Can the Americans Ever Win This Game?

[Jerry Sindle]

I'm getting frustrated. I've achieved Cultural victory with the Greeks, Spaceship victory with the Germans, and Domination victories with the Russians all at the Monarch level.

The best I can do with the Americans is third best civ. It's getting so maddening

I recently tried the ICS strategy. Did fine until the middle ages when the Chinese came swooping with their riders out of nowhere, and the blasted French chimed in with the Musketeers.

Later, I allied with the Babylonians who were also allied with the French. I built up a mighty force of tank units and bombers. I attacked the French, and the doggone Babylonians, my allies, declared war on me. I was still doing fine until the largest civ in the game - the Chinese - chimed in too.

The Americans build a great railroad network which only seems to expedite your country getting ripped to pieces as your cities fall. Sometime in the distant future I'll get a UU. Maybe, I'll be a Chinese colony by then

Has anyone out there ever won with the Americans?

Very respectfully,
Jerry

[chaucer]

Yeah, I just did. 100,000 point cultrual victory on warlord. I expanded like rabbit all over my continent. I ran into the Aztex and they went to war with me. I was a little light on military at the time, but had aroung 15-20 cites. I moved from infrastructure to war. sent about 20 horses down on them and after the dust cleared I had the whole continent to myself. I was playing on a large map. There were three continents 2 small (with the Iriquois and Egypt, 1 medium large with me and the Aztec, and 1 huge with England, Rome, Germany, Russia, Zulu, Babylon, and Persia.
I was very lucky in the start as my capitol was built right next to 3 cows. I was very lucky with the starting location! It can be done. you just have to expand really fast to do it. I was able to fit about 50 ciites on my mainland. Pumped culture and military. Egypt built a city right in the middle of my empire so war started with them and I took their continent. Pumped culture and infrastructure there.

[Thrawn05]

I did a culture victory, almost on a regular basis. What you should do is play as babs.

Build all the wonders in one city, and i mean ALL of them. To make easier, place your capital on the shore. The let it build a settler. Place the settler on a site where you can use that to expand your empire. Meanwhlie, build Closssus, Lighthouse, Pyramids, Oracle, GL in your capital. If you have at least those right away, you just got yourself a culture win by the 1800 - 1900's. Other wonders in the same city is just iceing on the cake.

[Arrian]

Though I have never played the Americans (I'm addicted to religious civs), I'm sure it is quite possible to win using them on Monarch. I would suggest building a bunch of scouts and using them to sit on the strategic resources, specifically iron, on your continent. See Aeson's notes on this. Then horseman rush your neighbors.

The Americans should be better on large or huge maps. Industrious/Expansionist would be strongest with lots of room to expand and build.

-Arrian

[rpodos]

Arrian,

I haven;t understood resource denial like that, even though Aeson keeps referring to it.

Don't the AI civs just come up and build cities there anyway?

R

[Big Fish]

I have won with the americans many times. Here are some things to think about.

• Grow, grow, grow, grow just keep building settelers
  stay on a monarchy for a long time until you have only left civs quorling with each other and if they get to powerfull quickly overcome them
  once you make it to the modern ages it becomes easy.

[Aeson]

Yes they do build their cities there. But your Scouts can stay in AI territory for quite some time. If your Scout is on a resource, the AI cant get a worker on it to build a road. Without the resource connected by roads, it's useless to them.

[Jerry Sindle]

Thank you folks for answering my frustrated plea . The ICS strategy, coupled with scouts on resources on a large map, pursue a builder strategy until the development of tanks, and "loose the hounds" sounds like a winner.

I'll try it, just as soon as I take my lesson in Chinese diplomacy in this current game. The game is beyond redemption but I just can't seem to walk away from it.

Also, one last apology. I confused Warlord level with Monarch. I'm really playing at the Warlord level which makes the current dilemma just that much worse...

Thanks,

Very respectfully,

Jerry Sindle

[realpolitic]

The only real advantage that the Americans have is they start with Pottery. Since it takes 2 pop to start a new city, it makes more sence to build up a few cities. If you use the whip, you can build graneries with 20 shields and 1 pop. I admit I haven't played America yet, but this should help.

[chiefpaco]

I think the Americans get one of the best combination of traits in the game: expansionist-industrious. This means you have scouts & fast workers that give you:

- A quick map so you can plan where your cities will go.

- Speedy workers to quickly lay down roads to the places you plan for your cities.

I find my empire is always best designed and developed most quickly while playing as America. More importantly, it gives you help in the beginning of the game, a time when it is most difficult to keep up to the fast AI expansion.

Their UU comes late & while it is not that dominant, it can trigger a GA in the modern era. Therefore, you have an advantage early and late.

[Txurce]

I played the Americans once on Monarch, and found myself on an island that negated their expansionist benefits. I won the Space race anyway, using a horseman rush to build a decent empire, and then going pure "builder." I think if you set your mind to beating a neighbor early and have the time to build enough horsemen or archers, you almost always win that first war.

In the mid-game, could you have had a defense that could have withstood the Riders? Did you have knights? Regardless, it seems that you were well past that point, and feeling like you were doing well in modern times, until the roof caved in. By then, any prior disadvantages that the Americans had are long gone, and being industrious is probably one of the two most meaningful modern-day traits (along with commercial). Did you focus on a cultural or Space race win, or were you having fun with your modern-day military at the same time?

[Laertes]

I "won" a game as the Americans on Monarch (I was miles ahead on all counts in the early 20th C, close to space ship launch when I had technical problems with my laptop and had to reinstall).

My start was on a river with wheat and trees, with a lot of high production sites in the vicinity, also on rivers. My scouts found dozens of techs (it seemed) and lots more good sites.

I eventually absorbed about 5 German cities with culture (due to dominating Wonder building). I pounded the Russians when they attacked with Cossacks. I was forced into blasting the Japs and CHinese to bits when they attacked me unprovoked, and all that was left were the reasonably powerful Aztecs and Persians, stuck on large continents miles away.

[Jaguar]

Try a Huge map with only a few civs. You'll romp through the game if you build cities fast. Once you get better with them, you can add more civs and/or reduce the map size.

[Coracle]

Yes, the Americans can win.

Just Edit the useless F-15 UU into a "Minuteman" unit - a fast musketeer with a '2' MP but no cavalry-style ZOC.

[Jawa Jocky]

I built the Hoover damn and started a Golden Age. Built most of my SS in those 20 turns. I wasn't really in a space race, but I could have really pulled ahead if I had been.

The posts seems to indicate that the US is the best civ for huge maps. With my PII - 400MH I will not be testing that theory any time soon.