To avoid clattering following thread with off-topic discussion:
Chinese players share wisdom
- Thread starter gavenkoa
- Start date
@bigbamboo
I dropped BULL DLL for pre-chop management.
All that alteration could be done in a way that save files will be compatible with original BtS saves.
"we have enough on our hands right now" (WHEOOH) is much better to see in BUG mod: https://civ4bug.sourceforge.net/BUGMod.html - which is unaltered game rule-set with some visibility of hidden modifiers. It saves time (you mentioned you lack one).
I dropped BULL DLL for pre-chop management.
All that alteration could be done in a way that save files will be compatible with original BtS saves.
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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Thank you for the kind invitation and the helpful reminder! Actually, I’ve been using this HOF MOD for the past month, including participating in the recent Map #286 as the Zulu and Map #287 as Sumeria. I actually tried this MOD years ago, but the BTS coding wasn’t compatible with Chinese systems. When playing BTS, we had to use a program to fix the XML files to adapt to the Chinese system, which unfortunately made it impossible to load GOTM saves. It wasn’t until recently that I found a solution: I switched my system to an English environment, thanks to the convenience of Windows 10
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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By the way, the Zulu game on Map #286 is a modified Great Plains map set to true Deity difficulty—meaning the AI starts with double Settlers, double Workers, and Workers have double road-building efficiency, which is the standard setup. It’s quite similar to a Pangaea map, except there are no Elephants and luxury resources are scarce. On this map, I used the 'Catapult Rush' strategy right from the start, and maybe I got a bit lucky, because it went surprisingly smoothly. I finished the game just a little over 200 turns
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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OK,Here are the videos from my live streams of the 'Horse Archer Rush'
www.bilibili.com
and the 'Catapult Rush.'
www.bilibili.com
Oh, and by the way, my Bilibili avatar is Mr. Satan from Dragon Ball
披甲三千，天下布武1 （神级骑射nosl） 骑射挑选目标与长途奔袭_游戏热门视频
简介：骑射长途奔袭打法；更多实用攻略教学，爆笑沙雕集锦，你所不知道的游戏知识，热门游戏视频7*24小时持续更新,尽在哔哩哔哩bilibili 视频播放量 638、弹幕量 4、点赞数 13、投硬币枚数 4、收藏人数 4、转发人数 0, 视频作者 竹竹子啊啊, 作者简介 ，相关视频：披甲三千 天下布武2 （神级骑射nosl） 骑射打下大地盘如何快速运营和科技，披甲三千，天下布武3 （神级骑射nosl） 100%城堡不炸硬上抢回合数，荷兰的野望2，北境守护 1（查理曼） 神级nosl 穷图烂领袖如何种田，荷兰的野望1，北境守护6（查理曼）神级nosl 完结 文明，神级单属性思辨1...
www.bilibili.com
and the 'Catapult Rush.'
北境守护 1（查理曼） 神级nosl 穷图烂领袖如何种田_游戏热门视频
简介：查理曼公认文明4最拉的领袖，稀烂的初始科技，在劣图的经济表现；已有11名玩家向您推荐本视频，点击前往哔哩哔哩bilibili一起观看；更多实用攻略教学，爆笑沙雕集锦，你所不知道的游戏知识，热门游戏视频7*24小时持续更新,尽在哔哩哔哩bilibili 视频播放量 731、弹幕量 11、点赞数 11、投硬币枚数 3、收藏人数 5、转发人数 0, 视频作者 竹竹子啊啊, 作者简介...
www.bilibili.com
Oh, and by the way, my Bilibili avatar is Mr. Satan from Dragon Ball
bigbamboo
Chieftain
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2023
- Messages
- 55
Maybe it exists here too, but the 'Catapult Rush' strategy in our community was actually first summarized and proposed by a veteran player eight years ago, and it eventually evolved into a complete system. Over time, he became the 'guru'
of this strategy, and his tactical principles turned into doctrine. Here’s how he put it:
Nine tiles around your city, grab those resources tight.
Six cities? That’s your sweet spot—don’t get greedy, keep it light.
More Workers, chop those trees like you’re clearing a crime scene.
Skip the fancy buildings, kill first, ask questions later—stay mean.
Plant villages, connect roads, tweak those tiles just right.
Master the basics of farming, keep your empire tight.
Wonders? Nah, they’re just shiny traps. Build an army instead.
Catapults? Oh yeah, they’ll teach those punks respect—leave ‘em dead.
Thirty units roll out, half Catapults, half swords.
Crush your enemies, take their lands, show ‘em who’s the lord.
Early Great Scientists? Get ‘em. Philosophy’s your golden key.
Trade those techs, stay ahead, dominate the map with glee.
Follow up with Trebuchets, keep the pressure on.
Block Paper, go down the lower tech tree—keep it strong.
Great Scientists for Chemistry, then Steel to seal the deal.
Wrap it up early, claim your victory, make ‘em kneel
of this strategy, and his tactical principles turned into doctrine. Here’s how he put it:Nine tiles around your city, grab those resources tight.
Six cities? That’s your sweet spot—don’t get greedy, keep it light.
More Workers, chop those trees like you’re clearing a crime scene.
Skip the fancy buildings, kill first, ask questions later—stay mean.
Plant villages, connect roads, tweak those tiles just right.
Master the basics of farming, keep your empire tight.
Wonders? Nah, they’re just shiny traps. Build an army instead.
Catapults? Oh yeah, they’ll teach those punks respect—leave ‘em dead.
Thirty units roll out, half Catapults, half swords.
Crush your enemies, take their lands, show ‘em who’s the lord.
Early Great Scientists? Get ‘em. Philosophy’s your golden key.
Trade those techs, stay ahead, dominate the map with glee.
Follow up with Trebuchets, keep the pressure on.
Block Paper, go down the lower tech tree—keep it strong.
Great Scientists for Chemistry, then Steel to seal the deal.
Wrap it up early, claim your victory, make ‘em kneel
Sounds a lot like the Construction into Engineering variation of @Henrik75 's Engineering rush.Maybe it exists here too, but the 'Catapult Rush' strategy in our community was actually first summarized and proposed by a veteran player eight years ago, and it eventually evolved into a complete system. Over time, he became the 'guru'
Nine tiles around your city, grab those resources tight.
Six cities? That’s your sweet spot—don’t get greedy, keep it light.
More Workers, chop those trees like you’re clearing a crime scene.
Skip the fancy buildings, kill first, ask questions later—stay mean.
Plant villages, connect roads, tweak those tiles just right.
Master the basics of farming, keep your empire tight.
Wonders? Nah, they’re just shiny traps. Build an army instead.
Catapults? Oh yeah, they’ll teach those punks respect—leave ‘em dead.
Thirty units roll out, half Catapults, half swords.
Crush your enemies, take their lands, show ‘em who’s the lord.
Early Great Scientists? Get ‘em. Philosophy’s your golden key.
Trade those techs, stay ahead, dominate the map with glee.
Follow up with Trebuchets, keep the pressure on.
Block Paper, go down the lower tech tree—keep it strong.
Great Scientists for Chemistry, then Steel to seal the deal.
Wrap it up early, claim your victory, make ‘em kneel
Btw, I discovered the civ 4 videos on Bilibili, you just need to search for 文明4.
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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- Apr 14, 2023
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He must be a legendary figure indeed! The original version of the 'Catapult Rush' strategy dates back eight years, and now it’s become a prototype. Building on that foundation, we’ve refined the strategy into fast, medium, and slow variations (if you’ve read The Art of War, you’ll know that a strategy often has upper, middle, and lower approaches). By Turn 80, we developed the equally high-success-rate 'Horse Archer Rush,' and by Turn 130, we perfected the 'Trebuchet Rush.' All of these evolved from the inspiration of the 'Catapult Rush.'
Some of our veteran players have mastered these strategies to the point of embodying the Chinese concept of '势' (similar to momentum or pressure—it’s quite abstract). They’ve become like kung fu masters, no longer needing rigid techniques or set patterns like beginners do. Naturally, they can adapt to different situations, whether it’s a Chariot Rush, Axeman Rush, Swordsman Rush, or even an Archer Rush.
One of our veterans even achieved a Deity conquest victory by Turn 77 using Egypt’s War Chariots!
Some of our veteran players have mastered these strategies to the point of embodying the Chinese concept of '势' (similar to momentum or pressure—it’s quite abstract). They’ve become like kung fu masters, no longer needing rigid techniques or set patterns like beginners do. Naturally, they can adapt to different situations, whether it’s a Chariot Rush, Axeman Rush, Swordsman Rush, or even an Archer Rush.
One of our veterans even achieved a Deity conquest victory by Turn 77 using Egypt’s War Chariots!
Do you mean you put some farms for slavory unit production?
What would be the target +4F (2 farms?)
Or you talking about resource sharing in tight city layout?
Found a Deity Cho Ko Nu rush on Bilibili
What about poor starts? I have Immortal game as German & I have to spend 7T on Agriculture, 17T on Bronze Working, then 10+11 on Wheel/Pottery. I wish I had Fishing for +2C in lake or green river hilled mine, early progress is very slow with basic +9Gpt... Like Organized and Philosophical + poor starting tech give little to advance early with no income land. 3 Corn irrigated farm on other hand invite to struggle))
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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The core of the 'Catapult Rush' strategy lies in the development before Turn 100, when you unlock Construction. My friend, you’ve nailed the key point—you’ve got a real talent for this! Our cities should be placed close together when necessary to share resources efficiently. This is because, when using Slavery to speed up production, after whipping away population from high-yield tiles, other cities can quickly fill those spots.
Based on the luxury resources you secure early on, if you don’t have any, try to keep your capital at 5 surplus food and other cities at 4 surplus food. If you have the Charismatic trait, you can increase the cap by +1 for each city, and having two luxury resources also allows for a +1 increase. (Surplus food refers to the remaining food after subtracting tile consumption. For example, at 4 population, with 1 unirrigated Corn tile and 3 Grassland Villages, you’d have 5 surplus food.) So, Farms aren’t always necessary, but Villages are essential—unless you’re running a Lakes economy
. Aim to build at least 2 Villages per city, preferably on shared tiles, with Grassland Villages and Riverside Grassland Villages being the most efficient.
Slavery is absolutely critical. Here’s a simple model for Slavery: whipping 4 population for 2 production. With a Granary, the food-to-hammer ratio is 1:2.4; without a Granary, it’s 1:1.2. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share more details about Slavery and how to nail the timing!
Based on the luxury resources you secure early on, if you don’t have any, try to keep your capital at 5 surplus food and other cities at 4 surplus food. If you have the Charismatic trait, you can increase the cap by +1 for each city, and having two luxury resources also allows for a +1 increase. (Surplus food refers to the remaining food after subtracting tile consumption. For example, at 4 population, with 1 unirrigated Corn tile and 3 Grassland Villages, you’d have 5 surplus food.) So, Farms aren’t always necessary, but Villages are essential—unless you’re running a Lakes economy
. Aim to build at least 2 Villages per city, preferably on shared tiles, with Grassland Villages and Riverside Grassland Villages being the most efficient.Slavery is absolutely critical. Here’s a simple model for Slavery: whipping 4 population for 2 production. With a Granary, the food-to-hammer ratio is 1:2.4; without a Granary, it’s 1:1.2. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share more details about Slavery and how to nail the timing!
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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If you’re stuck with a terrible start—where your initial techs are useless and your Worker has nothing to do at 1 population—the best solution is to go straight for a Settler at 1 population. We call this the 'Naked Settler Rush.' Of course, it’d be even better if you could share the specific starting map and leader, so I can break down the details for you
What about Barracks? Do you skip them? I build them if I don't have Research/Wealth yet, and Granary / Library are already online or when I plan a war.
I tend to skip Archery (even past T120) if there are coast & AIs, blocking Barbs spawn.
So I end up with production of zero experienced Warriors till T80-90. It is for Immortal difficulty I play.
I find Archery important only if there are vast fogged land (what's the point to defend ice/tundra?) and missing nearby AIs & there is no reachable Horses nor Copper.
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bigbamboo
Chieftain
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For the 'Catapult Rush' strategy, within the first 100 turns, we typically only build Granaries, Barracks, and Libraries. The Granary is a must, while Libraries are only needed in the capital and a few border cities. Barracks have the lowest priority—we only build them if there’s no Granary, no need for a Library, or no Warriors to garrison. The goal is to avoid wasting production, as we’ll use Slavery or chop forests to speed up Barracks construction after unlocking Construction.
As for Archery, we usually don’t research it before Construction. It’s more of a side tech that we might pick up through trades. Skilled players can use Warriors garrisoned in border forests or hills to block Barbarians. However, if we have a warmonger neighbor and no access to Copper, we’ll research Pottery and build an Archer for safety.
The essence of the 'Catapult Rush' is to maximize population growth within 100 turns, using Village economies to research Horseback Riding or Aesthetics, trade for Alphabet and Mathematics, and then rush Construction. After that, all cities start whipping with Slavery, and Workers focus on chopping forests—even if Villages have grown to Level 3, we’ll whip the population down to the 4-2 model until half of the AI’s cities are captured. Only then do we slowly regrow population and rework the Villages. This process is like squeezing a soaked sponge—draining every last drop of potential in one go
As for Archery, we usually don’t research it before Construction. It’s more of a side tech that we might pick up through trades. Skilled players can use Warriors garrisoned in border forests or hills to block Barbarians. However, if we have a warmonger neighbor and no access to Copper, we’ll research Pottery and build an Archer for safety.
The essence of the 'Catapult Rush' is to maximize population growth within 100 turns, using Village economies to research Horseback Riding or Aesthetics, trade for Alphabet and Mathematics, and then rush Construction. After that, all cities start whipping with Slavery, and Workers focus on chopping forests—even if Villages have grown to Level 3, we’ll whip the population down to the 4-2 model until half of the AI’s cities are captured. Only then do we slowly regrow population and rework the Villages. This process is like squeezing a soaked sponge—draining every last drop of potential in one go
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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- Apr 14, 2023
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The preparation time for the 'Catapult Rush' is usually 10–15 turns. After unlocking Construction, drop your science slider to 0% and start stockpiling war funds. Your economy will start to crumble, but don’t worry—your army of 30–40 units will keep pushing forward on the front lines. The gold rewards from capturing cities will be enough to fund your research into Code of Laws. Then, use your saved Great Scientist to bulb Philosophy and trade it with the AI for Feudalism and other techs. Once you’ve vassalized your neighbor, they’ll hand over all their techs, and victory will be within your grasp!
I was thinking of making a list of Bilibili accounts that stream on Deity, to be updated over time. I can't really make out the level from the custom game screen, but judging from AI teching it's pretty safe to assume that the following accounts play on that level. @bigbamboo , it would be great if you could add some suggestions 
List:
言峰YF
List:
言峰YF
bigbamboo
Chieftain
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- Apr 14, 2023
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Most of the Civilization IV gameplay videos on Bilibili are based on the Chinese version of the game, and the creators’ commentary is also in Chinese. Does this cause any issues when sharing these videos? If possible, feel free to try out my videos—I’ll give you direct permission to repost them. My Bilibili username is 竹竹子啊啊我正在考虑列出在 Deity 上流式传输的 Bilibili 帐户，以便随着时间的推移进行更新。我无法从自定义游戏屏幕中真正辨别出关卡，但从 AI 技术来看，可以非常安全地假设以下帐户在该关卡上玩。@bigbamboo ，如果您能添加一些建议，那就太好了
列表：
言峰YF
In the future, I’ll share some IDs of veteran players with you. And I’ll help you get authorization.
Tecumseh1
Prince
I would watch them if the videos could have generated english subtitles/cc.
This reads like beautiful poetry
Maybe it exists here too, but the 'Catapult Rush' strategy in our community was actually first summarized and proposed by a veteran player eight years ago, and it eventually evolved into a complete system. Over time, he became the 'guru'
Nine tiles around your city, grab those resources tight.
Six cities? That’s your sweet spot—don’t get greedy, keep it light.
More Workers, chop those trees like you’re clearing a crime scene.
Skip the fancy buildings, kill first, ask questions later—stay mean.
Plant villages, connect roads, tweak those tiles just right.
Master the basics of farming, keep your empire tight.
Wonders? Nah, they’re just shiny traps. Build an army instead.
Catapults? Oh yeah, they’ll teach those punks respect—leave ‘em dead.
Thirty units roll out, half Catapults, half swords.
Crush your enemies, take their lands, show ‘em who’s the lord.
Early Great Scientists? Get ‘em. Philosophy’s your golden key.
Trade those techs, stay ahead, dominate the map with glee.
Follow up with Trebuchets, keep the pressure on.
Block Paper, go down the lower tech tree—keep it strong.
Great Scientists for Chemistry, then Steel to seal the deal.
Wrap it up early, claim your victory, make ‘em kneel
This reads like beautiful poetry
