strategy guide

[lil_wilde]

Does anyone know if there is a strategy guide I can buy somewhere?
I find this game pretty complicated. I keep getting creamed by tanks and warships while Im still building tiremes.
I just can't seem to get it.

I thought maybe there is a guide out there, hard copy that I can use to learn.
Seems like the stuff I find online is made for people who have played Civ before or played D & D or something with turn taking style.

Or if anyone has one I can buy from them? Im in Vancouver, BC, Canada

[Verrucosus]

I'm not aware of a printed guide. Some very basic, but useful advice is hidden in the manual sections "Basics of Cities" and "City Management". It doesn't directly relate to research and warfare, but proper city location and development is the basis of everything else in the game.

As far as online material is concerned I'd think that Dick Knisely's essay "Player's Guide and Strategy Ideas" would be a good place to start. It's from a time when many of the undocumented game mechanics were still mysteries, but it gives a good overview of the game and should get you to the point where you have enough control of a game to start experimenting without "getting creamed". The document is included in the second file in the "Hints and Tips" section of Apolyton's Civ2 page.

I'm sure other members will add their suggestions shortly.

Verrucosus

P.S.: Your main problem seems to be slow research. This is very often caused by not having enough cities (you should aim for at least a dozen) or by not building enough roads to generate trade.

[StuporMan]

There are some excellent guides on this very site! The Early Landings Strategy guide has some great advice on gaining technology very quickly. Likewise, the Early conquest guide has advice for getting an AI crushing army very early in the game. The Great Library Index #2 also has a great number of links to some great information as well. As a matter of fact, that is probably where you should start.

Some sections in these guides get a bit intellectual at points (especially the advanced trade techniques discussed in the Early Landing Guide) but will drastically speed your research.

You may also want to search for the Civ 2 ICS (infinite city sprawl) guide for a good beginner strategy. The OCC (one city civ) also has some excellent tips on tech paths and wonders to try for.

Basically the best advice I can give you for beating Civ 2 at any level of difficulty is to build Caravans. There is a saying here, and I believe it goes "When in doubt build caravans, when not in doubt build caravans, and when you are not building caravans build settlers."

Also, I would recommend using a tech path that takes you first to Monarchy, then to Trade, then to Republic and Map Making (for triremes). Then start making caravans with goods that are demanded by large AI cities that are located as far from you as possible. An undocumented feature of caravan deliveries is that you get an equal number of science beakers as gold. The last beaker of the tech still has to come from one of your cities, but you can gain the rest from trade. This winds up being the fastest way to gain technology.

That should be a good start for you. The guides will provide you with much more information, and if you have questions feel free to ask here. There are still several friendly, knowledgeable people who post here, even though this community has been dwindling of late.

[Bloody Monk]

Hello and welcome.

Civ2 is a great game and it will provide many hours of pleasure with just a lil_bit of study. Echoing StuporMan, I point you to the strategy guides and Great Library topped in this forum. If I recall correctly, solo has a very detailed analysis of one of his games at the end of his excellent Early Landing Guide. That will help with the some of the "why??" questions.

Also, if you will describe one of your games (by turn or block of turns) and, especially, if you attach a save (.sav), we can focus more directly on ideas to improve your play. The attach save functionality is just above the submit button where you made your post. Browse to the Civ2 directory on your computer and double click on the .sav you want to provide.

Monk

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

There's lots of things I'd want to know before I could offer any useful advice. If the AI is getting tanks while you still have triremes, that suggests that you aren't doing a good job of researching, but there's probably more to it than that.

So... what level do you play? Can you post a save so we can see what you're building?

[Shark Fin 101]

Originally posted by Six Thousand Year Old Man
So... what level do you play?

(In reference to the above quote) You probably hit the nail on the head there. Even in Prince, a beginner can have destroyers swamping their phalanxes (personal experience) with barrages of missiles, but don't go to the easiest setting. Set it to Prince and keep trying.

I personally don't agree with the ICS strategy, although it is an interesting route. Building around 10-15 cities is enough for a beginner to win easily on Prince, and as you get more experience, King.

Good luck!

Shark Fin 101