Colonizing New Lands

[SIV]

Standart map size, Warloard, 5 civs.
My continent: Large, 3 civs, not much space left.
Other continent: Huge, 2 civs,an empty small peninsula to the south.

Near the peninsula are the americans.
they are bigger and stronger than me.
I've just entered the Middle Ages so I have only galleys.
Luckily I have the Great Lighthouse.

One civ on my continent is as powerfull as me and the other is weak and poor. (because of me of course . )

I don't know if I should first counquer my continent and wait until I get transports and marins of if I should start colonizing the new world now while the is still room?

[Ethelred]

Worry about colonizing AFTER you have found the other areas. If there is a large empty zone AND you haven't built your FP then maybe it would be good to take it.

However in most instances I take over the continent I start on. I don't have to worry about shipping units especially a lousy two a time on galleys. Also you will not be able to use resources on either contintent in the other unless there a coastal path between them untill you get the techs needed.

If you own your an entire land mass its much harder for anyone to attack you. You will usually have a monopoly on some of the luxuries as well. Unless that other civ is too tough to take on I strongly recommend makeing the land ALL yours or at least leave nothing but cripples and then only if you have the optimum number of cities allready.

[Der PH]

Usually I try to get as much land as I can peacefully, at least in theory.
In fact I mostly do conquering and (more or less) peaceful settling parallel. So my cities next to the chosen enemy produce units and the other half of my 'empire' (if it's worth being called this way in that early period of the game) does the peaceful business.
Only if the war is getting really hot, all my cities spit out units (happens quite often at monarch).

[SIV]

I'm just afraid that the americans will take that strip of land and I'll have problems invading later on.
(this peninsula is pointing to my continent so it's not a long journey.

[Theseus]

There's colonizing and then there is colonizing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, even if the Americans successfully build on the peninsula, it's going to be a looong time until those towns become well developed, and until there is a significant American military force in defense. In the meantime, they might get some tile improvement done, and a road network in place.

This is a GREAT opportunity to learn invasion skills... you want to attack in such a way that you take the whole peninsula in just a couple of turns, and have a sufficient force to hold the neck / chokepoint.Think of multiple landing points, prefereably on high ground, to achieve these objectives... attackers to take the towns, and defenders towards the American core. Take the peninsula, mount a credible defense, and negotiate peace. Build harbors and something cultural ASAP.

No problemo... "Thanks Abe, you fixed the place up real good!!"

[Ethelred]

You will have to plan an invasion later carefully. At the very least you will need galleons and knight and maybe even transports and tanks. What you do now depends on what you are planning long term. If you are a war monger you will have to invade entually. If you are a builder what counts is getting to the optimum number of cities and then developing towards one of the peacefull victories like the Space Race.

If you are trying to win as a builder and not start wars yourself it comes down to who starts a war with you. Eventually your continental neighbor will run out of room to expand. Then you will be the most likely target if only because the AI isn't good at invasions. As a builder I would normally go for the peacefull expansion by trying to settle the other continent. The difficulty will be to make anything out of it. You will need to either build the FP there or move the Palace. Otherwise its unlikely that you will be able to overcome corruption on the other continent well enough to bother with as builder.

If you are a war monger then consolidating your continent now would be best. When you get galleons you can invade and if you get a Great Leader you may want to move the palace. You may even be invited by one of the two civs on the continent to join an alliance against the other. With a Right of Passage you could land on your allies land and launch your invasion from there and via the closer route your are planning to use now for colonization.

Basicaly it comes down to whether you want to be as peacefull as possible or a raging horde spreading across the land. With only five civs you should have plenty of room on your continent to win as a builder especially if you have enough cities allready. On warlord the AI really doesn't have much of a chance either way.