A newbish question

[MAS]

Barbarians are relatively harmless, they can't take cities, only undo their production, but they can harm settlers and workers, so make sure they are safe.
Don't pair settlers with defenders, as the AI does, becouse chance is a part of the combat system. If a stroke of bad luck happens and the barb wins, you will lose the unit and the settler. Instead, move a couple of tiles ahead of your settlers, if you lose the fight, you will still have the settler.

Barbs spawn in uncivilized land, some tiles away from any land that a non barb unit/city can see. if you move around your warriors somewhere in the fronteer, you will prevent barbs from spawning there, any barbs that spawn further away are more likely to target those units than your cities/settlers/worker.

Barb camps can be removed, ither with an archer, horseman, elite warrior, or just by planting a city nearby, the city radius will remove the camp (but not the units on top of it)

Just as with the AI, take the fight to them, do not fight them near your own land. Defend actively, not passively.

Also note that the higher the diffeculty level, the more likely it is for goody huts to spawn barbs, so get used to not walking into them, unless you have a couple of units nearby. (civs with the expansionist trait never get barbs from goody huts, so if you play such a civ, you should be safe walking into goody huts)

And indeed, build as few units as possible, don't try to put garrison in every city. Instead, try to predict your enemy moves, and move your units where they need to be at the correct time.

 

[phattonez]

I'm starting a new game now as Japan again (they have my favorite combo, mil and rel), and I am a fairly large civ this time and am keeping up with my advesaries. I just got into the middle ages and switched to the republic. Now, my economy is crashing and civil disorder is happening in 3 cities at a time at most. Should I have gone to monarcy instead?

 

[MAS]

No, use the lux slider in the F1 screen, and hook up different lux resources to your trade network, one of each type of lux resource. If you have more of the same, trade the exra ones for other lux resources with the AI. Or better yet, enconquer them from the AI.

When you switch to Republic, your core cities should grow to size 12, stop making settlers and workers there, and make them in outer cities instead.

Make sure that all citizens in your core cities are working tiles, so give them enough lux to keep them from rioting.
In outer cities, that are mostly corrupt, you may want to make use of specialist citizens, just pick them up from the land when you are in city-view, the citizen you picked up will first turn into a clown, if you click on this clown it will turn into a taxman and then a scientist, then a clown again. If the city stays out of disorder with a scientist use a scientist, otherwise use a clown.
Though you should be building settlers and workers in outer cities.

Keep your wars short and keep losses to a minimum. Make sure that you get a city the same turn you start your attack on it. Hit hard and fast. (if you take to many losses in a war the people will complain about it in republic)

If you gain a new lux from trade, hooking it up, or conquest re-evaluate your lux slider, you want to keep the lux slider down to a minimum and the sci slider up.

Trade tech with other civs for other tech, gold, and for gold per turn (when the other civs start making gold per turn) this way, the other civs will pay for your upkeep, and you can keep your sci slider up. Try to avoid paying gpt to other civs yourself. (though sometimes you can't avoid it)

To get gold per turn from other civs, they must make gpt, and you must have a clean reputation. Reputation means that you didn't break any deals in the past, and that you didn't sneak attack them. So declare war before you enter their land. And don't declare war when you have a 20 turn deal going.

 

[MAS]

If you want more exact help for your game, post a screenshot or an other safed game.

 

[phattonez]

This is my save file right now. I've pretty much settled the continent, but I haven't even thought about going into others yet.

 

[MAS]

I looked at the safe file:

While i said to expand outward then upward, I did not mean by this that you should first settle far away spots and the spots closer to your capital later.
I strongly suggest, in future games, you first settle spots closer to your capital.

The reasons: 1# less corruption closer to your capital, so your first cities will be less corrupt. And #2 it takes less turns for your settlers to move before they build a city, meaning you will have more cities sooner.
More powerfull cities sooner means exponential more power later.

Also note that your cities will not grow past size 12 before the industrial age, and by that time, you should have the game under control. Some of the very good players never reach the industrial age at all before the victory screen shows up.
It is for this reason that it isn't needed to give your cities a full 20 tile radius. Just place them City-tile-tile-city. They will overlap, but that doesn't matter. You'll have more land worked by citizens at an early age, and the cities will be easier to defend.

When all the freely availeble land is settled, the AI will be looking for other means to expand, it would be wise to build your defence force by the time all the freely availeble land is settled. (that defence force should be horseman of course)
----------------------
For this game, I strongly suggest you first fill up the land with cities before you build markets, and libraries.
And make sure your cities have aquaducts before you build those structures, it would be a waste of food surplus if they sit at size 6 while you wait for them to complete something.

When you enter the middle ages, go to chivalery as soon as possible and build up your offensive, the jap unique unit will set off your golden age.
Then It will be time to take down the AI civs and secure the continent for yourself.
When doing so, don't throw a bunch of units at it a few at a time. Instead, build up a stack of about 6 or 10 of them, and keep this stack together. move towards the AI city you want to take, and attack the city with all those units at the same turn.
Go for civ's that have usefull resources first.

 

[phattonez]

I had invaded India, and gained one city from a short war. I then tried to build up my army with samurai, but I didn't have enough time until Germany tried to force me to give them chemisty. I refused (of course), and they declared war. They then brought India into the war. I persuaded China to help me, but because I am in democracy, all of my cities are in civil disorder. What do I do now?

 

[yavoon]

I had invaded India, and gained one city from a short war. I then tried to build up my army with samurai, but I didn't have enough time until Germany tried to force me to give them chemisty. I refused (of course), and they declared war. They then brought India into the war. I persuaded China to help me, but because I am in democracy, all of my cities are in civil disorder. What do I do now?

prolly should have given germany chemistry eh?

 

[phattonez]

That's what I'm thinking right now, but I didn't think that they could do too much. They were on a different continent, and by the time they mobilized and came to my country, they would want to end the war too. I had no idea that they would bring India into it, which suprisingly became much stronger after I took their one city.

 

[vmxa]

First forget about Demo you do not need the boost it gives and the price of an additional switch is too high for non religious civs. Not to mention you have to research optional techs to even get to it.

Second there is no reason to give into demands at Warlord. Actually there is no reason why you should be in a possible for the AI to think it could demand anything.

Paying demands is for Demi God or better. Now you have to set up your towns to avoid riots and punsih India for their transgression.

 

[MAS]

While I said you should attack a city with 10 units at the same time, I didn't mean you should only build 10 units, instead, build 80 and atack 8 cities at the same time with stacks of 10. And don't stop building more units while the war lasts.
Overrun the AI!. Remove them completely from your starting continent, only then will you be safe. (as the AI is very bad at D-day landings) If you want to you can disband a part of your expensive army when you controll your continent.

If you build enough offensive units (samurai, and later cavs, maybe tanks) the AI is unlikely to demand stuff, and maye even cave in to demands from you.

Yeah, this means you'll have to lower the SCI slider, but the return of investment of a well played war is huge!
I often lower the SCI slider even lower when I'm building up for a war, so that I can rushbuild things in the newly captured cities, or mass upgrade units.

And you don't need democratie. If you build enough workers, the 50% speedup doesn't mean much. Not to mention war waryness (lots of unhappyness due to war) in demo. Stay in republic! the WW is much less and it safes you a turn of anarchy.

@VMXA: if I remember correctly, the Japs are religious. (I still don't advocate Demo over republic though, even though he is playing vanilla)

 

[vmxa]

Yes I would not research demo, regardless of traits or version. I did not play it in vanilla, other than specail circumstances. Learn to roll over them and then consider using demo.

My only point on the religious aspect is without that trait you really have no business making additonal switches.

 

[vmxa]

Ok this game is PTW 1.27F. It needs a lot of this changed. I would suggest a new game and some improved logic.

Consider you are at war and have 2 warriors? How many units are being made right now? Zero, yes zero? You are at war, hello. Not much makes sense to me here.

There is so much land between the capitol and the next towns, it is scary. Yes you could use CxxxxxC, but why would you? At least drop down to CxxxC, better CxxC.

You have 33 workers for 11 towns, now I like plenty of workers, but with that many so early, you hurt yourself more than help. Something around 15 would be fine, 18 plenty. With all those workers, what were they doing as you have about 16 tiles near the capitol with no road?

You see no mines, until you go all the way to Nara and they are on hills and moutains. None on grass. I see cows irrigated and it is not even in your borders. Irrigated BG tiles, that is crazy.

Huge open areas with no towns. Libs going up in size 1 towns? Granary in Shim town makes no sense. Put one in a couple of core towns and that is all.

Making libs, but researchis turned off? Why are you not researching anyway? You have more than 500 in coffers doing nothing. BTW Eng is more useful than Mono, because you can have bridges and save movement. Yeah I know you want Knights. Silly question, by why import horses and build no horses?

I see iron, but it is not in your borders, so no Swords either.

My advise is to start a fresh game play to 2150BC and post the 4000BC and 2150BC saves. Make a turn log and show your moves in some detail.

Then wait for some players to review the progress and see if improvement can be pointed out before you are too far down the road.

 

[Rurik]

MAS, your post #11 in this thread was excellent. And others should note it probably pertains to all levels and versions of CIV.

 

[TCP]

Have a city with a barracks and good production build offesive/defensive units to escort your settlers.

Also, dedicate at least 1 city to churn out nothing but settlers and 1 city to churn out nothing but workers. You want to expand as fast as possible. You can always change which city is dedicated to pumping out the settlers and workers, but try and have at least one going at all times.