Common major strategic errors in BNW?

[caiman0815]

common mistakes I make (on immortal):

- building that national wonder and one turn before completion I settle my next city. *facepalm*
- settling on flat terrain because of that extra ressouce instead of settling a hill ... 20 turns later my city with that extra lux is visited by alex/shaka/monty, and I shout: why the hell I didn't settle that f*** hill
- triggerhappy with next turn button. many times I click it to fast and immediatly I remember very important things I wanted to do thios turn
- ignoring the CIV checklist: before hitting next turn, take a look at: income, happiness, city banner of most important cities, borders with AI

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Agreed with the above.

The biggest mistake to make when moving from Emperor to Immortal and Deity is not checking stuff every turn. With Emperor I found you can generally get away with leaving things on autopilot for a lot of turns and it won't hurt you much. Not so on Immortal, and even less so on Deity.

 

[Scott Jegg]

Forgetting to do stuff is even worse now, as the city screen is locked for changes between turns. You used to still be able to go in and make changes on that and other things, and they would be in place for the next turn. Some times you could even make purchases in the city if you were quick enough and they would be ready for the next turn starting.

I'm a proper forgetful scatterbrain, and now I find myself forgetting to do something for 4 turns in a row, because each time the new turn starts I'm already thinking about something else.

 

[shaglio]

Forgetting to do stuff is even worse now, as the city screen is locked for changes between turns. You used to still be able to go in and make changes on that and other things, and they would be in place for the next turn. Some times you could even make purchases in the city if you were quick enough and they would be ready for the next turn starting.

I'm a proper forgetful scatterbrain, and now I find myself forgetting to do something for 4 turns in a row, because each time the new turn starts I'm already thinking about something else.

THIS!!!! It always happens to me, too. I hit "Next Turn," then I remember something I forgot to do but I can't do it between turns anymore, then something happens during the AI's turn that makes me forget what I wanted to do, rinse and repeat for several turns.

 

[kukatr]

Growth > Everything... in the early game. If your start position doesn't have good food, instead of restarting, you can salvage this by building a worker earlier. IE before building your shrine or second scout, or maybe even before building a monument, if your first ring of tiles contains arable farmland...

Second scout? Why? Ancient ruins aren't that good, the warrior is better for war, and the AI always finds you quite fast. Speaking about growth, instead of the second scout build a granary...

 

[hobbsyoyo]

My biggest mistake in BNW was not putting enough effort into playing the World College game of political jockeying. I'm much better at it now and have generally good results as opposed to the constant-disasters that the WC handed me in my first games.

 

[Aaron90495]

Second scout? Why? Ancient ruins aren't that good, the warrior is better for war, and the AI always finds you quite fast. Speaking about growth, instead of the second scout build a granary...

This. There's very little reason to go double scout unless A) you're Spain, B) you're planning to attack VERY early and need to know your opponent's position, or C) you're Shoshone, in which case the second scout is your first hard-built one.

 

[Arazok]

This. There's very little reason to go double scout unless A) you're Spain, B) you're planning to attack VERY early and need to know your opponent's position, or C) you're Shoshone, in which case the second scout is your first hard-built one.

If you can snag just 1 good AR from that second scout that you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, then it’s worth it. Generally you can.

Once the AR’s are gone, I’ll use the second scout to hover around my biggest rival and pick off his worker/settler once the opportunity arises. The AI doesn’t perceive the scout as a threat, and won’t guard against it.

I’ve picked off a worker and a settler in 2 turns with a scout while the AI warriors were off taking out a barbarian camp.

 

[kukatr]

If you can snag just 1 good AR from that second scout that you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, then it’s worth it. Generally you can.

Once the AR’s are gone, I’ll use the second scout to hover around my biggest rival and pick off his worker/settler once the opportunity arises. The AI doesn’t perceive the scout as a threat, and won’t guard against it.

I’ve picked off a worker and a settler in 2 turns with a scout while the AI warriors were off taking out a barbarian camp.

These highly depend on the luck factor and on the pace of the game. Relying on the ancient ruins is a bad strategy, I think. By the way, I rarely see settlers alone, and in early ages I've never seen them without protection.

 

[Cromagnus]

Second scout? Why? Ancient ruins aren't that good, the warrior is better for war, and the AI always finds you quite fast. Speaking about growth, instead of the second scout build a granary...

I always go second scout on pangaea. On continents it depends on what I find with the first one. If my exploration direction is linear, I don't build it. (IE I'm at one end of a continent that isn't roundish)

And, no it's not for ancient ruins, and less about encountering AI than you'd think.

With one scout, if you don't go the right direction, you can easily get cut off before exploring the whole continent. Two scouts means you will probably:

1. Meet every possible City-State early.
2. Meet every AI early.
3. Get at least one extra ancient ruin.
4. Be able to take out a critical barb camp for a CS quest. (Warrior + scout, + one other scout still scouting)

But all of these are secondary to the true value of the second scout. It guarantees you will know the lay of the land. This is pretty much everything IMHO.

* The landscape determines my growth strategy. Optimal placement of your second (& third) city is one of the most important things in the game if you're not playing OCC.
* It determines who, if anyone I attack, and how I defend myself. (See city placement above) If Alexander is nearby, or someone else I need to defend myself from, I need to know!
* If I attack someone, (a decision usually driven by the aforementioned landscape) I'm almost guaranteed to know the terrain around their city, because I scouted it before it expanded and fog-of-war'd me.

The second scout costs 140g + maintenance, which he easily earns back from all the city-states he meets, even if you don't count all the quests that'll get ya.

The only downside, which I mentioned, is it delays getting other things out, like a granary/worker/settler/etc.

So, to offset that, unless I need to buy tiles to optimize growth, I usually buy my second scout. The first one tends to earn me 140g. (3 CS + a ruins + gpt, roughly)

The CS quests alone from CS across the map make it worthwhile.

Again, on continents, it's situational. On large islands, or anything else except Earth or Pangaea I wouldn't bother. (I play on Standard map size)

Edit: And, with two scouts I almost always get the key ruins: culture, tech and faith. With one scout I usually end up missing one of those. Murphy's law states you'll get a map and location of barb camps for two of your ruins.

 

[Cromagnus]

How? I've looked & looked & can't find any way to remove those damn recommendations.

I could swear there was a way... maybe that was in Civ4? I just ignore them, but for a very long time they influenced me. Heck, even now my eye is drawn to them. :-(

Anyway, point is, ignore them! They're almost always wrong. Tech recommendations too.

I feel like the recommendation should come with explicit reasons. At least then they'd maybe be occasionally useful. Like, it always recommends colosseums when my happiness is low. But I want it that way sometimes!

Also, remembered I have another strategy tip: Bully your nearby Allied CS when they get to "stupidly high" faction. If you're at 150/60, a 20 point hit is totally worth the money. ;-)

I only do this in situations of need, but it has really come in handy.

Also, when I'm on a warpath, I bully random CS as I pass them, unless they have quests I plan on fulfilling. It's like free money. :-D

 

[Crushingdeth]

Neglecting one's navy in the early game...even having a trireme out early allows you to scout the coastline of the land you occupy...generally before Civs can expand into the water tiles preventing your movement. You may get lucky and discover a Natural Wonder or two to increase happiness or an island chain right off your coast that could be a great location for a city with access to luxuries, etc...however, at higher levels the need for growth tends to overshadow diverting resources and tech development to naval development until you absolutely have too...but, if I can get a naval unit out early with little impediment on growth, even at higher difficulty levels, I find it can be beneficial...let alone when I find England in the game...

Crushingdeth

"The bugle sounds the charge begins, but on this battlefield no one wins. The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath, as we plunge on into certain death..." The Trooper -> Iron Maiden

 

[Cromagnus]

Neglecting one's navy in the early game...even having a trireme out early allows you to scout the coastline of the land you occupy...generally before Civs can expand into the water tiles preventing your movement. You may get lucky and discover a Natural Wonder or two to increase happiness or an island chain right off your coast that could be a great location for a city with access to luxuries, etc...however, at higher levels the need for growth tends to overshadow diverting resources and tech development to naval development until you absolutely have too...but, if I can get a naval unit out early with little impediment on growth, even at higher difficulty levels, I find it can be beneficial...let alone when I find England in the game...

Crushingdeth

"The bugle sounds the charge begins, but on this battlefield no one wins. The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath, as we plunge on into certain death..." The Trooper -> Iron Maiden

I'm always torn about triremes. Early game they don't add as much value as I'd like. I feel like they're taking away valuable production time. I usually don't spawn one until I have sea trade routes or resource tiles to protect. But it depends on the civ, of course.