what were the most interesting things you learned during a game?

[Walter R]

Well yahoo, I just won a game that I really didn't think I would - what a great feeling! It lasted way too long though, didn't win until T418 (SV). I've learned a lot from this one though, and some are really dumbass lessons. For instance:

You can use a GE in puppetted cities - never thought to try before.
Destroyers laugh at bombers but not fighters - battleships the opposite.
Missile cruisers don't have indirect fire.
AA guns and especially mobile SAMs can be used as infantry - Alex had oodles of them.
You can survive long periods of unhappiness as long as it's not too low.
You always need fighter cover - it's not a nice-to-have!

And a bunch of other stuff. Some of the military things are because most of my games haven't got so far into modern warfare.

So what would you pass on?

 

[Sabrina]

On BNW:

1. That I need to use a spreadsheet to manage my luxuries when playing as Portugal once I get feitorias.

2. That the Terracota Army is one of the best wonders now.

3. That internal trade routes are great to develop new cities and that making all your trade routes internal during world fair and international games can grant you the lead on them.

4. That if you are not ahead in science, there is no chance you win the game.

5. That your SO will backstab you at a certain point if you are in the same game

 

[Ximixanga]

On War​

• If you have a large standing army, no civ, no matter how bold, will ever attack you directly as long as your army is larger or more powerful than theirs. From this point I've taken away that always having more units than the next guy in line will prevent wars against you for nearly the whole game if you invest in upgrading them regularly.
• Build your target a city in the middle of nowhere and gift it to them before declaring war. This way you can usurp all of their lands and not get the genocide penalty with everyone else, but still cripple your target significantly for the rest of the game.
• You have no chance to lay siege to a city without siege weapons. Never go on the warpath without at least a dozen catapults/cannons/rocket artillery/etc. on your side.
• Always bring twice as many units as you think you'll need. You'll be surprised you'll need twice as many more often times.
  
  On Diplomacy
• Be friends with everyone for as long as possible, but never backstab anyone if you can avoid it. Wait until DoFs are over to begin the conquest.
• Anyone making a decision to form a defensive pact or pledge to protect a city state is simply asking for trouble. It's better not to bother yourself with those agreements.
• There are hardly any good reasons to conquer a city-state unless you're in a game with Austria or Venice. This is true unless you like being denounced by everyone in the world forever.
• Religion is often the key to ensuring diplomatic success or failure.
  
  In General
• When in doubt, remember that you have the right of way as the player.
• War is sometimes necessary to have peace. Nip any potential "problems" in the bud whenever you get the chance.
  Don't nuke yourself. Especially don't nuke yourself twice by accident.
• Snacks are good in moderation.
• Never fight a land war in Asia.
• Pocatello is a crazy expansionist and must be stopped.
• Gandhi is almost always bad news. Try to stop him before he reaches the atomic era.
  
  On making decisions
• It's sometimes better to let your neighbors build wonders while you build up your army to go and take them from him. Builders beware!
• You will always covet other civ's lands and wonders, no matter how peaceful you are. You also have a -10 diplomacy modifier against the AI for being a filthy human.
• Blue is the best flavor.
• Great person improvements are good for when you have nothing better to do with them.
• Desert cities are sickeningly good with the Petra wonder.
• Naval invasions are a PITA.
• Leaders with hats are the best. This is indisputable.
• Leaders with nice beards are cool too. Unless they're a bearded woman, then you should start running in the opposite direction as quickly as possible.
• It's completely acceptable to initiate a global thermonuclear war against every civilization in the world if you're one turn away from winning the game through peaceful means.
  
  On winning and losing
• If war doesn't break out in the first 100 turns of the game, something has gone terribly wrong.
• Civs that spam wonders often tend to run away with the game. Stop them immediately.
• If you are losing the science race by a margin greater than 10%, you should probably quit and start over.
• The game doesn't actually cheat, but it's very hard to believe it does not have some sort of trick to its actions.

 

[Loucypher]

Funny thing about that science thing. I just happened to win a game as Enrico Dandolo through my awesome culture...literally turns before the Mayans were to launch...while I had only one atomic Era tech, which happened to be the one granting me airports.
I always knew saving up those 3 Musicians along with the faith purchase of 3 more would come in handy.

On that note: Nothing is sweeter then winning through the sheer power of Rock and Roll.

 

[Securion]

... that Samurais dont stand a chance against Impis...

 

[StrideColossus]

In CivV there is no problem that cannot be solved by nuclear weapons.

 

[digrosz]

In CivV there is no problem that cannot be solved by nuclear weapons.

But what if the problem occurs in 200 BC?

 

[StrideColossus]

But what if the problem occurs in 200 BC?

Smile, nurse your wrath and pray for uranium

 

[Falconiano]

I learned to love city states (only after I rob their worker on turn 20 of course).
Last game I had such an awesome empire, but I had left a little piece of land with no resource etc unsettled; didn't really want to settle there and Lhasa was just close to it anyways.
In modern era Pocatello settles there and starts massing units to prepare a backstab, BUT he did the mistake to DoW Lhasa.
Lhasa not only destroyed his units but grabbed his city, puppetted it, and that way Lhasa basically covered my western border.

There are hardly any good reasons to conquer a city-state

Last game if it wasn't for me killing 2 CSs I would have lost on cultural as Gustav had 2 diplomats too many against my World Ideology proposal.

 

[budweiser]

In CivV there is no problem that cannot be solved by nuclear weapons.

In my autocracy culture attempt, borders were closed and I was losing ground on tourism to the Shoshone. I let the nukes fly. My rock-n-rollers moved in, did 2 concerts and put me over the top. Problem solved.