| DanneSandin said: When is it a good time to expand? And what social policys is good to take? I usually try to get that free worker first. And is is still necessary to have specific cities; gold, production, science? |
Tradition and Liberty are two very good social policies to invest in when starting out. In tradition at least get Aristocracy (build wonders faster) and Legalism (provides monument in first 4 cities for free, so you don't have to build monuments in your first few cities (I usually build one in the capital first anyways for the early culture)). Liberty is good to fill out completely considering you get a free great person of your choice (I usually get the engineer so I can hurry a wonder). The other two favorite social policies I choose are Autocracy (for war) and Rationalism (for science and there is a happy bonus for universities, public schools, observatory). I hardly choose patronage since I usually just kill the city states (although keeping some as allies is decent with their gifts). I did go patronage once when I was Greece and I kept all the city states alive and my allies. I wrecked shop that game. Usually it is better to go commerce over patronage. Honor is good for war also.
I used to micro manage my cities more in Civ 3 but I sometimes still do in Civ 5 just not as much as I used to. Sometimes it is good to put the focus on production in your cities if they are having a difficult time producing things. Just depends on each cities situation (some might be better with food at certain points during it's growth). I hardly use gold or science focus. Sometimes I use gold if I am bleeding money from too many troops or whatever (but usually I don't have the biggest armies). Most of the times I go for more advance troops so I have less troops than the AI but they are superior (with help of a technology lead).
Time to expand usually depends on opportunity (spotting a Civ that is weak or behind in tech / old military units), and how well your empire is managed (mainly happiness). Try to scope out new luxury resources and go for those cities if viable.
