Civ 4 : Early game strategy

External Since: Apr 15, 2005 Posts: 94

At the start, what do you usually build first?

I normally wait until my first city gets to about size 3 before building
workers or settlers, since doing so stops them growing for the duration
of the build.

Which buildings are your first choices? Technologies?
--
Paul 'Charts Fan' Hyett

External Since: Jun 10, 2004 Posts: 252

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:18:27 GMT, Paul Hyett
<pah.TakeThisOut@nojunkmailplease.co.uk> wrote:

>At the start, what do you usually build first?

If I have fishing and a sea resource, a work boat. If I have a food
bonus to irrigate and the tech to do so, a worker. A good commerce
resource to improve (gold or silver or gems for example), also means a
worker, because that means faster research.

If I can build them, scouts are good for early builds. They are
worth more in the early exploration phase than later. If not, a
warrior is always a good early choice.

>I normally wait until my first city gets to about size 3 before building
>workers or settlers, since doing so stops them growing for the duration
>of the build.

While it is true that a worker stops growth, if you have something
for the worker to improve right away, the long term benefit is
generally good enough to make building the worker first a good idea.
This is most true if you have agriculture and a food bonus which can
be improved by it, or flood plains. The worker delays your growth,
but once built the increased food speeds it up more than enough to
make up for the delay.

>Which buildings are your first choices? Technologies?

Granary and Lighthouse, Library and Marketplace, Courthouse. Most
other buildings are built when needed -- Barracks is only needed in
cities which will build military units.

Tech depends so much on the starting situation, leader, and goals,
that there isn't just one to pick. But techs to make use of
resources, the wheel (generally necessary for everyone), and
mining/bronzeworking for better units, production, chopping and
slavery, are prime goals.

Religious techs are worth shooting for if you can get them. If not,
though, you can be better off skipping the early ones, get alphabet
(before anyone else if possible), then trade for the early techs and
get a later religion. But if you have mysticism to start, you have
such a good shot at getting an early religion you should try for it.
--
*-__Jeffery Jones__________| *Starfire* |____________________-*
** Muskego WI Access Channel 14/25 <http://www.execpc.com/~jeffsj/mach7/>
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