Recent content by jm chen

Will you be allowed to pillage the things that your workers do that you dislike? Makes a big difference.

One small tip: early in my Civ history, I also thought I wasn't doing anything to upset my neighbors, but I was settling too aggressively. If there's aren't TWO spaces between your city and theirs, they will grow to dislike you. And too many improvements can definitely be a problem. Don't try...

I think the OCC --> OW variant would be great, if it hasn't been done. OCC until 0 A.D., then declare war on everyone in the order in which you met them. I'm pretty sure OCC --> AW is not possible at a level above Regent. That No Diagonal Moves/On the Grid idea is great. Not being able to...

I know I wouldn't have time to run an SG myself, but an idea for someone else to run with -- A variant shift from OCC to AW. So maybe you're an OCC until 0 A.D., and then you have to declare on everyone. Could be played OCC -->Oscillating War if you wanted something a little easier. Still, I...

I also think Persia is a great beginner's civ. Industrious is really helpful and the Immortals kick all kinds of ass. Another thing: the Civs you're up against make a big difference to your play, also. If you start next to Rome or Greece, both of which have great ancient age defensive UU's...

I went through the same thing. The first time I was in a rut, I: 1. just tried killing everybody as fast as possible. It's a totally different game that way. 2. started playing archipelago instead of pangaea. Ditto. So, after doing that at Warlord, I moved up to Regent. Then Monarch. Then...

Thanks for the advice. America is the tech leader, so I may need to do this pre-emptive signing thing. The good news is, when I watched them attack Spain, they clearly had the troops to overcome the town but insisted on attacking with one or two swordsmen at a time, and never did take the one...

So I've got a happy little Monarch OCC going on as Portugal. Lucked out with a couple SGLs in the early game, so I've stacked up wonder on wonder (Oracle, Colossus, Great Lib, Sistine, Leo's, Shakes) and am just a few turns from finishing Newton's. I'm in Republic and the city's pop 14. Small...

I read through this thread just now and didn't see anyone mention reading succession games as a powerful source of learning. Picked up an incredible amount of knowledge lurking in that forum -- micromanaging to avoid waste, why food is more important than shields, the power of the curragh...

On Chieftain, my most common mistake was settling aggressively. I didn't know that it upset the AI when I plopped a city down two squares from theirs. I wondered why they always ended up angry at me. On Warlord, my most common mistake was refusing demands on principle. This is the level at...

Or, if you had two sources and were trading away the excess, and then one of the two sources either: a) expired, or b) was absorbed by someone else's borders, the one you have left is exported to honor the trade agreement.

I love Celts for AW because the Crazypants Swordsmen can range so far, or attack outside a city then withdraw back into it. Fast units are very helpful in upping the kill ratio, and although they are expensive, if you use them right you rarely lose any. I won my first AW game with them, can't...

I could swear that I've had iron disappear while a worker was building a road on it.

When I grab that game again I will try it with the Pyramids. Hadn't thought of that. I saved right when I got it so I could even try running a comparison. While I'm questioning, should I take the German cities or just raze them? I lean toward razing. They have a little mountainous peninsula...

So I was playing a little Always War yesterday. Monarch, tiny, continents, as the Dutch. After I had about three cities down, I discovered the Germans, ("You're right! They are scum!") but have managed to route all their incoming archers past a choke city, where I pummel them down with catapults...