All Civs, great and small

[Dominikos]

Just how the hell do some of you manage to build 25 cities? 35 cities?

Ahhhhhhh!

I'm lucky to get six cities playing at monarch level!

Oh God, I'm backward.

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~Emperor Dominik~

[Harovan]

1) Expand early and put a high priority on it
2) Fight oscillating wars, meaning prune your neighbors early and don't let them grow. Grow yourself into their territory. Take their cities, negotiate some more for peace and fill gaps/replace razed cities quickly with own settlers. But don't kill them too erly, only after they ceased to give you something useful for peace.
3) Play on a bigger map and don't let the AI build more cities than you.

[miccofl]

Having the longevity wonder helps too.

[phunny_pharmer]

Starting off with multiple grasslands, a floodplain with wheat, a cow or two, and a pheasant. Not to mention the strategic and luxury resources that just *happen* to be lying around.

(That only occurred in one game. Then I realized that using the map editor made the game boring.)

But it also depends on how good your start is. Some give more food, and an early luxury will be at least a 10-turn difference at higher levels. Of course, luck is involved....

[alva]

As the domestic minister would say in this case:
"build more settlers"

@ miccofl: what good is this going to do in the ancient age??

ot: @phunny: what's the name of that writer again? (from your sig)

[phunny_pharmer]

Gee...would you believe me if I said I didn't know? I just thought the song was one of the phunniest things I've heard...

[monkspider]

"They're coming to take me away ha ha" is a classic song written by Napoleon XIV

[alva]

thanks, I'll see if I can find it on eugh in the shop

[Panzer]

A lot depends on your settings and starting location but I usually:

1. Expand, expand, expand for the first 3/4000 years or so.

2. Pick a nearby civ and prepare to 'annex' it into my empire .

After that I usually have enough land for the rest of the game. Just look out for other civs that grow big .

[johncmcleod]

I am bad at ultra early wars, because all I do is build settlers to make more cities and my empire is way too big for my army. Dominikos, how come it says you joined Apolyton in 1969?

[Iskandar Reza]

Originally posted by johncmcleod
I am bad at ultra early wars, because all I do is build settlers to make more cities and my empire is way too big for my army. Dominikos, how come it says you joined Apolyton in 1969?

He's a 1970er. Instead of building settlers to expand your empire, build horsemen. They expand your empire, too.

Typically this is what I'd do, playing the Japanese (Militaristic and Religious, perfect for warmongers). I'd make a beeline to research horseback riding (The Wheel, Warrior Code -- Horseback Riding) Since you already start with the wheel, you already know where the horses are. So while you're researching the tech, crank out some settlers and workers to secure your supply. By the time you get the tech you should have somewhere between 5-7 cities, sufficient to convert some into warmachines and others into infrastructure powerhouses, for the moment.

Crank out some horsemen (make sure you have barracks first), say 7-8 before making your move towards your nearest neighbour. One of your cities should produce spearmen (to garisson the cities you will capture.) It shouldn't be too difficult to subdue them if your war factories continue producing horsemen as you advance towards them. By the end of the war, you should already have captured at least half their cities, crippling them severely enough for the meantime, and have a band of at least 12-16 horsemen, sufficient for your next war. Now it is up to you, to finish your enemy or take a break. I take a break as long as my victim can still provide me with something usefull like techs or gold (not per turn). Once they've outlived their usefullness, they shall be executed.

By now you should have 9-14 cities and 12-16 horsemen lying around. Your call, keep rolling or take a break until you get Chivalry so you can get knights (or Samurai if you're playing the Japs)

It's a very basic strategy, but it works well for most games I've played. And it's a hell of a GL manufacturing plant.

[MattHiggs]

Civ3 Strategy: Throw it in the bin.

[Arrian]

That's helpful, Matt. Thanks for your contribution.

Iskandar Reza,

If you really want to use the Japanese to their full potential, hold off on discovering Horseback Riding. Build chariots - lot's of 'em, while hording cash. Then upgrade them en masse to horsemen ($20 each). Chariots are 20 shields each, whereas horsemen are 30. In ancient times that's a significant difference, and will allow you to produce a much bigger force. The AI will spend its time building more settlers/spears.

Dominikos,

What map size and what level are you playing at?

-Arrian

[Iskandar Reza]

Originally posted by Arrian
Iskandar Reza,

If you really want to use the Japanese to their full potential, hold off on discovering Horseback Riding. Build chariots - lot's of 'em, while hording cash. Then upgrade them en masse to horsemen ($20 each). Chariots are 20 shields each, whereas horsemen are 30. In ancient times that's a significant difference, and will allow you to produce a much bigger force. The AI will spend its time building more settlers/spears.

-Arrian

I usually have very little cash early in the( I push science as far as I can before diminishing returns sets in; -4 per turn is ok if I believe I can sustain it with my cash reserves)

I'll give that strat a try though.

[Arrian]

This strat will result in you falling way behind in tech (I normally research bronze, iron, warrior code, *another tech of my choice* and then horseback riding. As I intend to upgrade roughly 20 chariots to horses and 10 warriors to swords, I need 800 gold. Believe it or not, that's not hard to accumulate.

Then you beat tech out of the AI until you're all caught up. Your forces shouldn't need all that much in the way of reinforcements if your first move in conquered cities is to poprush a spearman. You core cities should begin building improvements as the tech rolls in, so that by the middle ages you're prepared to out-research and out-build the AI.

-Arrian