What do you build initially?

[axisworks]

As I was getting my ass handed to me by barbarians in a prince game last night, the question came to mind, what do most people reasearch and build as their first few units, and do they use their scout to explore or protect their capital?

From the start I tend to build: Worker, warrior, settler, (and then usually keep building in that order until I get archery)

[couerdelion]

First tech

Often it will be Bronzeworking first or very early. That way I find copper quickly so that my first settler knows where to go. Once you have copper, the barbs should be no trouble.

You may also find that it is easier to defender against barbs by posting warriors in secure tiles in your city (forested hill for example). The barbarians will usually attack these if they pass by and the defensive bonus will be higher than it would have been in the city.

[axisworks]

Yeah, I started using that tactic and it seemed to work pretty well. Stacking a few units in cities and then sending them out in groups of two to attack barbarians seemed to work as well, but they eventually would get worn down. That tactic seemed to mostly work against the barbarian wave attack. It didn't really help that I was placed near the bottom of the map, either... which I've noticed tends to be a haven for barbarian cities.

For research, I usually go with agriculture, then archery, and pottery. This seems to provide a fairly stable city-building base, and then I'll continue on so I can later chop the oracle and pyramids.

[Alkis2]

I know that several good players build worker first, but I doubt it's a good strategy.

Better start on a warrior and change to worker when the city gets to size 2. Or alternatively build more warriors until the city gets to size 3. If you have several warriors you can fortify them on forest/hills and use them to remove the fog. Then your first settler will have an easier time getting to the city site.

About research, Bronze working is essential. Reveals copper, enables slavery, you can cut trees to rush, it's good.

[Quillan]

I always build a warrior or scout first. After that, I'll build a worker providing I've got something for him to do. I try to finish my worker before I finish researching Bronze Working, so he can chop out a settler for me.

[eluciv]

Totally depends on the civ I'm playing.
Since bronze is usually the first "useful" tech in my early game, I will start with warriors until I can make a worker complete a turn before bronze does and get him ready to chop. Since I'm usually going for growth early on, I don't bother mining anything unless it's gold. I rarely farm unless it's a bonus resource or plains and tend to use cottages early on. Therefore, early workers are predominantly lumberjacks in my world - usually warrior, warrior, worker, warrior, settler. Building a worker right out of the gate leaves a worker with nothing to do most of the time. I'd rather get out and do some goodie-finding.

If I am coastal and have fishing and a bonus tile to work, it's work boat, since I can still grow while building it.

[unamablebuiler]

i am not good but this is my intial build now for washington
warrior
warrior (city normally grows to 2)
worker (normally just after pottery)
settler
it can go the otherway with the settler and worker depending on terrain. can i chop rush 2 settlers is a consideration. also the productivity of the capital site is important if i grow before the frst warrior the second build is a settler

techs i research as washington
wheel (to connect trade networks)
pottery (cottages)
mining
bronze

if i can get copper easily i will use axes otherwise archers at this point then code of laws which i get about the time i need it.

depending on risk i send the first settler out alone advance one tile stop. free warriors are coming to city site or are fortified there already
builds at site 4-5 tiles from capital i have found all the land i can reach by then using this rule

[MilesGregarius]

If there's an immediately workable (I have the tech) and worthwhile (gold, grain, or seafood) tile, I tend to build a worker (or workboat) first. If I start with hunting, I usually build an extra scout. Otherwise, I usually build a warrior first, though with an aggressive civ and enough hammers to start, I might consider a barracks.

[uberfish]

Usually worker, warrior*2-3, settler. If you want population growth, there's no better way to do it than building a worker first and improving a +3 or even +2 food resource.

Warrior/scout first if the worker won't have anything to do when it comes out.

Fish boat then worker if the civ starts with fishing and has coastal seafood.

[Willem]

Re: What do you build initially?

Originally posted by axisworks
and do they use their scout to explore or protect their capital?

Scouts are useless for defense, they only have a strength of 1. Unless they're on a forest tile of some sort, they don't even stand a chance against Warriors. You're best off sending them out to explore since they get a 100% bonus against animals.

From the start I tend to build: Worker, warrior, settler, (and then usually keep building in that order until I get archery)

I'd recommend you build at least one Warrior first. Your Worker will get done quicker if the city is at least size 2. And you should build something in between the Settler and Worker to give your city a chance to grow again.

[Alkis2]

If the city builds worker first it stays in non-growing mode for 15 turns. If it builds that worker when it's size 2, it stays in non-growing mode for less turns (usually 12).

By building that worker a bit later you shorten the period your city is in non-growing mode. Besides you will need warriors anyway, so why not build them and let your city grow at the same time.

More specifically, if the city has a tile with +3 food it will grow to size 2 in 8 turns. Plus 12 for the worker, it will have that worker in 20 turns (instead of 15). It will also have a warrior partially build. With the worker first strategy you will have the worker 5 turns earlier. OTOH with warrior first I will have a size 2 city 15 turns earlier !

Well, actually this is not as great as it seems. The city will be size 2 but it will have to stay size 2 if it's going to build the worker. During this time the city in variation 1 (the worker first strategy) will be growing. At turn 20 they will both have a worker, variation 1 will have one tile improved. What the benefit will be varies but even if it was a special tile it will be 10 food (5 turns x 2).

The city in variation 2 will have +8 hammers plus +3 turns of growing. The city in variation 1 will have 5 hammers plus the +2 food from the tile. In all, I think building a warrior first is better, even though some will say it's infinitesimal.

A bigger city has a little better research output sometimes. That's another plus for variation 2.

[Fallenhero]

I follow the worker first/BW chop strategy. I usually play a Civ with BW as a first option so the worker can chop right away. Then it's 2-3 warriors followed by a settler. I'll push the settler along primarily to take a good city spot (copper) that a nearby AI might get. I send my first warrior out to my best city location, use the second as garrison, and the third to lift the fog away from my cap.

After BW its the food tech that I can best use followed by roads and mysticism(Obelisks). If I have no nearby copper I sweat it out (warriors on forrested hills) untill I get AH/horses. I will go for archery only as a last resort (no Axe/Horse) because it brings no economic benefits.

I follow the same pattern with the second city except I'll send my 1st worker there right away to chop the new worker. After that chop, he'll either go back and develop the first city or connect the two with roads.

With two workers, two cities, and four warriors in a relatively short time, I'm ready to go!

[Yosho]

It also depends on the mode, and the strat you're usng.

If I'm going for an uber-religious stratagy, on normal mode, and I have a decent amount of hammers, I like to build stonehenge first before anything else; the early prophet gets you an early shrine, which makes your religion spread very far on it's own very early.

However, I wouldn't try that on Marathon, because buildings cost much more in relation to units on that setting.

[uberfish]

If you founded on a plains hill and have a 3 food tile available to work immediately, warrior first probably becomes the best option then since you are size 2 with a warrior in exactly 8 turns and it can go scouting immediately while you start worker.

A normal start with a 3 food tile (let's say Corn) is pretty close. You lose some of the hammers invested in that warrior if you switch off it for 10+ turns, so a couple of those 8 hammers decayed. Normally in starting cities the corn has access to fresh water and becomes a 6 food tile after irrigation so it's actually an extra 15 food for worker first, which is worth more than 3 turns of growth = 9 food.

You can follow similar reasoning for the more common cases where you have a 2/1 or 1/2 tile to work with and worker first pulls more clearly ahead with an extra 8 turns the first improvement was up and maybe a couple on the second.

[Adagio]

I usually start with a warrior, then a start building the barracks, but switch to settler as soon as the city reaches size 2

I haven't won on prince yet though, so maybe I should try something else