Brand new Civ player

[jimjames]

Hey All,

Im just after starting to play Civilization (never played any version of it before).

So Russia was my choice of Civilization to start with. Im about 250 turns, and im sure ive made plenty of errors already.
Early in the game i was friendly with everyone around me , Egypt, Persia, Arabia.. even gave Egypt 30 gold for no other reason than they asked for it.

About 150 turns in i decided to take Rio de Janiero, a small little town, with no allies, kinda close to France. I took it and all was good until around turn 200..

France declare war because im too close to them. Then i naturally retaliate, and Egypt & Peria (who are not allies with France) denounce me and go to war with me, because im picking on smaller nations.

Anyway to avoid everyone going to war with me and denouncing me?
I feel maybe i was greedy going after RIO, but as it had no allies i couldnt really see the problem.

Should i settle alot of cities early so that i have more land? I was pretty weak at the beginning with Settling and my policies are prob badly chosen too, as i was pretty much without a strategy coming into this game

Thanks for any help or feedback

 

[VainoValkea]

Welcome to Civilization and to the forums!

Taking City-States is a risk. You get warmonger penalties for that - other civilizations in the game will hate you. Likewise, when taking over cities of other empires, they'll hate you even more. This is probably what caused them to attack you over France.

 

[Whiterussian]

Welcome !

You play vanilla or with any expansions?

City spamming at the beginning can work but has its dangers. Really depends on the strategie. Have a eye on happynes and money and you will learn for yourself what works and what doesn't.

Have fun with playing around!

 

[jimjames]

cheers, yeah i guess im Vanilla, i just have the standard Civ 5.

Thanks for the tips.

i might restart and go with a more peaceful beginning towards city states..

are there any really particular empires that are more peaceful?

 

[Walter R]

Welcome!

I'd advise you not to thump CS (unless you are playing as Genghis) - they are useful friends and allies. You will note numerous threads on the subject (and plenty of opinions) but Civ always has a war element even if you want to be peaceful. Keeping a strong military deters the AI most of the time, but it costs upkeep. Read through the forum threads for some great advice from far better players than myself.

Enjoy.

 

[AlcatrazUK]

Welcome to the game.

It's all about balance. If you attck Cit States (like Rio), the other civs might gang up on you, likewise if you go for other AI Civs (like France), HOWEVER, if you have a large military they'll probably not come for you in fear they'll lose.

Likewise, if you don't attack other nations, the other civs are likely to remain peaceful, HOWEVER, if you have a small military, they'll see you as an easy target and attack.

As for expansion, it does indeed depend on your strategy (and which Civ you're playing) but generally, 4 cities is a good number to get culture at a good enough rate to gain new policies, whilst still generating gold and science to keep up with the AI.

Try a few different strategies and see what works for you.