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First few games

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  • First few games

    Game 1:
    Asoka of the Indians. Prince.
    Founded Judaism.
    Lost first settler to some lions.

    Game 1 Comments:
    Well, crap. That didn't go well.

    Game 2:
    Alexander of the Greeks. Prince.
    Missed founding every major religion by 1 turn.
    Founded a second city.
    Dead last in score.
    Lost second settler to some wolves.

    Game 2 Comments:
    Okay. I get it! Protect the settlers! Damn it. It used to be so much easier to sneak a settler out to your borders. Let's tone down the difficulty... My score was looking pretty bad there.

    One thing I noticed, there sure are a lot of improvements to research. It'll take a while to understand the full implications of each one.

    Game 3:
    Saladin of Arabia. Noble.
    Went for a pure culture approach this time.
    Tried to found Hinduism. Nope.
    Tried to found Judaism. Nope.
    Managed to found Christianity.
    Up to three cities now... Settlers move with warriors.
    Built Stonehenge and got Moses, the Great Prophet.
    Built a Christian Shrine... Already getting 6 gold from it.
    And then the Persians decided that they'd had enough of me. A small group of immortals razed my third city without much effort.

    Game 3 comments:
    Ouch. It's very easy to fall into the trap of not building ANY military. Archers (the best early defensive unit) are on a dead-end track... When I went down I still had warriors in my cities. It's nice to see that the AI can take advantage of weakness.

    Strategy comments:
    There are *major* strategic choices that need to be made in each game:
    1) On Meditation. It's a one-shot chance at getting a religion. Whereas the Polytheism route can lead to Monotheism if you miss the first religion. BUT... Meditation gives you Monasteries, which give you +10 research each (very useful in early game) and let you build missionaries (only useful later).
    2) Archery. It's a dead-end tech, but otherwise you'll be using the more expensive axemen to defend yourself. Spearmen are specialist defenders now, not really the backbone of defense.
    3) Copper/Iron. Everything needs it. And it's hard to find... At least it has been for me. Mining can apparently *reveal* copper/iron... That's a nice addition.
    4) The Inflection Point. At some point your cities will start producing unhappy people. It's important to make some specialists to curb the growth just BEFORE this happens. Then, when you find more happy, you slowly let the city stretch its legs a bit more.
    5) On cottages. Cottages are the most worthless *seeming* improvement. Compared to the other improvements, they're almost painful to build. But, they grow... It really hurts to watch your towns get pillaged.
    6) Alphabet. You need this to trade techs. Remember how important that was in the last Civ? It's *still* that important. You just have to go way up the tree to get it.
    7) Great people. Build some wonder. Any wonder. If you aren't producing *some* GPPs, then you are wasting an opportunity. Just don't build something that everybody else is already working on.
    8) Scouts. You want to scout with scouts, not military. And not just because their movement is higher. They have a better chance of getting goodies from "goodie huts".

  • #2
    Game 1:
    Asoka of the Indians. Prince.
    Founded Judaism.
    Lost first settler to some lions.

    Game 1 Comments:
    Well, crap. That didn't go well.


    8) Scouts. You want to scout with scouts, not military. And not just because their movement is higher. They have a better chance of getting goodies from "goodie huts".
    If you spent less time building scouts and more time building military maybe you wouldn't have lost your town?
    Monkey!!!

    Comment


    • #3
      Trying Prince at once isn't a very good idea .

      Archers are critical. You need one in each of your early cities.
      Solver, WePlayCiv Co-Administrator
      Contact: solver-at-weplayciv-dot-com
      I can kill you whenever I please... but not today. - The Cigarette Smoking Man

      Comment


      • #4
        If you spent less time building scouts and more time building military maybe you wouldn't have lost your town?
        Smart-a**...

        Not if the choice was between warriors and scouts. Solver is right. Archers *are* critical. Time spent without them is borrowed time.

        Comment


        • #5


          Great report Simplicity.

          Archers (the best early defensive unit) are on a dead-end track...

          You do know they upgrade to longbows and so one, right? All (early) units can be upgraded at some point.
          Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
          Then why call him God? - Epicurus

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by alva
            You do know they upgrade to longbows and so one, right? All (early) units can be upgraded at some point.
            They upgrade, but not for a painfully long while. Especially if you're not focusing on military. My point was just that when you research Archery, you're not directly unlocking techs that will help you later... As you would be if you were heading for Alphabet or Bronze Working.

            Comment


            • #7
              True that. Ah choices...choices...choices...

              A good allround unit is the chariot (if you have horses of-course )

              Archers do provide some security though, better than warriors anyway.
              Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
              Then why call him God? - Epicurus

              Comment


              • #8
                Too bad you didn't manage to trade the tech with another civ.

                Good basic review tho.
                He who knows others is wise.
                He who knows himself is enlightened.
                -- Lao Tsu

                SMAC(X) Marsscenario

                Comment


                • #9
                  Sorry for threadjacking, but since you are here Alva, you were a beta-tester then? Just for confirmation.
                  He who knows others is wise.
                  He who knows himself is enlightened.
                  -- Lao Tsu

                  SMAC(X) Marsscenario

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    obviously. bastard.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by alva
                      A good allround unit is the chariot (if you have horses of-course )
                      Chariots are good for offense, and for picking off barbarians/approaching attackers, but you probably shouldn't defend with them because they can't fortify. My guess is that axemen would be significantly better for defense.

                      I was never really a fan of chariots in Civ3. I'll have to try them again in 4.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by GeoModder
                        Too bad you didn't manage to trade the tech with another civ.

                        Good basic review tho.
                        I did manage to trade tech... Just after the Persians declared war. The AI was happy to trade! By the time the Persians were at my gates, I had archery. I just didn't have the time to make the archer (remember, you can't switch now).

                        I could have hurried production, since I had the Slavery civic, but it would have cost me 1 of 2 of the population, and would have made the remaining citizen unhappy... So they city would have become worthless anyways.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Chariots are good for offense, and for picking off barbarians/approaching attackers,

                          Offensive defense.

                          I hardly ever built them in C3, I do now!!
                          Don' forget their double movement either, great against barbs.
                          Not only do they not get the fortify bonus, they don't get terrain (defense) bonus either, so no, relying on them for defense purposes only is a bad idea. Just as having only one kind of unit is btw...mixed armies!!!
                          Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
                          Then why call him God? - Epicurus

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Not only do they not get the fortify bonus, they don't get terrain (defense) bonus either, so no, relying on them for defense purposes only is a bad idea. Just as having only one kind of unit is btw...mixed armies!!!
                            I didn't realize that about the terrain bonus. Ouch.

                            I'm really going to have to change the way I think about combat. Mixed armies are clearly the way to go... After so many games of Civ3 though (archer stacks and medieval infantry stacks) it's difficult to adjust my strategy.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              It took me several games before I really started using archers on defense.
                              You just need some time to unlearn Civ3...
                              Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
                              Then why call him God? - Epicurus

                              Comment

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