[MaxWilson]

C'tis has access to cheap fortresses if you build on mountain (Hillfort), forest (Forest Ramparts), or swamp (Swamp Fort). The city type doesn't really matter since mostly you're just interested in having another location to pump out troops, so there's no real reason to go for Fortified Cities unless you're in the middle of a bunch of resource-rich provinces or you think the extra cash over time is worth the extra 600 gold up front. In all likelihood the cash bonus from forts will be a very tiny percentage of your late-game income, so generally I would build hillforts instead of Tel Cities. The high-resource provinces you refer to will probably be mountains and thus cheap (800 gp) hillforts, so I don't think your dilemma generally exists.

I find that C'tis expands easily with a mix of 20 elite warriors and 10-15 heavy infantry, or else 10-12 chariots, per army. And of course good expansion means an easier midgame. Since you have no national scouts, either summon black servants or get indie scouts.

-Max