Chieftain difficulty is annoying me!

[Nook29]

I find Settler very easy, so I've recently moved onto Chieftain for an extra challenge.

But each and every time I play, I'll storm ahead on points, usually 3-400 points clear of the second place Civ. But around 1800's onwards, the Civ in second just flies up! Every time! The amount of points they get is ridiculous, and I'm left trailing by 200 or so.

I usually have a game with no war, and don't change my tactics halfway through. How can I stop this?

 

[Zoo7]

Go to war!

 

[Proteus]

Yep. As Zoo7 says

Or, if you have settled all of your home continent (which I assume)
go on and send settlers to another continent as long as there are free spots (and your economy can take the costs for additional cities)

 

[Lars_Domus]

If you don't want to go to war then you'll have to be more aggressive in the initial landgrab. Take some risks! You'll soon learn what works and what doesn't. Beyond that, build lots of cultural improvents to spread your borders and hopefully flip some cities.

Other stuff that could help is not automating workers and learning to specialize your cities. These skills are not required to win at Chieftain level, but they will help you stay ahead in the tech race, which in the end also will help your score.

At any rate, the most important factor for score is the size of your territory, and the easiest way to get a large empire is by conquest - so I would recommend you learn how to wage war at any rate. I used to be a peaceful builder like you, but I've found that starting a couple of wars has greatly improved both my gaming experience and my score.

Check the strategy forum for more detailed tips. In any case check out Sisiutil's guide for beginners: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632

 

[Janos]

War is important - the AI will be awful at conducting one at Chieftain level so definitely go to war against them at some point in the game. Your points will skyrocket.

It also seems like you need to learn the basic strategies of Civ IV too. I suggest that you read some strategy guides to improve your game and understanding of it. This is an early guide that i found useful when starting off in Civ IV:

http://civ4info.com/Sullla/civ4_walk_3.html

You might also want to check out the Civ IV Strategy Articles forum here at:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=156

I hope this helps. If you have any specific questions then please just ask.

 

[Sir Janus]

If you keep falling behind at chieftain level then I think that you must be doing (or must not be doing) something very obvious.

If you post a saved game somebody will be able to point out the problem straight away - my guess is that you don't have enough cottages ('cos if you did you would have won by the 1800s).

 

[Nook29]

Thanks for all the help, I'll try a more agressive game next time. I'll let you know how that turns out.

 

[Red Door]

And don't forget to get a lot of missionaries out, allies = very good.

 

[Nook29]

Well, started a new game, Carthaginians, Terra.

Around the 1500's now, here's how the scores and the map is:

Been to war with Mehmed, came out with nothing. Then went to war with Saladin and took two of his cities. Also, one of the Persian cities flipped.

 

[Samson]

A couple of comments;

At this point in the game I would definatly be aiming to make war in the near future, probably with my weakest neibour. Build up a big army before going to war, hit them as hard as possible, and do not make peace unless it is really hurting you to keep the war going.

I think you could have been more agressive in settling early. Do you prioritize bronze working early and then chop just about every tree into workers and settlers?

 

[Red Door]

I would also pick a religion, so that you can get some alllies when you go to war.

 

[Nook29]

I'm thinking of attacking Cyrus next. He's right on my doorstep, and doesn't appear to be too strong.

 

[Lars_Domus]

I'd convert to Judaism and then go after Cyrus and/or Saladin.

 

[Nook29]

Went to war with Cyrus, took two cities of his, then had to make peace whilst I could because he had a large force building near my weaker side.

I'm still around 5-600 points clear, coming into the 1900's. If I keep 5-600 points clear until 1950, I think I'll be set for a time victory.

 

[Lars_Domus]

Went to war with Cyrus, took two cities of his, then had to make peace whilst I could because he had a large force building near my weaker side.

Pity you had to spare him, but you've got the right idea In your next game try to start planning for a war from the beginning, then pounce when the time is right. Once you get the hang of guessing how many units are needed to take a particular city, you'll be able to keep parts of your army at home to counter any such sneak attacks building up.

Did you take a look at the links people have posted? I really can't give Sisiutil's guide enough praise

 

[Nook29]

Had a bit of a scan, but not had the time to read them properly. Will do later though.

 

[kristopherb]

attck saladin raise the the holy city
and prepare for war

 

[saleg37]

attck saladin raise the the holy city
and prepare for war

I wouldn't recommend burning a holy city. Definatly not this late. He's most likely got a shrine, which helps one's economy tremendously.

Sisiutil's guide is perfect for just this kind of situation. Other then that, just keep at it. Situations like this can get really annoying, being between difficulty levels. The temptation to move down can be hard to resist. Just keep at it.

 

[Wodan]

Big picture thoughts:

If I had to guess, I'd say what you're doing is building a lot of Wonders. The biggest impact on your score early is culture. So, if you're building a lot of wonders, then you'll have a big score. That doesn't necessarily mean you're doing well in the game, however. And, when the AI's bigger empires start to kick in, they're going to zoom past you.

Wonders aren't necessarily bad, but one thing people make when first playing the game is desire to build them ALL. On the contrary, you only want to build specific wonders that will help you win. If it won't help you win, then it's just a waste of time.

Since there are different ways to win, some wonders help some of those ways and other wonders help others. ANd some wonders depend on your play style, regardless of what victory condition you're going for.

Wodan

 

[Nook29]

Thanks for the tips. I build a fair few wonders, i'll admit, but I often miss some out.

50 turns to go, and still 600 points clear at the top. Pasargadae is constantly having Persian revolts, it's nearly surrounded by Persian borders, and I went to war with Ottoman and took a city on the borders, and made peace because it was getting no-where.