since they tend to be religious buildings), I don't need to make a point of making buildings to improve happiness, it is done by default. My workers mix farms and production and money buildings (cottages) around these cities. Alot of the culture buildings can give you some science (library, monestary), so a few towns are nice.

Science/Commerce: These are my research cities. Ideally, they are located internally (not bordering another nation and surrounded by friendly cities), with maybe a couple of hills and a food rescource. The couple of hills are nice to mine and the food rescource is nice for growth without needing to farm too much, freeing up squares for money improvements. Inside these cities, like all cities, I build buildings that increase production. I'll also build any science enhancer (library, university etc) or cash enhancer (market, grocer, bank etc). I build buildings for health and happiness as needed.

This probably makes it sound like I have it all figured out but I don't. Anyone do it differently? Some direct question:

Does it make sense to seperate science cities from commerce cities? One usually equals the other, right?a

I often still short change my military, only making one dedicated military city, an error on my part. However, in times of peace I feel like my dedicated military city is overrunning my empire with excess units. However (further hemming and hawing), I always seem to be in the bottom half of military power when I "see the big picture." What do other people do? If you had 8 cities, how many would you dedicate to military in times of peace? How many units do you garrison in each city? When I go to war, I build barracks almost everywhere, in desperation and crank my army to the max. Then I win, and now I'm stuck with barracks everywhere, eating at my maintenece. Know a trick around this?

[drsparnum]

One other thing. I build the buildings to enhance production in every city, unless the cities production is so low (less than 2, even if it has grown up a bit, maybe a city on a tiny island) that increasing it will yield miniscule gains. What do others do?

[drsparnum]

Finally, I sometimes create "people" cities. These are cities I don't think will ever amount to much (maybe deep in the cold lands or with alot of desert). I'll crank out cheap things like workers, settlers or missionarires that I need at a slow steady rate, but I may not need (or even want, in the case of settlers) to get too quickly.

In my capitol as a general rule, I build every building. It probably isn't optimal but it is easiest on my brain.

[Strategist83]

You should specialize even more (depending on your empire's size, of course): Science is not commerce. Have cities that focus on science alone, with libraries, observatories, universities and labs. The more specialized a city is, the more effective it is. See how far you can take it.

You have not mentioned what I call 'great people factories'. Have a city with ample food supply specialize in generating great people - this city alone will be your sole supply of a huge number of GP over the duration of a game.

[Strategist83]

Re: Specializing Cities

Originally posted by drsparnum
I often still short change my military, only making one dedicated military city, an error on my part. However, in times of peace I feel like my dedicated military city is overrunning my empire with excess units. However (further hemming and hawing), I always seem to be in the bottom half of military power when I "see the big picture." What do other people do? If you had 8 cities, how many would you dedicate to military in times of peace? How many units do you garrison in each city? When I go to war, I build barracks almost everywhere, in desperation and crank my army to the max. Then I win, and now I'm stuck with barracks everywhere, eating at my maintenece. Know a trick around this?

Barracks cost no maintenance - neither does any other building. Maintenance is a function of distance from palace and number of cities alone. Hell, a barracks is one of the buildings you can afford to have in every city - it is inexpensive, and with the 'nationhood' civic it provides a health happiness bonus.

[Strategist83]

Originally posted by drsparnum
One other thing. I build the buildings to enhance production in every city, unless the cities production is so low (less than 2, even if it has grown up a bit, maybe a city on a tiny island) that increasing it will yield miniscule gains. What do others do?

You need *some* production in every city, so what you are doing is fine. Be careful with the small, useless cities though - these are what drives up your city maintenance costs due to adding to your total city count.

[drsparnum]

If you have a science city that has built all its science buildings, and has no problems (sufficient excess happiness, excess health, and a still growing population) would you have it "build" science then? I wanted to hyperspecialize my cities into science and money, but that doesn't take that many buildings.

[Strategist83]

By converting production to research you lose 50% of the production. For this reason, I never do it. Build a barracks instead and support the unit production.

[drsparnum]

But do the multipliers still apply to research this way?

For example,

4 production to research = 2 research.

But in a city with a library, is it 3 research?

Throw in an observatory and a university and it isn't such a bad deal, if that's true.

[Blake]

Yes... but it's still a bad deal.

Take a grassland hill. 1-3-0.

If you convert to science, that's 1-0-1.5.

A cottage on the same hill is going to be starting at 1-1-1 (already higher net total), later it'll be like 1-1-5.

The conversion is simply extremely bad, pretty much like working unimproved lands.

There is one and only one case where you should convert hammers to science/coins: when training new units would actually put you deeper in some hole you've dug for yourself. If you're in a nice deep hole from over expansion/conquest, THEN it makes sense, but only in cities that can't build anything that would have better effect. Building libraries and assigning scientists is a better use of tiles.

[Saurus]

I usually have around 6-8 cities.

I heavily emphasise specialization along the following:

1 GP-producer city:
Probably my Capital but could be any city with great food output.
Best candidate is a city with much foodplain or many foodspecial resources in the middle of a grassland.

1 military/wonder city:
This city produces a lot of shields. Best situated near hills and production-specials.
Produces all kind of wonders but can pump out military units when needed. Some limited trade income if on a very good spot.

1 solely military city:
Usually this is my "worst" city . The advantage of this city is that it does not nessesarily need to grow size past 3 or 4. (however the bigger , the better)
This city can virtually be put almost anywere, for instance the middle of a dessert ,just as long as there is at least 1-2 squares of grassland for food + some 3 or so hills or production resourses. I build a barracks there and pump out units non-stop.

All other cities are Trade cities:
Best spots are grasslands or foodplains near rivers.
I build as much cottages as possible for maximum output of trade.
Theese cities are futher divided into the Science-city and the gold city.

Coastal cities are what I call "lesser" Trade cities since their trade under most circumstances is lower than if built inland near a river.
I tend to try to get at least 1 coastal city witch can act as a "naval" city as wel as a trade city pumping out seagoing veasels if nessesary.

[Hauptman]

One Science city, usually my capital as it gets 50% under Buerocracy.

One GP pump. if i can find a suitable food resource heavy spot, otherwise it is my capital as it has lots of scientists active anyways.

One gold city, a place for a religious shrine and all the +$ great people to settle, where i build wall street.

Two hammer heavy production cities, one for heroic epic/westpoint the other for ironworks and late game wonder cranking.

and the rest are usually "filler" cities. where they average out trade food and production for a good all-round city.

[Martinus]

I usually have 1-2 high production cities, with Heroic Epic, Westpoint and barracks built, which I use for military purposes, especially when I need to introduce some new technology for my army and don't play a Financial civ (and thus don't have enough money to upgrade all my units).

Depending on circumstances, I also have science cities, culture cities, commerce cities and "religion" cities (such as the holy cities) in which I try to spread as many religions as possible.

This all helps me to have a greater control over what great person I am getting in what city, instead of this just being a lottery.

[Hauptman]

This all helps me to have a greater control over what great person I am getting in what city, instead of this just being a lottery.

In my current game, I have London set up with 9 (thats NINE) priests, and 1 engineer. 3 of the 4 GP that city just made where ARTISTS from the 3gpp created by a wonder and national epic... It's still a lottery... /sigh