Carl5872
Prince
Can anyone recommend some strategies on how to play China? I was thinking they have a well rounded set of attributes, so I am having trouble in trying out a specific strategy.
Watch this video for a shining example of a Liberty China game on Deity:
https://youtu.be/J0Cp3c5369w?list=PL5IXV43xjKWRhfjKKYbtNoT92HQXq0YIj
Expand/conquer a lot of cities to get lots of papermakers out?
Do you think Liberty is best for China? Expand/conquer a lot of cities to get lots of papermakers out?
Papermakers don't really affect how you play in any meaningful way; you should already be prioritizing libraries as one of the first buildings you construct in any given city. With papermakers you do the same.... the only difference is that you'll find that it's a little easier to maintain a positive revenue stream. (I suppose that has the effect that you can slightly deprioritize the financial buildings.)
As mbbcam said, China's real strength is in their ability to go to war, especially during the late medieval period. Tradition, Liberty, and Honor are all viable, so which one you pick depends on the map & your preferred long-term goals. Choosing Honor kinda locks you into a Domination victory, while both Tradition and Liberty can easily transition to another victory type after you've finished your medieval-renaissance conquering spree.
For a conquest victory would you recommend both liberty and honor, or just go with honor?
Whichever one you pick, go all in. Mixing the early policy trees is almost always sub-optimal.
For Tradition, you want to finish it ASAP for the awesome finisher: free aqueducts & inherent +growth bonus.
For Liberty, you want to finish it ASAP for the finisher as well. On the lower difficulty levels, I usually chose the Great Engineer to get an instant wonder, so I often didn't rush Liberty. (What's the point of rushing to complete the tree if your GE just sits around until you research the tech with the Wonder you really want?) On deity, however, the earlier you get that GP the better. Some strats suggest that you choose a GE & use him to instantly build the National College. (This approach lets you found 4 or even 5 cities super early & buy a library in the last city you found.) Personally, I prefer to only found 2 or 3 cities, manually build the National College, and instead select a Great Scientist. The early science boost he gives is pretty fantastic.
For Honor, the main attraction are the final policies themselves. +exp for your units is pretty amazing... especially for your cho-ko-nu, who get 2 attacks/turn. And the cheaper upgrade costs is a must-have to upgrade all those Composite Bowmen you built while waiting for Machinery to research. (or even better, all those archers you built while waiting for Construction to research). The finisher is nice, but it's only useful when you're at war, and there's a good chance you will still be at peace when you finish the tree.
If you are going to go for Liberty, you might find this guide useful:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=503931
Moriarte (the author) is a well-regarded player.
And this is a guide for Honor by Peddroelm:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=529482