Domination Deity Pangea

Dear Fellow Civs Fan,

I've returned to try to conquer 7 Capitols on a Pangea Map at Normal speed. This is a lot tougher than it would seem. Even getting up to 4 cities is only happening for me about 1 in 5 times without constant war. Even if I bribe the AI to stay away and or build a fair military(which hurts my science and city growth a great deal) I am stuck in the mud. If I go after the AI and take out a Capitol early(this just slows me down further and makes me coveted even more than I am already)

In one case I have managed to get artillery first but the AI has runaway. I cannot catch her.... Almost all my games no matter how hard I press I am always getting runaway Civs and my best efforts get foiled. I might get 1 or 2 Capitols but I am just not getting a good enough return on them.

What would your suggestions be? It seems a lot of people use DLC maps that favor the kind of situation. That or passive Civs and only by doing this manage to run a sort of scenario rather than random true Conquest...

I start in Tradition, 4 cities(tall if I can) Libraries and NC early... Unless next to a warmonger(which usually only happens forcing me to invest heavily in a military)

Next I rush Universities/Oxford~Artillery. I rarely go to Xbows and I rarely try early rushes with CBs, which I know sometimes do work but I do not find much success with early CB rushes unless I'm isolated facing just 1 civ...Invariably I would get another Civ send a horde into my backdoor(that or I get so little in return for an early Capitol it's just not worth it)

Then I'm looking at an AI that has better Science than I do? What I am not building correctly? Why am I so far behind. I have explored various strategies and tactics some of the Masters have employed but these seem to be specific to a set of situations.

When you mean there is a AI runaway, do you mean they are way ahead in science? In many cases, it is easy to bribe some of their neighbors into attacking them and wiping them out, at least slows down their science if they manage to take their capital. Attacking runaway first with artillery is usually suicide as they will get planes quickly.

Yeah, they are ahead in Science. The bribing backfired, they ate the map.

Sclb said:

When you mean there is a AI runaway, do you mean they are way ahead in science? In many cases, it is easy to bribe some of their neighbors into attacking them and wiping them out, at least slows down their science if they manage to take their capital. Attacking runaway first with artillery is usually suicide as they will get planes quickly.

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Yup, AI Runaway. It is almost inevitable in Deity, because of their crazy upgrades. You can either find a way to build a massive military and play connect the dots (subsidize it by trade routes if possible), or play the faction card and hope you get more folks with you and create outer wars while you keep trucking.

You could try playing as the Huns. Instead of Tradition go for the extra exp from Honour, and instead of settlers build Horse Archers. You'll need a couple of melee units. Early on Battering Rams do excellent damage, later on Horsemen wilł be better for keeping up with the Horse Archers.

Attack your nearest rival (hopefully mainly open terrain), and give your Horse Archers Accuracy II, then III, then most importantly Logistics. From here you should be able to conquer the whole continent before the AI can get too strong for you.

I am struggling with Deity domination, I have pretty much given that up as a focus at least for time being, but I think that gives me some insight to what you are asking. If you have not read it yet, see consentient's Domination on Immortal/Deity - a noob's guide.

BurnBabyBurn said:

Even getting up to 4 cities is only happening for me about 1 in 5 times without constant war.

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First, I think before you get solid with domination, you need to be pretty comfortable with an opening defensive play for four-city Tradition early NC. For Dom, you want to be the cause of “constant war” -- not reacting to it!

Second, you don't even need four cities for domination victory. Also, Tradition is only one of three opening trees that work for Dom.

In OP, you say you are returning to Civ5. Did you already master DiploV and SV? If you cannot crank those VC out, I don't think you are ready for Dom -- unless you dial the difficulty level way back. Your OP questions all seem to me like someone who is struggling with the early game generally -- and not like someone trying to expand their options for VC.

Even if I bribe the AI to stay away...

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This strat should work for peaceful or warmongering. What goes wrong?

...or build a fair military (which hurts my science and city growth a great deal) I am stuck in the mud.

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As I understand it, the larger military should be an all-in approach, not just defensive. I struggle to make that work.

If I go after the AI and take out a Capitol early (this just slows me down further and makes me coveted even more than I am already)

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My strongest games have revolved around taking an opportunistic early cap (with CBs). But I can't do that consistently, and per consentient's guide, early conquest turns out not to be a strength of Tradition. Tradition Dom is more suited to starting with Arty or Frigates.

In one case I have managed to get artillery first but the AI has runaway.

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As I understand it, the arty rush should be very early. I have tried, but I cannot seem to get them in time to roll the map. They get stopped by air, and I loose any momentum.

I might get 1 or 2 Capitols but I am just not getting a good enough return on them.

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This sounds like most of my domination attempts...

What would your suggestions be? It seems a lot of people use DLC maps that favor the kind of situation.

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DLC or DCL? The DCL's in Strategies and Tips have lots of good example of domination victories. (Nothing I have been able to replicate mind you, but you might be a better student than I.)

I start in Tradition, 4 cities (tall if I can) Libraries and NC early... Unless next to a warmonger (which usually only happens forcing me to invest heavily in a military). Next I rush Universities/Oxford~Artillery.

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My understanding is that using Oxford to unlock Dynamite is more compatible with an Honor/Liberty domination strategy than for Tradition. Tradition is a slower start, but more momentum. I am not sure what the best use of Oxford is for a Tradition warmonger. Unlocking radio for Ideologies seems pretty good no matter what your VC aim is. Using Oxford earlier means you are trying to get the game over before Ideologies really mater. Domination is compatible with that aim, but faster games are harder to pull off than slower games.

I think if you are committed to Tradition, then you are looking at a later game domination VC. My only domination victories have been using Tradition, and I started as early as I could, but really they did not get going until Rocketry. My forced attempts to get rolling earlier than that have all stalled out.

But, I am a terrible person to being giving out domination advice, and I hope the better warmonger will correct what I have asserted here!

I think main question here - on what turn u get art?

Sounds like the OP is leaving the warfare until much later (too late?) than is optimal, without growing enough to be able to compete.

Either you go to war early in the game, and take the juicy AI capitals loaded with wonders, or else you try to out-tech them and start warring with whatever unit (Artillery/Bombers/X-COMs) you aim to clear the map with.

But yes, as Beetle kindly pointed out, I have a noob's guide that I'm currently working on, and may return to making LPs at a later date when I have more free time.

Feel free to send me PMs with questions if you like.