Are Outposts worth building?

Optimizer · February 10, 2003, 20:17

I don't know myself, I haven't played PTW.

Jaybe · February 10, 2003, 20:41

Once in a while. Definitely not every game.
Once there was a peninsula that I hadn't gotten around to settling yet. An Outpost on a mountain kept it free from troubling barbs for a time. Bear in mind that an Outpost has greater visual range than a unit. If an enemy is potentially coming through some neighbor's country to attack you, an Outpost might prove beneficial.

WarpStorm · February 10, 2003, 21:54

I'll agree with Jaybe on this. Some games it's worth it. In MP it can be useful as an early warning (if you don't trust your neighbor)

TheEmerged · February 11, 2003, 01:39

It's very situational. Sometimes you'll find a spot that absolutely screams "Put an outpost here!", like a mountain on the end of a penninsula or near a bottleneck.

In an industrious culture, it's a great use for spare slave workers (from other cultures).

ceroomaster · February 11, 2003, 07:03

Yeah, I stick them on the end of peninsulars to monitor the seas, rarely use them on land unless the extra square of vision past my line of defenses is really worth it...

Stuie · February 11, 2003, 11:20

MP : Definitely.

SP : I've used them once or twice, and then only to keep areas free from barbarians in the late game (I flag tundra/desert/jungle/forests as not allowing cities, so barbarians spring up late into the game if you don't keep these areas un-fogged).

Craftsman · February 11, 2003, 13:35

Personally, I prefer to spend a worker in a Radar Tower, but keeping areas unfogged are very useful against barbarians, specially in the early game, when we are still building our units.

I prefer to spend a worker in a RT because of the RT defense bonus and because I often use my units for the surveillance of an area that I will use for cities.

Tip: Cold Cash!

Once you have various units (preferably with 2 movement points each) surveilling and defending an yet unocuppied continent, perform a "BCE", or "Barbarian Controlled Experiment": let just one tile be fogged. A couple of turns later, there it is! A barbarian village. Results: more experience for the units

, and easy gold for the treasury

. After the harvest

, let the tile be fogged again. Repeat at will.

Master Zen · February 11, 2003, 14:36

Outposts are also pretty useful when there's a 1-square island close to your continent and you don't want the AI to build a city in it (and usually it does)

Argos65987 · February 11, 2003, 18:39

Quote:

Originally posted by Master Zen
Outposts are also pretty useful when there's a 1-square island close to your continent and you don't want the AI to build a city in it (and usually it does)

That's a good idea, I have never thought of using an outpost that way.

bongo · February 12, 2003, 09:31

Is building cities on top of other civs outpost considered an act of war?

Allemand · February 12, 2003, 16:14

I've found that the actual range on an outpost is less than advertised. (by 1 tile). This makes it only slightly better than a unit.

sabrewolf · February 13, 2003, 08:49

i hardly ever use outposts because in the early game workers are too valuable.

but they are good to look over the sea or cover the sole culture-free spot on between your cities (until the culture grows)