ICS Strategy complete

[Rasputin]

Have down loaded Daves ICS stargetgy from the Great library ,but found it was realy for the experts not amatuers, some basic information was missing such as

micromanagment in citys..
Where/when to build firts city...
what to do if you dont have horse tech after building warrior..
do you build citys close together straihght away or send settlers out to find resources then fill gaps later..
is horse tech more important than monarchy.


any one who can complete an amatuers guid eto ics , it would be appreciated ...

[Scouse Gits]

Re: ICS Strategy complete

• micromanagment in citys.. when city reaches size 2 move workers onto high shield procucing squares - end of city micromanagement (one of the reasons I love ICS!
• Where/when to build firts city... the first key you press is b
• what to do if you dont have horse tech after building warrior.. start a settler, race for Monarchy, but as you are required by the game to get one junk tech on the route to Monarchy make sure that it's Horseback Riding
• do you build citys close together straihght away or send settlers out to find resources then fill gaps later.. Bang down those cities - I often play what I call 'geometric ICS' - unless there is a compelling reason to divert from the scheme my cities go down in a rigid city-gap-city-gap-city formation - I think it looks nice - so sue me!
• is horse tech more important than monarchy. no, but if forced to take a junk tech take Horse.

Originally posted by Rasputin
any one who can complete an amatuers guid eto ics , it would be appreciated ...

Hardly a complete answer, but a start - enjoy ...

[Rasputin]

thanks SG again... I am begiing to think you must be of same bloodline as my other friends from that area of the world , he too is very helpful ! Most other Scousers seem to care more for themselves

But you are giving a good name to the whole Scouse word .....

I didnt meant to imply Daves strategy wasnt any good, jsut missed those few points..

Usually I get a few free techs , but never horse , so usually i dont need to get horse before monarchy.. So most games i paly i builsd the settlers as you say. and i too like uniformity so build same pattern as you..

[DaveV]

Ras - starting techs depend on which civ you pick at the start, so you can greatly increase your chances of starting with Horseback by picking, for example, the Mongols. Most of the games I play out have no starting techs, so I have a wide-open tech tree at the start of the game. In that case, it works well to use a path of Horseback, Ceremonial, Alpha, Code of Laws, Monarchy. If you don't pick up horseback, it's not a big deal; you can do your exploring with warriors. The priority is Monarchy.

Capital city site will almost always be on one of the squares revealed at the start of the game. I'll move the settler a few squares to take advantage of whales, spice, wine, or river squares. No need to try for the center of a 4-special pattern, since your city won't grow beyond size two until the game is effectively over.

Barring other circumstances, I'll slap down my cities in a grid like SG1. However, other circumstances always seem to crop up: a tasty special or river square, a good defensive site for blocking the opposition, water interrupting the pattern. I want to emphasize the importance of rivers: I'll try to build as many of my early cities on rivers as possible. You pick up a defense bonus, a free bridge, and a crucial extra research beaker.

[Rasputin]

thanks dave, a few more tips for us amatuers who probably should spend more time in the Great library..

i will start a new game and implement your suggestion of civ choice and SGs points too

[Blaupanzer]

For serious ICS, build right on production/trade specials and next to food specials. This way, you get the benefits without having the cities runaway in growth. Any city bigger than two should be building a settler, and that should be rushed before the city grows to 4.

I generally build my cities with two squares in between and road them up fairly early, so I can shuffle the units with one movement point between cities and get the trade benefits of roading. I also let some cities grow based on location. Neither of these are "real" ICS tactics, and my late wins (19th or 20th century) show the wisdom of NOT emulating them. ICS at its purest is really a game-related strategy, and I like to get lost in the worlds I make (emphasis on history, culture, identification with my cities).

[Scouse Gits]

The great thing to remember about ICS is this.
When you see a settler - that is really a city on two legs!

[Eyes_Of_Night]

Geometric ICS??? What the **** is that? Are you a moron or something? You have to be. Were you dropped on your head as a child or what? There must be some sort of flaw because no normal human being could be so stupid. You just don't throw down a city anywhere. You have to build them in certain locations. And what kind of ****ing micromanagement is that? You don't know the first thing about city building. I could probably build 4 settlers in the time it takes you to build just 1 city. You put the resource on the forest first and always build on grassland. If you go for food production at a size one you aren't going to build very fast. And I'm not even going to get started on the other flaws. We need to play sometime so you can see what true perfection is. The first ICS strategy by dave or what ever the hell is name was is pathetic. Only a complete moron would do what he does. Like I said, the GL is run by rookies and newbies.

[War4ever]

the champion lashes out with a stinging right hook to the jaw, rocking the challenger and leaving him stunned. The round ends and we wonder what the challenger has left for round two

[DrFell]

lol althought eyes is beinga bit harsh there I do have to agree with some of what he says. I used to stick my cities anywhere, but I've found that basing them around the specials and better locations (eg forest and grassland) initially and maximising production produces much better results. Then again, I usually play 2x2x, 1x1x I use a 'perfectionist' trade based strategy so i'm not sure how ICS differs on 1x1x.

[DaveV]

So people aren't misled by Eyes's buffoonery, I'll consider a typical city newly built on grassland, with access to a shield grassland square and two forest squares. Assuming no waste (if you have waste, the initial food emphasis works even better):

In despotism:

If you put your worker on forest, you'll have a total of 3 food and 3 shields. It will take 20 turns to grow to size 2, at which point you'll have generated 60 shields.

If you put your worker on grassland, you'll have a total of 4 food and 2 shields. It will take 10 turns to grow to size 2 (accumulating 20 shields), then you can put both your workers on forest (for an additional 49 shields; the computer will always put your new worker on grassland). Total: 69 shields.

In monarchy:

You'll have 4 food and 3 shields if the worker is on forest. It will take 10 turns to grow to size 2, at which point you'll have generated 30 shields.

With the worker on grassland, it's 5 food and 2 shields. In 6 turns you'll have 18 food in the box; move the worker to forest so you don't waste a food (3 shields). Again, the computer will place your new worker on grass, so you produce 4 shields on the turn you grow. Two workers on forest after growing, for 5 shields. Total shields: 29, but you catch up to the forest city next turn when you can generate 5 shields and that city only produces 4. If you have a road or river on the grassland square, you've picked up an extra 6 arrows by working grass instead of forest; plus you have the flexibility of rush buying a settler after growing to size 2.

[SlowwHand]

I know Horses is an important advance, but what of taking writing as your "throwaway" discovery, thus setting the stage for Literacy, then Republic ?


Sorry, EyesOfNight, I just don't have the fantastic mind you have been blessed with, so I ask the question.

[Scouse Gits]

My opinion (as an Eyes certified moron no less) has changed over the last year - prior to that I put too little emphasis on exploration and thus did not actively pursue Horseback Riding, but rather the fast tech path facilitated by Writing -- however, I now believe that a fast explorer and a 'mobile defence' unit is more valuable -- still a close call though.

[War4ever]

The bell rings and the challenger's feet seem to be moving again. Dodging blows from the champion, the challenger rattles of an impressive display of combinations keeping the champion at a distance and off balance. Looks as though the challenger has regained his strength and composure and is once again looking to regain the heavyweight crown.

seriously though, horses are a key advance..... mobility in civ is key in the early game....for any strategy , whether that is defensive or offensive fast growth, or ics.

usually my first unit on a river is defensive..... if on other terrain, ie forest or flatlands i will build a horsie. of course this is after the initial two or three warriors are out and exploring.... i believe in quick early exploration with about five or six units in the field (depending on what kind of NONs i get and i use this strat in any style of play save maybe OCC where i dont' usually have that many units wandering , more like protecting

as for city placement..... i agree that as many cities on a river is important, and that building them around specials is also important, but you do need to take some care in plunking them down or you run the risk of starving your citizens.

[Blaupanzer]

War4, based on what these guys say, there is no danger of starving citizens. There aren't any citizens (2 per city and an army of settlers). Must be interesting to hit this horde with a couple of elephants.

Eyes, harsh language doesn't prove your point, which is reasonably valid. However, since the specials come in patterns, there is really no reason that cities can't be laid out that way too.