My Civ Theory...It's Like Calamari

[vee4473]

Well,

I say this because in most of my games I have experienced that playing a conquest game in Civ3 recently, and most likely Civ2, is like the wonderful sea creature used as food..the squid...

The following is known about squid...you must either cook it for a short period of time or a LONG period of time.

Meaning that If you throw some cut up squid in a frying pan and cook it shortly it will be tender, otherwise you must cook it for hours and it will get tender again. Like in a tomato sauce..simmering for hours.

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME

The reason I say all this is beacause I have noticed that if you are playing a conquest game in Civ, you must either strike quickly in the early game or wait until you have a significant technological advance against your enemy.

If you don't attack early, and let your enemies build up, you have not much of a chance. (Of course maybe I am strategically impaired)

I say this because I am playing a game where I had advanced to the point where I had Cavalry and they only had knights.. I thought that I could walk all over the enemy.

But..they put up a great fight.

I got my ass kicked.

I underestimated the strength of knights.

I say this because if I had waited some 50 to 100 or so turns until I researched infantry and tanks I could have destroyed them.
(Although who knows where they would have been by then...)

I don't know why some people think cavalry are so great.( I have read a thread saying cavalry are overpowered)

In other words..back to my theory of Civ being like Calamari..either attack early or wait.

Maybe I just have no strategy.


thoughts?


AHHHHHH..THE LUSCIOUS CALAMARI STEWED FOR HOURS TO MAKE A TENDER, DELICIOUS, unbreakable, SAUCE OF TANTALIZING PLEASURE.

[Jumping Choya]

Very insightful!

I agree with you on both points: waging war, and the wonderfullness of calamari.

[Aqualung]

Attacking early has never been an option for me. On Marla's Map, as French, I thought I had time to develop my cities.

Wrong. Bismark, the idiot, built warriors instead of settlers. Sure, I had to jump back 2 autosaves, but the result was not pretty. Mangled German corpses littering the battlefield are never pretty.

With Berlin the only German city (at the time) worth taking, I called for peace...

On my new Zulu game, the Persians sailed down to Madagascar and then declared war. Again, I back up 2 autosaves. One extra Impi in my city makes all the difference, and then some! Since he attacked the lone Persian Archer on the next turn and won, that put me into a Golden Age!

[Hamburglar]

Originally posted by Aqualung
Attacking early has never been an option for me. On Marla's Map, as French, I thought I had time to develop my cities.

Wrong. Bismark, the idiot, built warriors instead of settlers. Sure, I had to jump back 2 autosaves, but the result was not pretty. Mangled German corpses littering the battlefield are never pretty.

With Berlin the only German city (at the time) worth taking, I called for peace...

On my new Zulu game, the Persians sailed down to Madagascar and then declared war. Again, I back up 2 autosaves. One extra Impi in my city makes all the difference, and then some! Since he attacked the lone Persian Archer on the next turn and won, that put me into a Golden Age!

Hold on a second here.....
You call that Bismark and "idiot", but from the looks of it that idiot made you have to reload your game because he got the better of you. Doesn't seem to be such an idiotic move if he caught you off guard with those warriors. Expecting the AI to be a challenge AND going BACK IN TIME to stop them from beating you in wars seems to be rather contradictory to me. Is the only way you're going to accept the AI fighting back hard is if there is NOTHING you can do to stop it? My God, it's almost pathetic.

You did the same thing with the Persians. The Persians apparently took your city - you had to build an extra Impi AFTER loading an autosave to beat them. Obviously you're going to win the wars if you can use your magic time machine to fix your mistakes before you make them. Ever think of foresight? To build up defenses early IN CASE the AI actually tries to use a good tactic and smack their neighbors early? The reason many players advance so far ahead of the AI is that they don't bother with a military until they start their conquest. Sure you can keep a small one around if all you need to do is jump back 50 years everytime the AI attacks you. BUILD A MILITARY. You don't need a huge one to go conquering but if you build a decent defense force you can just keep them from stealing your towns. Eh.... Build a military unit in your town before pumping out temples and libraries - yes it slows down your development, but your civ is worthless if it can't defend itself. The Magic Time Machine Of Reloading AutoSave Tech shouldn't be used until it's actual invention, a little after Integrated Defense.

I find the AI in Civ3 to hold up as a much more challenging opponent if you take your hits as they come. Sure, I could play a game and never lose a city if I reloaded enough to tilt the odds in my favor. People say the AI is predictable, but it obviously caught you with your pants down. I know it sounds like I'm flaming, but it really bugs me how you call the AI and idiot if it forces you to reload. Now you didn't specifically say he wiped you out, but I'm pretty sure if you kicked his ass you wouldn't be tempted to go back to an autosave to give him a fighting chance by disbanding some of your troops.


Makes me sad.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Hamburglar



Hold on a second here.....
You call that Bismark and "idiot", but from the looks of it that idiot made you have to reload your game because he got the better of you. Doesn't seem to be such an idiotic move if he caught you off guard with those warriors. Expecting the AI to be a challenge AND going BACK IN TIME to stop them from beating you in wars seems to be rather contradictory to me. Is the only way you're going to accept the AI fighting back hard is if there is NOTHING you can do to stop it? My God, it's almost pathetic.

You did the same thing with the Persians. The Persians apparently took your city - you had to build an extra Impi AFTER loading an autosave to beat them. Obviously you're going to win the wars if you can use your magic time machine to fix your mistakes before you make them. Ever think of foresight? To build up defenses early IN CASE the AI actually tries to use a good tactic and smack their neighbors early? The reason many players advance so far ahead of the AI is that they don't bother with a military until they start their conquest. Sure you can keep a small one around if all you need to do is jump back 50 years everytime the AI attacks you. BUILD A MILITARY. You don't need a huge one to go conquering but if you build a decent defense force you can just keep them from stealing your towns. Eh.... Build a military unit in your town before pumping out temples and libraries - yes it slows down your development, but your civ is worthless if it can't defend itself. The Magic Time Machine Of Reloading AutoSave Tech shouldn't be used until it's actual invention, a little after Integrated Defense.

I find the AI in Civ3 to hold up as a much more challenging opponent if you take your hits as they come. Sure, I could play a game and never lose a city if I reloaded enough to tilt the odds in my favor. People say the AI is predictable, but it obviously caught you with your pants down. I know it sounds like I'm flaming, but it really bugs me how you call the AI and idiot if it forces you to reload. Now you didn't specifically say he wiped you out, but I'm pretty sure if you kicked his ass you wouldn't be tempted to go back to an autosave to give him a fighting chance by disbanding some of your troops.


Makes me sad.

Hold on a second here. What about the player that reloads because the AI is getting hammered.

Haha, bushwacked that Joan pretty good there... Oh wait, maybe she won't be so responsive later... better reload a few dozen times to see if she can overcome the situation...

OK. I see your point.

[jan3]

Originally posted by Aqualung
Attacking early has never been an option for me. On Marla's Map, as French, I thought I had time to develop my cities.
!

strange until now for me is the only way i can beat the ai
take the aztecs or persians and rush them.

[Lilith]

You know, this person (Auqulung) seemed to just be sharing a bit and was obviously being facetious when s/he called the AI an "idiot." However, even if s/he meant to call the AI an idiot do you really think that is so offensive that you think it's cool to flame him/her? Hamburglar, you should really get a grip (and a life), this is just a frickin' game.

Merry frickin' Christmas