Strategies For Beginners

[Poida12]

Hi. I have been a Civ player for a little while now but have never really gotton off the lower difficulty settings so i am starting this thread as a guide for people like me who want to get the full Civ experience but don't really know how to go about it.

This is an open call for strategies and game styles that either have worked or haven't worked for you. Feel free to use this as a way of developing new strategies as well as explaining and refining old ones. This way as many people as possible can get the full experience out of this wonderful game.

Poida12

PS: Please try to explain any technical terms you use so beginners such as myself can get full use out of this thread.

[Blake]

Play on Noble difficulty so you're forced to adapt and learn good strategies (seriously, don't play easier, you need to lose the strategies that don't work well). Expand quickly, build plenty of workers, a moderate military force (2 units per city, on average, is an acceptable minimum), invest heavily in buildings and wonders.

Try different civs, if you learn how to play one trait (like agressive or something) you can stick with it for a while, you can avoid a trait or 2 if they are confusing, but still keep trying new trait combinations.

Play on different map and game settings to expand your horizons. Play allied with an AI against other teams. Play terra, play highlands. Play peacefully, play aggressively, learn how and when to fight, and how to profit from war.

Civ4 is about adapting, you pretty much have to tailor a strategy for every start and situation, sticking with "what you know" can hamper your skill development.

In my experience, no plan survives contact with 4000BC, when the start demands a totally different strategy to the one I had in mind. You must be flexible. Don't pound round pegs into square holes.

Ultimately, success in Civ4 is ALL about experience and practise. You can pick up some sweet stratagems on these forums, but none are always applicable. You also need a certain base of skill and experience before being able to fully appreciate the more advanced strategies. So refer to my first paragraph - a strong industry economy and respectable military.

[cal_01]

Welcome!

Like Blake said, start on Noble difficulty and work your way up.

For myself, playing as a random Civ every time forces me to adapt quickly to the game. I'm not sure whether or not it works for everyone though.

And a good strategy? Um. That would probably be: invest in a decently sized army to prevent aggression.

[lastchance]

These are the different early tech routes you should try out:
Military rushes especially those with Bronze Working (Axeman/Swordsman/Prats) and Animal Husbandry (Chariots/HA's). You need to get a very healthy respect of what a superior Ancient Age army can do versus an inferior one. Being a constant warmonger will also tell you when it is time for peace, and when it is time for war, so when you play a relatively more peaceful civilization, you know exactly what kind, and how much defense you need.

Understanding the Tech Tree in and of itself is also very important, and making sure that you realize how good certain civics are. A beeline to Civil Service through Priesthood-Writing-Code of Laws-Civil Service should give you a big grasp on techs.

Finally, you should notice how good Oracle, Pyramids, and Great Lighthouse are.

[Firecrak]

Someone please explain to me why CS is so good, I've never, repeat, never used it on Noble/Prince difficulty, all sorts of maps.

[Poida12]

Thanks for the advice so far. Rapid expansion? Is it important? In my first few games i have built around ten or so cities on an archipelago map and used that as a power base for warmongering. Is this fine or should i expand more. (I play on Standard size map btw otherwise it is too taxing on my system). Also i have found this new unit system a little complicated. For example longbowmen and crossbowmen both have strength 6. From this i would conclude that they are basically the same. I reralise they have different bonusses but either than that are they identical or am i missing something? Are the bonusses that significant?

[chunkylover77]

CS?
Nice thread. I am a late comer to the Civ series. I just became addicted with Civ3 and have kept the addiction in full swing with Civ4. My buddies and I were big time Age fans and I am now trying to steer them over to the Civ games.

Anyway, I have recently decided to fully role play each game and this has helped me immensely. If I play as myself I am always looking for the peaceful way of life. But playing as Alexander or Napoleon I must be aggressive. I still lose but now I am getting better with each game I play.

[lastchance]

Rapid Expansion is strong, but you need to have your economy support it. 10+ cities early isn't viable anymore due to increasing maintenance costs.

Yes, Longbowmen and Crossbowmen are the same except for their bonuses and where and when you get them. Longbowmen are impossible to dislodge from cities, while Crossbowmen > Swordsman.

CS is strong because if you beeline for it, your capital's only going to be one of 3 or 4 cities you have, max.

I maybe emphasized CS too much, but you need to be able to understand where to go after Bronze Working. Techs can be quite focused in the early game. A series of techs can be important, or it could be focusing on just one tech, and almost every freaking tech that matters beyone the first 2 or so levels (cept Metal-Casting and that line) requires Writing..

CS = Civil Service.

[Poida12]

Just to reiterate an earlier point please explain your abbreviations. CS?

[Poida12]

Ooops sorry, scratchj that i missed the def down the bottom lastchance. The point still stands however.

Do catapults still have a ranged bombardment? I haven't had a chance to see yet. They were so useful in Civ3 are they still?

[lastchance]

Well, they can bombard from a tile out, yeah. Very useful units when you get them, but in this game, you have a very limited window to create your attacks.

[cal_01]

I'm not a great fan of Civil Service. It's not completely essential, even with Bureaucracy and Macemen.

Rather, I like to play each game by ear; if it calls for high capital production, then Civil Service is nice. However, if it's a heavy military game, I may prefer things like Vassalage or even Nationalism.

[Tufturk]

Don't forget that Civil Service is a powerful ingredient both with regard to growth and exansion. With CS and farms spreading irrigation, mediocre cities can become good cities, and you'll have a lot more flexibility in choosing new city sites: Spots that were previously unattractive due to lack of food can now become viable.

[Cort Haus]

Poida12, have you tried reading the forum?

[khearn]

One handy thing every beginner should learn is to check the stats screen (that icon in the upper right with the white box with the red line). It will show how yoru civ is ranked in various categories, and also shows what the average is in each. One of the most important categories is military.

If your military is ranked near the bottom, watch out! Even AI (artificial Intelligence - the computer players) civs that are "pleased" with you will backstab you if they think you are an easy target. Always try to stay at least above the average. Make a point of checking it every so often - at least every 10 turns or so.

If you haven't checked out the screens that those icons in the upper right bring up, take some time to explore them. Some of them are *very* useful.