late game strategies

[Dis]

I need help!

I seem to be doing well all game, but suddenly the last 50 to 100 turns the AI overpasses me. I don't see how. What are they doing that I'm not doing.

I build factories and coal plants, you'd think that would help. but I seem to be lagging in research capability.

I could build more cottages, but then I lag in production. Yet the AI seems to be able to have amazing research rates and productive cities. What gives?

These are all on noble. Which I used to be able to beat. But now I can't win at noble. I must of picked up a bad habit somewhere, but I don't know what it is. I simply cannot win a noble game anymore. And this is really depressing me (seriously). I can't believe a computer is smarter than I am. With all the odds being even, I'm losing.

[Dis]

no responses? I had my research at 80%, 90% and even 100% (though I was losing about a 100 gold a turn) and still couldn't keep up with the AI research in the late game.

[Blake]

That's odd.

The problem is that you need to be planning for the late game in the early-mid game, acquiring the territory needed and building the cottages that will be towns in the late game.

The easy way to victory is just to kill your neighbour no later than macemen, with twice as much territory as the next guy you'll have no trouble. Dedicate some cities to cottages and have some giant coastal cities for trade havens.

I usually try to make sure to have some semi-specialized cities:

2-3 coastal Trade Cities (usually food/hammer rather than cottage focus, population must be fairly large, they are well rounded cities)
2-3 Cottage Cheese cities.
2-3 Hammer Monsters. Farms/mines/watermills/workshops. These are for building late game wonders and SS parts, not units. My best will usually be a conquered capital.

The trade cities are usually my starting cities, then in the mid game I build up the cottage/hammer cities, to keep my economy/industry pumping. Most cities are hybrid and just build stuff and pop out the odd unit.

It's also my experience that not all the AI's can out-research a human, it's only the ones that get lucky with a large territory and an affinity for cottage cheese. Americans can really go crazy with the cottages, once they run Suffrage they get good production too. If you don't want to rely on getting lucky then conquer a large territory.

[Dis]

that reminds me I forgot to check my land area and population compared to the ai at the end. I usually am #1, but no this game. I was playing archipelago, so I kind of ran out of room to expand. And I became discouraged when I had to lower my research to 50% because of my rapid expansion in the beginning.

[Risa]

Be out-researched? Simple solution: the Internet.

There's no need to worry about expansion. I had a game running 30% research rate for a long time, (and that was an MP game!) It was a great pit to climb out, but when i did, I became the powerhouse of that game.

[Blake]

Also some traits are stronger at different points in the game.
Creative for example is only really useful in the early game. A trait like Organized just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
Agressive really gets weak in the end game.
Phi is stronger in the early game.
Financial is always good.
Industrial is good if you leverage it, which isn't at all hard to do on Noble.

Organized/Financial is probably the strongest trait in the end game and requires the least amount of leverage. Other traits rely to a lesser or greater degree on really being leveraged. Aggressive can be a huge boon in acquiring more territory and getting wicked momentum going, creative makes it a lot easier to hold what you have.

If you've failed to leverage early game traits, then you're going to be much weaker come end game (for example, if you're creative/agressive you WILL need to conquer more land than an organized/financial). If you have trouble leveraging some traits, try other traits. CIV is very deep strategically and if you get too rigid in your playstyle you will suffer in many situations.

[cal_01]

Specialists, and tons of them.

It also helps to hoard up Great Leaders beforehand.

edit: by the way, high food city + Free Speech + Caste System/Artists = win. Be careful, though, since opposing civs tend to attack when your borders are pressing against theirs a lot.

[Yuufo]

Four phases:

1 - Preparation

Build cottages in the early game and expand your territory then, with wars eventually. My favourite strat is to go to Code of Laws quickly (after all worker abilities have been unlocked), found Confucianism, have the Oracle built some turns later... ooh Bureaucracy! This must be completed at about 1000 BC.
By this time you have 3-4 cities, build some more or acquire barbarian cities while beelining to Mechanics.

2 - Border expansion

Now (1 AD) it's time to GREATLY increase your territory. You have macemen: 8 attack, + 50% against Melee, and they need copper OR iron so less risks of no resource. Use a swarm of then, upgrading them with Cover and Pillage. Against the pathetic archers of the IA, the war doesn't cause any trouble, I think I lost 4 macemen when fighting against 2 other civs.
Get 12-15 cities by the end of the war. You have set science to a high level, getting gold from captured cities.

3 - Marshall Plan

Your high number of cities is worrying the financial advisor, use cast system, put some artists in the newly conquered cities (at least to have the first cultural expansion) and as many merchants as possible to pay for your maintenance costs. Needless to say that, with so many specialists around your empire, Pyramides and Sistine Chapel are a must. (I captured the first and built the second with my conquered Marble source). Tribunals are essential in this phase, since they greatly reduce costs, and allow you to build Forbidden Palace. When you have Banking, use Mercantilism to have the free spec. I use also Pacifism so that I spawn a lot of Great People.

4 - Free society

Research democracy, liberalism, eco sciences, and switch to Universal Suffrage - Emancipation - Freedom of Speech - Market Economy - Freedom of Cult, your cottages have grown into towns, with these civics their tile should produce 2-1-7. Better than specialists. Just keep tech lead and wait for a peaceful spaceship victory. Or have fun with tanks if you like...

Results: I play at Monarch, Napoléon, on Continents. I finished the Renaissance Era while all other AIs barely started on it, and have 1000 points more than the second. I'll finish the game today

[Dis]

yeah I think I'll go for maceman. I usually wait too long to go for them. I'm always curious the paths you guys use to go through the tech trees (eps the early part). There are so many paths to take. I need to work on that more. And it seems like I'll need to do some warfare to expand.

The game I mentioned above wasn't on a good map to do this. And I had poor starting position. But I was determined to play it through. And when I got the lead I thought I had the win locked up. I guess not.

[Cardozo]

Raze his two best cities to the ground. That'll reign him in. If you can be sure to raze a bunch of towns. They take a long time to grow back.