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The purpose of this little tutorial is to help the newer Civ IV player successfully establish their Civ through the first 250 turns.
Tutorial Settings:
Huge Map, 18 Civs, Fractal World, Prince Difficulty, Low Seas, Tropical Climate, Aggressive AI, Raging Barbs, Advanced Start
All screen grabs, first and last saved games at http://www.psbirch.com/civ4/tutorials
Part I : Turns 0 through 30
Turn 0:
It's hard to ask for a better start than this. We've got a nice river system to build along, some good forests for our chop rushes, a fair spread of resources, a nearby coast -- everything a growing Civ needs.
(*note* Images click through to full-sized screen grabs)
However we don't necessarily what to take any of the recommended sites for our first cities. Especially in the early years, the defensive bonuses of hilltops can make or break our ability to defend our cities. We also want to have our city along the very nice river system.
Our capitol we'll put on the hill above the flood plains. This should give us good growth, but also allow some hammers from those hills and forests. The southern city will eventually outpace the capitol once we've developed its nearby resources, but more on that later.
For now, we'll spend the rest of our gold towards early exploration and development. We've bought Agriculture to help us with all those Flood Plains, Hunting for the Scouts, and Mysticism for Stonehenge.
Both cities get two Scouts and a Worker. Yagasholme will generate our defenses while Goldcalf Hills build Stonehenge. Why Stonehenge? Three reasons.
- First, we're going to be expanding quickly. The cultural boost from all those free monuments will let us place our cities more strategically, and not have to worry too much about having immediate access to resources.
- Second, especially on Large and Huge maps, it is of great importance to understand where we are in the world, where we and other Civs can expand, where other continents might be, and so forth. The early centering of the world map will help us figure that all out.
- Third, we're going to need cash. Lots of cash. The Scouts will help us in the short term, but to sustain our growth long-term we're going to need the sort of money a Shrine can pull in. Hopefully we'll be able to found this Religon ourselves -- if not, we'll have to look into an early conquest.
But first things first -- while our Scientists research Bronze Working, lets develop some of those plots and take a look around.
Turn 3: Early Exporations
Three turns in and already we've lucked out. Of the three villages we've found so far, one has given us Archery, another Masonry, and a third some of the much needed cash. We've confirmed the sea to our east and south, and started investigating the rivers we'll be expanding on.
It's a shame that Stone is so far away, as we could use it with the Masonry to help build Stonehenge. Luckily there's enough of a forest around to chop-rush the Wonder.
Be sure *not* to automate your Explorers. That will make sense later on, but at the moment we want to spiral out from our first cities and get the lay of the land, dodge Animals, and hunt down those wonderful Goodie Huts.
Turn 27: Lucky Break
25 turns later we discover Bronze Working. And as luck would have it, there's Copper in our Capitol's fat-cross. Time to juggle our plans a little -- Yagasholme, with all that wood, the Gold to the south, the Cows, and now the Copper, is going to be a production powerhouse. We'll finished up Stonehenge in Goldcalf Hills, but then look to Yagasholme for our next Wonders.
And speaking of good fortune, look at how much cash those Scouts have found for us in all those Goodie Huts -- 388! That will help us keep our Research maxed while while we expand and still have a good cushion for upgrades should we need to bolster our defenses.
They've also found a good half-dozen of our neighbors, and what a surly lot they are: Alexander, Gilgamesh, Shaka, Isabella, Zara, Mehmed II...and Mehmed II???
(As a side note, I pre-picked some of the toughest AIs to make this more of a challenge; we'll be meeting Catherine, Hettie, Saladin, Cyrus, Monte, Huana, Mansa Musa and the rest of the Getalong Gang later. Turns out I picked Mehmed II twice. No biggie.)
Hopefully our luck will hold out and we'll found a religion discovering Polytheism next.
Turn 29: Empires - Part 1
Now that we've had a good look around, let's start planning our growth. We'll start that by looking at where the other Civs will want to grow.
First off, note that north of us is a lot of jungle. Not only does that limit our growth, but it will also hamper Isabella's. If she can, she'll push west, off our map. If she doesn't have room she'll be coming down the river. Between the jungle and that mountain range it's unlikely we'll see much of her on our borders, but we should keep an eye out none-the-less.
South of us is the ocean sea, and Captain Shaka. Note that there's some tundra over on his border with Gilgamesh, so it's unlikely he can push too far South. He's going to be a real problem for someone, and that someone is likely going to be Alex. Still, he might come up along the south coast and so it would be good to have an outpost down his way to try and deter him.
On the face of it, Alex has a good start. Lots of wood, some hills, and some Copper, too. In fact, he's got such a good position I'm not going to cross the river that separates us. That *should* be enough of defensive barrier. It'll hamper our growth a little, but there's enough room to get four good cities along that river so it won't be too bad.
Down in Mehmedland, things are a little more touchy Remember that we're less than 30 turns in, and he's already within a dozen squares of our core. We dont' know yet if that border is for his capitol, or one of his satellites. He could easily be looking to push towards that Marble and Silk, and the Sheep, Rice, and Gold will only make it more likely.
And unfortunately for us there's no real natural defenses for us to use -- just that little ridgeline between the two rivers we're each already abutting. If we're going to stop him, we have to take that ridge-line.
Neither spot here is ideal -- the hilltops will give us some defensive advantage, but unless we're willing to spare the Workers and escorts to carry a road to them (remember, we don't have the Wheel yet) they'll be cut off from our Broze, Gold, and other goodies. Worse, both smack of being A Few Squares Too Far -- and too close to Mehmed; should we get into the thick of it, he'll be in a much better place to resupply his front lines. Still, it's there or let him have the whole of the valley, right up to the fat cross of Goldcalf Hills, so let's do it.
Having "placed" those two cities, let's see what we can put in elsewhere.
We're limited by the river over Alex's way -- I really don't think we should cross that river. Can't go too far north, not too much room south...
Hrm...that's it, folks. 30 turns in and we know what our Empire will look like. We'll found those twelve cities (if we're lucky) and everything else will be conquest.
Yagasholme, Goldcalf Hills, First Hill, and Southolme Harbor will be our main axis of production. We'll have Wonders and Settlers in Yagasholme, Infastructure (Libraries, Banks, etc) in Goldcalf and Southolme, and then Military and Settlers in First Hill.
Little Bay and Sushisholme -- named for it's plentiful resources of rice and seafood -- we'll likley found last; those will be the shipyards for our invasion fleets, but we won't have those until Astronomy.
Eastgate North and South we've said is a priority, but only after establishing our production corridor.
And let's not forget Alex and Isabella -- both are likely to come steaming down those rivers within the next hundred turns, so we'd best get Alexis Ferry and Portage done as soon as possible.
As tempting as it may be to put Alexis Ferry over the river and within the fat-cross of that Copper, we're not going to do it. For one, we'd lose the defensive bonus of the river, which we'll really really want to have. For two, we already have Copper. Since we don't *need* it, letting Alex have it might actually help us in the long run. Sure, he'll be able to build Axemen, but we'll have Axemen too, on the otherside of the river, behind stout walls with some Archers and Spearmen keeping them company. In the end the defensibility of the city, which it the only thing really keeping Alex from steamrolling into our production corridor, is mroe important than getting another bit o' Copper.
Our tertiary defenses include Northgate and Shaka's Gate. The latter is on a hill, and should help us keep that Stone, which will help us with all the Walls we'll be building. Northgate is a miserable piece of land on a hill between two rivers. It'll be very difficult for anyone to take that for a few thousand years, and so will mark the limit of our northern expansion.
You may have noted that there's a big blank space to the North of our Empire. That, my fellow Romans, is a black morass of jungle that we want nothing to do with. If we're *lucky* someone else will go through the trouble of establishing some cities there and clearing the land for us. If we survive long enough to get Iron Working perhaps we can worry about it. For now it's best ignored.
Turn 30 : Oh yeah, Espionage
One thing this guide will *not* be is an example of how to play the Espionage game well. My general rule of thumb, however, is this: Once you've sketched out your empire, figure out who the biggest threats will likely be and then weight accordingly. After than, forget about it for a few hundred turns -- until you have Alphabet there's not much you can do about it.
But two quick notes on weight. Espionage, for me at least, is the long game. For all my concerns about Mehmed (either of him) and my concern for Gil's Vultures over the horizon, the real grief is going to come from Shaka, Isabella, and/or Alex.
Alex is a no-brainer. He's close, he plays a good early game, and he's hemmed in by everybody. Shaka too. Those Impis will be on our borders before the day is out, I Gar-run-tee it. The sooner I can see what they're up to, the better. Worse, I *know* they're going to be spending the EPs against us so unless we want them seeing the sausages of our Empire, we need to spend against them.
As for Isabella, well, remember that Espionage is the long game. And in the long game, if Isabella is a threat it's because she'll end up founding one of those religions we need. That she hasn't already is a little surprising, actually. But yes -- I full anticipate some sort of Holy War with Spain in the coming centuries, and for that I'm going to spend the points now.
Tutorial Settings:
Huge Map, 18 Civs, Fractal World, Prince Difficulty, Low Seas, Tropical Climate, Aggressive AI, Raging Barbs, Advanced Start
All screen grabs, first and last saved games at http://www.psbirch.com/civ4/tutorials
Part I : Turns 0 through 30
Turn 0:
It's hard to ask for a better start than this. We've got a nice river system to build along, some good forests for our chop rushes, a fair spread of resources, a nearby coast -- everything a growing Civ needs.
(*note* Images click through to full-sized screen grabs)
However we don't necessarily what to take any of the recommended sites for our first cities. Especially in the early years, the defensive bonuses of hilltops can make or break our ability to defend our cities. We also want to have our city along the very nice river system.
Our capitol we'll put on the hill above the flood plains. This should give us good growth, but also allow some hammers from those hills and forests. The southern city will eventually outpace the capitol once we've developed its nearby resources, but more on that later.
For now, we'll spend the rest of our gold towards early exploration and development. We've bought Agriculture to help us with all those Flood Plains, Hunting for the Scouts, and Mysticism for Stonehenge.
Both cities get two Scouts and a Worker. Yagasholme will generate our defenses while Goldcalf Hills build Stonehenge. Why Stonehenge? Three reasons.
- First, we're going to be expanding quickly. The cultural boost from all those free monuments will let us place our cities more strategically, and not have to worry too much about having immediate access to resources.
- Second, especially on Large and Huge maps, it is of great importance to understand where we are in the world, where we and other Civs can expand, where other continents might be, and so forth. The early centering of the world map will help us figure that all out.
- Third, we're going to need cash. Lots of cash. The Scouts will help us in the short term, but to sustain our growth long-term we're going to need the sort of money a Shrine can pull in. Hopefully we'll be able to found this Religon ourselves -- if not, we'll have to look into an early conquest.
But first things first -- while our Scientists research Bronze Working, lets develop some of those plots and take a look around.
Turn 3: Early Exporations
Three turns in and already we've lucked out. Of the three villages we've found so far, one has given us Archery, another Masonry, and a third some of the much needed cash. We've confirmed the sea to our east and south, and started investigating the rivers we'll be expanding on.
It's a shame that Stone is so far away, as we could use it with the Masonry to help build Stonehenge. Luckily there's enough of a forest around to chop-rush the Wonder.
Be sure *not* to automate your Explorers. That will make sense later on, but at the moment we want to spiral out from our first cities and get the lay of the land, dodge Animals, and hunt down those wonderful Goodie Huts.
Turn 27: Lucky Break
25 turns later we discover Bronze Working. And as luck would have it, there's Copper in our Capitol's fat-cross. Time to juggle our plans a little -- Yagasholme, with all that wood, the Gold to the south, the Cows, and now the Copper, is going to be a production powerhouse. We'll finished up Stonehenge in Goldcalf Hills, but then look to Yagasholme for our next Wonders.
And speaking of good fortune, look at how much cash those Scouts have found for us in all those Goodie Huts -- 388! That will help us keep our Research maxed while while we expand and still have a good cushion for upgrades should we need to bolster our defenses.
They've also found a good half-dozen of our neighbors, and what a surly lot they are: Alexander, Gilgamesh, Shaka, Isabella, Zara, Mehmed II...and Mehmed II???
(As a side note, I pre-picked some of the toughest AIs to make this more of a challenge; we'll be meeting Catherine, Hettie, Saladin, Cyrus, Monte, Huana, Mansa Musa and the rest of the Getalong Gang later. Turns out I picked Mehmed II twice. No biggie.)
Hopefully our luck will hold out and we'll found a religion discovering Polytheism next.
Turn 29: Empires - Part 1
Now that we've had a good look around, let's start planning our growth. We'll start that by looking at where the other Civs will want to grow.
First off, note that north of us is a lot of jungle. Not only does that limit our growth, but it will also hamper Isabella's. If she can, she'll push west, off our map. If she doesn't have room she'll be coming down the river. Between the jungle and that mountain range it's unlikely we'll see much of her on our borders, but we should keep an eye out none-the-less.
South of us is the ocean sea, and Captain Shaka. Note that there's some tundra over on his border with Gilgamesh, so it's unlikely he can push too far South. He's going to be a real problem for someone, and that someone is likely going to be Alex. Still, he might come up along the south coast and so it would be good to have an outpost down his way to try and deter him.
On the face of it, Alex has a good start. Lots of wood, some hills, and some Copper, too. In fact, he's got such a good position I'm not going to cross the river that separates us. That *should* be enough of defensive barrier. It'll hamper our growth a little, but there's enough room to get four good cities along that river so it won't be too bad.
Down in Mehmedland, things are a little more touchy Remember that we're less than 30 turns in, and he's already within a dozen squares of our core. We dont' know yet if that border is for his capitol, or one of his satellites. He could easily be looking to push towards that Marble and Silk, and the Sheep, Rice, and Gold will only make it more likely.
And unfortunately for us there's no real natural defenses for us to use -- just that little ridgeline between the two rivers we're each already abutting. If we're going to stop him, we have to take that ridge-line.
Neither spot here is ideal -- the hilltops will give us some defensive advantage, but unless we're willing to spare the Workers and escorts to carry a road to them (remember, we don't have the Wheel yet) they'll be cut off from our Broze, Gold, and other goodies. Worse, both smack of being A Few Squares Too Far -- and too close to Mehmed; should we get into the thick of it, he'll be in a much better place to resupply his front lines. Still, it's there or let him have the whole of the valley, right up to the fat cross of Goldcalf Hills, so let's do it.
Having "placed" those two cities, let's see what we can put in elsewhere.
We're limited by the river over Alex's way -- I really don't think we should cross that river. Can't go too far north, not too much room south...
Hrm...that's it, folks. 30 turns in and we know what our Empire will look like. We'll found those twelve cities (if we're lucky) and everything else will be conquest.
Yagasholme, Goldcalf Hills, First Hill, and Southolme Harbor will be our main axis of production. We'll have Wonders and Settlers in Yagasholme, Infastructure (Libraries, Banks, etc) in Goldcalf and Southolme, and then Military and Settlers in First Hill.
Little Bay and Sushisholme -- named for it's plentiful resources of rice and seafood -- we'll likley found last; those will be the shipyards for our invasion fleets, but we won't have those until Astronomy.
Eastgate North and South we've said is a priority, but only after establishing our production corridor.
And let's not forget Alex and Isabella -- both are likely to come steaming down those rivers within the next hundred turns, so we'd best get Alexis Ferry and Portage done as soon as possible.
As tempting as it may be to put Alexis Ferry over the river and within the fat-cross of that Copper, we're not going to do it. For one, we'd lose the defensive bonus of the river, which we'll really really want to have. For two, we already have Copper. Since we don't *need* it, letting Alex have it might actually help us in the long run. Sure, he'll be able to build Axemen, but we'll have Axemen too, on the otherside of the river, behind stout walls with some Archers and Spearmen keeping them company. In the end the defensibility of the city, which it the only thing really keeping Alex from steamrolling into our production corridor, is mroe important than getting another bit o' Copper.
Our tertiary defenses include Northgate and Shaka's Gate. The latter is on a hill, and should help us keep that Stone, which will help us with all the Walls we'll be building. Northgate is a miserable piece of land on a hill between two rivers. It'll be very difficult for anyone to take that for a few thousand years, and so will mark the limit of our northern expansion.
You may have noted that there's a big blank space to the North of our Empire. That, my fellow Romans, is a black morass of jungle that we want nothing to do with. If we're *lucky* someone else will go through the trouble of establishing some cities there and clearing the land for us. If we survive long enough to get Iron Working perhaps we can worry about it. For now it's best ignored.
Turn 30 : Oh yeah, Espionage
One thing this guide will *not* be is an example of how to play the Espionage game well. My general rule of thumb, however, is this: Once you've sketched out your empire, figure out who the biggest threats will likely be and then weight accordingly. After than, forget about it for a few hundred turns -- until you have Alphabet there's not much you can do about it.
But two quick notes on weight. Espionage, for me at least, is the long game. For all my concerns about Mehmed (either of him) and my concern for Gil's Vultures over the horizon, the real grief is going to come from Shaka, Isabella, and/or Alex.
Alex is a no-brainer. He's close, he plays a good early game, and he's hemmed in by everybody. Shaka too. Those Impis will be on our borders before the day is out, I Gar-run-tee it. The sooner I can see what they're up to, the better. Worse, I *know* they're going to be spending the EPs against us so unless we want them seeing the sausages of our Empire, we need to spend against them.
As for Isabella, well, remember that Espionage is the long game. And in the long game, if Isabella is a threat it's because she'll end up founding one of those religions we need. That she hasn't already is a little surprising, actually. But yes -- I full anticipate some sort of Holy War with Spain in the coming centuries, and for that I'm going to spend the points now.
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