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Required Reading for Civ players...

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  • Required Reading for Civ players...

    Hey everyone, I've noticed that there are some people here who REALLY know their stuff. Some of that can be developed through playing the game, and some of it can be aquired through study. This is where this thread comes in.

    If you have (ever or recently) read a book that inspired you to a new strategy (or a new tactic), post it here. Such books need not be restricted to purely military matters, so long as they get people thinking along different lines of thought that they can (hopefully) use to kick some tail in civIII.

    So if you have something to add to this list, please do, and please add a short review of what the hapless reader can expect from the book. This idea occured to me at school, but as soon as I get home I will go through my bookshelf and decide which of my titles belong here and add a few more.
    (format is 'Author', 'Title')
    1)Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
    I'm sure most people here have at least heard of it. Most experts seem to agree that it was written about 600BC, which makes the book all the more thouroughly remarkable in that it still applies today, and not only in the realm of military combat, but in every single observable form of conflict thoughout the world. DEFINETELY a MUST no matter what, IMHO even the most uneducated and illiterate knob should have read this book. Very short and very deep. You can read it in a day (if you're a slow reader) but re-read it twenty times and get a new understanding each time.
    2)Robert Henlien, Starship Troopers.
    First of all, do not judge the book by the movie. That being said, this is one of the best books I have ever read. It is well written and is as much entertainment as anything else. There is a great deal here about why we have soldiers, what their assigned role in a civilization is/should be, the power and price of the right to vote, etc. This book is so thought provoking that I almost put it above The Art of War, even though it is less directly applicable to Civ.
    3)Jerry Pournelle, Prince of Sparta.
    This falls as much into the 'entertainment' category as it does instruction. There are more books to this series but I cannot recall their titles. A very well written story about a society facing a guerilla/terrorist action. Goes into much depth about the root causes of terrorism, why it is so hard to combat, and what is necessary to combat it with. Entertaining, instructional, inspirational.
    More to come. Post yours. I need some new reading material.

  • #2
    I don't think we got our strategys from books or movies That said I don't think it would be very possible even if the book was all about war strategy.

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    • #3
      Read the dictionary, or a phone book. It's not about anything you'll read that will make you a better civ player... If you can learn to find that interesting (or at least tenable), extreme micromanagement will be pure entertainment.

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      • #4
        From books you could learn new strategies however the usefulness would be severely limited. For one useless example, from reading Sun Tze you could be inspired to try the strategy of not attacking Modern Armour with Spearmen. I therefore do not see how reading books will improve ones Civ3 strategy except in the vaguest and most general way. Maybe one could get the idea of concentrating forces and the value of mobility from a book, good and useful ideas but vague and general so you still have to figure how to do this in a game.

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        • #5
          I've found reading the MOO3 manual has helped my game tremendously. At least it was good for something

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          • #6
            Originally posted by SirOsis
            I've found reading the MOO3 manual has helped my game tremendously. At least it was good for something
            I hope you didn't pay for the start guide like I did, it is only good for sleep issues.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by vmxa1


              I hope you didn't pay for the start guide like I did, it is only good for sleep issues.
              I don't buy strategy guides because they don't seem to have any strategy in them. IIRC the only strategy guide I have bought was the MOO2 strategy guide, the little it contained on strategy was mostly actually very bad.

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              • #8
                Well I found that Halo's Strategy guide helped alot.

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                • #9
                  I disagree that books cannot aid strategy. I have to say that with extreme prejudice. Fiction as an aid to strategy I can grant as not being useful, however...

                  A good knowledge of modern military history, a reading of Von Clausewitz, and a very good familiarity with the campaigns of Napoleon can never hurt any would-be emperor.

                  PS. I think Sun Tzu is over-hyped.

                  PPS. Let the good times roll!
                  (\__/)
                  (='.'=)
                  (")_(") This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your signature to help him gain world domination.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Aeson
                    Read the dictionary, or a phone book. It's not about anything you'll read that will make you a better civ player... If you can learn to find that interesting (or at least tenable), extreme micromanagement will be pure entertainment.


                    Sad but true.
                    And her eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming...

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                    • #11
                      Join the army then, so boring that micromanagement are pure fun....(Well, parts of my year in the arctic region of norway were great fun, but most of it were about as fascinating as watching paint dry)

                      BTW, I'm thinking of starting ARNA (Anal Retentive Nitpickers Anonymous), anyone interested in joining?


                      On-topic, many books have strategies that can be used in civ, the trick is how to apply RL strategy to civ.
                      Don't eat the yellow snow.

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                      • #12
                        There was a short series on the BBC (that's the main UK broadcaster for those who don't know) a few years ago where they managed to get a group of army generals (active and retired I think) to play some wargames recreating famous battles (e.g. Waterloo - everyone's favourtite). It ws some kind of table-top wargame system, but I don't know what rules were used (it all seemed kind of made-up as they went along to be honest, rather than having a well-defined rule set).

                        The series itself didn't last long, and wasn't terribly interesting. But what was noticable was that some generals tried to use real world strategies and tactics - and did very badly, while others obviously came to grips fairly quickly with the constraints and quirks of the system, and used the rules to their advantage, to great effect.

                        The point being, that success was determined almost exclusively by how well they understood and used the rules of the game, and not at all by applying the correct points of real life military doctrine.

                        There are of course some lessons from real life that are useful (the importance of reserves, mobility, concentration of force, maneouver, dislocation) , but you still have to learn how to apply them within the constraints of the game you are playing. And against the AI you can do pretty well without these things if you understand the game mechanics well enough to take full advantage (you don't need good strategy if you can field an army twice the size of the AI's army).

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by bongo
                          Join the army then, so boring that micromanagement are pure fun....
                          You got that right.

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                          • #14
                            Yeesh, books? The only ways to learn new strategy effectively is to either mix it up with someone in MP or to get it right here on Poly. Most of the things I have learned in the last year and a half to improve my game came from Democracy games.
                            Consul.

                            Back to the ROOTS of addiction. My first missed poll!

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                            • #15
                              Yes, Democracy games definitely help refine one's gameplay.

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