wilbill
That Old Time Religion
According to CFC's long-running "What Level Are People Playing?" thread, Regent and Monarch are the two most played levels (about 54% of us combined).
About a year and a half ago I found myself stuck at Regent level. I was winning my games pretty consistantly but they usually ran into the Modern Era with long, tedious wars involved until I finally ground out a victory. My few excursions into the rarified atmosphere of Monarch hadn't turned out very well and I wasn't sure what I needed to do to make that next step.
CFC'ers are well known to be helpful in giving advice to newer players. Unfortunately a lot of that advice is either very specific in answer to a "what do I do now?" question or fairly general such as "read the War Academy articles". Specific advice in response to a question is good and the War Academy really is required reading for anyone looking to improve their game (although it can be pretty heavy reading and it's starting to get a little dated in some areas) but I never found either of these sources to be the answer to my question, "what things do I need to do to win at Monarch/Emperor?" After a lot of struggle and a lot of reading, I reached the point where I could compete at Monarch and sneak an occasional win but felt no confidence about my abilities.
Recently, Ision posted his "Ultra fast strategy for moving up as a newbie" thread Here and his article on Wonder Addiction Here (both highly recommended, btw) and I was reminded of a thread I ran across by Dominae on the Apolyton forum that proved extremely useful to me... 10 Tips To Emperor/Deity
These tips really helped me over the hump and on to winning at Monarch and then almost immediately to Emperor. I printed Dominae's 10 Tips and kept them at my computer for a long time (the sheet's actually still here but buried in one of my carefully organized stacks of stuff, lol). For several months every time I began a session of Civ3 I skimmed the tips just to remind myself of what I needed to do. After a few weeks I realized that I could start a new game at Emperor actually expecting to win! I don't claim to be a great player, my scores aren't Hall of Fame material and I certainly make some pretty big mistakes occasionally, but I do have a lot of fun and feel that generally I control the game rather than just reacting to the AI's as I used to do.
So with much gratitude to Dominae, and a tip of the hat to Ision, here are a couple of my own tips and a comment or two on some of Dominae's. I think if you take these sources all together and keep them in mind (or on paper in front of you) you'll discover that Monarch/Emperor level is a very reachable goal and a very satisfying one.
My Tips:
1 - LEARN TO EXPAND
Sure we all know you have to expand at the beginning, but at Emperor you REALLY have to expand. Learn to build a settler factory and use it! Expand until you're stopped in all directions. Until you're about ready to end your expansion - or forced to end it - you really only need to build units (for exploration and minimal defense) maybe a barracks in one unit-producing city, and (very important) granaries in all cities that will be building settlers. The Early Game is more important than a lot of players realize (it's actually where the game is often won or lost) and granaries can make the early game for you. Above Regent, the Ancient Era wonders start to get harder to build. At Emperor you'll often not even have a chance to build them. But if you do - make it the Pyramids.
2 - LEARN TO MAKE WAR.
Even if you're a builder and you know you'll always be a builder. At Emperor, even if you do a pretty good job of expanding, you'll often come out ot the initial expansion phase behind a few of the AI's in territory. You don't have to launch wars of extermination, just pick up a city or two here and there. You don't have to ruin you're reputation - be sure you know how to declare an "honorable" war. Don't shy away from Ancient Era warfare. And I'm not just referring to gambits like Jaguar Rush or Archer Rush (although they can be effective). In many games, it's far easier to get good results with a few swordsmen than it is to wait until you can build up dozens of knights in the middle ages. Build a stong defense and a mobile attack force. Don't let yourself get behind all the other civs in military strength. Buildings won't stop an attack by 30 Medieval Infantry, but a strong counterattack (even by Swordsmen) can. Check with your military advisor - you don't have to be "stronger than" all the other civs, but you can't be "weaker than" very many if you want to survive.
3 - LEARN THE VALUE OF RANDOM SELECTIONS
You see a lot of players posting statements like "I always play the Romans." or "I always play 5 civs on an enormous Pangaea map." "I always restart 50 times until I get a good starting location." Okay, I have my favorite civs and I occasionally look at a mountain/tundra start and restart if I'm not in the mood to go through an early game struggle. But generally I leave the settings on random and take what the game deals. You learn a lot by playing on different map types and, as Ision points out, you very often learn more from a loss than a victory. It won't take long before you reach the point where the civ, the map, and the starting location just don't matter much.
3 - DOMINAE'S NOT KIDDING - CONTACT THE OTHER CIVS EVERY TURN
Yeah, I thought it was overstatement, too. But - if you don't keep in touch with the AI's, you WILL miss out on some very good, very profitable trades. You'll see posts in which players state "the AI's never have any gpt until the Industrial Era". Well, that's generally correct. But not always - even in the Ancient Era you can stumble across a civ with a few gpt to spare and you just happen to have a spare horse or a tech he can use. 10 gpt may not sound like a lot, but at 500 AD, it can be a big deal to you. And later on, you'll discover that the really big gpt deals are only there for one turn. With the trade discounts the AI's get above Regent, you have to be there when opportunity knocks. So keep in touch with the other civs. It can be boring, but I can put up with a little boredom if it means winning sooner.
4 - THE LUXURY SLIDER IS YOUR FRIEND
Learn to use it! When you only get one happy citizen per city, you can't often claim enough luxury resources early enough to keep your cities happy. Keep your income level up and use that gold to "put a smile on their faces." With a third fewer resources in C3C this aspect of your game becomes even more important - and it was already VERY important.
5 - LEARN TO PLAY FROM BEHIND
You won't have the lead in techs at Emperor generally until the Middle Ages at best. I've won games in which I didn't get a tech lead until the end of the Industrial Era. Don't worry about it. The victory points don't make much difference either. You don't have to be in the point lead to win the game. Sure, you don't want to lag too far behind and you don't want to dig yourself into too deep a hole. But don't fall into the trap of thinking "If I'm not winning, I'm losing." Because you're not losing, you're laying the groundwork for victory.
Again, I don't claim to be an expert, but these are a few things that really helped me learn to play the game better and enjoy it more. Hope you find them useful.
About a year and a half ago I found myself stuck at Regent level. I was winning my games pretty consistantly but they usually ran into the Modern Era with long, tedious wars involved until I finally ground out a victory. My few excursions into the rarified atmosphere of Monarch hadn't turned out very well and I wasn't sure what I needed to do to make that next step.
CFC'ers are well known to be helpful in giving advice to newer players. Unfortunately a lot of that advice is either very specific in answer to a "what do I do now?" question or fairly general such as "read the War Academy articles". Specific advice in response to a question is good and the War Academy really is required reading for anyone looking to improve their game (although it can be pretty heavy reading and it's starting to get a little dated in some areas) but I never found either of these sources to be the answer to my question, "what things do I need to do to win at Monarch/Emperor?" After a lot of struggle and a lot of reading, I reached the point where I could compete at Monarch and sneak an occasional win but felt no confidence about my abilities.
Recently, Ision posted his "Ultra fast strategy for moving up as a newbie" thread Here and his article on Wonder Addiction Here (both highly recommended, btw) and I was reminded of a thread I ran across by Dominae on the Apolyton forum that proved extremely useful to me... 10 Tips To Emperor/Deity
These tips really helped me over the hump and on to winning at Monarch and then almost immediately to Emperor. I printed Dominae's 10 Tips and kept them at my computer for a long time (the sheet's actually still here but buried in one of my carefully organized stacks of stuff, lol). For several months every time I began a session of Civ3 I skimmed the tips just to remind myself of what I needed to do. After a few weeks I realized that I could start a new game at Emperor actually expecting to win! I don't claim to be a great player, my scores aren't Hall of Fame material and I certainly make some pretty big mistakes occasionally, but I do have a lot of fun and feel that generally I control the game rather than just reacting to the AI's as I used to do.
So with much gratitude to Dominae, and a tip of the hat to Ision, here are a couple of my own tips and a comment or two on some of Dominae's. I think if you take these sources all together and keep them in mind (or on paper in front of you) you'll discover that Monarch/Emperor level is a very reachable goal and a very satisfying one.
My Tips:
1 - LEARN TO EXPAND
Sure we all know you have to expand at the beginning, but at Emperor you REALLY have to expand. Learn to build a settler factory and use it! Expand until you're stopped in all directions. Until you're about ready to end your expansion - or forced to end it - you really only need to build units (for exploration and minimal defense) maybe a barracks in one unit-producing city, and (very important) granaries in all cities that will be building settlers. The Early Game is more important than a lot of players realize (it's actually where the game is often won or lost) and granaries can make the early game for you. Above Regent, the Ancient Era wonders start to get harder to build. At Emperor you'll often not even have a chance to build them. But if you do - make it the Pyramids.
2 - LEARN TO MAKE WAR.
Even if you're a builder and you know you'll always be a builder. At Emperor, even if you do a pretty good job of expanding, you'll often come out ot the initial expansion phase behind a few of the AI's in territory. You don't have to launch wars of extermination, just pick up a city or two here and there. You don't have to ruin you're reputation - be sure you know how to declare an "honorable" war. Don't shy away from Ancient Era warfare. And I'm not just referring to gambits like Jaguar Rush or Archer Rush (although they can be effective). In many games, it's far easier to get good results with a few swordsmen than it is to wait until you can build up dozens of knights in the middle ages. Build a stong defense and a mobile attack force. Don't let yourself get behind all the other civs in military strength. Buildings won't stop an attack by 30 Medieval Infantry, but a strong counterattack (even by Swordsmen) can. Check with your military advisor - you don't have to be "stronger than" all the other civs, but you can't be "weaker than" very many if you want to survive.
3 - LEARN THE VALUE OF RANDOM SELECTIONS
You see a lot of players posting statements like "I always play the Romans." or "I always play 5 civs on an enormous Pangaea map." "I always restart 50 times until I get a good starting location." Okay, I have my favorite civs and I occasionally look at a mountain/tundra start and restart if I'm not in the mood to go through an early game struggle. But generally I leave the settings on random and take what the game deals. You learn a lot by playing on different map types and, as Ision points out, you very often learn more from a loss than a victory. It won't take long before you reach the point where the civ, the map, and the starting location just don't matter much.
3 - DOMINAE'S NOT KIDDING - CONTACT THE OTHER CIVS EVERY TURN
Yeah, I thought it was overstatement, too. But - if you don't keep in touch with the AI's, you WILL miss out on some very good, very profitable trades. You'll see posts in which players state "the AI's never have any gpt until the Industrial Era". Well, that's generally correct. But not always - even in the Ancient Era you can stumble across a civ with a few gpt to spare and you just happen to have a spare horse or a tech he can use. 10 gpt may not sound like a lot, but at 500 AD, it can be a big deal to you. And later on, you'll discover that the really big gpt deals are only there for one turn. With the trade discounts the AI's get above Regent, you have to be there when opportunity knocks. So keep in touch with the other civs. It can be boring, but I can put up with a little boredom if it means winning sooner.
4 - THE LUXURY SLIDER IS YOUR FRIEND
Learn to use it! When you only get one happy citizen per city, you can't often claim enough luxury resources early enough to keep your cities happy. Keep your income level up and use that gold to "put a smile on their faces." With a third fewer resources in C3C this aspect of your game becomes even more important - and it was already VERY important.
5 - LEARN TO PLAY FROM BEHIND
You won't have the lead in techs at Emperor generally until the Middle Ages at best. I've won games in which I didn't get a tech lead until the end of the Industrial Era. Don't worry about it. The victory points don't make much difference either. You don't have to be in the point lead to win the game. Sure, you don't want to lag too far behind and you don't want to dig yourself into too deep a hole. But don't fall into the trap of thinking "If I'm not winning, I'm losing." Because you're not losing, you're laying the groundwork for victory.
Again, I don't claim to be an expert, but these are a few things that really helped me learn to play the game better and enjoy it more. Hope you find them useful.
