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Hi all,
I received a couple of "raised-eyebrow" reactions when I mentioned (shortly after PTW came out) that America is a "powerhouse" civ in multiplayer. The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that the America is a great in general (in Civ3; please, no political commentary!). I'm first going to outline why I think the Americans shine in MP, then proceed to discuss some strats specific to the Industrious/Expansionist trait combo. Finally I'll list some random thoughts concerning the Americans.
1. MP Dominance
With a near-useless UU (completely useless in MP), the Americans are all about the strength of their traits. IMO, Industrious and Expansionist are best traits for MP games. Here's why:
a. Industrious
Industrious is pivotal because you need to get off the ground fast; no time to wait for your economy to build up like in SP. Given that many MP games are short affairs (small maps preferred...frequent quitters), doing things earlier ensures you're on top the entire game. As a side note, for this very reason I believe the Scientific trait to be discounted in MP games. But, of course, the best thing about Industrious is that it just keeps on giving; Industrious Worker's advantage over normal Workers is just as potent in the Industrial age as the Ancient age. Thus, Industrious does not suffer from the "window" effect present in the other traits (Expasionist is early-game only, Commercial is mid to late-game only, Religious is mostly mid-game only, etc.).
Industrious Workers also give you a lot of leeway in what you can afford to do "creatively" in terms of tile improvements. The main creative use of Workers is for building a military road network. Most players do not expect reinforcements to arrive at their doorstep at three times the normal speed. Another creative use is Fortresses, which human players are deathly afraid of, in the right location.
b. Expansionist
Expansionist is amazing for a few reasons. First, the information you gain from early exploration is far more useful in MP than in SP. Against AIs, you can expect a certain standard behaviour (with experience), such as an aggressive REX phase, more or less "blob-like" growth, rapid tech-trading, founding of cities near Luxuries, perhaps an early Archer-rush from the Germans, etc. The point is that all of this is predictable. Against a human player, anything goes. Here's just a list of things the human player can possibly do to ruin your day early on: 1) send military units to aggressively claim Strategic resources ("You want Horses? NEVER, they're all MINE!!!), 2) sneak military units just outside your visible range in order to launch a very suprising attack, 3) not follow a civ's "typical" strategy, like Archer rushing with the Greeks, 4) expand aggressively in your direction only. Obviously, all of these things are bad news. Your best defense is early and plentiful information, and nothing provides this better than Scouts.
The second reason Expansionist is great in MP is similar to the discussion of Industrious above. Scouts provide early-game advantages in terms of techs, gold, maybe even Setters or cities. MP is all about the early-game, and Scouts ensure you're on top from the start.
Finally, Scouts are for playing mind games. Place a Scout 1 tile away from the opponent's capital, just out of reach of their defender. Now you've planted a spy that the other player will want to eliminate. But your Scout moves fast! When the defender moves to attack, step back. Now you're luring their defense out of their city. Games like this may will result in a very frustrated opponent, which is good for you.
Every trait is useful, to be sure, but no 2 traits allow you to do quite as much in MP as those just described.
2. Industriousness, Expansionism and You
America's traits are highly synergistic, moreso than any other civ's (although Egypt, China and Babylon are close seconds). In no particular order, here's what America allows you to do:
a. Rapid Growth
Putting Pottery together with Industrious Workers allows for the fastest possible expansion of any civ (assuming equivalent starting locations). Here's not an unusual scenario: your starting location contains a combination of Forest and Grassland tiles. What do you do during your first few turns (other than explore with the Scout)? Here's a possibility: start on a Granary immediately. Sound crazy? In ten turns with 2 Forest chopped down you've got 20 Shields to go on your Granary, which is only 5-6 turns now that you're at size 2. So in 15 turns you've got a Granary in your capital. Now, assuming some nice production tiles, you can produce Settlers twice as fast as you normally could! The best part is that your Scout is roaming around, making sure you're not getting into trouble with enemy civs or Barbarians. Plus, by the time your Settler is ready (between turn 20-25), you've already scouted out your second city site, and maybe even built a road to it.
b. Flexible Production
Even if the Granary plan doesn't seem like a good idea, you're still ahead because you're flexible. Knowledge gained from your Scout will tell you whether to pop out some early Archers, Spearmen, or just Settler after Settler. Again, fast Workers help you do whatever you plan on that much better.
c. Gold and Techs
All the money and techs you get from your Scout, combined with faster trade revenues due to your Industrious workes makes you the richest and most advanced civ in the first part of the game (surpassing those Scientific and Commercial late-bloomers!). With so many techs and money, you can basically bend any trade negotiation to your advantage, especially in SP. In MP, this advantage translates into not having to depend on any other civ early on. It will usually be your call whether you want to spread techs around or keep them to yourself. Human players will give you almost anything for an early chance at Monarchy, Horseback Riding or Iron Working.
d. Resource Denial
With a fast tech rate (or equivalent, see point c) and a nice view of the local geography provided by your Scouts, you're in a great position to attempt some resource denial. With Iron and Horses visible (hopefully while they're still hidden from the opponent's view), you can place your cities on or around those locations. Or, you keep an eye on those locations with your Scouts, perhaps even starting a minor skirmish in case another civ gets too close. The is nothing sweeter than denying Horses from every other civ on your continent in the early age (thumbs up if you can deny both types of resource!).
e. Flexible Research
Without Bronze Working or Warrior Code, you lose a bit of a lead on your first type of military units (Horsemen or Swordsmen). However, what you lose in speed, you do gain in flexibility. If the local geography looks good for Sworsmen (lots of Forest, Hills and Mountains), hit Bronze Working; if it's mostly open Plains and Grasslands, go for The Wheel. Most other civs will be directed in their choice of early attacker either by their starting tech or their UU (Iroquois Swordsmen are pretty strange). You can adjust to fit the situation.
3. Randomness
a. Yes, the American UU is...umm..."sub-optimal". This is a definite disadvantage. However, there is a single saving grace: no UU means even more flexibility (did I mention the Americans are, above all, flexible?). Whereas you can pretty much expect a MW rush from the Iroquois, a Jag rush from the Aztecs, and no rush from the Greeks, there's simply nothing to expect from the Americans. This means that the Americans are not "confined" to a specific point in the game where they need to (or are expected to) shine.
b. Of course, no UU (uh, you know what I mean...) means that a GA needs to be triggered via Wonders. Here's the list of Wonder's you need to keep an eye out for: (Industrious) Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, Hoover Dam, Mahhattan Project; (Expansionist) The Colossus, Great Lighthouse, Copernicus' Observatory, Magellan's Expedition, SETI Program. Recall that you don't have to actually build the two Wonders with the required traits: if you control one half, building a Wonder that satisfies the other will trigger a GA. For example, if you conquer Berlin which houses the Pyramids, and you subsequently build Copernicus's, a GA will begin. Thanks to whoever clarified this in another thread (I cannot remember your name right now...sorry!).
c. Canada rules.
d. All the names of the American cities are well-known and easy to recognize (at least for North American players). This means you'll recall where specific cities are located on the map much more often (compared to, say, all those funky Persian or Korean names). I guess if you're Korean you'll remember those city names better...and, of course, you can always just rename any city (hey, this section is random, I can say whatever I want). Anyway, you many not think that having recognizable city names is a particularly good thing, but it will actually help you recall more build queues, potential civil disorders, and other important, city-specific things.
e. Finally(!), as of now, many human players underestimate the Americans. This means: 1) you'll always be able to pick them, and 2) you won't be considered much of a threat. Use this (and your flexibility!) to your advantage.
Comments, questions, more random thoughts...all welcome.
Dominae
I received a couple of "raised-eyebrow" reactions when I mentioned (shortly after PTW came out) that America is a "powerhouse" civ in multiplayer. The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that the America is a great in general (in Civ3; please, no political commentary!). I'm first going to outline why I think the Americans shine in MP, then proceed to discuss some strats specific to the Industrious/Expansionist trait combo. Finally I'll list some random thoughts concerning the Americans.
1. MP Dominance
With a near-useless UU (completely useless in MP), the Americans are all about the strength of their traits. IMO, Industrious and Expansionist are best traits for MP games. Here's why:
a. Industrious
Industrious is pivotal because you need to get off the ground fast; no time to wait for your economy to build up like in SP. Given that many MP games are short affairs (small maps preferred...frequent quitters), doing things earlier ensures you're on top the entire game. As a side note, for this very reason I believe the Scientific trait to be discounted in MP games. But, of course, the best thing about Industrious is that it just keeps on giving; Industrious Worker's advantage over normal Workers is just as potent in the Industrial age as the Ancient age. Thus, Industrious does not suffer from the "window" effect present in the other traits (Expasionist is early-game only, Commercial is mid to late-game only, Religious is mostly mid-game only, etc.).
Industrious Workers also give you a lot of leeway in what you can afford to do "creatively" in terms of tile improvements. The main creative use of Workers is for building a military road network. Most players do not expect reinforcements to arrive at their doorstep at three times the normal speed. Another creative use is Fortresses, which human players are deathly afraid of, in the right location.
b. Expansionist
Expansionist is amazing for a few reasons. First, the information you gain from early exploration is far more useful in MP than in SP. Against AIs, you can expect a certain standard behaviour (with experience), such as an aggressive REX phase, more or less "blob-like" growth, rapid tech-trading, founding of cities near Luxuries, perhaps an early Archer-rush from the Germans, etc. The point is that all of this is predictable. Against a human player, anything goes. Here's just a list of things the human player can possibly do to ruin your day early on: 1) send military units to aggressively claim Strategic resources ("You want Horses? NEVER, they're all MINE!!!), 2) sneak military units just outside your visible range in order to launch a very suprising attack, 3) not follow a civ's "typical" strategy, like Archer rushing with the Greeks, 4) expand aggressively in your direction only. Obviously, all of these things are bad news. Your best defense is early and plentiful information, and nothing provides this better than Scouts.
The second reason Expansionist is great in MP is similar to the discussion of Industrious above. Scouts provide early-game advantages in terms of techs, gold, maybe even Setters or cities. MP is all about the early-game, and Scouts ensure you're on top from the start.
Finally, Scouts are for playing mind games. Place a Scout 1 tile away from the opponent's capital, just out of reach of their defender. Now you've planted a spy that the other player will want to eliminate. But your Scout moves fast! When the defender moves to attack, step back. Now you're luring their defense out of their city. Games like this may will result in a very frustrated opponent, which is good for you.
Every trait is useful, to be sure, but no 2 traits allow you to do quite as much in MP as those just described.
2. Industriousness, Expansionism and You
America's traits are highly synergistic, moreso than any other civ's (although Egypt, China and Babylon are close seconds). In no particular order, here's what America allows you to do:
a. Rapid Growth
Putting Pottery together with Industrious Workers allows for the fastest possible expansion of any civ (assuming equivalent starting locations). Here's not an unusual scenario: your starting location contains a combination of Forest and Grassland tiles. What do you do during your first few turns (other than explore with the Scout)? Here's a possibility: start on a Granary immediately. Sound crazy? In ten turns with 2 Forest chopped down you've got 20 Shields to go on your Granary, which is only 5-6 turns now that you're at size 2. So in 15 turns you've got a Granary in your capital. Now, assuming some nice production tiles, you can produce Settlers twice as fast as you normally could! The best part is that your Scout is roaming around, making sure you're not getting into trouble with enemy civs or Barbarians. Plus, by the time your Settler is ready (between turn 20-25), you've already scouted out your second city site, and maybe even built a road to it.
b. Flexible Production
Even if the Granary plan doesn't seem like a good idea, you're still ahead because you're flexible. Knowledge gained from your Scout will tell you whether to pop out some early Archers, Spearmen, or just Settler after Settler. Again, fast Workers help you do whatever you plan on that much better.
c. Gold and Techs
All the money and techs you get from your Scout, combined with faster trade revenues due to your Industrious workes makes you the richest and most advanced civ in the first part of the game (surpassing those Scientific and Commercial late-bloomers!). With so many techs and money, you can basically bend any trade negotiation to your advantage, especially in SP. In MP, this advantage translates into not having to depend on any other civ early on. It will usually be your call whether you want to spread techs around or keep them to yourself. Human players will give you almost anything for an early chance at Monarchy, Horseback Riding or Iron Working.
d. Resource Denial
With a fast tech rate (or equivalent, see point c) and a nice view of the local geography provided by your Scouts, you're in a great position to attempt some resource denial. With Iron and Horses visible (hopefully while they're still hidden from the opponent's view), you can place your cities on or around those locations. Or, you keep an eye on those locations with your Scouts, perhaps even starting a minor skirmish in case another civ gets too close. The is nothing sweeter than denying Horses from every other civ on your continent in the early age (thumbs up if you can deny both types of resource!).
e. Flexible Research
Without Bronze Working or Warrior Code, you lose a bit of a lead on your first type of military units (Horsemen or Swordsmen). However, what you lose in speed, you do gain in flexibility. If the local geography looks good for Sworsmen (lots of Forest, Hills and Mountains), hit Bronze Working; if it's mostly open Plains and Grasslands, go for The Wheel. Most other civs will be directed in their choice of early attacker either by their starting tech or their UU (Iroquois Swordsmen are pretty strange). You can adjust to fit the situation.
3. Randomness
a. Yes, the American UU is...umm..."sub-optimal". This is a definite disadvantage. However, there is a single saving grace: no UU means even more flexibility (did I mention the Americans are, above all, flexible?). Whereas you can pretty much expect a MW rush from the Iroquois, a Jag rush from the Aztecs, and no rush from the Greeks, there's simply nothing to expect from the Americans. This means that the Americans are not "confined" to a specific point in the game where they need to (or are expected to) shine.
b. Of course, no UU (uh, you know what I mean...) means that a GA needs to be triggered via Wonders. Here's the list of Wonder's you need to keep an eye out for: (Industrious) Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, Hoover Dam, Mahhattan Project; (Expansionist) The Colossus, Great Lighthouse, Copernicus' Observatory, Magellan's Expedition, SETI Program. Recall that you don't have to actually build the two Wonders with the required traits: if you control one half, building a Wonder that satisfies the other will trigger a GA. For example, if you conquer Berlin which houses the Pyramids, and you subsequently build Copernicus's, a GA will begin. Thanks to whoever clarified this in another thread (I cannot remember your name right now...sorry!).
c. Canada rules.
d. All the names of the American cities are well-known and easy to recognize (at least for North American players). This means you'll recall where specific cities are located on the map much more often (compared to, say, all those funky Persian or Korean names). I guess if you're Korean you'll remember those city names better...and, of course, you can always just rename any city (hey, this section is random, I can say whatever I want). Anyway, you many not think that having recognizable city names is a particularly good thing, but it will actually help you recall more build queues, potential civil disorders, and other important, city-specific things.
e. Finally(!), as of now, many human players underestimate the Americans. This means: 1) you'll always be able to pick them, and 2) you won't be considered much of a threat. Use this (and your flexibility!) to your advantage.
Comments, questions, more random thoughts...all welcome.
Dominae
Trying to slip that one past us, Dominae? 
I haven't played them since the old Regent days when I was still trying (and mostly failing) to be a Civ2 builder.
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