Do you use colonies?

[Jonny]

Do you use colonies in Civ3?

I use them sometimes. I usually use them in the middle or the end of the game when a city is razed that had a resource in its area to claim the resource, or to keep a potentially deadly resource (such as gunpouder, oil, rubber) out of the hands of rival civilizations that will soon be claimed. I also often later build cities over colones (or next to them).

[Grrr]

I only use colonies where I really can't place a city, for instance to get saltpeter from the middle of a desert. I don't like the fact that opponents can build cities next to them and as a result disband them. Thats why I generally place a musketman on every tile around a colony.

[Playa del Carmen]

I usually don't set up colonies for the same reason mentioned above; other Civs set up a city near by and the colony's gone. That is why I set up cities near AI colonies. I deprive them of their resource.

[Grrr]

Originally posted by Playa del Carmen
I usually don't set up colonies for the same reason mentioned above; other Civs set up a city near by and the colony's gone. That is why I set up cities near AI colonies. I deprive them of their resource.

Yes, but I regard this as cheating!

[The Mad Monk]

Even in a desert, I will build a city, because I just feel more comportable with it. I use as many workers as necessary to get the irrigation flowing quickly--and yes, this usually means sending a small army.

[Playa del Carmen]

Originally posted by Grrr


Yes, but I regard this as cheating!

Perhaps, but I'm cute enough to get away with it.

[Whoha]

only if im playing a game where settlers have been disabled, otherwise its pointless

[MrWhereItsAt]

Grrr, I'm shocked! How can that be cheating, especially if the AI does it back to you! Isn't it just evening the score?

And I regard colonies as a stopgap - they eventually are absorbed by my cities in the midgame, when there is no land left anywhere (curse you, AIIII!). They can be useful if you have some spare workers (which I certainly have more of than settlers).

Plus you get the resource without having to build a city and micromanage, micromanage, stress about waste, deal with USEless governors etc. etc.

[Grrr]

Originally posted by MrWhereItsAt
Grrr, I'm shocked! How can that be cheating, especially if the AI does it back to you! Isn't it just evening the score?

Evening up the score, maybe, but I don't like my workers being teleported off the face of the earth! and the AI wont either.

[MrWhereItsAt]

The AI deserves everything it gets.

Wait till I get nukes...

[Sean]

I have not used a colony yet! I just rely on building cities, borders growing outwards (thanks to my culture), and if need be, a well placed military strike.

[Grrr]

Sean, have you not even used a colony in the middle of a glacier or something similar. And MrWhereIt'sAt, the AI may deserve everything it gets, but is it really FUN to see ones colonys stolen by other civs.

BTW is this becoming a New Zealand thread or what?

[Marquis de Sodaq]

Building colonies is a good way to put captured workers to use. The lazy sods only work at half speed, so I make them gather my goodies in the steaming jungle or barren desert.

[Grrr]

Originally posted by Marquis de Sodaq
Building colonies is a good way to put captured workers to use. The lazy sods only work at half speed, so I make them gather my goodies in the steaming jungle or barren desert.

That is a really good idea for those lazy workers from razed cities. Raze the city and build a colony in it's place.

[Torkkeli]

Colonies?
Yes, but only in the early stages of the game when my focus on city-building is on the border to my rivals.
Its a good way to get the resources without "wasting" a settler.

But as soon as I have blocked my rivals I go and build cities near the resources just in case...