Wonders by conquest only

[Aurelius]

Just played a game where I decided to not build any wonders--just city improvements and units. Seems like a better challenge, though I still use the dips to bribe enemy cities...maybe I'll play with out city bribe in my next game.

AU

[Traianvs]

that'd be hard, since the AI always spreads out his wonders in different cities..if you tend on capturing them i think you'll have to travel all over the world...

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ThermiteB(that's me!) RLZ like HELL!!!!!!!!!!

[War4ever]

actually if on a large land mass, you just have to do the usual, rush to writing and chivalry. Obviously you need to obliterate some civs early before those walls go up. If possible find the civ with Sun Tzu or the wall and he has to go first. Then grab the civ with the gardens and your laughing. Once you have a few wonders by capture its no different than playing as if you built them yourself.... only difference is that one must coordinate ones attacks as oppossed to blindly going all over the place

[Aurelius]

A Small map is hard enough....

I've played two games with the limitation of "wonders by conquest only." In both games, my lack of bloodlust, war4ever claim to fame, has resulted in a 19oo's victory and a current stalemate (might win game 2 if I ever get to robotics by 2000.) The cash rich and wonder rich AI are very tough.

In game one I used typical expansion (a sprinkling of many cities with overlapping resources and strategic bottlenecks) to gain a decisive advantage.

But in game two, I'm at war with all the AI and science is very slow. There are three tough AI's: Russians, Spanish and the Americans.

The Russians have huge cash reserves and Sun's wonder and leonardo...and they are fundy so I can't surround their cities and starve their defense of shield support....arg.

The rich Spanish are crankin' out vet cavalry and seem to have their cities in wide open plains...very tough enemy. Vet cavalry rule in open territories.

The Americans are a remote and formidable democracy. They have alot of money. They have size 20 cities and science might be a problem. The good news is they don't have many cities.

I'm not looking forward to any of these enemies with Hoover's Dam--especially the remote Americans.

In my next attempt, I'm going to try and be more blood thirsty early on as War4ever suggests--but I'm a pacifist in civ.

Yeah Trajanus dispersed wonders seems like a difficulty, but it would be much harder if one AI got all the wonders. I think dispersed wonders is easier as one can conquest against lesser foes.

I've read alot of apolyton threads about handicapping the human to make the game fairer or more challenging. I'd say that it also makes one think differently...

I normally play a 10 to 15 city defensive democracy with big cities and many wonders. But with out wonders, my cities are too small and thus science/money is too slow--As far as conquest is concerned, enemy rifleman behind city walls are tough!

Later--I seem to be getting the civbug again.

[Smash]

at first glance,barracks and early conquest(ala bc bloodlust) seems like the best bet.But taking the game farther and trying to win by spaceship is very challenging.This might be a way for the "advanced" player to get a real challenge out of the ai