Game advice

[frenzyfol]

Hi guys,
I'm about to start a game with 8 civs on a pangea map, noble settings.
I want to play this one game with a few rules.
1. Try to become a financial juggernaught.
2. Do not start wars, and if possible make peace
3. Trade Trade Trade

In order to get the most bang for my buck what direction do you guys think I should take?

Is founding religions and spreading them a financial fesible strategy?

What race / leader combination would best suit this strategy?

What tech / wonders should I race for?

Thanks,
ps. Im kind of new to some of the dynamics in civ4 as I never played civ3. I did however spend way to much time playing civ 1, 2 and ctp... Just some background

[Deity Dude]

Re: Game advice

Originally posted by frenzyfol

What race / leader combination would best suit this strategy?

Take Chinese - Qin Industrious/Financial

Industrious - builds wonders twice as fast

Financial - 1 extra coin (amounts to anywhere from a 25-50% increase in coin. Coin = Science

Anyways thats my take - but I only play MP and alot of the SP strategies I see here don't always make sense in MP so I am sure the same is true going the other way.

[frenzyfol]

Yeah this is definately a SP game ...
not up to being completely demorilized just yet

[Caligula 37 AD]

Washington

I suggest Washington with Org/Fin. I don't think Ind will be optimal, as you should be able to build most wonders you need anyway on noble, and a lot of the time you will find there is nothing useful to build in your cities (nothing more to increase economy anyway). (Any leader with Fin would do fine.)

Early wonders: Colossus and Great Lighthouse.

Religions are good, but Great Light is better IMO.

I recommend that you run science at 50-70% so that your markets, grocers, banks etc have something to multiply. Early game you can buy some tech from others, or pay for resources you lack. Late game you will be far ahead anyway, but you can rush buy about anything.

Build along the shores early if you build Great Light, backfill inland later when Great Light has done its work (Corporation cancels it). Remember coast count as trade connection when it is unbroken within your cultural borders, so settle relatively dense (4-6 tiles apart). By coast I mean any salt water tile next to a land tile. Sign Open Borders with anyone you meet so that his cities make trade partners to yours.

If you plan to use a huge map, this strat is maybe not so viable (not so much coast). Then I would go for a Phi(or Spi) and Fin leader, and chase religions. Use priests in your larger cities to spawn Great Prophets (you'll need the shrines)

The pacifist strat should work well, but only if you have a large enough army to scare of the others. If your neighbour is aggressive, you might need to take him out early, or at least push him down to nothingness.

Ohh and.. build cottages! And work them!

[Blake]

Elizabeth or Washington are obvious choices. Given it's Pangea I think that Elizabeth is the better choice - Washington is better for island maps and stuff.

Religions are good. You might want to go for one deeper in the tech tree, like Conf or Taoism. Don't found too many religions, it's better to put a lot of effort into just one or maybe two religions.

[Deity Dude]

Re: Washington

Originally posted by Caligula 37 AD
I suggest Washington with Org/Fin. I don't think Ind will be optimal, as you should be able to build most wonders you need anyway on noble

Good point - like I said I was looking at it from an MP view where you have to race humans for the wonders, in which case Ind is important.

[Arrian]

Washington is a good choice.
So is Lizzy.
Mansa Musa is a good one, too.
Saladin, too, I think.

The Inca, oddly enough, are good for founding early religions (since they start with Mysticism and are financial). They are aggressive, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for the peaceful player.

Given what you want to do, I'd probably go with Elizabeth. Shoot for Confucism or Taoism (the CS slingshot via the Oracle would most likely be my choice, and that results in Confucism).

Actively spreading your religion can indeed be quite powerful. A couple of things:

- You may not want to convert to your religion right away. If your neighbors have a different religion, hold off on converting. Get a few missionaries over to their empires and convert them over to your religion. THEN convert and enjoy enhanced relations (and keep sending missionaries so they don't switch back!). If you switch too soon, the resulting relations hit may lead them to close their borders to you (and/or attack you).

-Arrian