Is Democracy better than Fundamentalism?

[fittstim]

No No No!!!

Never switch to anything else after you discover DEM. It's so easy to crush every other civ AND be a DEM civ. Anyone who switches to FUND to "crush other civs" is fooling themselves. A DEM civ will be getting more and more techs and building better and better units.

So what if you have 10 free fanatics. I can wipe ALL of them out with a single stealth fighter or defend a city with a single mech. inf. or tank. Don't kid yourself. Goad the other civs into declaring war against you, and then DESTROY them. It's so easy it makes me cry...

[EOL]

If I'm conquering I tend to get to robotics for howitzers and then switch to fundamentalism. Occasionally I may go as far as stealth before changing, and then completely turn the science off (sell universities and libraries, and use 0% sci).

[The Andy-Man]

yeah, once i am onto futre techs, i see no point in concentratying on science. even if a futur tech is bonus points.

[fittstim]

turnt he science down...

Yes, that's true. I usually drop science down to 0% during the latter stages of the game and STILL usually get 1 tech per turn. The problem with techs and points is that once you get 256 techs, the number turns over and you start over at 0. You also LOSE all of those bonus points!!!

There is also the problem of making too much money (unless you are using the "no-limits" version of the game). And in any case, what good is having so much gold? You don't want to go through 200-300 cities every turn buying units and improvements. I usually drop the taxes down to, at most, 10% when my economy becomes self supporting.

What's left? A Democratic gov't with 90-100% luxuries. The perfect combination to wage war among the masses and conquer the planet!!!

[drake]

From a MP perspective

I think both have their times. Democracy is great for science and money (if you want to build a bunch of improvements), but after necessary sciences are obtained, it's a much better idea to switch to fundy. This way you can really start taking advantage of the military techs you've gained and defend/attack in a proper fashion. Democracy also limits your growth at higher levels, because you're forced to either: a)build almost all happy wonders b)build tons of happy improvements c)create entertainers d)raise luxuries to a point where taxes suffer etc etc. And on top of that, troop production is slowed down every time you add another by a shield. In a big war where 50, 60, 70 or more troops are needed, that's 50, 60, 70 or more shields that are basically being flushed down the drain every round. That's not kosher from my perspective. Switching to fundy will free up all these free shields, allow you to boot the entertainers and maximize city production. If you've done well in democracy and have built a good foundation, there's no reason your science rate can't be reasonable in fundy. Having a science rate under 5 isn't too un-common in fundy. And besides, unless you're trying to build a ***** spaceship, what good are almost all of the advanced techs?

Switching to fundy after you've obtained the military techs necessary to compete with the rest of the world is the way to go....IMO of course.

[DaveV]

In MP, the best Fundy science program is based on stealing techs. For the price of a diplo/spy, or by employing your huge army to capture a city, you can pick up a tech from one of those scientific powerhouses. Let the other guys build all the scientific wonders and improvements. Then let them try to stop you from pilfering their science . It all comes down to playing style: if you cringe at the thought of moving a huge army of units around the map, then stick with democracy. If you like to play a conquering style, fundy is ideal. Communism is a nice compromise government: few happiness problems, and able to field a strong military while still generating impressive science.

[Rasputin]

HOTW Rules !!!

In my tender experience, a good alliance with one or more in Demo and yourself in Fundy is a great way to enjoy Civ 2 MP... Especially if you are not the leading civ... Reality is if you have fallen behind other MP players at this level, forget trying to catch up in Democracy, change to Fundy and goto war.... Works for me !!!

[Howitzer Al]

Communism. All the way.
I try to build the SoL, switch immediately to Communism, and stay there (usually) the rest of the game. Great science rate (especially if you raise luxuries enough for your SSC to celebrate), great tax rate, 3 units keep 6 citizens content, no (or little--don't remember for sure) corruption or waste, and VET SPIES. There's just no beating it for me.
Admittedly, occasionally I do a few turns in Democracy with luxuries high to pump up my population, or when I discover all the techs, I might go to Fundy to better bulldoze the AI.

[Laszlo]

In most of my past games(not higher than king) I have jumped to monarchy, republic, and democracy as fast as I could. With the technological lead I got stealth fighters and paratroopers to start pushing back the border. I also used spies heavily to subvert enemy cities.

In the later stages when my cities matured I became flush with cash; so much so that I not only bribed any cities in my path, but could buy out most build-orders in my cities every turn.

This was a little too micro-management for me because I like to expand into the hundreds, so I created a macro in MacroMagic that automatically rush-finished the projects of a whole screenfull of cities in the city manager.

By constantly expanding both in city number and population (with high luxury) you are in a good position to win either by spaceship or default (world takeover). Beyond king though, this method flounders because you can't get all the right wonders and techs before the others.