Civ IV Intermediate Tactics and Gambits

Does the "tactic" (in my mind, exploit,) of Trade Withdrawal still work in BtS?
I haven't tried trade withdrawal in BtS--I haven't used it in a while, since I consider it an exploit rather than a tactic.

Trade renegotiation, however, strikes me as a very fair tactic that is reminiscent of the real world. Everybody renegotiates contracts after a period of time; furthermore, inflation is built into the game, so of course prices should go up.

It does still work in BtS, but with some significant changes. As of Warlords, I noticed, sometimes the AI appears to have more GPT available, but when you cancel the trade, they have none. :confused: You have to wait about 2 to 4 turns until their GPT returns to the level you thought it would be.

Also, as of BtS, the AI will cancel trades that it no longer considers suitable (such as an expensive trade for ivory once knights come along). The AI will also no longer trade all of its GPT for a particular resource. The price can usually rise very high, but there seems to be a cap for most resources.
 
I haven't tried trade withdrawal in BtS--I haven't used it in a while, since I consider it an exploit rather than a tactic.

Trade renegotiation, however, strikes me as a very fair tactic that is reminiscent of the real world. Everybody renegotiates contracts after a period of time; furthermore, inflation is built into the game, so of course prices should go up.

It does still work in BtS, but with some significant changes. As of Warlords, I noticed, sometimes the AI appears to have more GPT available, but when you cancel the trade, they have none. :confused: You have to wait about 2 to 4 turns until their GPT returns to the level you thought it would be.

Also, as of BtS, the AI will cancel trades that it no longer considers suitable (such as an expensive trade for ivory once knights come along). The AI will also no longer trade all of its GPT for a particular resource. The price can usually rise very high, but there seems to be a cap for most resources.

I agree w/you on trade renegotiations.....but I'd observed that the AI appeared to be a bit "smarter" in such things, which is why I asked the question about "trade withdrawal" -- I bet it's something that's been nerfed thanks to the better AI....
 
Trade renegotiation, however, strikes me as a very fair tactic that is reminiscent of the real world. Everybody renegotiates contracts after a period of time; furthermore, inflation is built into the game, so of course prices should go up.
It does still work in BtS, but with some significant changes.

As of Warlords, I noticed, sometimes the AI appears to have more GPT available, but when you cancel the trade, they have none. :confused: You have to wait about 2 to 4 turns until their GPT returns to the level you thought it would be.
The same applies to Vanilla as of either the 1.74 patch or loading it's HoF Mod, which incorporates Warlords elements.
 
Hello Sisiutil!

You produce the finest Civ 4 writing I've seen, thank you!:goodjob:

Like your other guides, can you button this one up, give it a version number/date, and pdf it? That way, I can print it out for my family and I to read, instead of copying off page after page of a massive thread.

Regards,

JohnYoga
 
Good read, some very nice ideas are in here.

I do however have one comment. I do not know if it had been brought up before. I did not feel like plowing through 7 pages to see if a minor detail was covered.

You mention however that you can trade health recources to a civ and take it away later, and that you can benefit from the health hit they receive. I think this is not entirely correct that you benefit from it. For one thing, the AI did benefit from increased health for the duration of the trade, generating more commerce for him. When you ate away the resource, the AI can still compensate for the pop hit by whipping the people he had lost anyway, increasing the hammers the AI has.

It is a minor addition of course, it was the only comment I could think of. It is a good article. :)
 
Hello everyone,

Check the first post in the thread for an updated guide! I made the following changes:
  • As per a long-standing request, I've converted the content to a PDF file like my other guides
  • New section: Level Jumping (general tips on moving up a difficulty level)
  • New section: Great Wall/Great Spy Tech Stealing (BtS)
  • Added a small amount of BtS content where appropriate
 
The guide has been updated. I added a new section on "Early Astronomy" (inspired by the Ragnar ALC game) and did some slight revisions in the MC/Pyramids gambit section regarding the trait changes in Warlords/BtS.
 
Sisiutil,

I have been using your guides for years and realized I have not yet said thank you!

A great big shout out for these most excellent guides.
 
A nice guide! Thank you, sir!

The early astronomy is a new one on me and rather cool - will try that soon...



There is another route at an early Civil Service that I've found useful in the past.

Part bulb it with a Great Merchant - easiest to generate from running CS merchants from CoL.

It's just a case of researching or closing off the preferred GM techs. Not got my game in front of me now, but I recall that you will have to research/bulb Currency, also either research Metal Casting or close it off by taking a very long delay to pottery or bronze working - neither of which is that palatable!

It's not nearly as fast as the oracle gambit, but it can still be pretty quick - particularly with a philo civ with a strong GPP farm.

Has the advantages that: It is not wonder reliant, costs no hammers, involves researching useful techs and the merchant specialists can often fund a considerable increase in the size of your civ without tanking scientific advancement.
 
A nice guide! Thank you, sir!

The early astronomy is a new one on me and rather cool - will try that soon...



There is another route at an early Civil Service that I've found useful in the past.

Part bulb it with a Great Merchant - easiest to generate from running CS merchants from CoL.

It's just a case of researching or closing off the preferred GM techs. Not got my game in front of me now, but I recall that you will have to research/bulb Currency, also either research Metal Casting or close it off by taking a very long delay to pottery or bronze working - neither of which is that palatable!

It's not nearly as fast as the oracle gambit, but it can still be pretty quick - particularly with a philo civ with a strong GPP farm.

Has the advantages that: It is not wonder reliant, costs no hammers, involves researching useful techs and the merchant specialists can often fund a considerable increase in the size of your civ without tanking scientific advancement.
Interesting. I'll have to look into that. I've been able to generate early game GMs by building the Great Lighthouse and the Colossus (and Metal Casting is on that tech route, you say), so that might help too (in addition to those wonders' other substantial benefits).
 
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