Recent content by nsomniyak

Prof Gar - correct, the AI does not really do a good job with its caravans. However, an AI opponent with Trade is better financed and better able to rush-complete additional defenders (or Walls or Barracks) when I attack. I suppose I could give them Trade, keep them bottled up on their...

Thanks Elephant. I will try the last-minute trade of wonder techs before completing the wonder. Makes sense that would be a time for premium value.

Good point - if you give them Map Making, then they can trade maps. However, Map Making is one of the technologies I guard pretty jealously, as it fundamentally changes the other civ and its ability to project power and expand to colonize the world. I certainly would not give it away until I...

Once the defenders in a port city are taken out (Ironclads are great for this) ANY land unit can march in and take it over--even settlers or explorers! Only exception I have found is dioplomats/spies.

I guess I don't want to WAIT until I have Lighthouse or MPE to explore if I am stuck on a small island. If I can see ANY coastline one square away after outlining my island, I go fot it. I will often bounce my trireme offshore in a zig-zag pattern around my island, ending up near shore, just...

my comments: 1) I always try to get Mike's. Like HG, it just makes the game more playable, as I have to mess with my (many) cities less. I can put my Elvises to work (and train some as scientists--now there's a scary thought!) and my economy takes a nice jump. One side benefit of this is...

I don't formally plan out my cities, though if I am on a small island to start I will spend a couple moments, once I have a feel for the island boundaries and terrain, to think out how I can max it out. On a small island early on, I end up with several exploration units with nowhere to go until...

Some comments on AI city locations: I have no problem with close-together cities. I often intentionally overlap mine since I often have lots of small cities that don't grow that large anyway--3 or 4 premiums is easily enough for all but my super-cities. Doing this can prevent barbarian...

I'd like to get a discussion going about what long term strategies and turn-by-turn tactics you all have found to work best in exploring the map. I'll prime the pump with some comments. Obviously, information is power, and the only thing worse than bad recon is no recon. Those said, how...

it's free money.

I'll go after the capital first if it is accessible and I have money to capitalize (pun intended!) on the resulting civil disorder in other cities. Or I will go after a capital if it has a key wonder in it. More importantly--I go for the opponent's PORT cities first. Take their ports and...

Sun Tzu. Veteran units rule. There are a couple periods where you can produce Veteran units that can sweep all in their path (Crusaders, Ironclads). The Ironclads may need to win in combat to become veteran--so pick off an onshore caravan, elephant, or catapult. :) These mismatch periods...

Pyramids - for the reasons noted above, plus the following: --conquered cities have a half-filled grain bin upon capture (if they were more than half full). They jump on the growth path right away. --since your grain bin never fully empties unless you run HUNGER for many turns, you CAN run...

Pyramids - for the reasons noted above, plus the following: --conquered cities have a half-filled grain bin upon capture (if they were more than half full). They jump on the growth path right away. --since your grain bin never fully empties unless you run HUNGER for many turns, you CAN run...

Directly to your point--on Deity, I generally build Wonders to the exclusion of foreign trade early on, pre-building them (running in caravans, then switching to the wonder I want when I finally get that tech) if needed. I want to get Lighthouse, Marco Polo's, Great Wall if I can, and, most...