V- Cities [00005]

Learn how to effectively found, grow, and manage your cities in Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Discover optimal city placement, growth strategies, and early-game build orders to dominate the map.

Alright, let's talk about cities in Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Think of them as your home base for pretty much everything – where your people live, where your armies train, where you research new tech, and where you build all those awesome structures. Every city you found will have 21 tiles to work with: the central tile and the 20 surrounding it. Getting this right from the start is super important!

When you first plop down a city, try to do it on a spot with good resources like deer, oases, or horses. These give you bonuses right away. You'll use up your Settler unit to found a city, so make that first placement count!

Now, about city growth. Cities start at level 1 and need food to level up. It takes 20 food for level 2, 30 for level 3, 40 for level 4, and so on. Here's a pro tip: don't let your cities grow too fast, especially early on. You want to keep them just below the point where they start rioting for the first time. If one city riots at, say, level 3, try to keep your other cities at level 2. This helps manage unrest and keeps things stable. The exact level depends on the difficulty, so keep an eye on it.

Don't stress too much about enemy units right away. Any city can build units as long as you've researched the right tech and have enough buildable tiles around it. If you're short on tiles, you can always use gold to speed things up. Oh, and a crucial point: make sure at least one of your cities is connected to the ocean. Without that connection, you won't be able to build naval units or explore other continents.

So, what should you build first when you found a new city? Here’s a solid early-game build order:

• First, focus on defense. Your starting defensive unit is the Militia. Research 'Bronze Working' as soon as you can to unlock Phalanxes, which are much better.
• Second, build a Barracks. These allow you to produce veteran units, which are stronger. Barracks don't cost anything to build initially and can be sold for $40 later if you need the cash.
• Third, if you have 'The Wheel' tech, build a Chariot. This is your first real offensive unit. Use it to explore the map, figure out the size of your continent, locate enemy civs, and decide if you want to conquer or destroy them.
• Fourth, at city level 3, build a Settler. This is where you start expanding! Be aggressive with settling new cities – aim for one every 3-4 tiles. Think of it like spreading a virus; the more cities you have, the stronger you become. Keep settling until you have so many cities you can barely keep track of them all!

For your early game strategy, really lean into your scientists. Put all your trade points into research to get new technologies faster. The more cities you have, the quicker you'll unlock advancements. Spreading out also helps you find villages, which can grant you skilled mercenaries, scrolls with new technologies, and even lead to new cities popping up!