What to build at the beggining.

[vmxa1]

When was the last time a barb came into your capitol? Typically it may be 4 or 5 turns at the start for a warrior and at least 7 turns for a spear. You just can't afford that at most levels. This is if you have the tech to even build spears on day 1.

If barbs are coming around, they are not going to attack a spear forted in the city. What they may do is pillage a road or a mine and the spear may or may not be able to stop them. I want an archer for that job until I can get a sword.

If you are getting them form huts, don't pop huts near a city until it has defenders with some attack value.

You are not going to see any horsemen for quite a while and they won't be coming to the capitol anyway. If they are you have a much bigger problem.

Combat is resolved by att value on def value, so an attack of 1 (spear) is not going to be very prosperous against many units on attack.

[Bonaparte]

I build settlers and workers as fast as I can, but soon as I encounter another civ I start making spearmen also. This has worked well so far because the AI has never lauched a full scale attack on me right from the start.

[MrWhereItsAt]

MrMismatch - an interesting start there, with a Temple being built before a Granary. With 2 warriors you should manage to keep your people content in Despotism until size 4, and if you have a lux around getting that connected will give you until 5. After that if you put just 10% luxury rate on you will get another happy citizen - maybe two depending on the trade in that city. This should be enough to keep your city happy without a Temple until you build Aqueducts, unless you are next to a river and WANT your city to grow.

For the early going, I find I always build workers or settlers whenever the happiness becomes a problem so as to eliminate the need for a Temple until there is nowhere close left to settle. A Temple for me in the early goings is reserved for cities that will grow exclusively to build Wonders, ones that are where they can no longer aid the expansion of my civ and have enough workers, or where I need culture to take/consloidate some land.

I would like to hear why you go for the Temple instead of measures such as the ones I tend to default to.

[A_Turkish_Guy]

first ,play with expans. civ.it gives you a scout.just built another scout.then depending on your diffucuty and your starting posion , for the first 4 level nothing important.yuo can built spearman or warrior.and a settler and barracs and another setller and a spearman and so on so on....
but if you play emperor or deity it is different.the first born is unhappy so you must built a warrior.and settler and oanother worrior and a worker.and you must build your cities very close to each other.and ther is no need to build a Temple at the beginning.it is waste of time and money.
if you have a horse close to you.after second settler begin with horseman.(take 15 turns)and another settler after that.and and and and....:

[TheRockit]

If you found a city on a luxury or startegic resource (spices, horses, rubber, dyes, etc...) does that provide the resource to your civilization as if a road or colony had been built to it?

I have not tested it under the impression that the resource would be lost, the commerce gain would remain but the rubber or dyes would go away and not count as a luxury/strategic resoucre for your empire. Is this wrong? Do you also gain the resource?

[Theseus]

Yes, you get the resource, but will lose its shield, food, or gold benefit.

[MrMismatch]

MrWhereItsAt - First of all I normaly play an industrious civ, genrally as The Ottomans or The Carthagenians. I am having a great success in my current game playing as Egypt. Most cities did in fact build temples, and I was able to build the Pyrimids, saving quite a bit of time.

I realize that when my city is small, the temple will not help. I am hoping that I can get a start location next to a river allowing me to by-pass an aquduct. I then use my few workers to improve the city, mining each cattle or wheat tile. After building at least a settler or two to concentrate on land-grabbing, i build a few a defenders to maintain happiness and begin work on the pyrimids. This stratagy is dependent on your start and immidate area because the two cities that have been founded act to raise a millitary and expand your empire.

Of course luxuries help to keep the citizens happy, but at times I have had many cities cease to grow, due to happiness concerns. At that point I begin to stock long term defenders in each city, adding offensive troops as are needed.