I'm playing on a huge map, with 8 Civs. I'm Xeres, the Persian leader. I'm currently a democracy.

It's the 1950's, and I've just ended a 30 year war with the Zulus - they started pissing me off. I guess I spent a lot of money doing research, as I had for most of the game Research at 70% and Entertainment at 0%. Yet people were still happy. Here's a note - trade luxuries! I was lucky to found a city (that I later lost, and reconquered) with access to 5 gems. That's perfect trading materials for other luxeries. Anyways, the Zulu were pissing me off, and I was at least 10 advances ahead of them - probably more tho. The first 'skirmish' we had (in the late 17th century) involved my Knights (And later Calvary) against his Timpi (? - The improved swordmen for the Zulu). Oddly enough, I managed to take a few of his cities, but would have lost had I kept fighting. He brought in 9 Timpi for every 3 or 4 Knight/Calvarly I did!

So, I sued for peace, and he agreed. The second time, I was ready for him. I had researched nationalism, and replaceable parts (for Infantry). I broke my 'pass through my teretory' treaty with him, made some outrageous clainms (his capitol was one of them, I believe) and then broke my peace treaty. By this point, I had a peace treaty and 'pass through my teretory' treaty with all the other Civs, so I suggested to the babylonians, who shared a border with the Zulu, that we should work together. He agreed.

Then, I mobilized for war. My entire nation was dedicated to one goal - produce infantry and calvalry. At first, I built more infantry assuming that they would outnumber me once again, and I would need serious firepower to break their spirits. However, this time through - the Zulu's put up almost no resistance! I don't honestly know if the Babylonians were helping - they never captured a city.

The glorious Persian empire however, was wrecking the Zulus. You see, the way our borders worked ws that I had the entire upper half of the continent (aside from a few cities at the very very top, which was why I declared this war to begin with) and the Babylonians and Zulu's spilt the bottom half vertically, so that my bottom border touched both the Zulu and Babylonians. The Zulu's land was only 2 cities wide before it hit the ocean tho - until it flared out to almost three times the width further south. I brought down countless calvary supported by Infantry very quickly - a complete road system had been put in place there by the Zulu, so movement was fairly quick. The problem I was having tho, was any new units were having a hard time catching up to my front lines! My calvarly would be able to destroy the two Timpi defending each city easily, and my infantry would follow up and fortify (and quell any foolish rebellions) the city.

I made it all the way to their capitol - Zimbabwe. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, there was at least 15 other zulu cities left beside Zimbabwe. I brought in the first wave of Calvarly - and the Zulu's held! Two elite calvarly fell before my eyes - slaughtered helplessly by Zulu barbarians. The infantry started to move south - but they were too far away. The Babylonians, seeing a chance to take a Pop. 7 city with hardly any defenders (I managed to take 2 or 3 Zulu with me before my Calvarly died) decided that now was their chance. They sent in what looked like everything they had - 15 horsemen, many spearmen, and even a warrior or two.

Luckily, two Vetern Calvalry managed to sneak by the Babylonians, and crushed the remaining Zulu defenders at Zimbabwe. I had their capitol! Unfortunately, the capitol simply moved to the next largest city - and then something even stranger happened. I'm not sure if it was because of my taking Zimbabwe, or just bad timing, but all my cities with Zulu people in it (They stay when you conquer them, and have seperate feelings. I'll describe more below) went into disorder! I had already changed my rates to 50% Sci and 20% Entertainment knowing that my going to war would make some people unhappy, but this was crazy. 10 towns all went at once - and it did seem to be all the ones that I had conquered in the first skirmish, back in the late 17th century.

Well, I told the Zulu that I would go no further - and we declared peace. Now, I have a new problem however. Across my glorious nation, not a drop of oil exists. I have the technologie to build Tanks and Battleships, but I'm limited to Infantry and Frigates (The sailing type) due to a lack of resources. There is one, just ONE oil source on the entire continent, and it's in the middle of the Babylonian's terretory. I tried trading for that city, I offered all of the Zulu cities I had just captured, but they wouldn't hear of it. They don't know the oils there yet, they dont have refining.

It looks as thoguh the Persians need a new war. What I'm thinking of doing is amassing my units on the cloest border (I now control the old Zulu vertical shaft, so I have a 90 corner with the Babylonians) and breaking my treaties. They're all over the 20 turn limit, so no iplomatic problems will arise. I'll rush in with my Calvarly, with the Infantry close behind them, and aim for that city with the Oil resource. Hopefully, I'll be able to take that city, and hold it. If I get the chance, I'll take any other cities that might get in the way later.

Once I have oil, well, there's an entire second continent with 5 other civs on it - and I think the Persians might be gearing up for war yet again.


Anyways, as for the cities - when you conquer a city from, for example, the Zulus - at first you'll have a fe resistors. You'll need to have a Military precenese there, and eventually they will relax, and no more resistance will be offered. But, if you begin attacking the country they belonged to originally, they will become unhappy and say "Please stop attacking our Motherland" or something to that effect.

As for game play - I find that it takes up to a minute now for each turn (the automatic stuff). I dont see a way to turn off watching my own automatic movements. I have a bunch of workers going, and I dont need to see them move each turn. They're doing their own thing. I've turned off all the movement animations. It speeds it up a bit, but its still kinda slow. I'm on a Athlon 700 with 256 megs of memory. It's not bleeding fast, but it shouldn't be having problems with Civ3. Anyone with some ideas?


OH! One other thing - how do i upgrade all the units of a certain type? When I have 70 spearmen, I dont want to click on each one in the military advisor screen to upgrade them. It gets boring.

Cheers.
irate.

Thanks for the info!!
Seems to me you´re more lucky than CornMaster.

did you conquer the oil-city?
and what about the cities surrounding this city, to prevent losing the city again because of resistance?

i guess, once you have oil, you could quite easily destroy the entire civilizations on your continent, even when some of your cities would stop producing/would have a fled mayor...

what happens with the resistors once their mother-civ has been completely destroyed???

please keep informing us, unlucky, waiting, fanatics...

:goodjob:

That the only thing to do

Why share something when you could have it all for yourself?

How are the Persians specific abilities working? Are they really good?

Well one way or another you're going to need oil.....

Alternatively send off an exploration expedition overseas. There's gotta be some more oil resources out there for the grabbing.

By the way,
is it at all possible for them to trade you oil,
since they don´t have refining and do not even know they have the source within their territory???

trading something you don´t know you have...
seems weird to me!
:crazyeyes

Heffalump - nope, I've traded maps and can see the entire world. All of the landmass (except a small portion... it's a southern wedge shaped formation on the other continent) is occupied. I don't think I need to do any oversees conquest, as there is oil available on my continent.

WUM - good point. I'll have to take it from them then. :P

good luck!
keep us informed please!

:sniper: :alien:

Definitely take that city, they wouldn't trade you their only oil anyway, even if they knew it was there. Just make sure to defend the road back to your capitol until you get your tanks rolling...then it sounds like its all over at that point.

After capturing Zimbabwe, the Zulu were understandably angry with me. However, they did understand that I could (and will, when the time comes) crush them. When I offered peace, they more than eagerly accepted. Realising that I needed oil, and soon, I turned my sights to the lands of Babylon.

I signed a Mutual Defence Pact with the Zulu, and the Babylonians were still at war with them. The Babylonians, seeing that Zululand was weakened by my Calvarly and infantry assaults, decided to play cleanup. Once they attacked a Zulu city, my Military advisor decalred war automatically. I was in for another fight - whether my people wanted it or not. I mobillized my nation once again, and raised my entertainment spending even further. I fortified my positions along the Babylonian border, and sent in some advance troops to get a feel for the opposition I would be facing. The 4 or 5 Calvarly I sent in managed to capture the 3 outlying cities, closest to my border. One was retaken by the Babylonians within a turn.

My main force is assembling just inside my border, as it seems my initial thurst was insufficent to claim the city with access to oil. I fear I may need to resort to sending in Infantry, as their swordmen seem to rip my Calvalry apart. I can hold the two cities I took from them for now, but my main goal is to secure the oil - the cities on the way to the oil are mearly bonuses.

I have two Calvalry 2 turns away from the oil - I'm not sure if it will be enough.

More reports from the front lines later, as I have two hours of clss coming up.

Cheers,
irate.

I see you opted for war against the Babylonians.

But I was wondering: could you have traded "refining" to the Babylonians so that they could see the oil, then try to trade oil with them? Is that possible?

Of course letting the Babylonians see the oil would have given them a huge advantage. The way you chose, if you get oil, then you will have a huge military advantage over the other civs. You will be able to build tanks and such, and they won't.

Keep telling us how the game is going.

seems to me you would be wasting such important knowledge for a change that the might give you oil.

if they don´t (what i expect) you will lose the war you have to start because then THEY will have the better units!

though as a diplomat i understand you still like this option.;)

Originally posted by The diplomat

But I was wondering: could you have traded "refining" to the Babylonians so that they could see the oil, then try to trade oil with them? Is that possible?

Actually, the proper question should be: would they really trade the only source of oil on the entire continent for something trivial like a technology or money?

I think not.

EDIT: I see you've edited your post. Never mind then.

the gamble is what makes the game so much fun, isn't it? He could try trading "refining" so that the Babylonians can see the oil. Then, hope to trade for that oil. If the babylonians agree to sell the oil in exchange maybe for some luxuries and gold, then he has it made. With oil, he can build the superior units that he needs to completely and utterly crush the Zulus once and for all. But if the trade does not work, then the Babylonians will get better units as well. On the other hand, he has opted to attack the Babylonians to seize their oil by force. If he wins the war, then he comes up on top. If the conflict bogs down into a war of attrition, then he might lose time and effort.

Irate: if you take an important babylonian city, maybe you can try swapping the city you took for the oil city in exchange for peace. This would get you peace and the oil you need.

I realise that the oil is a vital resource and that you aren't going to be able to take the rest of the continent without it, but appreciate that the resources can run out and so you'll have to make the most of it while it lasts. What resources do each of the spaceship parts require? I'm betting one of them needs oil so if you're planning to win this way then you shouldn't go too crazy building tanks, especially as oil seems to be so scarce.

Originally posted by duke o' york
I realise that the oil is a vital resource and that you aren't going to be able to take the rest of the continent without it, but appreciate that the resources can run out and so you'll have to make the most of it while it lasts. What resources do each of the spaceship parts require? I'm betting one of them needs oil so if you're planning to win this way then you shouldn't go too crazy building tanks, especially as oil seems to be so scarce.

My understanding is that while resources can run out, it doesn't happen often (in other words, there isn't a specific countdown for it).

Yeah, but it's got to happen some time, and you're going to be kicking yourself if you aren't able to find any more oil. I'd have thought that there would be a specific limit for the amount you can use, based on the number of units you build that require a given resource, and the number of turns in which an improvement uses this resource. If you had an oil resource say, but built a load of tanks and were also supporting 8 or so power plants with this resource, then I'd have thought it would run out quicker than horses would, because they can't really be used for any improvements. I doubt that the power plant will require an oil resource to operate, but it would be another excellent twist to the game if it did. Can anyone advise as to whether this is the case or not?

"What proportion of that would you say was on-topic duke?"
"No comment"

No, from an editor screenshot ive seen it dont work like that. The resource has a chance of running out however much it is used, as long as it is used: seems okay to me, different resource sights in the real world would have lasted longer.

Personally I like WAR!!!!! and so would have given the babs refinery (yes thats right), then asked them to trade oil with me (f your pally with them Im sure they would, give em a few zulu cities or a not so important tech) . Then I would have built tanks and attacked the babs to get the oil: it would have been a lot easier to get then. Then the zulus and babs would fall easily

:slay:

Late 1950's - Early 1980's

Seeing the need for oil, I went to war with the Babylonians. It was a brutal war, as they had achieved a technology level similar to mine, and they had units equal to my own. Brute force was going to be nessesary. I attacked from three main fronts, two on my souther border and one on my newly aquired (From the Zulu) western border. I neglected the western border's defences, and I felt it in this conflict. The Babylonians managed to capture two of my not so well defended Zulu prizes, but seemed to run out of steam after that. Of my two fronts on my southern border, I managed to take three of his cities on the far west coast of the continent. It was a bloody battle, both sides lost many cavalry. This front now swung towards the prise - oil. The group was attacked repeatedly by Babylonian cavalry, and by the time they reached their target, only a few were left.

Luckily, my second southern group managed to break through their lines and raced to meat up with the others. When they met, we attacked. It was enough to take the city, and all units went into fortifying this new placement. I wasn't too worried about the cities I had lost - they were small, and would have only become a problem anyways. I asked for peace, and got it.

The next year the Babylonians attacked the Zulu, who they were still at war with. My Mutal Defence pact kicked in, and I was at war once again with the Babylonians. By this time, I was having a hard time appeasing my populous. Many cities fell into civil disorder, and I had to almost stop research entirely to put enough money into entertainment. Tanks, and more importantly, airports were built. The Persians once again mobilzed for war - no more building peaceful buildings, our entire economy was dedicated to supporting the hungry war machine.

A small intteruption - research tanks. And research flight and radio. Airports are the single most effective way to transport units. It's crazy. I had 10-15 cities building tanks, and as soon as they were built, they were airlifted to a city on my souther border.

The Babylonians had no chance agaist countless tanks. I had 7 or 8 bombers weakening all of the cities, but it wasn't nessesary. The tanks were more then sufficient against their cavalry and bowmen. I took over the cities I had lost in the last war, and a few more. I also created a buffer zone between the remaining Babylonian cities and my supply of oil. When I went to declare peace, I joking suggested that they give me a city in return - and they did! My first city won over by a trade.

It has been 2 years now that I've not been at war. After the next one, it will be the single longest time in 70 years that my nation will go with peace. It is time to once again raise my culture, and my technological level. But, I'm not looking forward to upgrading 140 infantry, when i research mech. infantry. I still need some way to mass upgrade.

Once peace was declared, I mothballed my entire air force, and two cruise missles. Hopefully, I wont need these for a while. And by that time, I'll be using ICBM's to wipe out my enemies.

More later!

Cheers.

Irate,
I'm loving your story of conquest. Now that you have the Babs on the ropes - what's your next plan of attack? Are you thinking about "cleaning up" the continent, or are you going to head over to other places with fresh civs to slap around? I tell you from playing hundreds of games of civ1 and 2, there is nothing more scary than a civilization landing on my shores with tanks. And there is no worse feeling than having your cities fall - one by one.

Originally posted by ChrTh


My understanding is that while resources can run out, it doesn't happen often (in other words, there isn't a specific countdown for it).

I'd buy that. I've had a horses resource for the entire game. And I built a colony on Iron and 3 turns later it's all gone!!! But that's the only one that has run out...so no complaints

A small intteruption - research tanks. And research flight and radio. Airports are the single most effective way to transport units. It's crazy. I had 10-15 cities building tanks, and as soon as they were built, they were airlifted to a city on my souther border.

The Babylonians had no chance agaist countless tanks. I had 7 or 8 bombers weakening all of the cities,



How does bombardment work - is it a case of order an attack on a city and watch it crumble?

And are you allowed to get trade bonuses (if any) from airports at the same time as using them to move units to the Front? Is there a risk that airlifts get intercepted?

Could you simply send the troops south on railroads?

I completely agree with your policy. If they have something you want, you must take it...

U are the :king:

Wanker - I'm not sure yet. I have an hour and a half of my education class comnig up tonight, so I'll think about it then. I think i'm going to soften up their shores with some Cruise missles launched from subs before I land tanks. Plus, I can build marines so I'll try to take a few ccoastal cities to create a beachhead for myself. After that, build an airport and voila - it's like the production power of an entire continent in a single city. (I hope!)

Corn has a good point tho - what if my oil runs out? I see only 1 (it's crazy! Theres a small amount of land still black, so there might be a few more) more oil resource, and it's in the middle of the huge indian empire, who I'm currently friends with. I'll have to decide how to go about doing that when I get to that point.

Ah well, off to class. I have to teach a group of art majors about elastic collisions - what fun.

More stories from the front tonight!

cool. It looks like things turned for the better. You seem on your way to a victory!

Wel,l this will be my last post on this game - it seems everyone has the game now, and everyone is writing a story about it, so I figure no one is really interested in how I'm planning on cleaning up. I'm not tho - I was getting bored. Waiting for 30 seconds for each turn gets pretty boring after a while, and I had conquered a good portion of my continient already - but conquering the second one would be an investment of at least 3-4 hours.

I have, however, attached some saved games to this post. If anyoen wants to see what I was talking about, or finish off my game, they're more than welcome to. As long as you send me a message telling me what happened eventually.

Just a note, on the latest one, you're at war with the Zulu, who have (as far as I can tell) 2 cities left. You have A transport with 3 or 4 Infantry on it's way to the Zulu capitol (on some island) and enough forces to take over their second city on your main continent. Take some tanks from some of the cities around it, you should find little resistance.

Good luck!

Note: The saved games are all zipped.

Zip file was too large - he's every second save.

btw,
resources not only have a chance of running out,

they can also appear randomly on the map later on!
so in this game it could have happened that another oil-resource would have appeared on the continent long after having a war for it.