Vel's Strategy Thread, Volume II

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Velociryx
CH, the goal, when pop-rushing, is to play as though your happy cap is -1 from what it really is. If you GROW to happy cap (or beyond), then you want to use the pop rush to sacrifice down to happy cap -1 (so that when you execute it, your net result is a happy city that will take more than ten turns to grow). A bit of MM involved, to be sure, but easy enough to execute.

-=Vel=-

So for a happy cap at 5 :

The time to poprush is soon after hitting size 5, so that it becomes size 4, happy cap 4, with +10 turns till growth.

[Velociryx]

Yep, or alternately, start something expensive, and sac. two pop points (so it'll drop to size three), but in this case, let it grow a bit AFTER size five (build up some surplus), so that you bounce to size four shortly after the sacrifice (need to remember if this city has a grainary or no, cos it will, of course, impact the math).

But yep, that's the gist of it.

And no worries...I've never had good enough terrain to have one of those crazy good GP places either. Best I could do was wheat and deer (on tundra). Floodplains, IMO, are better used for cottages (feeds the worker, +1, and will eventually produce as many coin as a gold mine...I'm all about that!)

-=Vel=-

[Arrian]

The best super specialist cities, IMO, are cities with multiple food specials and a bunch of grassland or can-be-grassland (jungle). Take a city with, say, a fish + a rice and the rest jungle/coast. The first & rice will produce, what, 11 food between them? 12 if you can get irrigation to the rice? I forget the exact numbers, but basically the rest of the city can be paved with cottages and it will still have a major surplus. It will not, however, be effective as a production center until late in the game (workshops + state property)... at which point I'd most likely rather leave it be.

-Arrian

[Cort Haus]

OK, thanks Vel, I'm getting the picture now.

So rushing two pops doesn't give 2 unhappiness? Ah... maybe I'm still playing Civ 3 there.

Is it 20 shields per pop? IIRC the smaller pop levels need less food, so you'd getter a higher f->h conversion when rushing at lower pop.

[Velociryx]

Far as I know, it's 30h per pop, and sac'ing two will give you unhappy for fifteen turns....not a bad price to pay for 60h tho... (that represents at least six turns of production for most early game cities, and prolly a good bit more than that). 1-2 chops + 2-3 rounds of popping, and you've got basic infrastructure (grainary, barracks, libs--mostly for culture kick, that early) plus proper garrisons in all cities.

Piece of cake!

-=Vel=-

[Shr3dZ]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
OK, thanks Vel, I'm getting the picture now.

So rushing two pops doesn't give 2 unhappiness? Ah... maybe I'm still playing Civ 3 there.

IIRC its still just one unhappy citizen but hes unhappy for longer. If you were to sacrafice another citizen before that first one was happy, it wouldnt extend his unhappiness, it would create a second unhappy citizen.

[DeepO]

GP pumps: you've got to choose. Floodplains aren't that scarce, but are only true contenders after biology (as you need some production too, which will probably come from desert or plains mines). They can be decent commerce providers, but won't be the best ones... but those CPs have to count for something too!

Myself, I tend to use a mixed approach in most cases: get cottages early on, or e.g. watermills on those fp. Use the production to build up infrastructure. Then, once biology arrives. farm the fp (even over towns!), and run an undecent amount of specialists... any non-SPI leader could have at least 40 GPPpt in a fp city.

Food bonusses are only better. 2 coastal resources can make your city a GP pump early on in the game, before biology. Food resources can do the same thing too, but are only used in serious need: food bonusses can give you productive or commerce powerhouses as well.

And lastly: if you really need it, any grassland after biology can be a GP pump. Not the best, but at least a decent pump... it can generate 5 or more GPs over the course of a game, without any wonder in them.

One thing's clear though. You need to invest some serious short term advantage in GPs. They don't come cheap.

DeepO

[Artuero]

I think it is 15 turns unhappiness per pop rush on Epic. On normal I think it is only 10 turns.

[Velociryx]

Makes sense...I've been playing a bunch of Epic games lately, and that's prolly where the number came from....

Must....un-clog...head....

-=Vel=-

[Krill]

I got a game in SP where there was a city site that would have had 2 pigs, 3 corn and a wheat resource within reach (none of whcih were irrigated though).

The more I looked at it, the more upset I became because happiness would never let me use them all

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Krill
I got a game in SP where there was a city site that would have had 2 pigs, 3 corn and a wheat resource within reach (none of whcih were irrigated though).

The more I looked at it, the more upset I became because happiness would never let me use them all

An uber-site! SIX specials must be a record. Make a few GPs did ya?

[DeepO]

Originally posted by Krill
The more I looked at it, the more upset I became because happiness would never let me use them all

GP pump? That sounds like a size 14-18 city running at least 8 specialists...

If happiness is a problem, focusing square on religion in such a city might work. Also: her. rule. 8 warriors can do amazing things...

DeepO

[upsidedown]

Originally posted by Cort Haus


An uber-site! SIX specials must be a record. Make a few GPs did ya?

I don't feel like looking around for it but someone recently posted a screenshot of his city with six fairly diverse resources in his fat cross radius.

Awesome city it was.

[Velociryx]

Beginning to Tie It All Together

At this point, we've examined the early game pretty extensively, and discovered a number of viable early game approaches. Now, it's time to take the lessons we've been uncovering, discovering, and teaching each other, and tying them in with real civs that we can choose to play in the game, and see what that gets us.

To begin this exercise, it'll first be important to take a close look at our various Civ choices and what they can do, and then analyze them in terms of what we already know.

All Civs then, are (so far, at least...this could change via modding and/or expansion packs) defined by five attributes:
Trait A
Trait B
Starting Tech A
Starting Tech B
UU

With five attributes out the gate, and twenty-five playing possibilities, we've got a lot of options.

We've already spent a good deal of time looking at, and discussing ancient era techs, so this is familiar ground, by now.

The Civ Traits and UU's are another matter, so before diving into the various playable options, some notes about Traits and UU's would be in order. Because everything in the later ages is defined by how you perform in the ancient age, I'll approach the Civ Traits from the perspective of the ancient age. I'm leaving off the half priced buildings that each trait comes with, because exploiting THAT advantage is entirely self-evident, and needs no discussion.

Civ Traits
Aggressive: Free Promotion (Combat I) for all ancient age combat units but scouts and archers

Creative: +2 culture per turn, per city

Expansive: +2 Health per city

Financial: +1gpt from any worked tile in a city radius that already generates 2 (or more) gpt.

Industrious: 50% bonus to Wonder building

Organized: Half price civics

Philosophical: +100% G-Man Points

Spiritual: No Anarchy for switching civics

Civ-Trait Notes

Aggressive
The perfect trait for early war-mongering. All your mainline attack troops begin with a free promotion, and 10% greater effectiveness than those who start without this trait. Additionally, when you add a barracks to the mix and start churning out attackers, you get a second free promotion, allowing you to build on their first promotion, or head in some other direction, promo-wise. Any way you look at it though, your troops will be hammer-for-hammer more effective than your non-aggressive neighbors, and this can form the basis for a strong attack-emphasizing strategy, early on. The problem with this civ trait is that it's clearly geared for one particular style of play. If you're a builder, then you'll not get nearly as much mileage out of this trait as you would some others.

Note: Aggressive CAN BE a good builder trait, but only from a metagame perspecitve (I've got really good troops, so the others will be more likely to leave me alone...that kind of thing).

Creative
+2 culture per turn allows you to do some pretty amazing things. Culture can be used as an offensive weapon because your borders will grow like Kudzu (a plant, common in the deep south, that grows so fast that you can actually SEE it growing). By closing your borders to selected neighbors, you can utterly stifle them, and then attack and absorb your now-marginalized neighbor. Defensively, it's a boon, because you'll see faster increases to your city defense bonuses. Placement wise, it's a boon, because you can more strategically place your cities to take advantage of the full fat cross, without having to worry about building infrastructure to grow your borders before you can take full advantage of the new city. No matter how you slice it, Creative is a strong, strong addition to your arsenal of options. Offensive and defensive capabilities galore = very strong trait!

Expansive
Especially useful on higher difficulties, where health is hard to come by. You don't start with much health on Deity, and every little bit helps. Expansive civs fill this bill nicely, since they start with the equivalent of a free Aqueduct in every city (at least, from a health perspective). Depending on the terrain, this can also be seen as a "license to chop" in that your native health bonuses means that you don't necessarily need the health kick from forests as much as other Civs will. Flexibility is this trait's mainstay. It gives you options in terms of how to structure your cities (leave the forests intact, or do relatively more chopping than your neighbors, with no ill effect). It also allows you to expand into places that might otherwise be tougher to expand into (especially on higher levels, building cities away from the fresh water bonus can be hard, but with this trait, it doesn't matter nearly as much). A middling strong trait, IMO, with good abilities if played to correctly.

Financial
Moneybags trait. It's not hard to boost a tile to 2gpt (usually, it's as simple as building and working a cottage for a while...if the cottage is on a river, then it STARTS at 2gpt). Every tile you work that's worth at least 2gpt, you get an additional +1. That might sound trivial, but money's frightfully important in this game, and those with relatively more money will typically have an easier time than those with less cash, and the beautiful thing about this trait is that you can see the impacts very clearly...the more cities you have, the more tiles you work, the more money you can be raking in. One of the strongest civ traits in the game, IMO, because the money can be easily geared for offensive or defensive use.

Industrious
Most everybody is enamoured with Wonders, so it's no surprise that this trait is exceedingly popular. It is not, IMO, one of the strongest traits in the game, however. Industrious can be parlayed into a stronger trait, especially if you focus on what you're good at (namely, building wonders), but there are enough alternate wonder-building methods out there (and enough other civs that bear the Industrious trait), that you are by no means, in a secure position, wonder-wise. Decent trait IMO, but certainly not one of the top tier.

Organized
Half priced civics can be a god-send by the mid-game and beyond, and Organized Civs can run civic combinations that would be ruinously expensive for anyone else. The more civic choices you have available (and the better you are at civic configuration, depening on your current situation), the stronger this trait is. Because you don't really get a full plate of options until the middle ages, this trait isn't as strong as some of the others, but if used well and wisely, can allow you to do some pretty amazing things, civics wise.

Philosophical
G-Men are powerful, and everybody knows it. This trait essentially gives you "Pacifism" for free (and if you can RUN pacifism at some point, then you are that much further ahead). More G-men = more options, which makes this trait a VERY strong one, if played correctly. Of all the traits, however, this one probably requires the most finesse to get a lot of mileage out of. Use it well, and Philosophical can be among the strongest traits in the game, but it's also one of the more difficult traits to master.

Spiritual
Another civic-oriented trait, and a very strong one, at that. No anarchy equates directly to turn advantage. That, coupled with the fact that you can, at-will (and often radically) adjust your civic choices to perfectly suit the game situation makes Spiritual trait exceedingly strong. Like Philosophical, however, it takes some finesse to master, and requires a very active stance to make the most of it (contrast this with, say, Industrious or Creative, neither of which require an active stance to get enormous mileage out of). With Spiritual, you've got to work for it, but the gains are certainly there. Very strong trait!

Industrious Civs (5)
America - Roosevelt
China - Qin
French - Louis
German - Bismark
India - Ghandi

Organized Civs (6)
America - Roosevelt
America - Washington
China - Mao
India - Hippie
Japan
Roman

Philosophic Civs (6)
Arabian
China - Mao
English - Liz
German - Fred
Greek
Russia - Pete

Spiritual Civs (6)
Arabian
Aztec
Egypt
India - Ghandi
Mali
Spain

Aggressive Civs (7)
Aztec
French - Poly
Greek
Inca
Japan
Mongol - Ghengis
Mongol - Kublai

Creative Civs (6)
Egypt
French - Louis
German - Fred
Mongol - Kublai
Persia
Rus - Cathy

Financial Civs (6)
America - Washington
English - Liz
English - Vicky
Inca
Mali
Rus - Cathy

Expansive Civs (7)
English - Vicky
German - Bismark
Mongol - Ghengis
Persia
Spain
Roman
Rus - Peter

List of Starting Techs
Fishing
Agriculture
Mysticism
Wheel
Hunting
Mining

Notes on Starting Techs
Fishing
Fishing is a good tech. It's just a bad tech to START with, because if you don't start on the coast, then one of your two starting techs has just been rendered USELESS. If you start on the coast, of course, it rocks, and civs that start on the coast with fishing, then a fishing boat first start will work wonders for you! Unfortunately, if you have a civ that starts with this tech, then you are stuck playing the land-lotto (in a test of ten games, I wound up with a coastal start three times in ten...these are not good odds when speaking of one of your two starting techs, which is why I don't particularly like starting with it.


Agriculture
One of the seminal techs, Agriculture is crucial for early game growth and development, and civs that start with Agriculture will find "Worker First" openers very useful indeed (provided that there are one or more food specials in the city radius, of course!). With this tech, and a good start, you can be off and running in no time. This also sets you up nicely to snag Animal Husbandary, which has, post-patch, gained in its overall importance.

Mysticism
When doing the analysis of Civ Starting positions, I was somewhat surprised to see how few civs began the game with Mysticism. The obvioius advantage, for those who DO begin with this tech, is that it increases your chances of snagging an early religion, so if Religion is important to you and your strategy, then Civs that start with this tech will probably be favorites. Starting with this tech puts you on the fast track to found an early religion, and snagging the Oracle and/or Parthenon (and of course, StoneHenge, if it factors into your playing style).

Wheel
Puts you on the fast track to Pottery, which means growth (grainaries), a general strengthening of the pop rush when you get Bronzeworking (grainaries again), and money (cottages). In turn, this could fast-track you to Libraries (writing), if you make Pottery a priority. On higher levels of play, starting with this tech can be extremely beneficial in its ability to road-connect health-boosting resources relatively early. A good, solid, useful tech to start with (especially good for Egypt).

Hunting
Folks who start with hunting are only one tech from both Archery and Husbandary, which opens up a good variety of early game options. That, coupled with the fact that you can build scouts from turn one, go out and meet more people, more quickly, and snag lots of huts from the map, puts you in a strong position indeed, especially if Hunting is paired with any of the seminal techs to give your early workers something to do.

Mining
The most common starting tech in the game. More civs start with mining than any other, and that means that more techs start with the fast track to Pyramids (masonry) and Bronze (pop and chop). The upshot here, is that Bronze is among the most powerful of the ancient era techs, and a lot of civs start with its pre-requisite. Or, you could look at it from a metagame perspective and take the assumption that since so many civs start with Mining, if you don't, you can still grab it on the cheap (less time to discover the tech when more people have it). So if you start with mining, then you're one step closer to Bronze, but the flip side is, you're almost assuredly not the only one! Mining too, is one of the seminal techs, and it'll ensure that your early workers have plenty to keep themselves busy with.

Civs Starting with Fishing (8)
America - Roosevelt
America - Washington
English - Liz
English - Vicky
Greek
Japan
Roman
Spain

Civs Starting with Agriculture (9)
America - Roosevelt
America - Washington
China - Mao
China - Qin
Egypt
French - Louis
French - Poly
Inca
Persia

Civs Starting with Mysticism (6)
Arabian
Aztec
Inca
India - Hippie
India - Ghandi
Spain

Civs Starting with Wheel (8)
Arabian
Egypt
French- Louis
French - Poly
Japan
Mali
Mongol - Kublai
Mongol - Ghengis

Civs Starting with Hunting (9) (These Civs are the ones that also start with a Scout, rather than a Warrior)
Aztec
German - Bismark
German - Fred
Greek
Mongol - Kublai
Mongol - Ghengis
Persia
Rus - Cathy
Rus - Pete

Civs Starting with Mining (12)
China - Mao
China - Qin
English - Liz
English - Vicky
German - Bismark
German - Fred
India - Hippie
India - Ghandi
Mali
Roman
Rus - Cathy
Rus - Pete

Civs that Start with an Ancient Age UU (11)
(the number in parenthesis is the number of techs that each civ needs to research in order to be able to USE their Ancient Age UU)

Aztec - Jaguar Warrior (Swordsman) (3) (Jag requires Iron, but Aztec don't start with mining)

Egypt - War Chariot (Chariot) (1) (Animal Husbandary is all that is needed)

Greek - Phalanx (Spear) (2) (Greek starts with hunting, but not mining - needs Mining and Bronze)

Inca - Quechua (Warrior) (Immediate--for what it's worth)

Mali - Skirmisher (Archer) (1) (Archery is all that's needed)

Mongol - Ghengis - Keshik (Horse Archer) (3) (Archery, Husbandary, Horseback Riding)

Mongol - Kublai - Keshik (Horse Archer) (3) (Archery, Husbandary, Horseback Riding)

Persia - Immortal (Chariot) (2) (Wheel, Husbandary)

Roman - Praetorian (Swordsman) (2) (Bronze, Iron)

India - Hippie - Fast Worker (Worker) (Immediate)

India - Ghandi - Fast Worker (Worker) (Immediate)

It's not enough, however, to look at the techs and traits individually. That's important, but it will only take you so far. In order to truly understand each Civ's starting position, and its relative strengths and weaknesses, we cannot delay looking at the civs themselves any longer. Without that, the discussions we've had so far remain theory.

So...onward to the Civs!

OoO

American - Roosevelt
Attributes
Industrious
Organized
Agriculture
Fishing
Navy Seal (Marine)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
This is a bizzare civ to me, and definitely not very specialized toward any particular purpose. It's traits are not really complimentary, nor are its starting techs. It's UU is a good one, although outside the scope of what is still largely an ancient era focus, and given that, the UU surely will not help them in the ancient age.
There's not much synergy between their various traits, and this can make the Americans under Roosevelt somewhat difficult to play well.

On the other hand, they've got a pretty wide dispersion of abilities, so while they do not excel at any one thing, they DO cover a lot of bases.

None of America's abilities really lend themselves well to early aggression. This is not to say that early aggression with America (Roosevelt) is impossible, but they don't have any tools at their disposal that make them a natural at it. Tech wise, they start in a well rounded, if slightly weaker position (Fishing), but depending on the start (coastal), this can be turned into an early strength (in my experience, roughly 30% of the time). Still, Agriculture is a fine tech, and one of the seminal collection, which means that worker first can be an excellent opening play (terrain dependant, of course), or, if coastal, then work boat first is nearly a given.

Where America really comes into their own though, is with the founding of the second city (and beyond), because the second city CAN be made coastal, even if the first city is not. At that point, America has an early edge in exploration (two workboats heading in opposite directions can uncover a LOT of territory, and they're almost invulnerable as scouts).

Based on their traits, a program of measured, steady growth seems the most natural style of play for the civ. The Industrious trait can open up plenty of wonder-building opportunities, while the Organized trait can, as the game grinds on, open up enormous possibilities for structuring the Empire toward a particular purpose. The game is generally won or lost by the time this civ's UU comes into play, but it's a nice one to have nonetheless.
Research-wise, America will probably be best served by heading for Animal Husbandary first, given that Agriculture is a stepping stone toward it. It builds on what they already know, and is very much in keeping with the slow and steady, measured approach that this Civ seems best suited for.

Synopsis

* If coastal, workboat first is very strong here

* If there are 1 or more Agriculture food specials inside the city radius, worker first is excellent

* If neither of the above are applicable, either grow the city first (barracks/warrior), or expand to a second city early (settler). Both options are viable, depending on how much risk you can bear

American - Washington
Attributes
Financial
Organized
Agriculture
Fishing
Navy Seal (Marine)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Washington's America sports a good deal more synergy than Roosevelt's, in that Financial and Organized are a good, natural pairing. Financial provides an immediate (or near-immediate) influx of cash, and Organized can enhance (or at least mitigate the loss of) the same. There's value in the interaction of the two traits that is largely absent from Roosevelt's America, and this value puts the Washington Civ in a relatively stronger position, early on.

Aside from the greater synergy, the great different between the two would be that in order to capitalize on the financial trait as early as possible, you'll likely see this Civ gravitate toward early mining (if there are precious metals about), or pottery (for cottages and the gold growth), whereas these would not be quite the priority for Roosevelt's gang. This means that Washington's America might take slightly longer in terms of "setup time" to get it running well and smoothly (which is common for ALL Financial Civs, really), but once it's humming, it'e *really* humming!

Research Priorities - Slightly different for Washington. Where Roosevelt has nothing in paraticular to gain by NOT forging ahead with Husbandary, the Washington player has his Financial trait to play to, which probably means Wheel - Pottery (for cottages, primarily, but also grainaries), or Mining (if precious metals are nearby), making Husbandary an "aggression only" choice in this instance.

Synopsis

* Coastal start almost demands a workboat first, especially given that all seafood specials will make the Financial trait pay early dividends

* If not coastal, but there are Ag. specials in the city radius, worker first is strong

* If neither apply to your start, grow the city (barracks/warrior) or settler first if you can stand the risk

Arabian
Attributes
Philosophical
Spiritual
Mysticism
Wheel
Camel Archer (Knight)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
A good, intriguing mix of abilities out the gate. An early worker here would have something to do (roads), but not much, which might lead you down a different path. Of course, with Mysticism in-hand, you're a natural for early religion acquisition, which could put you in the driver's seat diplomatically, for years to come...or, if another civ in your region founds a religion, it could set you up for an early holy war. Too early to tell which way it'll fall in the opening, so just go with your gut and do what feels right. You won't know the answer until it's too late in any case.

Unlike America, Arabia has a high degree of synergy among her traits, and can easily explore any number of interesting starts.

* As mentioned, an early religious founding is very much a possibility, bringing with it a whole host of opportunities (and dangers).

* They're fast-tracked for the Parthenon, the completion of which would build upon their Philosophical trait if a heavy G-Man strategy is what you desire

* Starting with the Wheel opens the door to Pottery early on (even without financial to take added advantage, this would still be a strong opener, and writing comes just beyond that)

* Arabia should have no trouble at all executing a CS Slingshot, or any other exotic start revolving around Oracle tricks

Her UU is not an ancient-era one, but will fall shortly after the end of the ancient era, making Husbandary a priority for the civ, especially if medieval-era aggression seems likely. An early tech lead, courtesy of an Oracle start, and pre-building horse archers could easily lead to Medieval conquest by turning research off for a few turns to upgrade previously built Horse Archers, and boom.

Alternately, the Spiritual Arm of the civ would allow for no pre-building, a rapid switch to Theocracy (a bit later, granted) and Vassalage for extremely hardy (highly promoted) Camel Archers.

Synopsis

Research priorities are many and varied here. An early religion is very much a possibility, as is early writing, but not of these options give workers very much to do, so Arabia is an excellent civ to sit and grow with for a time. Of course, if your starting terrain is chock-full of specials begging to be improved, then the appropriate research, and a worker first will serve you well, but this civ is especially well-suited for vertical growth first strategies.

Aztec
Attributes
Aggressive
Spiritual
Mysticism
Hunting
Jaguar (Swordsman)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
This civ is very badly balanced, IMO. It's abilities don't really mesh well together at all. We've got Aggression, and that's good. We've got an ancient era UU, and that's good, but none of our starting techs have ANYTHING to do with getting to our UU. Hunting is valuable because it gives us a scout at the outset, and said scout can be used to find our first sacrificial victim, and while we're searching for said victim, we can be beelining for an early religion, but on balance, this civ would have fare much better had they started with mining (one of the pre-requisites for their UU). As it stands, this group has little to do in the early game but find a neighbor to kill (and if you're alone on your continent, then your singular "thing to do" is rendered moot as well), making Scout first about the best opening possible for them. Their starting techs means that a worker has absolutely NOTHING to do, and they've got to start down their UU path from scratch. Scout, barracks, warriors would be my standard opening with this civ in practically every game. Very linear.

Synopsis

Scout first, pray you have a victim sharing your continent, and kill him. Play it pretty much any other way, and you're losing the main advantages of this civ.

Chinese - Mao
Attributes
Philosophical
Organized
Agriculture
Mining
Cho-Ko-Nu (Crossbowman)
***

Strategic Notes & Openings
A solid, sturdy civ that really comes into its own in the middle ages. Note that both civ-traits are nigh-on useless in the first 40 turns of play, but also note that they start with TWO of the seminal techs! Mining and Agriculture are an awesome pairing, making Worker-First a very strong choice for an opener, and with a bit of research under your belt, you can snag a VERY early academy (beeline to writing would be an extremely strong play with this civ). Their UU is a middle ages unit, and it's an excellent one, giving them a strong field presence just when their Civ-Traits are really starting to come into their own.

Synopsis

Philosophical Civs just BEG for a food-intensive start and a focus on vertical growth, so if the terrain will support it, shy away from worker first. If it's marginal, then you'll need worker first (but hold off on the settler) and enjoy some vertical growing! Given Mining, a beeline for Bronzeworking is also a natural for them, as it sets up the ability to chop out an additional worker if needed, or whatever infrastructure is required. One drawback here is that you are not particularly well suited to snagging the Parthenon, which could REALLY help build on your general "philosophicalness". It's off the beaten path for you, but you could probably snag it if you set your mind to it. In any case, your civ traits are fairly well balanced, allowing you to focus either on vertical or horizontal growth with ease. If it was me, I'd almost always play worker first and bronzeworking with these guys, although, as mentioned, heading off down the religious path can build on your Phil trait.

Chinese - Qin
Industrious
Financial
Agriculture
Mining
Cho-Ko-Nu (Crossbowman)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
The better of the two China's, in my opinion. Beautiful synergy between Fin and Ind here (Financial providing the means to new techs, Industrial providing the springboard to build the wonders associated with those new techs, quickly). That, coupled with the starting techs of Agriculture and Mining open up LOTS of doors. With Qin's China, you've got just stupid kinds of options. Barracks first for early city growth, almost no expansion right away, with a focus on getting pottery early (then writing) for an early academy (thanks to financial and cottages), and then spend your early years chop rushing every ancient wonder in the game. Or, cherry pick your wonders, and wind up with a 4-6 city ancient era empire with all the wonders you want (prolly stacked in the capitol). It's a wide open field with Qin.

Synopsis

Lots of choices here. Worker first will be an amazing start, cos you've got so much to DO with a starting worker! And if you go worker first, then Bronze is almost a given. On the other hand, vertical growth first and a focus on making your financial trait pay (pottery and then Writing) will see you ROCKET through the ancient era tech tree and snag as many wonders as you desire. Totally wide open field here, and Qin is splendidly balanced, allowing you to pursue either option with ease.

Egyptian
Attributes
Spiritual
Creative
Wheel
Agriculture
War Chariot (Chariot)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Fairly linear civ to play, but exceedingly strong. Look, you're only one tech away from dominating everybody around you. Just take Husbandary and grab some horses, and you are SET. The Creative trait plays well with this, and allows you to essentially fight a two-front war. Zoc-Block one neighbor off with your rapidly expanding borders and marginalize him while building up a sufficient War Chariot force to crush a second neighbor. By the time the dust settles over the ancient age, you'll have a near-unstoppable Empire in hand.

Synopsis

Pretty linear playing, but the synergy of their traits all but demands it. Played any other way, you'll not be getting all you could be out of this civ and her attributes. Worker first is a goldmine for you, not only for the early improvements, but also to start road-building early to your future lands. Chariots on roads = HUGE mobility. In the ancient age, Egypt OWNS the conquest game.

English - Liz
Attributes
Philosophical
Financial
Fishing
Mining
Redcoat (Rifleman)
***

Strategic Notes & Openings
There's a lot to like here. Philosophical and Financial beg for vertical growth, and this is entirely possible, especially if you start coastally, and can make a workboat your first build. Mining leads straight to Bronze, which gives you a number of good opening moves (make for pottery to start seeing cash dividends early if you plan for vertical growth, or make for bronze if you want to flip the switch on the production powerhouse. Take care tho, because pop and chop will lose some of its luster with this Civ (philosophical demands that you assign specialists early, which can be difficult to do if you're pop rushing infrastructure, so in this case, bronze might be a lower priority). Not as much synergy as you might expect between financial and philosophical though (again, because one requires working the cottages, and the other requires assigning specialists), but the advantage here is that you can set some cities up to do one, and other cities to do the other (this, of course, requires at least some expansion, and makes bronze more attractive again).

Synopsis

A Civ well suited to either style of play (vertical or horizontal growth), with plenty to recommend it for either approach. Workboat first, always, if you start coastally. Worker first if the terrain warrants it, and otherwise, vertical growth to reap the economies of scale in the ancient age.

English - Vicky
Attributes
Expansive
Financial
Fishing
Mining
Redcoat (Rifleman)
***

Synopsis

Less to write home about here, UNLESS you're playing on the higher difficulties. Expansive isn't as useful a trait as Philosophical is on the lower difficulties, but it can (and will) save your life on the higher levels of play. Otherwise, all the options that are available for Lizzy's England are open to you, and Expansive makes it easier to play the vertical growth game.

French - Louis
Attributes
Industrious
Creative
Wheel
Agriculture
Musketeer (Musketman)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Okay, so the Musketeer kinda sucks, but that's okay, he's not an ancient age uu anyway, and the game will be either won or lost by the time you get your UU. Aside from the UU though, there's a good deal to like with this civ. The Creative trait almost begs for horizontal expansion, and with the wheel and agriculture out the gate, a worker first start will almost always serve you better than the rest, when using this civ. You're well positioned to get writing from the Pottery path, which will give you the money to pay for said expansion, and of course, with Industrious, cherry picking techs to unlock whatever wonders you want along the way will take you quite far.

Synopsis

This civ was made for expanding. True, the UU isn't anything to write home about, and you should have your continent sewn up by the time you get to it, but Creative is such a strong trait that it's almost a waste not to expand with this civ, so Worker or Settler first (depending on your liking of risk) will really take you places with Louis' France.

French - Poly
Aggressive
Industrious
Wheel
Agriculture
Musketeer (Musketman)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
An inferior France, IMO. Bad disconnects between civ traits and abilities, this group tries to do too much, and winds up doing nothing particularly well. Can be a powerhouse, of course, but any civ in the right hands can be. Probably one of my least favorite civs.

Aggressive doesn't play well with Industrious (except for cheap forges, but that's a slender reed to base your strategy around).

Synopsis

A bad draw, if you're playing random civs. Standard horizontal growth strategies will see you growing stronger, but it will all be on account of your playing ability, and have little to do with the components that make up this civ.

German - Bismark
Attributes
Expansive
Industrious
Hunting
Mining
Panzer (Tank)
***

Strategic Notes & Openings
Another great civ for focusing on vertical growth. Expansive makes it very attractive to stack as much production into one city as possible, and snag as many ancient wonders as you can. The fact that you start with a scout simply means that you can get an extremely good lay of the land before you finally move out and start expanding. With Mining, you can get that production ramped up early, and Bronze is optional (tho easy to get to) for an extra production kick. If you do go vertical with this civ, then you'll want at least Agriculture, and probably husbandary, grabbing the Library from this path. You are not pariticularly well suited to snagging an early religion, but there's certainly nothing holding you back from it, though it will change your research focus a bit (religious arm first, leading to Writing, for a possible CS Slingshot).

Synopsis

Just as Egypt is tailor-made for an aggressive, expansionistic early game, Bismark's Germany is tailor-made for a vertical growth oriented early game. This can be an exceedingly strong civ when played in this manner. The UU comes too late to win the game, but it's nice to roll over the last of the opposition in your spiffy tanks! Worker first can be good, but Scout first, followed by barracks and warriors will often serve you better with this Civ, with the Worker coming along later, after some growth.

(To be continued....)

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

German - Fred
Attributes
Philosophical
Creative
Hunting
Mining
Panzer (Tank)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Where Bismark was made for vertical growing, Fred is more in the middle. Philosophical, of course, demands at least a measure of vertical growth, but creative demands expansion, so there's a bit of a disconnect between the two traits. Still, they can work well together, provided that you don't over-do it on the expansion. A small, sterling empire can be just the thing for Fred, although with expansion in mind, early bronze and worker first is probably the strongest play with Fred, perhaps with a Scout first, depending on terrain.

Synopsis

Two good openers with Fred are Worker first and Bronze, or Scout first, an additional seminal tech, and then Bronze. You want a mix of expansion and specialization to get the most out of your civ traits. As with Bismark, your UU really isn't a factor in most games, because the ancient age is where it's all won or lost.

Greek
Attributes
Philosophical
Aggressive
Fishing
Hunting
Phalanx (Spearman)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Another Civ with a bizzare set of attributes, essentially at war with itself. Philosophical is a peacetime trait (observe that the "Pacifism" civic gives the same bonus as this trait in-game), and Aggressive is clearly not. Likewise, this civ is saddled with a haphazard early game tech (Fishing - which can either be nigh on useless or extremely beneficial, but is essentially a lotto draw), leaves this civ with a mixed bag of abilities, and not particularly excellent at anything. The flip side, of course, is that you're pretty adaptive, and can make a strong showing with pretty much any type of start.

Synopsis

It's easy to get sidetracked with this Civ. Best bet is to pick one "side" of their abilities and run with it. Trying to do everything this civ is capable of (given that they are polar opposites) is clearly non-optimal. Hunting means scouts, so a good early play is to build a scout and allow for some vertical growth. If scouting reveals nearby neighbors, it's easy enough to then play to the Aggressive side of this Civ's house. Likewise, if there are no near neighbors to run over, then Philosophical can reign supreme (which would mean a likely continuation of vertical growth). Like most civs with mixed abilities, their weakness is that they're not set up to excel at anything in particular, but rather, be "decent" at a number of approaches. Treat them as a "flexible start" civ, and you'll be fine.

Incan
Attributes
Aggressive
Financial
Agriculture
Mysticism
Quechua (Warrior)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Well, the good news is that there's a high degree of synergy between your traits. Aggressive plays well with Financial, in that it takes fundage to pay for the big army and the maintenance on captured cities, so it's great that you're blessed with both of these abilities, however, you are saddled with the WORST UU in the game. Not only does it have a pitifully short lifespan, but it's also downright WEAK. Unless your neighbor is sitting 4-6 tiles away from you, or you go to war with a peacenik faction (Hippie, Ghandi, etc), your UU is gonna get run over by superior units. If you can't take somebody out in 20-30 turns with the UU, then you're better off just not using him at all, except for a pillager.

Thankfully, you can do something other than fight. Financial + starting with Mysticism opens up lots of doors, allowing you to snag an early religion and parlay that into quite a handsome bankroll with your financial leanings to support the cash cow that religion can be. This is surprisingly strong, and does much to make up for the fact that you've got a crap UU.

Synopsis

Two ways to play these guys....either focus on a Quechua rush in the first 30 turns (forget a second city and go pure vertical growth, cos by the time you get bronze and get a worker out, your UU is obsolete, so forget barracks too!), and overrun a VERY close neighbor, or snag an early religion and play to the combination of religious cash + financial. Either way, this civ SCREAMS for vertical growth. If you go settler or worker first here, you'll have a tougher time than you would otherwise. With this Civ, settler or worker first definitely = bad.

Indian - Hippie
Attributes
Spiritual
Organized
Mysticism
Mining
Fast Worker (Worker)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Hippie's a mid-game demon, but don't expect too much out of him in the early game. The reason? His civ traits have about the best synergy you could ask for. Organized means half price civics, and spiritual means "at-will," no-anarchy switching. This lets you turn your civ on a dime, running civic combos that would be ruinously expensive for anybody else, AND you can do it without skipping a turn. Of course, you've got to get a sufficient body of tech to actually have some civic choices, and thankfully, you've got a good tool to do that, in the form of what is perhaps the best UU in the whole game....the Fast Worker.

He rocks, cos he can net you real, tangible turn advantage. Anybody playing India and NOT going worker first is most assuredly not getting everything they could from this civ. Worker first here is all but a given. Any losses you incur during the creation of the worker will be more than made up for by his rampant productivity. Likewise, given your starting techs, it would be almost criminally negligent to do anything but BronzeWorking first for the free (no anarchy) switch to Slavery and chop (which will allow you to get a second worker out). In fact, with India, I'd heartily recommend at least two workers before you even think about a second settler. With two workers + chop, you can get the settler in no time flat anyways.

Synopsis

Play these guys any way you like, so long as you make workers early. They're well-suited to both vertical and horizontal growth, although personally, I think it's a bit of a waste to play a civ like this one with a small empire, cos you'll see bigger gains with civ switching if you have relatively more cities (smaller empires tend to stick to civics that give them a big boost and rarely switch, which is easily a third of this civ's power). Still, a small empire can rock with Hippie at the helm. Worker first!

Indian - Ghandi
Attributes
Spiritual
Industrious
Mysticism
Mining
Fast Worker (Worker)
***
Strategic Notes & Opening Plays
Uber-Wonder Machine. Play this guy like Hippie, but focus more on vertical growth, and you should have no problems snagging every freakin' wonder in the game. Fast Workers are mad-house turn advantage creators, and that, coupled with the Industrious trait gives you an enormous leg up in terms of snagging any wonder you want. That, coupled with your starting position on the tech tree (Mysticism AND Mining) puts you in a good spot to snag them all. (Mysticism leads to Oracle and Parthenon, Mining opens the door to Pyramids, Lighthouse, and Colassus). With that kind of opening and your turn-advantage hellion fast-workers, you'd have to try hard NOT to snag the greater bulk of the wonders.

Synopsis

Your strength in the mid-game will be defined, to a degree by how many (and to a lesser extent, which) wonders you snag in the ancient age. The wonders you focus on will shade the rest of your game. If ever there was a civ that begged for vertical growth though, Ghandi's India is surely it. That guy's a wonder-building BEAST. Sure, you can expand horizontally, and you can do it well (again, thanks to fast workers, who can road build to future city sites and create yet more turn advantage), but if you want to get the most mileage out of Ghandi, don't focus on rampant early expansion. Play to his strong suit! An early religion is definitely in the works for many Ghandi games (again, given that the religious arm holds some juicy wonders, and given that you're only a single step from them), so Religion can easily factor into your strategy, but religion or not, early bronze or not, play Ghandi as the Wonder-Beast, and you won't go wrong. Worker first!

Japanese
Attributes
Aggressive
Organized
Fishing
Wheel
Samurai (Maceman)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Another civ saddled with the "land lotto crapshoot" tech, fishing. As always with this tech, if you get a coastal start, it rocks, if you don't, then you have a useless tech til you expand, and that sucks. On the other hand, you've got two other decent traits...Aggressive is nice (provided there's someone close at hand to fight), and Organized is good, and grows in power throughout the game. They work pretty well together, allowing for a steady diet of expansion-by-killing-your-neighbors, while maintaining cost-effective civics, although for my money, I'd rather pair aggressive with financial, but that's just me. Good UU, too, although a bit lateish. If you NEED the UU by the point that you get him, it might be too late to matter, otherwise, it plants the killing blow on whatever rival you're polishing off at the time that it hits.

Synopsis

Aggressive civs can't, for the most part, afford to build vertical, and Japan is no exception. Indeed, the drive to expand might be even greater, ESPECIALLY if you don't start coastally, as you'll need a coastal city to make use of one of your starting attributes. Definitely not the best candidate for slow, vertical growth.

Malinese
Attributes
Spiritual
Financial
Wheel
Mining
Skirmisher (Archer)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Hey! It's a Spiritual Civ that doesn't start with Mysticism! How very...odd. And even stranger...it's got a UU that it has NONE of the pre-requisites for. Yuck.

However, despite these two things, Mali is a powerhouse waiting in the wings. Spiritual and Financial work okay together (no turn loss being the big draw), and the mountains of gold are always welcomed. This civ really has a lot on the ball. The two techs you need for your UU are cheap and easy to get to, making it a pretty attractive play, especially with raging barbs on, or on epic games, since your Skirmishers will munch on some archers, so if you find yourself with near neighbors, conquest is certainly a viable choice. If not, then you're well positioned to become a peacetime powerhouse...wheel + mining is a good mix, and of course, it paves the way for early bronze (which would negate the necessity of going out of your way for your UU).

Synopsis

Three basic choices, really:

* Play to your UU (Hunting, Archery), and build warrior/scout as the opener

* Play to Financial, going for early Pottery and then Writing (worker/warriors/settler/lib/academy)

* Play to Bronzeworking (worker/warriors/settler/assess)

Depends on the map, of course, but with most financial civs, you'll get more mileage with some focus on horizontal expansion, so don't stay holed up in your capitol for too long!

Mali is a bit of an odd bird, not particularly specialized, it's true, but it's abilities still manage to work well together, and give the player a broad spectrum of options.

Mongolian - Ghengis
Attributes
Aggressive
Expansive
Hunting
Wheel
Keshik (Horse Archer)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Good, solid civ, especially potent on the higher levels of difficulty. Expansive can either be seen as a license to chop (horizontal expansion), or a license to grow (vertical expansion), and you can do both, very well. Your UU calls for a bit more focus on vertical, however, since it's one of the more expensive UU's of the ancient age, and vertical growth will give you the production you need to crank them out quickly. Plus, you're not set up for early bronzeworking. You coud do it, of course, but it doesn't really mesh well with the way your civ is set up. Still, when you GET it, it can be powerful to get conquered cities up to speed quickly). Worker first would be a relativly poor choice, since you don't really have a lot for the worker to do, but let the terrain dictate that....you don't start off on the fast track to a religion, and can conquer one with ease anyways, so it's not really an attractive option. No...your best bet would be Scout first, to get the lay of the land, and then some Archers (making archery your first tech). Barracks a bit later to continue vertical growth while you're pursuing Husbandary and Horseback Riding, and workers squeezed in as time permits to get your production ramped up for the big Keshik push. Strong civ, but like most of the aggressive brotherhood, fairly linear play.

Synopsis

Scout first and vertical growth is almost always your best play with Ghengis. One of the handful of civs I'd NOT recommend early bronze for. Fun to play, if a bit linear.

Mongolian - Kublai
Attributes
Aggressive
Creative
Hunting
Wheel
Keshik (Horse Archer)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
The even better version of the Mongols, if you ask me. Creative plays well with their other traits, and allows for more focus on horizontal expansion, which I'm more fond of anyways. Same basic tech progression applies, although with the creative trait, bronze becomes more important (even tho you don't start with mining), as a means of getting that second (and possibly third) settler out the gate. Scout first still reigns supreme though, as far as opening plays. That's 4x faster scouting that the slugs who use warriors, and twice as fast as the other guys with scouts. It'll give you more freebies, and help you pick your targets better. Very strong.

Synopsis

Play them pretty much as you would Ghengis, but with more horizontal and less vertical thrust. They're a rock solid conquest oriented civ. Linear, yeah, but fun.

Persian
Attributes
Expansive
Creative
Agriculture
Hunting
Immortal (Chariot)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Another member of "Club Creative," and as such, another civ that just begs for horizontal expansion. In this case, Expansive is very definitely a license to chop...and to expand into places where others might not tread. Won't matter to you a bit, as you can easily incorporate even rugged terrain and make it pay dividends. A good ancient era UU sets you up for some warmongering if needs be, but it's really not your strongest suit. Peaceful expansion for as long as you're able is probably the best choice here, with Immortals and mainline ancient era troops bringing down the house on anybody who gets in your way. Essentially, a builder who can hang in a fight.

Synopsis

As with all the other members of the Hunting Club, scout first is a strong, strong play, especially on Epic, where things move so slowly. Knowledge is power, and Scouts give you that in spades. Worker and Settler should soon follow, and you can either get to that point by venturing down the mining path to bronze, or stick to what you're good at and capitalize on food oriented seminal techs (husbandary) on your way to writing (this, if the terrain allows for it).

Roman
Attributes
Expansive
Organized
Fishing
Mining
Praetorian (Swordsman)
***

Strategic Notes & Openings
Best UU of the ancient age. Absolutely heart-stopping, stomp-your-opponents-into-the-bloodied-earth, Godzilla unit. Actually, it's a good thing you get a crap starting tech (Fishing) but gods help your opponents if you actually do start coastal. With a workboat first, followed by a worker, and a beeline to Iron, you can dismantle just about anything that comes along.

Balance is the watchword here. You're gonna want some vertical growth, because Praetorians are 'spensive! You're also gonna want a good base to expand out of, so I'd recommend rapid expansion to the maintenance cap, and then focus on vertical growth until you get your Praetorian force put together (and remember, you don't need all prats....a mix of mainline units with Prats as the hammer is the most cost effective approach. So...balance. And this works well with your traits, because expansive can be used both ways in different parts of your empire. License to chop in some places, license to grow in others. Mix and match for optimal production and speed, and crush everything in sight under your boot.

Synopsis

Probably the least linear, most engaging of the warmongers, you'll note that Rome is NOT aggressive, nor does she need to be. The Praetorian is strong enough to stand on its own, even without a barracks. A wonderfully balanced, multiple-capability civ, whose only weakness is a landlocked start with that fishing tech. Workboat first and then settler if you can, and straight shot to Ironworking, backfilling on the seminal techs as needed. The reason? You want to know where the iron is, as soon as possible, so you make sure you get some!

Russian - Cathy
Attributes
Creative
Financial
Hunting
Mining
Cossack (Cavalry)
***

Strategic Notes & Openings
I actually like playing as Cathy for two reasons. First, her civ traits are perfectly in synch with my playing style, and second, she's such a witch in the games where I've had to square off against her that I enjoy guaranteeing she won't make an appearance in my games! Nah, she's not that bad, and her traits really do rock. She provides me all the tools I like to play with best.

Scouts for early exploring. Fast track to Bronze working, cash to finance expansion, and fast border expansion to lock down territory. That fits my strategy to a tee. The mid-game Cossack is a bonus (and a damned good one, too!), but by the time it arrives, you should have the game sewn up. This Civ BEGS for horizontal expansion!

Synopsis

Scout first, then worker, warriors and settlers to follow. Pure magic.

Research-wise, a straight shot to Bronze, then the pottery + writing gig (husbandary, if you've got critters to "pasturize" ).

Russian - Peter
Attributes
Philosophical
Expansive
Hunting
Mining
Cossack (Cavalry)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
Where Cathy's all about expansion, Pete's better off with a healthy dose of vertical growth, and his traits play to this perfectly. In this case, Expansive is a license to grow, and philosophical is a license to generate G-Men. About the only downside to this civ is that you're poorly positioned for early religions (tho it is still quite possible), AND you're poorly positioned for writing, but either or both of these things are easily remedied. So you've got to do everything "the long way," but at least you've got a solid foundation to build on.

Synopsis

Since you start out of position with regards to religions and writing, you can either play to your strenght (grab bronze early), or make straight for the religious arm or the writing arm of the tree (or both, if you want a cs slingshot)....but given your starting point on the tree, you can't d*ck around. If you want a religion, then you need to do it NOW...and let Bronze wait. If you want a library early, likewise, do it NOW, and let Bronze wait, but if you're not sure of your position, I'd say forget religion, grab Bronze for security, and then go the library route. Scout first again, and then season to taste. Yum.

Spanish
Attributes
Spiritual
Expansive
Fishing
Mysticism
Conquistador (Knight)
***
Strategic Notes & Openings
More land-lotto crap, but blessedly, the last of it. Spiritual and Expansive is kind of a weak mix for me, but at least it's well suited for either horizontal or vertical growth, which gives you options. Mysticism is nice, for a shot at the early religions, but when paired with Fishing it makes an already marginal civ pretty doggone weak (given the lotto nature of fishing). In other words, if you draw Spain in a random civ game, and you start landlocked, and you don't care about founding a religion, then you won't enjoy playing as Spain.

Synopsis

The civ lacks focus, and is saddled with techs that you might (depending on your playing style and starting terrain) find nigh on useless. The upshot is that if you're playing Spain, at least you won't have to listen to Isabella b*tch every time she calls you up. Early religion is about your best option with these guys, cos you can't rely on fickle fishing. Workboat first if possible, and in either case, focus on vertical growth (delay the worker) until you get a religion. I hate Spain almost as much as Poly's France. Grrr.

(Guess what Vel did during his slow day at work!? )

-=Vel=-