Announcement

**Velociryx** · December 1, 2005, 17:45

Opening Plays
There has been some discussion about founding your city on the first turn, or "wandering" a bit to see if there's something better "just over the next hill," as it were. The general consensus is that the majority of players will accept the default starting position 90% of the time or more, only moving if there's a compelling resource *just out of reach*. Some players (the clear minority) will move their settler, sacrificing one, perhaps two turns to do a bit more exploring and/or to get a better position. Plains/Hill tiles are the obvious favorite to settle on, because they give your city tile an extra +1 hammer per turn, which can be a compelling advantage. Even if you choose to build your settler on the tile you start on, it's always a good idea to keep an eye out for plains/hills in the area around you, and evaluate them as potential city sites.

Besides the +1 hammer bonus, your garrisons inside the city will get an additional defensive bonus for being on a hill, making hilltop cities great things indeed.....

In general, however, the consensus here seems to be that if you delay your founding by more than two turns, you lose too much time in getting started, and it may be quite difficult to make that time up. For the most part then, if a move is to be made, it will be a one tile move, so that the settlement can still be made on the first turn of play.

What to Build First
In looking at the possible techs that a Civ can start with, we find that there are, at most, six (6) different build possibilities, immediately after founding. What you choose to build first is of the utmost importance, as it can and will echo through the rest of your game!

Those six choices, and the conditions under which each is the "optimal" build selection, are detailed below:

* Worker - This is a good first choice, and one that's widely used by the participants in the discussion forum. Its main strength is that, when the worker completes, you can begin to improve the land around your Capitol (especially the specials and flood plains) right away, ramping up your founding city's food, hammer, and coin production quite early on. Of course, a worker first approach implies that you have techs in hand that will give the worker something to DO. If you do not, or if your worker actions are quite limited, then this build is probably not the strongest move you can make. Specifically, if your starting strategy revolves around founding an early religion, and you start with Mysticism and some other non-worker related tech (Fishing), or if your worker-related tech does nothing to improve the outputs of the land (Wheel), or if it is not applicable to your starting terrain (Hunting, but no "campable" animals inside your cultural borders), then Worker first will actually HURT your game. In most other instances, it will help you, because if you're not racing for an early religion, then the techs you research before the Worker is finished will probably give him plenty to do.

* Warrior
For the safety minded player, one or more Warriors cranked out to guard the Hearth and Home does much to further that sense of security. Under no circumstances can a Warrior-first opening be described as "bad," because it provides key defense for your starting city, and it allows your city an opportunity to grow. It does, however, slow you down in other ways. From a raw turn perspective, you'll have your first worker out roughly 6 turns slower than a player who opts for a worker first. Figuring 4 turns to improve one piece of terrain, that's four turns "extra" that the worker first player is getting more resources than you (and those extra resources can be anywhere from 1-4 extra). This concept of getting more resources, more quickly is called "Turn Advantage," and is a crucial concept to 4x games. Creating Turn Advantage is the means by which you create a "lead" over the rest of the players in the game, and ultimately, win.

* Scout
For this to be an option to build, you must select a Civ that begins with the tech "Hunting." An extra early Scout can do wonders for your game. At a speedy two moves (and an average construction time of 8 turns), you can double your natural exploration speed, or quadruple your exploring speed in relation to those poor folks who start with a Warrior. That, plus the fact that Scouts (almost?--I've never personally had a bad hut result using a Scout, but perhaps others have) never get bad results from huts make it a compelling reason indeed to go with a Scout first, in your build queue. My personal best, as far as the goody hut gambit goes is three techs, a scout, a warrior and ~300g. If that's not enough to convince you it can be a good idea, then you prolly can't be convinced.

Works best on larger maps, free tech is more powerful in Epic games, where techs are relatively more expensive, and of course, Pangea maps provide an extra bit of incentive to go with Scout first.

* Settler
The Settler first option raised some eyebrows when it was first proposed, and there are still some who naysay it as a valid approach, but no matter. It's a strong start, though for different reasons than some of the other options that let the city grow a bit (anything other than a settler or worker first), or focus on improving the terrain around the Capitol first (worker). The main advantages of Settler first is that it improves your overall (empire wide) production more quickly, allows faster early game growth (cities can grow from size 1 to size 2 fairly quickly, even with NO improved terrain!), and it allows for a flexible blending of production (can build a warrior from one place, while the second city builds a worker). Very strong beginning if your starting terrain isn't as good as it could be, but there are hints at better land nearby. Also good if you don't feel threatened (don't want or need an early worker), can't build a scout, and your strategy calls for non-worker-oriented techs. In those cases, Settler first is what you're looking for!

* Barracks
Represents a pretty serious time committment, but the good news is that your city will grow while the Barracks is building, meaning that the rather daunting starting build time will shrink, and when you get around to building garrisons and other troops, they'll gain the benefits of promotions. Good start if you plan on being aggressive, but want to capitalize on the natural terrain advantages your starting city has to offer (which can be compelling, even without worker-improvement!)

* Work Boat
Very specific start. You must have the "Fishing" technology as one of your starting techs, and you must be coastal. If both of those conditions apply, then a WorkBoat first opening play can be quite strong. If you have Seafood specials off the coast, the WorkBoat can dramatically improve them (won't net you any hammers, but you'll see a nice jump in food and coins), a health bonus for your Capitol (and all the other coastal cities you eventually found), and the best part....unlike going with a Worker first, your city continues to grow while you're building the boat!

WorkBoat first can also be used to create a nearly indestructable ancient era scouting unit. I say nearly indestructable because eventually Barbarians will begin appearing in ships, but this does not happen right away, and in the meantime, you can zip around the map in safety! Better yet, depending on the map, it might even be possible to get a "circimnavigation" bonus (+1 move for all your ships for the rest of the game) for being the first to circle the globe...now THAT is one hard-working WorkBoat!

So...as you can see, even deciding what to build first, while on the surface seems to be a fairly trivial decision to make, is actually a bit trickier than it initially appears to be. There are a lot of factors to consider, cos while you're working on one thing, you can't work on some other (well, you can always "switch" if you change your mind, but the hammers don't carry over...they are "stored" with your first choice, so if needs be, you can switch to something else, build it from scratch, and then go back to what you had initially selected, or...not, and eventually, you'll lose those accumulated hammers).

-=Vel=-

**Velociryx** · December 1, 2005, 17:46

Strategic, Stylistic Choices
Getting beyond the debates over what to build first in your starting city (which is really more of a tactical choice that plays to whatever strategy you are pursuing), we start to move out into the tech tree itself, still in the Ancient Age, but beginning to explore various methodologies of attacking it, and so far, a number of interesting options have come up.

Leaving aside specific beelines for the moment (rushing to a particular point in the tech tree in order to gain an advantage from it), we'll focus instead on generalized strategies, around which a particular beeline could be crafted to "get there" all the more quickly.

* Religious Foundings
There has been much interest since Civ IV's release on founding one or more of the World's Religions. I suspect this is at least in part due to the "newness factor," in that Religion has never been expressed in Civ before, and it's...new. Neat. Kinna cool.

It's also has some fairly potent advantages:

A) Build each religion's "Temple" (sacrifice a Great Prophet to do this), and get +1gpt per city on the planet that has that religion in it. This, coupled with dedicating one or more cities to pumping out Missionaries to spread the good word(s) can result in handsome gpt profits (this is exclusive to the founder of the religion, or more specifically, to the player who controls the city that the religion was founded IN).

B) Can lead to improved diplomatic standing with your neighbors, if you can spread your religion into their lands and get them to "convert." This can be an enormous benefit that has implications for the whole rest of the game! (this is true even if you adopt a state religion founded by someone else).

C) +1 happiness in each city you control that bears your state religion (this is true even if you adopt a state religion founded by someone else).

Still, as good as both of these are, the main strength, in my mind, seems to be:

D) Fog of war is dispersed, and you can "see" around any city that contains your religion. It's hard to put a price tag on that kind of information....that's pretty huge....(this is exclusive to the founder of the religion, or more specifically, to the player who controls the city that the religion was founded IN).

Of course, there has been some debate about whether the short term cost of such a founding (delaying the research of defensive techs, or other key techs in the game) is "worth it" (you can get at least half of the advantages by simply adopting a religion that someone else founds), but at this point, it is simply too early to tell. Nonetheless, it stands as one of the most intriguing questions to stem from the ancient age thus far! Perhaps your own games and insights here will prove to be the definitive "answer" to this question!

One other benefit that is worth mentioning regarding religion is the "Organized Religion" Civic (which you will surely get to if you stroll down the tech path containing the early game religions). A 25% bonus to building infrastructure, applicable to all cities that have your state religion is pretty compelling!

* Forest Chopping
Forests existing inside your city radius provide you with 0.4 points of health. Five forests = +2 health, which is as good as having a free Aquaduct in your city. On higher levels of play, where health becomes a more pressing concern, this can be a crucial advantage. On the other hand, if you happen to REALLY NEED 30+ hammers of production for something, those trees can start to look mighty tasty....

So there's some controversy. At one extreme, we've got the "Locust" crowd, who would advocate clearcutting every tree in sight, use the big boost to production to speed-build a massive ancient-era army, and conquer everything in sight. Doing this will surely net you huge advantages in the short run, but unless you are playing a Pangea map, and can guarantee that all your rivals are on the same landmass with you, you may wind up stifling your long term growth, and be unable to compete in the later stages of the game.

Clear-cutting in MP is a given...there won't BE a late game, so it (the long term impact) does not matter. In SP (which is where the bulk of our discussions are centered), clear-cutting can be devastating by the late-game. This (the enormous health and production malus you can be feeling by the late game), has led a number of players to adopt an extreme "Preservationist" outlook, in which most, if not all forests are spared.

In truth, I feel that the most effective approach is one of balance. There are some forests that are in the way, and these should be cut down for the good of the Empire. Additionally, there are usually wide swaths of forest-lands in locations where cities are undesirable, and these forests can usually be harvested with no ill-effect. Finally, given the way your borders expand (not infinitely, it is true, but far beyond the workable radius of a city), it is entirely possible to "envelope" a forest, and let the cities around it chop selectively from it. If you clear-cut it later on, it might make a good site for a commerce-oriented city.

In short, the production advantages are at least as compelling as the health and other benefits, and as such, serious consideration should be given to at least some chopping.

It should be noted that from an early game perspective, Chopping is available down one of the two "warmongering" paths, at BronzeWorking, which is one of the most crucial techs of the ancient era.

* Commerce Centered
One of the ways that the AI can keep pace with the humans in the tech race is through the bonuses they get (which increase with difficulty level). Another way is through the heavy use of Cottages. If you look at a typical AI Civ, it's run through with Cottages. That represents a HUGE amount of money! Now, we can't really do anything about the built-in advantages, but we can sure mimick a winning strategy, and that means making heavy use of cottages! Of all early game terraforming options, "The Cottage" is a unique case, as it is the ONLY piece of terraforming you can do that "Grows" over time. A fully developed cottage enhancement will generate 7gpt...that's as much as a Gold Mine, and you can build it yourself! That's nearly as much as your Palace produces in gpt. In short, it's huge. It's bigger than huge, and if you're not making use of cottages, then you should be! Cottages are not "just" for your commerce city, they should be woven into the fabric of each and every city you have! Sure, they pay the biggest dividends in a city heavily geared to commerce or science, but the best way to fund that big army you'll need. The best way to finance future expansion? The best way to research quickly and upgrade your troops?

Cottages.

And they come quickly, too...arriving at your doorstep from the moment you get "Pottery." On that turn (and sooner if it were possible), you need to start setting aside some land for cottages AND START WORKING THOSE TILES. The quicker you start working them, the quicker they will grow. This is every bit as important as, say, finding enough food to set aside two science specialists in that library you built, unless of course, you are in command of that most magical of civs that does not need money. And since that's not the case, build some cottages!

This "merchant" approach can be taken to all sorts of silly extremes, and as with everything else, if taken to its extreme, it is probably fatal. Production would plummet, and with it, your ability to defend yourself from even a modest attack. So obviously taking it to its extreme is a bad idea. Nonetheless, they are a pivotal part of Imperial finance that CANNOT be understated. Simply put, if you find that you have to reduce your research down to dismal levels to stay afloat, then the answer is cottages, and clearly, you have not invested in them heavily enough.

There are other tiles that are worth mentioning here.

Seafood specials invariably bring in a good gold income. Most "campable" animals bring in at least some gold. The resources activated at Monarchy and Calendar (Wines, Sugar, Spices, etc), all generate goodish gold. None of them top a fully developed cottage, but they're all important, and they all add to the bottom line.

And finally...precious metals and gems! A gold mine, from turn one, will generate 7gpt. That's just shy of the amount your Palace generates per turn. Even better...gold mines can often be found in clusters of 2-3, making the city you found next to them even more profitable than your Capitol. Imagine what a 3 Gold Mine city can do for your research efforts if you find one in the early game. And people say that "Settler First" is weak...Pah!

Long and short of it....everybody is used to focusing on Food and Production, and those ARE crucial to your survival. But crucial to your ability to *expand* (and thus, crucial to your long-term survival) is finance. Coins and Commerce. Neglect them at your peril.

Also in the same discussion with cottages should be some mentioning of trade routes. Ways to increase them, make them pay you dividends. Open borders are key here, as are financial builds in your cities. Any city that's making a profit SHOULD BE considered a candidate for a financial building (market, bank)...that's not just the jurisdiction of the city you've set aside for commerce, that's for ANY city that's making money. Enhance it. Encourage it. Extend it. Unless you just like having dismal research and still not being able to afford a big enough army, of course!

Harbors. Wonders that add trade routes. Civics that add trade routes, and especially the possibility of adding a Great Merchant specialist to a city (+1food, +6 gold! Again, nearly as much as your palace in gpt!). All of these should be considered closely, fostered and encouraged at every opportunity.

* Key Wonders
So far, there have been a few strategies that have been developed with specific wonders in mind. Now keep in mind that acquiring a particular Wonder is not, in and of itself, a "strategy," but it can enhance whatever strategy you're pursuing, and here are the examples that we've seen so far:

"Ponzi-Scheme"
Pyramid gambit. The most expensive wonder in the ancient age. Build it, and you can use any of the governmental civics you wanna, including "Representation," which gives each specialist you use an extra +3 Beakers of research. So if you're playing a specialist heavy game (to generate lots of G-Men), this could be JUST your ticket. Greatly sped to completion by chop, the presence of stone, or the industrious trait (or combinations of all three), Ponzi can catapult you ahead of the pack early, and keep you there all game.

"FarSeer"
An Oracle trick. Time the completion of the Oracle with completing all the pre-requisites for Metal Casting, grab that as your free tech, and build Forges in all your cities well before the opposition. Fast way to get a (temporary) 25% production boost.

"CS Slingshot"
Another Oracle trick. Time the completion of the Oracle with your research of Code of Laws, and take Civil Service as your free tech. This, coupled with a Library with two specialists assigned (and a previously generated Great Scientist to found an Academy) can give you a massive boost to research in your Capitol, upon switching to bureaucracy, which can drive your research throughout the entire middle ages.

"Ancient Mariner"
Grab the two "sea-faring" techs that the AI is not overly fond of and reap big benefits and synergies from your coastal cities. If you're building lots of coastal cities in any case (and you should be), then this is a natural fit to most any strategy. And this also increases the liklihood of generating a Great Merchant, probably the most under-appreciated G-Man in the game!

"Ghetto Creativity"
If your borders don't expand on their own in newly built cities, then grabbing short-lived "Stonehenge" can give you a border expansion shot in the arm, as it were. Useful, but not crucial.

* G-Men
A topic we've barely scratched the surface on (see above), so there's not much to write about yet, but I suspect that will change. G-Men are so powerful and compelling that I can easily see whole strategies being based around them and their creation.

For the time being, we have the basics.

Great Persons are generated by accumulating GP Points. These points are generated by Wonders, and also by Specialists. When the number of points generated reaches a certain threshold (the number stored, and the number needed for your next G-Man can be seen in the city detail screen), you get a G-Man! (And you can control what type(s) of G-Men you are likely to see).

All G-Men, regardless of type, can be cashed in for a free tech (or, in the late game, most of a free tech). This does not always hold true in the late game. For example, you will reach a point in the tech tree where there are no more religous oriented techs, and when you do, the option to get a free tech from a Prophet is no longer available, but for the most part, it holds.

There are 89 techs in the tree....G-Men used in this manner can GREATLY speed you through them!

Alternately, two different TYPES of G-Men can be sacrificed on the same turn to start a Golden Age for your civ, which is a period of enhanced output and productivity.

Or, you can use each type of G-Man's special ability. For Prophets, this amounts to building "The Temple" of a religion you have founded. For Artists, it's the Culture Bomb (+6k culture added instantly to any city you control). Engineers can speed-build any wonder or building you are currently working on. Scientists can found an Academy in any city you control, and Merchants can be led off to a city in a friendly neighbor's city and line your pockets with several thousand gold coins.

The other option is, of course, to add them to your city as a "super specialist." Doing so will give you per turn benefits (which will vary, depending on specialist type...if someone doesn't beat me to it, I'll compile the exact list and put it here). And of course, these reap the benefits offered by the Pyramids, Civ traits or Civics that boost GP points. This, in turn, makes getting your NEXT GP that much easier....

There has been some talk about attempting to organize wonders, and build them in cities, such that a given city generates only one "type" of GP point, in order to exercise better control over what sort of GP you get, but so far, this is the nearest we have come to seeing a codified strategy relating to GP's and their creation. As I said though, I suspect we'll be seeing that in the future. I know that I'm already experimenting with a few ideas....

-=Vel=-

**Velociryx** · December 1, 2005, 17:47

* WarMongering
Aggression in the early game can pay handsome dividends. So far, efforts at codifying ancient era warfare (or warfare in general) are still in their infancy, but the strategies we formulate now will no doubt be heard in the echoes of those that follow. And, the ones that are being developed now *work* which is the point I guess....

So far, here's what we've got in that department:

General Notes
Everything you do in-game, whether war-mongering or not, should serve a purpose. If it does not serve a purpose, then stop doing it. Focus on the things that matter most. Let everything else either take care of itself or fall by the wayside.

So what is the purpose for early warmongering?

Specifically, the purpose is multi-fasceted, and accomplishes the following goals:

1) It serves to simultaneously strengthen your in-game position as it weakens that of your nearest rivals.

2) With the appropriate technology (Alphabet), a well-timed attack can do your research for you, as you will be able to bully technologies out of your rivals, netting you research gains that make every other research approach pale by comparison.

3) It ensures that you are the strongest civ in your neighborhood. The goal is not to KILL the other civs...they may have their uses later on...once they're "tame" (and by that, I mean, once they have been sufficiently pruned so as to be relegated to the position of "junior partner" on your continent....at which time, you can begin mending fences with them and turn them into long term trading partners, or, keep relations sour and keep bullying them for techs as they get something you lack. Either way.

4) It carves out a large expanse of territory for you to expand into at your leisure. As the largest, most powerful civ in the region, you will not only militarily, but also culturally dominate everyone around you (unless you actively try NOT to culturally dominate, but why would you want to?).

Taken together, these four advantages leave you in a strong position indeed, and if either thoughts of being able to build in absolute peace and safety, or thoughts of smashing your enemies to tiny bits gets your blood pumping, then early aggression is just what you've been looking for.

Note that the purpose of early aggression specifically IS NOT to kill off your neighbors. You want them weak and controllable, not dead. Dead, they cannot benefit you, save for the cities you take initially. Weak and subservient, they can benefit you for the whole rest of the game!

Early Religions? Pah! Fancy Oracle Games? Double Pah! A couple fistfuls of troops, an unsuspecting neighbor, and a dash of persistence and daring, and you're on your way to total domination!

So...let's talk specifics. If you want to be aggressive in the very early game, then you've got three choices: Archers, Axemen, or Chariots. Swordsmen and/or Horse Archers will come a bit later, but by then, you should already be well on your way to subduing one of your near neighbors.

Which will you choose? I'll outline approaches for using all three, and you can pick whichever one best suits your playing style. Or, take elements discussed in various places here, mix and match and come up with something that's uniquely "you."

Other people will no doubt chime in and give you their impressions, tweaks, changes, revisions, and alternatives to warring strategies, and that's well and good. That is, in fact, what this thread is all about.

Until those other folks arrive and start extolling the virtues of their particular system of conquest, I'll outline some general principles that will serve you well, either on their own, or mixed with your own ideas.

Understand that I am not, by nature, a warmonger. I do not like battling in Civ, because I consider it to be one of the least strategic and most "un-fun" aspects of the game. At best, I view it as a necessary evil. I say this because the highly abstracted nature of battle in civ (even with the promotion enhancement, which is a nice touch, but not nearly sufficient to put Civ in the ranks of grognard-style wargames) is relatively non-strategic in its nature. Combined arms are important...but their true nature and versatility is nowhere close to exploited, given the current battle system. That, coupled with the lack of zone of control, coupled with the simplified combat mechanic....no. Civ is still not a wargame, and warring IN Civ is not my thing.

I do it, not because I enjoy it, but because I enjoy the long periods of peace that follow.

And, since I don't really LIKE warfare, I tend to try and have done with it as quickly and painlessly as I possibly can, so I can get to the GOOD stuff, which, for me, is building, generating great people, building wonders, spreading religions....that stuff.

What follows, then, are a number of generalized outlines for methods of meeting the aforementioned goals. Feel free to take from them what you will, leaving what you disagree with.

The Mark of a Good Warrior
All of the strategies I'll discuss have a number of things in common, and many of them have nothing whatsoever to do with battle. That is because I feel that a good Warrior must be far more well-rounded than that.

Among the most beloved and memorable warriors in world history would have to be the Scottish Highlanders. Not because they created a world spanning empire, but because, IMO, they were warrior poets, and their spirit permeated the fabric of western society deeply. So deeply that we can still hear the echoes of their battle cries to this day. So profoundly that the stories of their triumphs and failures still give us goosebumps.

That is the mark of a warrior. Guys like Attila (The Hun) were one trick ponies, if you will....good at killing, and no much else, and they are (and were) quickly ushered from the world stage after a momentary blaze of glory.

So if you want to make a lasting impression, be more than just good with a sword. Be more than just an efficient killing machine. Make war with a plan in your heart for the day when peace will reign, and when at peace, be ever vigilant for the stirrings of war against you.

In Civ terms, what's all that goobledegook mean, exactly? Well, it means that no matter what approach you take, one good warrior will have a number of things in common with another (and thus, your various strategies will share similarities). In a nutshell, A Good Warrior:

* Provides for the training and comfort of his men (barracks, unless your plan is to hit so fast and so early that you will overrun, and taking time to heal your valuable soldiers). Even if you opt to train your first troops without the benefits of a Barracks, you should treat every barbarian that ventures into your sphere of influence as an opportunity to train your troops...every savage beast should be met with relish. Attack (or defend) with care, and cunning, and your troops will flourish.

* If efficient and organized (keep track of your production times, make good road networks for ease of reinforcement, pop and/or chop as needed to keep reinforcements flowing.

* Understands that there will be times when an attack (or defense) must be made where victory is not assured. There is honor in a fighting withdrawl or a sacrificial attack. Make use of both as the need arises. Also understand that when you are attacking, you have the initiative, and such situations need not arise if you plan well.

* Knows that luck should never be a factor in the success of his attacks. I'll repeat that, cos it's important...LUCK IS NOT A FACTOR! If you are relying on luck to win, then you're not a good general, and it WILL come back to bite you. Guys, there's no way around it, there's math involved in planning a good attack. I'll make it simple for you by providing some rules of thumb. You want to know how many men to bring to take a city? Do this:

a) Take note of how many men are defending the city you mean to take.

b) Assume one additional defender to the number you presently see, and make him of the best type of defender you presently see.

c) Add +1 to each unit's attack strength. Add an additional +1 if the city is on a hill, or if it has walls.

d) Sum these numbers together, then double them.

That's how much strength you need to bring with you to attack yonder city.

Example: Assume a city is guarded by two archers. Archers are strength 3. Under the paradigm above, treat the city as though it has 3 archers in it, each with +1 to their strength. That gives you 3+1, 3+1, 3+1 = 12. Doubled = 24. If you're using archers, you'll need 24/3 = 8. Bring 8 Archers to the party, and the city is yours.

Planning trumps luck.

* A good warrior must be...MUST BE talented in areas other than fighting. Diplomacy is at least as important as steel. In-game, this expresses itself in terms of writing (open borders), pottery (finance), alphabet (trading...or extortion, as we'll be using it). All of these are pivotal to the strategy of early aggression, and we'll cover each, in time.

* Realizes that some workers should remain near to your core cities and help in their development, while others should travel with the army ("Combat Engineers") to assist them...roading to newly conquered cities, improving lands around newly conquered cities, etc.

* And finally, a good warrior understands that an Empire is only as strong as the Code of Laws under which it operates. This too, should be high on your research wish-list.

But what of the strategies themselves? Well...here are a few for your consideration:

The Boot-Strapping Approach

This approach places safety and common sense above all else. It is careful and methodical. It takes no undue chances. Thus, it is entirely possible to be a warmonger AND a conservative player.

Consider: Worst case scenario (you do not start with Hunting), you're only two techs away from Archery, and a 50% increase in the fighting capabilities of your troops. In fact, even without hunting, you could probably research BOTH techs in about the same timeframe it would take you to build a starting warrior. Even better, Archery is a combat tech that's not resource-dependent. You are not beholden to, or limited by the luck of the land lotto. You, with archers in hand, can take command of the world around you very quickly. Multiple cities are not needed (and in fact, would slow you down in the short run). Workers are not needed (unless your starting techs include something for the worker to do). All you need is a starting warrior (scout, if you start with hunting), and then...Archers. Forget barracks, too! Just build some Archers.

Do this, and what will happen? Well, first and foremost, your city will grow. That's a good thing. And given the generosity of the base level terrain tiles, terraforming enhancements are not (necessairly...immediately) required for you to reap the benefits of that growth. Second, if you discover a near neighbor, you're already well on your way to having a viable ancient era attack force (plan for 6-8 Archers to lead an assault this early, more if the city in question is on a hill). If you find yourself alone, or with distant neighbors, then stop building archers, use these as garrisons for future cities, and shift gears. You've lost nothing. In fact, you've gained a greater sense of security, and your scouting efforts (you *were* scouting with those archers as you trained them, yes?) netted you not only promotions (without the need of a barracks), but also a better understanding of the terrain around you....so now when you expand, you do so in strength.

Of course, if you DO find that you have a near neighbor, then you're already well on the way to dominating him. Remember, the goal is not to kill, but to bleed. Wait until your rival builds a second city. Wait until the first city grows (if it's close enough to keep...if not, then it doesn't matter, and you will raze it). Capture it and make peace, leaving him with one city. He is now weak. You are now strong. Keep it that way by moving on to another neighbor.

No matter what occurs (either beating the stuffing out of someone, or scouting with your growing ranks of archers), you're still researching, and using the boot-strapping approach to conquest, the very NEXT thing you want to cast your eyes toward is Animal Husbandary. This is true EVEN IF you have no animals to domesticate in your immediate vicinity. Mostly, it's true because it is a relatively cheaper tech than Bronze Working, and it's sitting just off of your "research bow" as it were, so you can get to it, quick and clean. It'll let you know where the horses are, and thus, where to direct your expansion efforts next. With this tech (and close horses) in-hand, you're now only a single step from the Chariot...a faster, harder hitting war-making unit that can nicely augment your aging ranks of archers (in fact, when the first War Chariot appears, your remaining Archers increasingly are relegated to supporting roles, as these new units take on more and more of the heavy lifting). The Age of the Archer is a short-lived one, and it gives way to the Age of the Chariot.

Or...it doesn't. Worst case scenario, you now have a new worker action, and you know where the horses are (and by extension, which of your rivals may have them). This too, is compelling information.

This is truly a crossroads for your fledgling civilization, and as mentioned, there are two possible outcomes. Either you have horses in your vicinity, or you don't.

If you have horses in your vicinity, expand toward them, grab "The Wheel," and start cranking out your next generation of troops.

If you don't, then it's time to explore a different branch of the tech tree, and this time, if you mean to keep an aggressive stance, your course is already charted for you.

BronzeWorking.

Two techs are all that separate you, and you may already have one of them. Mining, and BronzeWorking.

This is truly one of the pivotal techs of the Ancient Age, because it unlocks productivity for your Empire in two important ways. First, in the form of the Slavery Civic. This is fully one third of the tech's power, and it is always available to you, from the moment you get the tech. Use it. Pop-Rushing is a viable means of rocketing your production capabilities over those of your near-rivals, and can enable you to quickly and easily put together a fearsome fighting force.

The next one-third of the power of this tech comes in the form of copper. Either in knowing where it is, or in its immediate use to train two of the hallmark units of the ancient era (Axemen/Spearmen). With a source of copper nearby, you can stand toe-to-toe with any or your neighbors, and even in the worst case (your neighbors have it, and you don't), at the very least, you know where it is, and thus, where to strike to deny your neighbors its use.

And finally, the third "one third" of this tech's extreme power lies in your newfound ability to selectively deforest. This, when combined with pop-rushing, can give you enormous production advantages. Using both intelligently can all but secure your place amongst the great powers of the world.

Again, there are only two possible outcomes. Either you will have easy access to copper, or you won't. If you do, then you're primed and ready to continue your aggressive stance, and the same plan you had before applies still, only now, your Archers are relegated even moreso to supporting roles (a perfect use for them at this point would be to travel with your heavy hitters, and use them to garrison cities as you capture them).

If you don't, then it's time to re-assess your situation. You may have started out aggressively, but now you have seen that you lack both horses (for chariots), and copper (for the mainline units of the age). Time to make a strategic retreat and dig in.

Either way, once you reach this point in the game, it's time to settle in for some peacetime stuff. The Wheel (if you didn't already get it for Chariots), Pottery (for cottages to finance your growing realm, and grainaries, to facilitate growth and make pop-rushing all the more powerful), Writing (for open borders, allowing for advanced scouting into soon-to-be-conquered territory, and Libraries for science specialists and a boost to research capabilities). This latter is very important, because Horseback Riding (assuming you have horses), and to a lesser extent, Ironworking, are relatively more expensive techs, and that expense can be blunted greatly by judicious use of science specialists.

Now is also the time (if you've not veered off the path to get it before) to decide whether or not you want to make a play for the Pyramids--a move that will greatly enhance those Librarian Specialists you're beginning to use). If so, then the city in which you plan to make this play should be assigned at least one worker. Chop ruthlessly until you get the wonder. Worst case, if you miss it, you'll net a pocket full of gold to help finance your next round of expansion. If you succeed, your research takes an enormous leap forward. Either way (assuming you can spare a city in pursuit of it), you gain something valuable for the effort.

Next Steps: Depending on the situation you've been able create for yourself, your next move should be either to Alphabet (to trade with your neighbors, and to extort techs from those you have crippled), or IronWorking, if you have none of the earlier resources, and are in dire need of finding something other than Archers to defend your holdings with.

Ordered Resarch Summary:
Hunting*
Archery
Animal Husbandry
(Wheel - if Horses present)
Mining*
BronzeWorking
Wheel (if not gotten before)
Pottery
Writing

Assess. Eight techs.
(* Could be starting techs, depending on your civ)

Recommended early builds: (options)
Warrior (Scout)
(Barracks) - slower!
Archers (if no immediate neighbors found, begin settler after 1-2 archers, founding the second city to take advantage of horses in the vicinity, if any).

Best used by/on: Cautious players who want to experiment with aggressive openers, poor resource starts, tiny maps, where close contact is all but assured.

Main Strengths: The opening play is non-resource dependent, meaning that it can be used anywhere, under any circumstances. The tech progression is logical, ordered, and builds on a previously established framework, strengthening the whole, regardless of previous success or failure.

Main Weakness: Worst case scenario, you jump out the gate with screaming hordes of archers, only to find out (fairly quickly) that you lack either of the other two mainline ancient age resources (copper/horses). In which case, you might make enemies you cannot really afford to have in the long term (which makes Iron an even more pivotal tech and resource for you!)
OoO

The Slave-Master's Approach
Where the Boot-Strap approach takes an organized, pragmatic approach to the ancient era tech tree, laying down the fundamentals, and building iteratively upon them, the Slave-Master approach goes straight for the jugular.

Make no mistake about it....BronzeWorking drives the power of the ancient age, and the Slave-Master heads straight for it (even if he does not begin with Mining--though starting with Mining will mean arriving at BronzeWorking some 8-9 turns faster, in a normal game), with the goal being to get a copper mine in operation with all possible speed.

After BronzeWorking, the Slave-Master's next tech choice is a given. "The Wheel" is needed to actually hook the copper up (granted, if a source of copper is on the water, this is not needed, but given the militant stance of this type of play, a good road network is pivotal, and as such, "The Wheel" is still almost a foregone conclusion as far as techs go)...again, for those who start with this tech, you're at an advantage, and if you're playing a civ that starts with both Mining AND The Wheel, then you're a good 15 turns ahead of anyone else.

If you start with Mining, your Worker should complete on or near the same turn you get BronzeWorking. If not, then you'll have a Worker 8-9 turns before you can chop. That's okay. You've got at least one Worker Action (Mining), and possibly more, depending on starting techs, and you'll have Chop soon. IN EITHER CASE, your next builds should three warriors. This should give you a total of four warriors or three and a scout, depending on how you start. The main reason for this is you want to have cheap token garrisons for the two cities you're about to have, and a guard for your lumberjacks (who will soon be venturing out away from the relative safety of your cultural borders to do some chopping). No point in wasting hammers on Axemen to guard the Workers (who can outrun the barbs in any case), so just make it a warrior, before you get the copper hooked up, and you're good).

Your free warrior/scout that you started with has, by now, found one or more targets, and if the wilderness didn't kill him, he heads home to serve as a scout/guard for the workers when they go off to do some "beyond-borders" chopping, a bit later. You don't need to scout further afield, at this point...you know where your target is...come home and brace for the battle to come.

After this, tech wise, you're going to want to go Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, for obvious reasons. You want to maximize food production, and both of these techs relate to that. Fattening the populace up for the slaughter, as it were, and of course, by now, you know where your nearest source of copper is, so you know where you need to build your city. Note: If you aren't creative, then you need to build the second city right next to the copper so you can make use of it without having to go grab Mysticism to build an Obelisk. If you are creative, then you can build more strategically, and let the natural border expansion bring it to you in five turns time.

In either case, place your second city (and since we're talking about a second city, guess what comes after those warrior builds?) so that it accomplishes the goal of bringing the copper into your sphere of influence, and maximizes your potential for food growth. If you have more than one source of copper close by, then pick the one that's closest AND has the best food production. Also, when selecting a city site, if there are multiple choices, go for the one that's closest to the enemy you're about to maim. Not only will it give you a "forward base," but it'll also make GETTING your forces to the front a bit less time consuming. And don't worry about the enemy pillaging your copper...you'll crush him like a bronze-age beer can before he can react anyway, and you'll have a steady stream of reinforcements heading toward him, so you'll be able to intercept him if he tries for the copper in any case. Lastly, there's the situation where you've already got copper in your starting city's sphere of influence. In this case, you'll want to build toward your enemy, selecting the best food production site in the vicinity.

For the Slave-Master, only three goals matter:
1) Getting to Bronze Working (for an immediate switch to the Slavery Civic and access to Chop).

2) Maximizing food production (to boost population growth).

3) Finding someone to maim.

So...by now, you know where the copper is, you've got a worker, and four warriors (or 3 & a scout), and are building a settler. Chop the settler to completion, having the worker and his warrior escort already out near the city site (if there's forest where you want to plant the settler, then by all means, chop it too!). Build that second city, have it start a worker. Your first worker (who's already on the scene), builds the copper mine and connects it to the new city, then chops the second worker to completion. Once the 2nd worker appears, you start building Axemen immediately from here, depositing one of warriors you built earlier into the new city as a token garrison.

While you're doing all this, your capitol is building a barracks (the only building you have available, and at this point, it's a choice between another worker (which you don't really need), warriors (which won't do any good in terms of taking an enemy city), or a barracks (which will give you a promotion).

Second worker and token garrison come online, and your new city begins building Axemen immediately (no barracks). Your two workers set about road-connecting the new city to the capitol, after the Copper Mine is hooked to the first and operational. At this point, you're armed and dangerous. To enhance it, the workers split up, one for each city, and begin to optimize food outputs (focus on the specials and flood plains only...forget the rest), and you know the end of the story.

Once you've got good city growth going at both locations, the workers chop what forest tiles you deem "expendible" inside your cultural borders, and then get back together with their Warrior escort and venture into virgin woods, chopping to assist/augment your pop-rushed Axe production.

When you have 6-8 of them, you're ready to move out (same rules of thumb apply as before, with regards to how many Axes to bring to bear, but 6-8 Axemen--easy to get, using the approach outlined above), is enough to devastate an early game empire.

If you're faced with multiple neighbors on multiple fronts, don't fret! Just keep churning those Axes out at a steady pace, flatten one civ (reduce it to one city), make peace, and shift your ranks to the new front.

Tech-Wise, after Ag/Husb, you want Pottery (make at least one cottage per city, and work it as often as your population will allow), Writing, and Alphabet (to extort tech from your victims).

Ordered Resarch Summary:
* Mining
BronzeWorking
* The Wheel
* Agriculture
Animal Husbandry
Pottery
Writing
Alphabet

Eight techs. Possibly only six to research, depending on what you start with.
(* Could be starting techs, depending on your civ)

Recommended early builds: (options)
1st City
Worker
Warrior
Warrior
Warrior
Settler
Barracks
Axemen

2nd City
Worker
Warrior
Axemen

Best used by/on: Aggressive players who want a strong military option as soon as possible.

Main Strengths: The Axeman is the mainline ancient age unit. It's strong, available early, and comes with the same tech that enables Pop-N-Chop, making BronzeWorking the Great White Shark of ancient age technologies. No other ancient era tech opens up so many options and possibilities as this one, and the Slave-Master Approach simply plays into this tech's vast strengths. Tech research is focused intensely on two areas (copper and food), with reliance on a beeline to Alphabet afterwards to fill in the gaps in the tech tree.

Main Weakness: Worst case scenario, you find yourself without copper, and have to shift gears. Using the recommended research path, you'll find out soon enough if you have horses, and this could open up a War Chariot option, if you still wish to keep your aggressive stance. Otherwise, you'll have three worker actions, and a beeline to Alphabet will get you anything you're missing.

Alternate Slave-Master configuration:
The above is geared for raw speed, but you may find that you want a bit more safety, and if that's the case, then I'd recommend the following as a slower alternative that gives you more combat advantages:

1st City
Worker
Barracks
Settler
Warriors (3) (one gets "city raider" and two get "Woodsman I) (the two woodsmen will guard your workers while they chop...they're in the forest, after all...

), and the city raider is built just in case you happen to get enough cash from huts and stuff to upgrade one warrior to an axe...if you do...he's your guy.
**NOTE: Time your link-up from the capitol to the copper for the completion of the last warrior build.**
Axemen

2nd City:
Worker
(Barracks) (optional)
Axemen

If you have forests to burn (often the case on Ice Age starts), two barracks are nice, but definitely not required. In fact, if you want to go even faster, then forget both barracks and focus exclusively on Axes, but the speed gains this nets you are generally not worth the trade-off in quality WITH at least one Barracks.

OoO

The Imperial Approach

Slow, stately, and relentless, the Imperial Approach to conquest recognizes that the army is but a tool of the state...a means to an end, and that it is the state itself, which is all-important. The Imperial player is aggressive in his heart, but is above all else, patient. He does not need to lash out with blinding speed, knowing that once the foundation is firmly in place, the conquests will come, and his enemies will fall trembling before him.

The Imperial Aggression style is completely different from the other two.

The Boot-Strap style relies on a logical, ordered progression through the tech tree, stepping up through the various ancient age units in a certain order, with the end result being options for conquest at each step through the ancient age.

The Slave-Master goes for the throat, focusing on the fundamentals (growth, and the mainline unit of the age), getting both in quantity early on, and savaging all near neighbors.

The Imperial approach knows that a war is coming, and chooses to wait.

The driving force behind Imperial Conquest is money. As such, the first thing an Imperialist is going to want to do is make straight for Pottery (if there are seafood specials present in your sphere of influence, then use Fishing/Wheel to get there, and if not, use Agri/Wheel). You're going to want your worker to set up at least one Cottage for the Capitol, so you can begin working it right away. The money generated from this terrain improvement will do much to offset the expenses incurred by your conquest-oriented expansions, and the sooner you start thinking in terms of those conquests, the sooner you will be able to pay for them. The cottage should be built on any tile that already generates at least one coin (thus, if you're financial, you get the +1 boost right from the start), and preferably, one which already generates 2 food (such that the worker assigned to it can "pay for himself" from a food standpoint. Grassland tiles by the river are the norm then, and of course, flood plains are always an option, though you may still want to farm these (4 food) to allow for either a miner or a specialist (later). This cottage should be the first or second bit of terraforming you do.

While you're laying the groundwork here, your explorers are, of course, off exploring, looking for your future loyal subjects, and giving you a feel for the land in your neck of the wood. Not that you're going to found any new cities yet....that will come, but later. The only time you want to LEAP at founding a new city is if you have precious metals in your vicinity. A mined gold tile generates 7gpt for the player who controls it. To compare, your capitol, with its Palace, generates 10gpt. Gold mines are frequently found in clusters of 2-3, meaning that if you find a single gold tile, your second city will produce nearly as much as your first. If there are 2 or more gold tiles to be worked, your second city will actually contribute more than your capitol.

And while you're on the lookout for prospective new city sites, you're making your way to writing. Build-wise, once the worker completes (and he should be done on or around the same time you finish researching fishing + wheel or ag + wheel, you'll want to throw out a token garrison while researching pottery. Once you have pottery, you've got some time to kill before you get to Writing, so now, YOU are at a crossroads.

More Warriors, a Grainary, or a Settler? Mostly, that will depend on your current in-game situation. You can prolly finish either two Warriors, or a Grainary, or a Settler in about the same timeframe, before starting to work on the Library, with the completion of the "Writing" tech.

If your starting warrior got killed, the extra warriors to continue scouting might be nice. Or, if you start landlocked, and have committed your starting warrior to exploring a given direction, the extra warriors will open up more of the map more quickly. As with the Slave-Master though, you're not overly interested in uncovering the whole of the continent. All you need to know are the details of our immediate neighborhood. Where the cities of your rivals are in general terms. The rest can wait, so keep your explorers relatively closer to home.

If "there's gold in them thar hills" or if you spy an especially juicy, money-rich spot for a second city, then the settler at this point is a no-brainer, otherwise, the Grainary will serve you well to focus growth in the Capitol. All three can work tho, so experiment to your heart's content!

Writing though, is the key, and as soon as you have it, you're going to want to rearrange production at the Capitol such that growth is not stagnant, but you maximize hammer outputs (with the goal being a Library as fast as possible). And while you are building the Library, you're gonna continue to research, with your next goal being Animal Husbandry (cos you already have its pre-requisites, and can therefore get to it more quickly than you could BronzeWorking). This will let you know if you have horses in the vicinity, and if so, then you've just found the spot for your next city (this will either be #2 or #3, depending on the choice you made above, and on higher levels of play, maintenance will start kicking in at this point, so IF YOU DO opt for an early second city, it's important that it be a profitable one!).

If there are no horses in the area, don't sweat it...you're just getting started!

So...by the time the Library is completed in your capitol, and you're working toward your first G-Man, you'll either have a pretty robust Capitol, or a fairly robust Capitol and a fledgling new city nearby (which begins a worker for itself, followed by a token garrison, and begins a Grainary immediately after that), and now you're ready to tackle bigger and better things.

If you have horses, then you're only a few steps away from Horse Archers, and this will be made faster still by your spiffy library, and the fact that almost everyone else in the game will have researched Hunting/Archery by now, meaning that those two techs should fall into your lap in 3-4 turns each.

If there are no horses, then your next move is to Mining and BronzeWorking. Now that you've got all the infrastructure in place, you can make keen use of Pop-N-Chop to create an impressive army, almost overnight (Capitol begins work on Barracks after completing the Library, in preparation for building an army...your other 1-2 cities do a worker, token garrison, and barracks, with the workers dedicated to those cities optimizing food outputs and building at least one cottage per city, having them work that tile from Size 2 on (at size one, they're working the food special or flood plain). Beginning at size three, they'll be working a mine or other mineral heavy resource, to give them viable production.

With the early focus on Cottages, plus the Library, the assigned specialists, the early Academy...all of this should see you RIP through the ancient age tech tree like nobody's business. If you find that you don't have either horses or copper, then you go to Ironworking without stopping. This will be your last chance in the ancient era to wage a war. If you find yourself without ANY of these three ancient-era resources, then you must wait, but at least you can console yourself with the fact that you've been able to put together a strong core, with solid research capabilities, probably well before anyone else.

Like the Slaver, as soon as you get BronzeWorking, you'll want to switch to the Slavery Civic, but unlike the Slaver, you've already got most of your important infrastructure built, so if you need to use pop rushing, it will be to give you a bit more speed, and not out of necessity (and you want to avoid pop rushing from the capitol, at least until the academy is up!).

Important Points:
* As soon as you find out how your army will be primarily structured (Horse Archers, Axemen, Swordsmen), you should immediately stop pursuing warring techs, go for Alphabet, and trade for everything else you're lacking. Doing this will probably net you Masonry and Sailing, but if it does not, then GET these two with all possible speed. The Great Lighthouse is not flat out crucial for this style of play, but it is EXTREMELY beneficial. Whatever city you build it from, make sure to add a Market to as soon as you get the tech for it, and assign merchant specialists! The Merchant specialist is probably one of the most valuable (and yet, least talked about) G-Man in the whole game! When added to your city, he produces +1 Food AND +6 Gold....that's nearly as good as a gold mine! If you want to be able to field an impressively sized army in Civ...an army that equals or surpasses what the AI is allowed, then you NEED to focus on Merchant specialists and assign them to a city that has LOTS of economic upgrades in it. Do that and you'll be able to pay for your expansion, finance the big army needed to make it happen, and have money to spare. Great Merchants ROCK.

From here....well, you've read the other two essays, so you know the drill. Build the army, popping and chopping as needed to get it fleshed out, and go maim your neighbors.

Three different methodologies. Three different approaches. Same end result.

I've used them all, but my favorite, I have to say, is Imperial (well, excepting Mansa Musa & "Archer" (Skirmisher) rushing...it at least lets me *feel* like I'm a builder, even while making war...

Tech Summary:
* Fishing OR Agriculture
The Wheel
Pottery
Writing
(Agriculture) (if not selected earlier)
Animal Husbandry (check for horses)
* Mining
BronzeWorking

Again, eight techs and assess.

If you have copper or horses, you'll want to make for Alphabet to extort. If you have neither, then either race to IronWorking in hopes of getting some, or forget warfare in the ancient age, and race for Sailing/Masonry and lock in the Great LightHouse/start cranking out Great Merchants so you can build a HUGE army....your day to attack WILL come, and in the meantime, you'll be putting your financial house in order....

Best used by/on: Die-hard Builders who want to try their hand at aggression.

Strengths: Good solid research doesn't go by the board when setting up your attack. In fact, research is the backbone of this approach.

Weaknesses: This is a slower approach than the others. It takes some setup time, and during the setup phase, you are vulnerable. Unlike other approaches that focus on building in the early game, however, this one has teeth, in that while your initial moves are all peace and harmony, your eventual aim is to rip your neighbors apart. Play with that in mind, and you almost can't fail, using this approach.

Other Notes: It would be very easy to fund and pay for an "extra" city in your expansion plans, pre-war, and use this city, and your boosted research capabilities to grab Sailing and Masonry (this assumes you have horses, and don't need to immediately run for Ironworking), and if so, then you have all the ingredients you need to add a Mariner-heavy focus to what is already a winning strategy....that, coupled with the fact that the Great Lighthouse provides merchant GPP's....)

-=Vel=-

**sabrewolf** · December 1, 2005, 18:56

wow, that's a great summary... printing it and gonna read (& try) this weekend

say, what level are you currently playing at?

edit: looking forward to 500 further very interesting and inspiring posts!

**DeepO** · December 1, 2005, 19:25

Damn... Vel, you're doing it again. By the time I can read all of this, this thread will have advanced to page 3 or 4

Great effort, I'm looking forward to reading it tomorrow. But first some sleep.

DeepO

**lastchance** · December 1, 2005, 19:37

Early Chariot seems a lot stronger than early Archer. Cyrus/Hatsheput should be able to ram Chariots down the throat of everyone else in about 30 or 40 turns... Scary stuff there.

Warmongering early seems very strong in this game, especially considering how good Bronze Working is, and every other strategy depends on how good warmongering is.

**Velociryx** · December 1, 2005, 21:08

Thanks guys! I'm currently smashing my way through Monarch on my way up through the top. I can't say for certain (yet) if these ideas will hold on Diety, but so far, they blow the doors off of Monarch.

Also...agreed...Chariot rushing is way better than Archers, but it depends on the game, too. Archers need two techs to start cranking them out (Hunting, Archery), and are not resource dependent. Chariots need three (Hunting (or Ag, IIRC), Husbandary, Wheel), and come with the caveat that you MUST get Horses. On tiny maps, A guy who chopped a fistful of archers with a vengeance can run over you with them before you can say "horse fodder." Likewise, that extra tech in an Epic game can add 15 turns or more to your timeframe. That's a lot of time...that's a lot of Archers.

But yes, in a standard game, odds are that you'll come and go past the era of the Archer before you even find your neighbors, and if that's the case, then they still make WAY better garrisons than warriors, and in any case, they're great for harrassment ops, pillage, and support of your Chariots...

-=Vel=-

PS: And a Mansa Musa Skirmisher rush ROCKS!

**gentle** · December 2, 2005, 00:43

Some thoughts/question about religion:

Just for fun I tried the following on Noble, so I think for Noble and lower difficulties it is viable:
Try and found all religions in the game (this is where I believe one will fail on higher diffs, but might be not that important - maybe one early religion is enough too) and then follow this general idea:
Use Organized Religion to immediately spread your chosen state religion to the AI players (missionaries). As far as I can tell they adopt to the most influential religon they have, meaning one converted city is enough per AI to make them adopt it as their state religion. After one has done so aim to use Theocracy to make sure only your state religion is spread to further increase its influence in ones own state and in AI states.
So, in short the fundamentl ideas are: Organized for early missionaries, Theocracy to ensure only your state rel is spread.
Benefits are the ones Vel described in his summary (diplomatic,commerce via shrine, no fog...)
Nevertheless 2 problems:
1. In the game I tried this, it happened that late game all AI players changed to Free Religion Civic, which became quite annoying as my diplomatic relations really got bad.
2. If an AI player founds a religion, he tends to keep it even if it isnt the most influential one in his state (?).
This ,I feel, is the crucial point...I am not quite sure about it as I have only played one game really focusing on religion, but if there is a way to convert an AI to ones own state even if he founded one by himself (without too much effort/commitment?) then this strategy might also work on higher difficulties, because one only has to get a grip on one of the religions.

So, main question:
Has anyone a more detailed experince with converting AI's who founded a religion themselves ?
It could be quite handy to throw in a short religion-pamper-period at the early stage to get a diplo bonus on difficulties like deity ^^
What happens if they hold oyur state religion but later found one by themselves ?

Could lead to a nice chronology in progress:
1. build and care for your empire
2. make friends by spreading religion
3. wage war against heathens

Note:
This of course is very basic talk, but I have not seen any thread really coping with religions, etc ^^

**Heroes** · December 2, 2005, 02:28

Vel, your writing is great!
I have one point to ask: is archer rush viable at all (other than Mali)? From monarch difficulty, AI begins with archer. Archer is great city defender, but poor in attack. I think early rush is doable only if you have a strong UU for that (quechua, immortal, war chariot, praetorian), or you have metal while your foe doesn't. Even so, once AI gets walls built, an archer in city becomes extremely hard to kill. Therefore, I guess the safer way is to beelin to construction for catapult.

**Velociryx** · December 2, 2005, 06:23

Great thoughts, Gentle! It's on my list of things to try, but with Civ IV, you can imagine that "the list" is quite long!

And thank ya, Heroes! Glad you are enjoying so far!

As to your question....I would say that ANY rush (even one with warriors) is viable, provided the following:

1) You are patient enough to not attack before you can overwhelm the defender's defenses.

and

2) You don't mind horrid attrition.

If the opponent has archers, then clearly you will need to out-produce him, but this is more a logistics challenge than a production issue (since production can be artifically inflated....not infinitely, but certainly long enough to gain a real production edge over a rival).

And, even if your opponent has a larger military, remember that he is not clairvoyant. He doesn't necessarily know that you mean to hit him, and even if he does, he does not necessarily know where. Therefore, bigger military or not, if it's not all "in the right place" when you choose to launch your attack, you can still achieve local superiority, hit him where it hurts and then dig in.

Now he's the one attacking the fortified city...

-=Vel=-

**Arrian** · December 2, 2005, 10:00

Vel,

Maybe I missed it, but I couldn't find any specific discussion of poprushing in the "slavermaster" strat. Do we know numbers yet (i.e. X shields per unit of pop - forgive me if this is documented, but I did RTM and I didn't see it)? Do you use that second food-rich city to poprush an axe or two?

-Arrian

**gentle** · December 2, 2005, 10:17

off-hand, I'd say it is 10 hammers per pop.
I think it is stated as mouse-over effect when you hover over the button in the city menu

**Footie Mad** · December 2, 2005, 10:23

How about some unique unit specific strategy? This is a very hard subject that depends on the situation you are in, what goals you have and what civ you are. I'll try my hand on a few I have tried and the general usefulness of the unit in question.

Skirmisher - This is one seriously powerful unique unit that you can build an entire early expansion strategy on. They are strong enough to defend cities effectively, relatively cheap and don't require any resoursces. You don't have to rush to other military techs and can put the emphasis on expansion and infrastructure.

Quecha - Really good for super early rushing, but not quite as good as the skirmisher for expansion since they become to weak after a while I think.

Immortal - This is another one in the same category as the quecha but since i'm a mobility freak when it comes to units I like this one more. If you head for it early it's an absolute nightmare for archer units defending, but can also pillage effectively with their movement. I have actually had use for them as far into the game as longbowmen, since they are so cheap and get a bonus against archer units.

One underrated aspect of faster units early on is that you can leave them waiting between your cities in case of an attack and when it happens you can move them quickly on roads to fend of pillagers and attackers. You can be strong at the place you need it without wasting to much resources.

Jaguar Warrior - This one just boils my blood though I've only tried it once. To weak to be effective in taking cities and then what's the point of it....

**Arrian** · December 2, 2005, 10:55

Originally posted by gentle
off-hand, I'd say it is 10 hammers per pop.
I think it is stated as mouse-over effect when you hover over the button in the city menu

Ah. I hadn't seen that since I've yet to use the slavery civic (didn't wanna waste 1 turn of anarchy for something I wasn't going to use...).

-Arrian

Announcement

Vel's Strategy Thread, Volume II

Vel's Strategy Thread, Volume II

Civ IV Discussion

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment