Civ IV Intermediate Tactics and Gambits

[Sisiutil]

Civ IV Intermediate Tactics and Gambits

Last edited: April 15, 2008

[Paulk]

Good job. Eh.

[Phrederick]

Good writeup of some useful techniques.

[Jorunkun]

Good stuff, and well written too – thanks!

Some comments:

3. Clever trick, but I would say this is an exploit. Interesting parallel to how the first world handles "development aid" to the third world irl btw.

6. I thought that the AI cannot trade a technology received from you on your turn (= their "off" turn) in their next one. I believe you can safely trade away one advance in turn one, then trade with everybody else on your next turn without having to fear that the first trading partner will have given the tech away to everybody else. Be nice if someone could confirm or refute this.

7. Fat cross overlap is also good for bringing up cottages or all-hammers-mines between two cities if you have poor land and/or need to micromanage to growth caps. I quite like to have cities overlap a bit in the early game, especially when you haven't got much room to spread out into anyways.

J.

[Salah al-Din]

Well written and clear, being a regular Saladin player I have a few comments:

In warlords we no longer have philosophical (phi/spi is now Ghandi's domain) but the point you made about the Great Wall is still valid I think because Saladin is protective now and the GG points suit a defensive civ that might be going for a cultural victory (always an option with Saladin given the usually high number of religious buildings too). Like you said you can leave the final cultural run till quite late, which I prefer as you don't really know how its going to pan out till the early rennaisance anyway.


Good read.

[Sisiutil]

Originally Posted by Jorunkun

3. Clever trick, but I would say this is an exploit. Interesting parallel to how the first world handles "development aid" to the third world irl btw.

Heh. Point well taken, especially your real-world analogy.

I could (and probably will) start a Civ IV ethics thread--what constitutes an exploit, and even then, how bad is it to use it?

Watch for it in the GD forum...

[dh_epic]

The Civil Service gambit is key. Making good use of that Great Prophet can be huge.

[patagonia]

Nice article.

One slight correction for point 5 is that you'll need to research Writing as well if you want to choose CoL as your free tech from the Oracle.

The Riverside Ironworks strategy is particularly powerful in space race victories, or if you simply want to monopolise the late game wonders.

[pigswill]

Re oracle/mc/pyramids. Cookie Crumbs pointed out in ALC#8 that you can also use GE to research machinery from metal-casting and GP to research civil service after code of laws (with usual provisos, poly and meditation but no masonry) which gives a very strong fall back strategy if somehow you're beaten to the pyramids.(the problem with this is that you need masonry for pyramids, but you can time it so you finish researching masonry on the turn you finish GE)

[Sisiutil]

Originally Posted by patagonia

Nice article.

One slight correction for point 5 is that you'll need to research Writing as well if you want to choose CoL as your free tech from the Oracle.

The Riverside Ironworks strategy is particularly powerful in space race victories, or if you simply want to monopolise the late game wonders.

Thanks for the correction, that's now fixed.

I concur on the RI. That puppy churns out Wonders and SS parts like there's no tomorrow. It's also handy for a domination/conquest victory--it can build the Pentagon as well as producing units. I like to have it producing Bombers while my HE/WP city pumps out Level 4 armour and the like.

[armstrong]

Originally Posted by Sisiutil

7. Fat Cross Overlap
Overlapping tiles in neighbouring cities’ fat crosses are not always a bad thing. One of the best types of tiles to have in more than one city’s fat cross is a commerce resource such as gems, gold, or silver. This is because these tiles yield high amounts of commerce but relatively low amounts of food and production.

One thing about this you didn't mention, but it's a nice trick, is to intentionally overlap cities with either your capital or one of the three culture cities in a cultural game. The other cities can work cottages on the overlapped tiles (rivers are ideal), and then, when your capital/culture city has happiness to grow (or no need to work mines, etc), it has a developed cottage instead of a fresh one. It's very nice if you can hand over a few villages to a bureaucratic capital with an academy once you get Monarchy

[Martinus]

4. Specialist-Powered Cultural Victory

Hmm, I'm going to try this in my next game as Louis, as it seems to be perfectly suited for him (Industrious for all the great wonders you need for this strategy to work and UB giving you one free artist specialist).

[cabert]

very nice article, easy to understand yet precise

One minor thing you could add it a reference to the ALC # where it was used (if there is one! I can't remember Riverside Ironworks, but would like to see it done [easy 3 gorges dam + easy space elevator = easiest Space Race ever IMHO] )

[Sisiutil]

Originally Posted by cabert

very nice article, easy to understand yet precise

One minor thing you could add it a reference to the ALC # where it was used (if there is one! I can't remember Riverside Ironworks, but would like to see it done [easy 3 gorges dam + easy space elevator = easiest Space Race ever IMHO] )

1. ALC #7 (Frederick)
2. First used in ALC #3 (Qin), and in each subsequent ALC, IIRC, but especially in ALC # 5 (Victoria)
3. First discussed, IIRC, in ALC #4 (Hatshepsut)
4. ALC #5 (Victoria)
5. Surprisingly, I have never done this in an ALC, though I've done it several times in my off-line games.
6. Best exemplified in ALC #3 (Qin)
7. Best exemplified in ALC #7 (Frederick)

[cabert]

Originally Posted by Sisiutil

1. ALC #7 (Frederick)
2. First used in ALC #3 (Qin), and in each subsequent ALC, IIRC, but especially in ALC # 5 (Victoria)
3. First discussed, IIRC, in ALC #4 (Hatshepsut)
4. ALC #5 (Victoria)
5. Surprisingly, I have never done this in an ALC, though I've done it several times in my off-line games.
6. Best exemplified in ALC #3 (Qin)
7. Best exemplified in ALC #7 (Frederick)

thank you very much ! i'll take another look (not right now, but at home between my own games ) at vicky's final days of culturing

[Clownfish]

Contains some useful stuff, but I object to #7! The use of sharing and flip-flopping is only something that makes overlapping not-necessarily-always-bad. I can't see that it's an advantage. If every city has its own stuff, it can still micromanage according to present needs. For protection from barb animals, culture is needed, not fat crosses, right?

[Sisiutil]

Originally Posted by Clownfish

Contains some useful stuff, but I object to #7! The use of sharing and flip-flopping is only something that makes overlapping not-necessarily-always-bad. I can't see that it's an advantage. If every city has its own stuff, it can still micromanage according to present needs. For protection from barb animals, culture is needed, not fat crosses, right?

True, but in the early game, your cultural borders are going to only consist of your cities' fat crosses for a very long time (the capital being an obvious exception).

There are some very active threads going on right now about other advantages of locating city sites close to one another. I think this may end up being a debate along the lines of specialist-versus-cottage economies rather than a don't-automate-your-workers no-brainer.

[HannibalBarka]

sorry but what is an ALC poster?

[Cort Haus]

Originally Posted by Sisiutil

On Prince level and especially higher, it is difficult if not impossible to achieve this. The AI will usually beat you to completion of the Oracle if you delay finishing it until you have researched Code of Laws.

A lot of people misunderstand the CS Slingshot (non-prophet version). Code of Laws is researched in time by building a quick library, then running two scientists for an Academy. This science boost powers through CoL in time for the Oracle to be built before the AI comfortably on Prince. Experienced players can pull it off on Monarch, especially in Warlords where the AI is busier on the new early wonders.

The Alternative CS Slingshot (via a Prophet) is easier though.

[Sisiutil]

Originally Posted by HannibalBarka

sorry but what is an ALC poster?

Someone who posts regularly in the All Leaders Challenge threads.