Beginner in Civ III

Renaldo · September 12, 2003, 09:59

Hi everybody,
I'm new in civ3 (only my 4th game), but I seem to meet each time the same problem : I grow quite easily ahead of the pack, install governors in some cities, but then it seem they begin to make alliances without declaring war to me... and I lose my advantage. What I would like is being able to declare war before to extend my territory enough in order to dominate the world... how should I pursue that strategy ? Shifting from Democracy to any other government makes me turn into anarchy, is it worth trying ? Which government then ?
Thanks for the hints (probably I would find the right answer somewhere in the 1000's of threads... but I haven't had time to read much yet)...

vmxa1 · September 12, 2003, 11:25

You did not mention the level of the game and is this CivIII or PTW? For a non religous civ, I would prefer to go to Republic and never switch again. Now you can fight some fairly long wars, as long as you do not start them. If you start them, then you need to end them sooner.
One way to start a war is to planet a spy. Another would be to sent units into their land (if you do not have RoP). You could make demands or lopsided trades to get them mad.
I am not fond of making RoP or MPP. I will use alliances instead as they expire and do not force you to jump into other wars.

asleepathewheel · September 12, 2003, 13:20

Too add to vmxa-

Start as a religious civ, Egypt is a great one to start out as, that way only one turn of anarchy, so war weariness is less of a problem.

Why aren't you declaring war on the ai, becuase they are all allied? Well, if that's the case, try to get alliances yourself. One fun thing I do is to, on the first turn of the war, cross the borders and attack. After attacking, I'll try to bribe his neighbors into attacking him, to draw off his forces, and bribing my neighbors, so they won't attack me. A tech or two or some gold will do wonders.

republic is a great war govt. I rarely use communism, only if its a far flung empire.

re: anarchy and war weariness, use the luxury slider to create happy citizens. try to get unique luxuries, as many as possible, with marketplaces to enhance their effects. this will decrease the ww and hopefully you can avoid anarchy.

good luck

Brandenburg · September 12, 2003, 19:30

I am also new and looking to play a Diplo game of 4 or more players. In the past I have stuck with republic, and it seems to me the only good time to go to democracy is during a secure peace.

Panag · September 14, 2003, 17:13

Originally posted by Renaldo
Hi everybody,
I'm new in civ3 (only my 4th game), but I seem to meet each time the same problem : I grow quite easily ahead of the pack, install governors in some cities, but then it seem they begin to make alliances without declaring war to me... and I lose my advantage. What I would like is being able to declare war before to extend my territory enough in order to dominate the world... how should I pursue that strategy ? Shifting from Democracy to any other government makes me turn into anarchy, is it worth trying ? Which government then ?
Thanks for the hints (probably I would find the right answer somewhere in the 1000's of threads... but I haven't had time to read much yet)...

hi ,

try to keep your democrazy type of gov as long as you can , you can change to a civ with a different trait also

take a look at the FAQ , and read some of the intresting threads in the CIV III forum , bound to get loads of info , and if you have a Q , just ask it , .......

have a nice day

Louis XXIV · September 14, 2003, 18:11

If you use the Luxury slider (the Domestic advisor has 2 sliders, one for science, one for luxury)

If your cities riot due to your war, increasing the luxury slider will help decrease any problems.

But you should mass all your troops for one massive assault on a city. You definately don't want any war lasting too long in Democracy.

Renaldo · September 15, 2003, 02:09

Thanks to all for this feedback ! Need now to practice that. In fact, i was playing with French because I felt Industrious+money was best needed. Should try Egyptians once to test religious capabilities.

Wazell · September 15, 2003, 05:47

France is a great civ to play and the ind+comm combination only makes them better. These two traits are usually enough to greatly reduce the negative effects of 3-5 turn anarchy period. Of course religious civ has the most freedom if you want to change govts every time you go to war. Egyptians are probably the most powerful of these, later you may want to try Babylon for easy cultural victory...

Originally posted by vmxa1
One way to start a war is to planet a spy. Another would be to sent units into their land (if you do not have RoP). You could make demands or lopsided trades to get them mad.

This last one is my favourite. Just go to diplomacy screen with the civ you want war with, and make the same outrageous demand 20+ times. Their attitude drops to furious quickly and they'll probably declare on you next turn, making it far more easier to destroy them without sacrificing your reputation.

Renaldo · September 17, 2003, 06:02

Now that I've been able to lead some wars under republic, I destroyed french & English (I'm American playing chieftain level for the moment ;-)). Also, I decided 1000 years ago to send settlers building cities between Japanese and Babylonians territories (on another continent). These two cities have grown but I continue having huge corruption problems... I tried everything : shifting to Democracy, building courthouse/Police station, harbor but I remains with a production of 1 shield for about 12 wasted.

Is there any means of coping with that problem ???

Following question is to know if it is then interesting to have cities like that : I thought I could then conquer extra cities (through my high culture ;-)) or have basement for leading wars. Is it reasonable or not ?

vmxa1 · September 17, 2003, 11:50

One means to help reduce corruption is the palace and FP placement. If you have them in place and courthouses, then you are stuck. Once you get beyond the OCN and start to get farther from the FP/Palace you will get corruption. These cities will just contribute what they can. It maybe that you will get a lux or a resource from them, otherwise you will just get one shield (depending on if you have court). This can still contribute. It could make workers or some unit or have one pop on science.
There are threads here that do into details of corruption.