Civ rookie needing some basic questions answered

[Stormphoenix]

Hey peeps,

Just got Civ 4, and I'm having a blast with it. I've not really played the others in the series, so I'm getting a bit lost when it comes to basic strategy. I understand the game mechanics well enough, but if you could answer a few questiions I might get to the stage where I could venture onto multiplayer without dying horribly

1) I never know which improvements to build in cities - I always stick mines on hills for production and farms on grassland by rivers, and bung cottages on the rest - but what to do with forests? They provide useful production and health... I chop em down if I got plenty of hills but then I miss the health benefits. Any tips here would be useful.

2) Ive only played single player currently, and I play on the easiest setting so that might be the reason for this, but I've never actually been at war with anyone. Im struggling to see the point of the early military units when you dont even see an enemy for ages. I'd like to get some practice at fighting a war in unprepared, what difficulty level do the AI start fighting against you and not just peace?

3) Is there any penalty for having more then one religion in a city? I mean, look at real life, founding Islam and Christianity in the same city would be asking for trouble.. I think I might put in some kind of mod to allow religious in-fighting...

4) First few turns - What to build? Warriors? Let city grow? Settlers?

Thanks everyone

 

[MrCynical]

1)Sounds like you're following a reasonably good strategy for improvements. Forests can be improved with lumbermills later in the game, or alternatively you can clear them to build farms/workshops/cottages.

2)The AI is usually unwilling to enter wars where it doesn't have a chance. On the easiest setting they suffer so many penalties they will never be a threat to you. Push the difficulty up to Noble and you an the AI are basically on level terms, so wars become much more common.

3)Unrealistic as it may seem, it is actually beneficial to have multiple religions in a city. There are several mods in progress to change this.

4)Warriors is generally a good start. If you start with agriculture or mining you might want to start with a worker. Starting with a settler is not a good idea, as your city won't grow for a long time and you'll have trouble paying maintenance on a second city anyway.

 

[Glinka]

1) Forests can provide health benefits, and if you have no hills in the areas, they may be your only source of industry shields. I try to position cities so there are a few hills, and chop forests to get two early buildings: granaries, and forges. After that, I leave them alone unless something big comes along, like an early wonder I want to grab (Oracle, Stonehenge) before anybody else. Forests will sometimes regenerate, but only if 1) you still have a forest to act as a seed generator, and 2) have an adjacent tile that's undeveloped.

2) If you want a little combat experience, seed your next game with Tokugawa and especially Montezuma. Both are warlike, though the first will stab you in the back while the latter will simply push and demand until you refuse--and he'll go for the throat.

3) No penalties at all. In fact, the more religions you found, the more benefits you get (from the standpoint of certain playing strategies). For example, if another civ adopts one of your religions as theirs, you'll be able to see inside all their cities, and even if select cities adapt it, you'll still be able to see inside those. You also avoid the negative of another civ dunning you to switch to the religion they've founded; if you disagree, you incur a very large hit to relations.

4) I typically send my first military unit out looking for natives, and immediately build another one for my first city. Then I go for a barracks or Stonehenge, until that city reaches a population of 3. At that point, I switch to a worker, followed by another warrior, and a settler. The combo is sent out to find a new spot to grow, while I either build another worker or go for the Oracle or Stonehenge.

 

[Gemini1706]

If you want to get your arse kicked in a war , try playing against Ganghis Khan (Mongols). That guy would never let me play peacefully for 5 turns in a row.

As others mentioned, Montezuma is also a warmonger -pain-in-the-arse.
I did not go against him yet since I am still too chicken

 

[Stormphoenix]

Thanks guys, I might try on Noble, because Settler is just boring me.

 

[LordTerror]

1) If you are financial, I would reccomend switching "farms" with "cottages", because on a river/cottage you get an increase only from the spaces with 2+ gold from a financial leader. (Note: I would reccomend a financial leader, but it is definatly not required). I would reccomend almost never building farms except places that you use Slavery alot and in places that you want to build up to a high population. (Note: Generally, getting a high population just causes sickness and angriness. More small cities that pay for themselves with cottages are gernerally more productive than a few small cities that also pay for themselves). For lumber, I would reccomend chopping ALL near-by trees eventually. They provide health benfifits, but 2 health for 5 trees is not even close to the 10 food you get for 5 farms or 35 gold for 5 towns. They provide production, but 1 production is nothing compaired to the 3 production you get if you uncover a hill and put a mine on it. The production bonus you get is HUGE in the early game. It's great for making wonders (they require alot of production) and settlers/workers (they require food).

2) By the time you get to Noble, they should delcare war on you for almost no reason. If you just want to start a war, you could just declare war on them, though.

3) It's harder to add a third religion. Other than that, there is no penalty for adding relgions. Unless you have "free religion" civic, there is no great bonus, though.

4) Worker for sure. Pick a civ that starts with Mining and start the city off with creating a Worker. Get the first tech to be Bronze Working. Once the worker comes out and Bronze Working is ready, start chopping trees. Trees give you a huge production boost. Generally, I would not reccomend building any units except workers and settlers untill you get archery (workers work scouting on No Barb games, scouts die quick on Barb games, warriors can't really defend or attack, warriors are expensive to upgrade early on, etc). Unfortunatly, this may not work on high difficulties, against humans, if you get archery late, or if you piss everyone off right away.

Thanks guys, I might try on Noble, because Settler is just boring me.

Woah, one difficulty at a time.

It gets hard very quickly.

 

[kb2tvl]

The best answer for you is to read the succession games and the game of the month. Succesion games are listed under stories and tales. These games explain the tatics with saved games!