Hey fellas.
I've read a few strategy guides and posts and they are all good.

I'm just curious to what most of you guys play in terms of difficulty. I can't remember them all at the top of my head so I put a poll with some very varied choices.
And also what game speed do most of you play?

Marathon if I want a nice, good, long, wholesome game (usually games where I stack the settings in my favour somehow).

Normal if I want to sacrifice using my military units effectively in combat, experiencing optimal hammer output late-game (whereas normal can often give you more than twice the hammers in building a unit, so in Marathon you could have had two units as well as not converting those hammers into gold), and enjoying every nuance of the eras, in exchange for actually finishing a game (still unlikely)!

I always play epic. Current difficulty is Monarch. Thinking about moving up to Emperor though.

Monarch, always playing on marathon. I hate playing a marathon game all the way to the end once I know I've won it, though. Big drawback of marathon, but up to that point, it's a really fun speed, especially with raging hordes!!!!

Noble, and marathon.

Was about to move up from noble when I got BtS, and the now improved AI, in terms of warfare, means I've had to postpone the move move up though!

I'm just a noob, playing my first game of BtS (Hey, I only got it for my birthday, Guy Fawkes' Day,) and playing Noble, Epic. I really should be playing a harder level, but rolling my tanks over riflemen that have been pounded from the air by my bombers is just irresistable.

But that's just me. Some people count sheep to get to sleep. I strafe.

Noble, because it's the fairest level in terms of AI bonuses. Quick speed, because I can't afford to spend my life playing a computer game.

my birthday, Guy Fawkes' Day

Yay, me too! Happy Birthday to Us!

I just picked up Civ4 complete last week (I'm a dedicated WoW addict but my ADSL line went down :( ) and have just started playing my second game.

Won a space victory on Normal/Chieftan and now working on an Epic/Warlord game.

Enjoyoing it very much so far :)

Quick speed no matter what. Who has the patience?

Always played on Normal speed. Almost always on a Normal sized map (I find that bigger maps tend to be a *little* harder than smaller ones, maybe just more chances to go wrong) Monarch. Can't quite scratch my way up to Emperor, although I win maybe 4/5 of the time. (on random leader, Shuffle mostly)

Quick speed no matter what. Who has the patience?


I've just started winning at Monarch and Emperor level, and have been trying Immortal and Deity, though I've got a ways to go to win at those levels. With the new QM requirements, I have a lot of lesser difficulty games to fill in just to meet the LoN requirements.

But, I play mostly on Noble/Prince(always with the HoF mod), and much prefer Marathon to any other speed. I generally only play quicker speeds for G(W,B)otMs and Gauntlets.

Neckface, try a few games on Marathon, you might find it to your liking. As far as patience goes, I prefer playing one really long, in depth game, as opposed to several shorter ones.

Prince / Epic

I usually dominate at Prince level... but I enjoy dominating, so I doubt I'll move up any time soon. I modded the Epic game speed a little - made it about 200 turns longer. But even the generic Epic game speed was my favorite.

Prince/ Marathon. I'm getting better at warfare and am finally starting to put together winnable games with various Civs (though, of course, that may be because I finally got the Mids in my recent game:rolleyes: )

Epic/Prince on huge map/18civs. But if I want to test something out (like new leaders in BtS) I up the speed to normal

Normal Game speed, Noble to Emperor.

Thinking of swapping to Epic to try Immortal some more.

I play Prince the most now, even though I haven't quite mastered Noble.

Epic is ESSENTIAL if you want to do something about the horrendously slow units in the game. Prince is a pretty good difficulty level.

Currently, Prince/Epic/18 Civs/Random/Shufle, but I think I'm going to change to Marathon. I like the long games; it's like my soap opera.

I usually play Noble or Prince.;)

Prince\Monarch, depends on how much time I have.


Epic all the way, it gives me that proper Civ feel...

Marathon, always.

Either Prince or Monarch, depending on how I want to play.

I play the noble difficulty and epic speed. :crazyeye:

Epic, Monarch/Emperor

...I generally only play quicker speeds for G(W,B)otMs and Gauntlets.

Neckface, try a few games on Marathon, you might find it to your liking. As far as patience goes, I prefer playing one really long, in depth game, as opposed to several shorter ones.

This got me thinking, and I've realized how the techs and buildables whiz by without me having a chance to play around with them enough.

I've since updated my stance and bumped up to normal speed. Baby steps! :p

Noble/Marathon, almost exclusively. Any slower and I feel like my military units are getting replaced faster than I can get them cracking heads. I'm pretty fond of the mod CarterEarth, which adds the speed "Odyssey". Pretty neat; marathon speed research with faster building.