Tweet
The introduction of the Great Wall in Civ4 Warlords makes possible an early strategy that leads to such a strong start that it's almost an exploit. I got the following idea from the forum on another Civ site, and I tried it using the Indians for the fast worker on Monarch difficulty, large map and epic speed. The one thing that made the following even easier than it might be in future games is that there were lots of hills around my capital city, giving me lots of hammers.
The first thing I researched was masonry, then bronze working. I built a worker then started in on the Great Wall. I chopped as necessary to finish the Great Wall as soon as possible. (I ended up chopping four tree tiles.) I then proceeded to expand. It was a relief not to have to worry about barbarians and it saved me from building extra military units to protect the developments around the capital. I ended up manning the capital with just one military unit and, at the same time, great person points were accumulating for an Engineer. When I got that Engineer, I used it to build the Pyramids and switched to Representation. I was now accumulating even more great person points toward a second Engineer. After researching Writing, I researched Mathematics before the Alphabet and, when I got it, I started building the Hanging Gardens. Since the AI doesn't build that wonder early, I didn't use up an Engineer on it, and it started giving me even more points toward another Engineer. In the meantime, I researched toward Literature and, when I got it, I had an Engineer waiting so that I finished it in one turn.
The end result of this is that I got the Great Wall, the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens, and the Great Library, all without retarding my early expansion nearly as much as some of the slingshot strategies that have been proposed elsewhere. I forgot to note exactly when I finished the Great Library but, at the time, I had five cities up and running with my economy in decent shape. It was so easy that it felt like I was using an exploit.
The first thing I researched was masonry, then bronze working. I built a worker then started in on the Great Wall. I chopped as necessary to finish the Great Wall as soon as possible. (I ended up chopping four tree tiles.) I then proceeded to expand. It was a relief not to have to worry about barbarians and it saved me from building extra military units to protect the developments around the capital. I ended up manning the capital with just one military unit and, at the same time, great person points were accumulating for an Engineer. When I got that Engineer, I used it to build the Pyramids and switched to Representation. I was now accumulating even more great person points toward a second Engineer. After researching Writing, I researched Mathematics before the Alphabet and, when I got it, I started building the Hanging Gardens. Since the AI doesn't build that wonder early, I didn't use up an Engineer on it, and it started giving me even more points toward another Engineer. In the meantime, I researched toward Literature and, when I got it, I had an Engineer waiting so that I finished it in one turn.
The end result of this is that I got the Great Wall, the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens, and the Great Library, all without retarding my early expansion nearly as much as some of the slingshot strategies that have been proposed elsewhere. I forgot to note exactly when I finished the Great Library but, at the time, I had five cities up and running with my economy in decent shape. It was so easy that it felt like I was using an exploit.
Comment