Early game happiness w/o religion

[wodan11]

Most of these suggestions are way later... unless I'm misreading the OP is asking for early game happy strategies. Thus: no theatres, no happy resources (planations), no hereditary rule.

Stonehenge is a good suggestion esp for Charismatic. Also, try Slavery and/or assigning specialists (happiness is still an issue but not as much of one because you keep your population smaller and/or reduce your growth rate).

Wodan

[ben04]

Well Stonehenge = 4 monuments if not industrious. I think just building those might be a better option as you will need some time before you settle your 5th city and Stonehenge starts to pay off.

When Industrious it is worth a consideration but even then I wouldn't take it. You need to build it so early that it's denying you at one settler or worker. Early improvements and getting the best city spots can determine a game.

You can get the early culture through other means: Being Creative, being Inca, getting a religion, building libraries or monuments.

That happy face that comes with charismatic is meaningless in the early game as you wont have size 6 or 5 cities (unless you're not building any settlers or workers...). In the latter phase of the early game you can still get it by just building a monument if you need.

And there is one crucial advantage of 4 monuments over Stonehenge : You are sure to get them.

I don't know how strong Stonehenge is combined with the Egyptians. Ramses could perhaps build a strategy around that wonder.



To fight unhappiness early on you need to fight growth. You do that by pumping out settlers and workers.

[couerdelion]

Ben04

The comparison of Stonehenge with 4 monuments only compares the secondary benefit of the wonder. The biggest benefit BY FAR is the generation of a Prophet.

Also, you forget the culture bonus to the city that builds stonehenge (see earlier comments on flipping cities in the early game)

[Blake]

The advantage of Stonehenge is not saving the hammer cost of the Monuments - it's saving time in new cities. Instead of spending 10 or 15 turns producing a monument, then waiting another 10 turns for the border to expand, the city can immediately start on a Granary or unit and gets it's border expansion in 10 turns.
This means turn advantage, it's powerful for the same reason that Creative is powerful.

Really a free monument is worth at least 50 hammers to a new city.

But you can achieve exactly the same effect with completely free religion spreads, or for 40 (centralized) hammers with missionaries, this makes Stonehenge not so useful for civs which start with Mysticism and grab a religion - but for them, the Prophet points can be very useful (except such civs are often spiritual too, so can get a cheap temple and run a priest).
In short, Stonehenge is most useful for Industrious civs, it helps makes up for the lack of early game expansion strength.