Warmongering Civ's

[King_Xerces]

Hi,

I just had my first taste of ruthless warmongering playing as the persians (my favourite civ - Check Avatar). It makes me feel..........what's the word........almost naughty firing 10 ICBM's on france all at once. The feeling is priceless.

First Questions:
Am I a homicidal maniac? How many of you indulge in ruthless warmongering?

I used to be a builder. But in truth, I'm a warmonger at heart. Now I've got a huge problem. I've never played as a militaristic civ !!

What is a good militaristic civ that doesn't stray too far from the playing strategies of the persians? A transitional civ, perse, that will train me for full fledged warmongering. Is transition even necessary based you on your experiences?

Oh, BTW, I'm currently playing on regent, but plan to bump up after a couple more victories.

-Thanks

[vmxa1]

Well the romans are not too bad. Great UU that can last for a long time. I am getting so many GL's I can stand it.

[DRoseDARs]

ICMBs = "Fun, fun, fun till daddy takes the T-Bird away!" Generally, I play the peaceful routes, but when I get to the point where I can build insane numbers of Tnukes and ICBMs I save my game...AND IT'S ON BABY!!!

(Note for those who are confused by my quote: It's a paraphrased line from an old Beach Boys(?) song...FYI I'm 21yrs old and no I don't like them much more than background music when I'm too lazy to change the radio station.)

[Jethro83]

I also used to be a builder before I found the great benefits of warmongering when done right.

Even without being Militaristic, I don't have too much trouble adding the other nations to my empire. However, if you are looking for a decent Militaristic civ, then you can't beat Japan, China or Germany.

Since Japan start with The Wheel instead of Warrior Code, early archer rushes are right out. However, you can quickly take up the horses and crank out chariots. As many chariots as you can. Once you get to Chivalry, you can upgrade to samurai and stand invincible. In the last game I played as Japan, I was mediocre at best. Once I upgraded the chariots I had hoarded up, I was able to start my golden age at the perfect time and take most of the largest continent of the map (though I could take it all if I wanted, I still wanted to extort from the enemies I just thrashed). I won a conquest victory. And since Japan are Religious, they can alternate between peacetime governments (Republic/Democracy) and wartime governments (Monarchy/Communism) in a moment's notice.

Since China have the Militaristic trait, they are good for the early archer rush. Being Industrious means a quick road to be built to the enemy territories. Once you get Chivalry, you can take large amounts of land very quickly since you have a very fast version of the knight. Not being Religious hardly matters since you'll most likely stay with Monarchy when playing as China.

The Germans have a late UU, and the Scientific trait doesn't come into play until later. However, starting with Bronze Working and Warrior Code means that you can quickly hoard up archer and spearmen packs (approx. 5 archers with 1-2 spearmen escort) to cycle around your neighbours to prune them when they have so few cities that losing one or two will shatter their hopes for winning. Generally, you'll want to set yourself in a good position for the rest of the game, so that when the panzers start rolling out of your cities, you are in the perfect position to execute a world domination plan.

If you're interested in other militaristic civs, or warmongering strategies, you could check the many strategy articles in the Civ III Strategy forum. I really can't say any more without repeating more of what has already been said (since the above paragraphs have already been said).


However, if you don't want to stray too far from the Persians, I agree that the Romans are a good choice. Especially since their UU can be used like pikemen in protecting your longbows (or crossbowmen if you modded the game like I did). And their combo of traits means that you suffer less corruption (apparantly?!) and as such getting an empire of such a size that that is an issue is easier to do through blood and iron.

[Arrian]

If you're looking for a civ similar to Persia but that's militaristic, I'd say China. Both civs are Industrious, and that is a powerful trait. China is perfect for an early archer rush and also can dominate the game with their Riders.

China and Japan are my favorites, but I don't think we should forget to mention the mean green machine (Aztecs). Velocyrix did a thread on them (I think it was called "Triple Threat - The Joys of Being A Bloodthirsty Barbarian").

One piece of advice from another former builder: if you are going to play as a militaristic civ, getting the most from the trait means fighting A LOT. Be not afraid of using Monarchy for government (no war weariness) and dragging the rest of the world into the abyss.

-Arrian

[Barchan]

Originally posted by LordAzreal However, you can quickly take up the horses and crank out chariots. As many chariots as you can. Once you get to Chivalry, you can upgrade to samurai and stand invincible.

Anyone else find this vaguely amusing? Sure, I see the upgrade connection between chariots and horsemen (although one would think riding on the horse's back, being a more basic concept than hitching two of them up to a cart, would be discovered first...) and from horsemen to knights (just armored horsemen). But to samurai? Maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't think that samurai were usually mounted units. Don't get me wrong, samurai are a terrific UU and are appropriately timed, but wouldn't it make more sense to have them be upgraded swordsmen?

Of course, then there's the Indian UU. "Ok, fellas, let's ditch the horses and try riding them there elephants instead." Of course, once they get guns they then abandon the elephants and get back on horses for cavalry. I guess it makes sense because horses are faster, but if they had horses before knights and horses after knights, why in the world would they bother with elephants?

Anyway, I think the civ you choose will depend mostly on the level you're playing, and then on the era you want to focus your warmongering on. I've found the higher the level of play, the more critical early warmongering is. If you aren't smacking your neighbors right off the bat on Deity, you're probably not going to win. On lower levels, though, you can build and research as fast (or faster) than the AI and thus pick your era of conquest a bit better.

Personally, I find Legions to be pretty much unstoppable in the ancient era, and they're still useful (in numbers) well into the middle ages. Problem is, though, you usually start near the Greeks, whose Hoplite is a real challenge for Legions to root out of larger cities or rugged terrain. Immortals are great and all, but you have to watch 'em as they aren't as good on defense as Legions and can be mauled by horsemen in open ground. I find the way early UUs (JWs, War Chariots, Bowmen and Impi) a pain due to the early GA.

Also, you can successfully warmonger the heck out of your neighbors with Mounted Warriors, though. The Iroquois might not be a militaristic civ, but their UU sure is! Plus, scouts allow you to recon your enemy's territory quicker and deny him strategic resources (a somewhat questionable AI exploit), and the religious trait allows you to more rapidly consolidate your borders and expand your empire. Some of my highest scores have been with the Iroquois; give 'em a try sometime.

[King_Xerces]

Thank'yall for the advice.

I think I'll start with china. Although, religious sounds pretty valuable........Ah........I didn't want to jump into Japan right away, but what the hell


I'll post my blood laden results in a few days

Mwahhaahaha

[Arrian]

Anyone else find this vaguely amusing?

Yep.

Xerces,

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

-Arrian

[Theseus]

I'm a pretty big fan of Rome as well. Legions are well nigh unstoppable. You might find that an easy transition from Persia, as well.

That said, all of the above advice is good.

You don;t really need a transition, but if you do want to do it that way, I'd play the following civs in order:

Rome
Iroquois
Japan
China
Germany

I believe China and Germany are the most 'sophisicated' of the bunch... with China, you learn about early blitzkrieg, and with Germany late blitzkrieg. And both start with the Archer Rush.

[Lord Merciless]

Roman Legionaries are so versatile that I actually used them to fight alongside my Cavaries, Infantries, and Tanks.

Japanese Samurais are a great unit, too. It remains a good defensive unit the Tank shows up.