Alexander Help

[ComradeVlad]

Hello everybody, I am a bit new to the civ community. Anyway, I have been playing civ 4 for quite a while and actually got BTS. I have decided to try and master Alexander. He is my favorite hero in history but for reason, he is really hard to play as in both the vanilla and BTS. Can anyone give me any tips and strategies on how to use Alexander effectively? I really wish to use him well.

 

[DigitalBoy]

Alexander is one of my favorite leaders, but I'm not sure what kind of advice to give you. He seems pretty straight-forward to me. If you were more specific about where you were having trouble, I might be able to help you more. I will say this much, scientist specialists assigned through libraries are a great way to get some great people without wonders, especially with the philosophical trait.

 

[pigswill]

Aggressive and philosophical. Maybe an early rush (cheap rax and UU) to grab territory then go for CoL to run caste system to generate specialists (pyramids and glib are helpful but not absolutely essential) and go for a standard lib/nat slingshot to make use of philosophical, head for rifling then draft rifles (again to make use of aggressive).

 

[ComradeVlad]

The problem for me when using Alexander, is using his UU effectively and making use of his philosophical trait. So my question is, how can I use the phalanx effectively to my advantage and how do I specialize cities? Also, what is Col?

 

[slobberinbear]

Alex is interesting in that his traits favor military (Agressive) and building (Philosophical). But with a great (and early) unique unit in the Phalanx, it seems to me Alex is geared for early war.

Consider that the phalanx has no hard counter, due to its bonus vs. chariots. The best an opponent can do is try to win even-strength matchups with axemen. This favors an early Phalanx rush. Frankly, there is no need to build any other military unit other than archers, perhaps, as garrison units.

Using the UU effectively means using it early. Research Bronze Working, put your second city on or near the bronze, hook it up with a road or Sailing, and use wood chopping and slavery to get an army of 8-10 Phalanxes. Attack your nearest neighbor, preferably one that is not protective and doesn't have its unique unit yet. Attack the capital first if you can, and raze the other cities. After you have eliminated your foe, try to settle a city near stone or marble and start building wonders and slowly growing your empire. Remember that Alex has no economic advantages and needs to carefully watch his maintenance costs.

CoL (Code of Laws) and Currency will be very important in keeping your economy afloat.

If you find yourself in a second war, be sure to research Construction first so that you have catapults knocking down walls for your phalanxes.

 

[ComradeVlad]

Thank you so much slobberin bear!!! I guess i am not used to the Bts phalanx. Your advice with really helped. I was able to destroy Rome and France in an Earth 18civ on Noble thanks to your advice. So now I seem to be getting used to phalanx rushing with Alex. Whipping Phalanxes to prepare for war and chopping really helps. However, when swordsman are available, I tend to wonder whether to stick with the swordsman or phalanx. Oh well. Anyway, I am still having a hard time figuring out how to use that darn Philosophical trait . So my next questions are, What cities should I specialize? Should it be my capital or cities that produce a lot of science? Also, should I be building libraries in all my cities? And my last question is, how would I effectively use the caste system civic?

 

[slobberinbear]

Are you using the Huge 18 civ Earth map? I'll assume you are for this reply.

Getting rid of Rome is a good thing on that map; he's a beast if he gets Praetorians rolling. You should now have both stone and marble in your borders, so you should think about building the Pyramids, probably in Rome (it has higher production than Athens, IIRC). Use Athens to crank out more phalanxes and take out Freddie in Germany and Isabella in Spain. Europe can be yours pretty easily, leaving you with Elizabeth and Catherine on the fringes and the African and Asian powers to your south and east.

On that map, you can also go south to Egypt -- Hattie is a pretty poor warmonger and her War Chariot is nothing to fear with your Phalanxes' chariot bonuses.

Whatever you do, make sure your economy keeps up with your conquests.

 

[ComradeVlad]

On my earth 18 civ game, the pyramids, oracle, stonehenge, and the parthenon have already been built. I managed to conquer Isabella but Frederick managed to put up one tough fight. Also, declaring on Frederick also resulted in Catherine, Saladin and Hatti declaring war on me because they are jewish and I am hindu. I am pretty much screwed at this point . I lost sparta and corinth even though I thought they were properly defended. I am also trying to run a SE economy but I think I am failing to do so. Also.. I am trying to do GP farm thing but I can't get it to work. So my question is.. How do I run a SE economy properly with Alexander in any normal game?

 

[d.a.oconnell]

I recently just played a game with Alex and here our my thoughts. Run Alex with a hybrid or SE economy. IF early on, there seems to be a close threat, crash the economy and whip phalanx to crush your neighbor, then revert back to a SE. I was lucky to have stone in the capital's bfc, so I had built the Great Wall, Henge, and the Mids. I think the mids greatly help a SE economy (duh). I also chopped the Parthenon and that gave me a huge mid-game advantage. Eventually, I had to transition to Cottages and take over the world with rifles... etc.

Overall, I like alex. The odeon UB is okay, basically a Colosseum with +3 culture, which is nice. The phalanx is an awesome axeman that can defend against chariots. And PHI and Aggressive are two of my favorite traits. I think Phi/Agg is an awkward combo, but it works out pretty well.

 

[ComradeVlad]

Thanks for your input oconnell, I just hope someone could show me how to run a SE economy though.

 

[ComradeVlad]

Thanks for your input oconnell, I just hope someone could show me how to run a SE economy though.

 

[Sisiutil]

Thanks for your input oconnell, I just hope someone could show me how to run a SE economy though.

I wouldn't worry too much about this for now. The SE is a more advanced economic strategy for the higher difficulty levels. Since you're playing on Noble and still learning the game, I'd stick to the simpler cottage-based economy.

The way to take advantage of Alexander's Philosophical trait when running a CE is to build one heckuva Great Person farm. Since he has a stellar early UU, the way to do this is obvious: capture an enemy capital and make it the GP farm. Capitals are usually in great locations with extra food resources. So what you do is take the capital, work all its food tiles, farm all the flat land tiles, and run as many specialists as you can--I'd go for scientists, as Great Scientists are usually the best GP to generate.

Try to claim a source of marble if you can and build the Great Library there; even without marble, chop/whip the wonder in that city for the 2 free scientist specialists. With the Philosophical trait giving you +100% GP production, you'll have Great Scientists popping out of that city at record speed, allowing you to build Academies in your best commerce cities and/or to "lightbulb" technologies (Philosophy, Paper, Education) to Liberalism and its free technology.

As for the situation you ran into, it sounds like your main problem was religion-related diplomacy. Your best option would probably have been to stay non-committed in terms of religion until the dominant one spread to you. Then you convert, make all sorts of friends, and then go and beat up the nearest heathen.

 

[ComradeVlad]

When I go for a CE economy, should I be automating my workers or not? I tried automating my workers on an epic Pangaea game but it took the workers awhile to be building cottages everywhere. Anyway, your input on the UU and your axe rush guide greatly improved my military prowess with Alexander. Also, your input on GP farming really helped too!! Thank you comrade Sisiutil!

 

[Bradlius]

Eeek! I almost never automate workers -- they always seem to do the wrong thing. It's definitely worth the time to have a master-plan and instruct each worker what to do. That way, like Sisiutil says, you can cottage where you want, and farm where you want, not where the workers think is best.
IMHO, the automatic workers seem to try to make everything even, a little farming, a little cottaging, but if you want to specialize properly, you have to direct them.

 

[madscientist]

Comrade, welcome to the forums.

Alexander is a great AI to play with. He is geared for an military game, but can also be a stronge techer.

1) Phalynx. Slobbering Bear tells it best, he has no counter. It is best to wipe out 1 or 2 close civilization early, preferably abosrobing the capitals into the Greater Greek empire.

2) Odeon: This is great for happiness. So much so he is one of the leaders that can ignore Heritary Rule. If Big Al can get the Pyramids, you can adopt representation early and essentially have no happiness issues once you have the Odeon built.

3) Agressive trait. Early barracks, free combat I promotion for your UU. No explaination needed, but some UUs and go smash some heads. Best education here is experience.

4) Phiosophical; Arguably the strongest trait although some say Financial is stronger (I think Organised is the best but I am in the minority). Sis has excellent advice here. Philosophical is mostly about leveraging the benefits of a Great Person Farm. Get caste system and run alot os sciencitists. Bulb education so you get it ALOT faster than any AI. This is good for the liberalism race but also powerful in that you have early access to universities which are half price and a big science boost.

You will also find the otehr Ais are fun to play, especially the different traits!

 

[MrBrown]

As some have said, learn SE. It is more "advanced" and harder than simple cottage spamming, but it is really about nothing more than city specialization. And that is the key in Civ4. And, Alexander is one of the leaders ideal for it.


Here's a more in-depth guide to how I would run Alexander (war-mongering backed up by SE). Assuming typical settings; Noble, Normal, Continents or Pangaea, or something similar.

- Capital becomes super science city (SSC); improvements should focus on food (with some mined hills). In the rare case that the starting location is unsuitable for this, the second city should be founded on a better location.

- Early on, research important improvement techs,Writing and Bronze Working.

- In the capital, build a few combat units, workers and settlers, and expand quickly. When you get Writing, build a Library in the (SSC) and start to run scientists. The ideal way to do this is to turn on the governor, and force one or two scientists. The SSC should focus on buildings that boost science, health and happiness. If it has nothing meaningful to build, build science. Once you get a Great Scientist, settle it in the SSC. Use one to build an Academy there too.

- All other cities become production cities. Improvements should be Watermills, Workshops, Mines, Lumber-mills + enough Farms to work all those. Besides some basic buildings (Granary, Courthouse, Barracks, Forge, Theater, Odeon, Jail), they should focus on creating combat units, as well as Settlers and Workers.

- Don't care about the science slider after you start getting Great Scientists; just make sure you have enough money for your empire's upkeep. If you're running low, build Courthouses and Markets, or even Wealth.

- Mid-ages, research Literature, Drama, Construction, Currency, Code of Laws, Machinery and Civil Service. Build National Epic in the SSC, as well as Great Library if you have the hammers and marble.

- Renaissance, research Education and Constitution. Build enough Libraries and Universities to be able to build the Oxford University in the SSC. Afterwards, head for Assembly Line, Biology and Communism.

- For Civics, run Caste System, Representation and State Property as soon as you get them. For the others, well, anything but Free Speech is works.

- Make war. Lots of it. Turn every city you conquer to another production city. Use the culture slider to combat war weariness. Win by Domination, Conquest or Diplomacy.


Depending on the AIs, playing like this should pretty much get you the largest army _and_ keep you competitive in techs, if not necessarily in the lead.

My two , anyway.

 

[ComradeVlad]

I've mastered the axe rush, I've won a few conquest and domination victories with Alex. Life is good. If only his UU was a little better tho, I think having companion calvary instead would be awesome!