Fun, but not that simple

[Blackadder]

I have just got hold of Civ 3 and I love it.
Being new to the whole Civ family, I don't have any preconceptions about this game from earlier versions.
Anyway, as usual, when I get hold of a new toy, I load up and read just enough of the instructions to get me started and just try to learn on the job.
However, this game is just too involved to get away with that for long.

As a true patriot, I started with the English on the easy setting (first go and all that!), and set my scout on automatic. He set off and opened up the map for me, coming across villages full of gold and techs, cool. I then pretty well followed the instructions of my advisors for a while. However, even a newbie like me realised I needed more cities, so I set a course for as rapid expansion as I could. Whenever I could I built a settler, followed by a worker; this expanded my lands, while simultaneously improving it. My existing cities obviously remained small, so I built improvements when I couldn’t build settlers or workers.

All has been going well. I have a reasonably big empire, I have been able to build various forces, right upto cavalry. I have just started grabbing various cities from the Germans, as they have some of the resources I need.
However, the other civs have now caught me up in techs and I even lost a newly conquered city as it reverted back to its original owners.
My cavalry are finding it harder and harder to win and my population is getting more and more disgruntled.

I am sure I could learn the error of my ways by reading the manual, but this interrupts my already short and very precious playing time. Can any one be bothered to prescribe a quick fix?

[zulu9812]

Presumably if the other civs have caught up with you technologically then they have the same units as you. Thus you're cavalry are coming up against comparable units and you've lost the tech edge you had.

Secondly, it sounds like you're usually the aggressor. Well, until you can build tanks, defensive units have the edge over offensive units - just think of what happens when a knight attacks a fortified pikeman.

[Cookie Monster]

Hi Blackadder:

First off welcome aboard!

Civ3 is an addictive game, I've been playing Civ in it's many iterations for 6 years now. One thing I've noticed in Civ3 is that you don't necessarily have to put a lot of effort into research. I would set your science rate to the bare minimum, i.e. low enough where your still making progress, and maximize your tax rate as much as possible. Make a lot of money and engage in heavy trading or buying of techs from other civs. Build up your army in the early game while popping out a settler now and then. Go after some rival civs and grab their land. If you are successful then you can make peace with them and ask them for every thing they've got as the price of peace. Ask for as many techs as is feasible.

Once you've built up your infrastructure you can then begin dumping more money into research. If you use a government like republic or democracy then luxuries are a must. Get or trade for as many as possible. This will help reduce war weariness during times of war. Great wonders like sistine chapel or suffrage are a must for these types of governments.

Good luck and happy gaming!

[Arrian]

Blackadder,

If war weariness is killing you, switch your government to Monarchy. That will probably hurt your research, but war weariness can really cripple an empire.

Actually, you should probably stick with your current government, make peace, and pour all your energy into building railroads, factories, and police stations (lower war weariness). Get motorized transport and build lots and lots of tanks. Build some bombers too - bombarding first can really help out an attack. Build up overwhelming force before starting a war. If things aren't going all that well, pay off another civ to ally with you (which may be difficult now if you've been warmongering... your reputation may suck).

Some real basic things:

Build veteran troops only (you need barracks for this)
Aim for short, decisive wars - wipe 'em out ASAP and then there's not much war weariness to worry about

Umm... sorry to break this to you, but the English civ traits and unique unit... umm... suck. CivIII gave the English the shaft (if it's any consolation, the Americans suck too). *disclaimer* on certain map settings both England & America can be strong.

If you're willing to spend the time, search through the strategy forum - starting with the oldest threads. Some things will be out of date, due to the four patches that have been released, but most of the general stuff holds true.

-Arrian

[Cort Haus]

Re: Fun, but not that simple

Originally posted by Blackadder
My cavalry are finding it harder and harder to win

This could be either

1. Their cities have grown. There's a defensive bonus from size seven and another from size thirteen.

2. Their defensive units have upgraded from pikeman, to musketeers, to riflemen.

3. Their defender has a chance of promotion to veteran then elite (more hit points) if it defeats & kills your cavalry, making subsequent attacks harder.

4. You may be attacking a city on a hill, or beyond a river, which gives a defensive bonus.

Follow Arrian's advice for tanks, or haul around a stack of 6-8 cannons plus 2 defenders to soften up the tough cities. Forget using cavalry against infantry.

[Blackadder]

Thanks guys.
Will take on all advice and see what happens.
Perhaps the build it up in peace, rather than running around trying to kill every one all at once will work better. More haste, less speed.
I had a look at the various traits that the civs have, and you are absolutely right, the English do suck, I think I may have a go with the Iroquois next. Doesn’t actually bother me too much as I’m actually from north of the border.
Can any one point me in the right direction for extra civs, ie a Scottish civ?

[dunk]

Extra civs are possibly going to be in the rumored Expansion Pack.

There is also a project going on here in the "Civilizations" forum that is creating a bunch of new civs to play with that can replace the ones currently in the game. The Scots are not one of them though. Maybe in the rest of that forum? You may also want to look at www.civfanatics.com They have a similar forum there which has many additioal units, civs, maps, etc.

There is also Gramphos' MultiTool. Which can add additional civs to the game. It's not complete yet, and there are bugs. This can be found in the "Files" forum.

[alva]

just wanted to say hi!!:-)
wich series do you prefer by the way:-)
have fun on these boards, and don't flame to much!!!!;-);-);-)