Civ strategies you ALWAYS/NEVER do

[Mahatmajon]

There are many strategies on this site that I never would have considered. Even with new tactics I've learned here I find that I (almost) ALWAYS do some things in my games and (almost) NEVER do others. I'm curious to see what other people always/never do and to find strategies that I'm missing. All this assumes single player games. For reference, I usually play on Monarch.

ALWAYS
Attack with Axemen and/or Swordsmen before Construction/catapults
Upgrade Catapults & Cannons with Barrage and count on them for suicide/collateral damage
Give Archers/Longbowmen City Garrison and don't use them in offensive armies (exception is an occasional Guerilla II)
Build Stonehenge
Use the GP from Stonehenge to build a religious shrine or to rush a tech to get a religion
Chop all trees on hills, along rivers, & plains with fresh water
Chop most grassland trees
(usually) Go to BW ASAP and time a worker so it pops out the turn before BW is discovered

NEVER
Build Explorers
Build Crossbowmen
Build horse units that aren't UU's (I hate not having City Raider promotions and they aren't good for defensive troops)
Build Musketmen
Give drill promotions (until tanks)
Give amphibious promotions
Use State Property (probably because I don't play enough large/huge maps)
Build watermills
"Save" forests to build lumbermills on them
Build Chichen Itza

 

[jeremiahrounds]

I like my mounted archers. I like the way i can mass and react quickly with units of 2 movement. I hate getting pillaged.

 

[Crighton]

I don't rely on mounted units much, since moving up to Prince though I've started make some use of Knights and Crossbowman. I try to get a few early victories with sword/axe men combo's then again with cats.

I don't use amphibious much (if at all). I try to get my force to the enemy lands then steam roll it until it's my land.

I RARELY if ever will build a musket man, next to never to be honest.

I do pay close attention to religion since controlling the holy cities and shrines = mucho dinero, muuuuuuucho dinero, especially if you control a dominant or widespread religion or two, easily funds military expansion.

Chichen Iza, yeah, only when I can't afford to build more units and have some time to kill, the city defense bonus occaisionally comes in handy I suppose, maybe.

 

[al_thor]

I agree with much of that except that I, too, love the Horse Archer (and even the EARLY Chariot). The movement two means that I need less of them to cover my small empire from barb incursions. I'll have chariots with 3 or 4 promotions from killing barb archers and warriors and even axe. Upgraded to Horse (rare because of the large cost in the early game) or even left as Chariot, they can be quite effective when you are ready for your first war. I use the Retreat upgrade. The level 2 Retreat gives a very nice 50% chance. The reatreating unit still gets XP. Try it. You'll be impressed with how effective the lowly chariot can be. Send them against those City Defense-promoted Archers. They will retreat and take that archer down to 1HP.

Always:
Get Pottery ASAP (after BW) for cottage spamming.

(almost always) Build Pyramids & Great Lib.

Chop rush workers with same priority as the first few settlers.

Only get Archery if there is no Copper within reasonable reach.

(almost always) Build a 2nd Scout if I'm playing a civ that starts with a Scout. I have had some HUGE success with Scouts: free BronzeW, free IronW, free Writing, free Agr. Lots of gold. Free warriors. Free Scouts. Not to mention the map knowledge. They are indespensible actually.

Build Explorers when I have civics or buildings that will give them 2 upgrades out of the gate. First promotion: Strength. Second: Medic. Now you have a unit that can keep up with horse (and later tanks and other multi-movement units) and heal them on the way. INDESPENSIBLE especially if you can give them Medic II.

Keep at least 2 forests for health and later Lumber Mills and Rail.

Never:
Build workshops.
Build the Ironclads (whatever the name is).

 

[gunkulator]

I like to build Cavalry and give them Flanking I and II. You'll have a unit that withdraws more often than not meaning you're not spending as many shields rebuilding your offense. Mounted units are also ideally suited to pillaging.

If I'm Creative, there's no point in building Stonehenge.

 

[al_thor]

Yeah - FLANKING is what I meant (not Retreat). I think that is an often under-valued, under-used promotion.

 

[jpowers]

ALWAYS
- Leave 1-2 warriors guarding my cities until way too late into the game because I don't research archery because I want to get all the other cool stuff and who needs bows and arrows anyway which is why I can never win higher than Noble.
- Wait until well into the 1700's before even considering what I want to do about victory conditions which is why I never get cultural victories

OFTEN
- Adopt free religion really early because I can and because everyone hates me the turn before and loves me the turn afterward. If the real world worked that way, we'd constantly be attacking/attacked because of our beliefs in a never-ending spiral of religious intolerance. Hey, wait a minute...

SELDOM
- Go warmongering because the AI sees fit to give me an aggressive civilization with a good, early UU if and only if it also gives me an isolated island start with no copper or iron.

NEVER
- Get tired of starting a new game with all random settings because this version rocks!

 

[VirtualM]

I ALWAYS:
- hit F6, Bronze Working after founding my first city. (only to find out that there's no bronze on the ENTIRE ******* continent. (6 times in a row no bronze or iron on my continent, people))
- have a warrior in my capital city protecting it the entire game.
- always start worker-settler
- aim for the Oracle on levels below emperor
- chop rush
- carefully plan where to put my 2nd to 4th city
- try to get 2 commando's

I NEVER
- build ironclads
- build Chichen Itza
- cheat
- play terra because the AI doesn't realize there's another continent (which makes it very unfair.

 

[Dusty Monkey]

I especialy like mounted units.

I would beeline for Animal Husbandry if Bronze Working didn't give so damn much.

 

[The Omega]

Build Explorers

Explores can be useful in Terra maps, since they're really good at exlporing stuff. But then you have to worry about them being killed by hordes of barbs.

 

[ArmoredCavalry]

SELDOM
- Go warmongering because the AI sees fit to give me an aggressive civilization with a good, early UU if and only if it also gives me an isolated island start with no copper or iron.

you do realize you don't need a UU or an agressive civ to go warmongering. I rushed elizibeth with axmen/horse archers as GHANDI.

As to the horse unit comment. I love cavalry, but that's just a preference of warfare style (hate how they upgrade to gunships instead of tanks, have to rebuild my entire army, but it does have it's merits). anyway, here's my Always/Never


Always
-build a massive infrastructure of railroads
-seem to go to war because of a resource I don't have
-adopt representation, free trade, organized religion, serfordom, burocracy,
then universal sufferage, free speech, emancipation, state property, and free religion
-make friends with catherine
-kill the greeks
-kill the chinese
-fight a war with cavalry
-defend my nation with 2 SoD on 2 different fronts
-have a particular goal in mind
-Nuke Hiroshima and Nakasaki if they exist

Never
-require a large navy
-defend inner cities with a post ancient unit
-give tribute
-build cities in tundra (with one exeption, a city with 3 silver, 1 urainium, 1iron)
-use enviormentalism, theocracy, vassalage, police state, slavery (im a benevolent leader), or pacifism.

 

[[Comrade]RaVE]

Always:
-Use State Property (if available).
-Leave as many forests as possible for later use.
-Build as many (rail)roads as possible; construct (rail)roads to future city sites.
-Pillage...pillage...pillage... (attack choppers are the best for this)
-Deny Cease Fires.
-Stockpile ICBMs.
-Build a massive airforce.
-Build the UN.
-Play Large Continent Maps.
-...or Terra.

Sometimes:
-Use Environmentalism.
-Use Police State.
-Nuke cities if I'm not patient enough for artillery to arrive.
-Raze holy cities.
-Rush to establish Judaism or Confucianism.
-Play isolationist.

Never:
-Use Theocracy. (I want all the religions I can get)
-Use Pacifism.
-Use Free Market.
-Use Vassalage.
-Keep anything I don't intend on using.
-Drop Research below 30%.
-Give in to AI demands.

 

[Sisiutil]

Cool thread. My list is, of course, subject to change as I move up the game levels and find new tricks (currently enjoying success on Noble, probably go up to Prince soon):

ALWAYS
- Bee-line to Bronze Working for chopping, Axemen
- Chop all forests in each fat square except two for later health/lumbermills
- Build every National Wonder available
- Build a thorough road, then railroad network
- Found at least one religion
- Go to war with Isabella
- Build and use several of my Civ's UUs

USUALLY
- Fight an early war to wipe out my nearest rival--especially if we're on a continent by ourselves
- Avoid founding a city near too many flood plain tiles, as tempting as that is, unless I'm playing as an Expansive civ
- Build Great Library, Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Rock and Roll, Hollywood, Pentagon, Three Gorges Dam, Eiffel Tower
- Upgrade the most experienced units from an early war to riflemen, then infantry
- Don't build watermills or city walls

NEVER
- Build Chichen Itza, Angkor Wat, Stonehenge, Colussus...pretty much any early World Wonder
- Build workshops, obelisks, crossbowmen, musket men, grenadiers, or ironclads

 

[atreas]

Always:
-Listen to my son's laughs when he sees (again) that my capital's protection is just the lone warrior I built in 4000BC.
-Play Large maps.
-Build a lot of cities but capture even more.
-Start wars immediately after my third axeman comes out of the box, if I play an Aggressive civ.
-"Forget" to build any kind of wooden ship when playing in Pangea maps.
-"Forget" to build mounted units before knights, and then "forget" to build melee units forever.
-Build the Pyramids and the Stonehedge, but forget anything that has to do with religion until much later.
-Surprise at least one civ with axes, one with cavalries, and one with Tanks.
-Manage to have at least 6 Infantry units with City Raider 3 - they are cool.
-After declaring war, I always give AI enough time to bring his troops into my territory for their death - it is so much easier this way! Only exception: if AI is just left with 2 cities and is ready to die.

Never:
-Build explorers, ironclads, Angkor, Chichen, and first of all VERSAILLES.
-Attack another civ at cases I predict a stalemate - when I attack, it ends quickly.

 

[jeremiahrounds]

"I especialy like mounted units.

I would beeline for Animal Husbandry if Bronze Working didn't give so damn much. "

Same one of the things that keeps horse archers down is that in addition to axemen, in addition to chopping down forest, you get pop rushing with bronze working. Thats just silly.

Slavery should be with horse archers i think for best game play. Then you would have a "pop rushing/ horse arching" choice versus a "tree chopping /axemen city raider" choice which i think would be alot more interesting.

 

[[Comrade]RaVE]

Oh, I forgot...

I also always use spies before modern conflicts. I send them in to investigate, sabotage various improvements (for a moderate cost), and get as much information on cities as possible.

 

[Mutineer]

I useally play Monarch to, but my list is different.

ALWAYS
Attack with Axemen and/or Swordsmen before Construction/catapults - yes
Upgrade Catapults & Cannons with Barrage and count on them for suicide/collateral damage - No, I like city raider one's.
Give Archers/Longbowmen City Garrison and don't use them in offensive armies (exception is an occasional Guerilla II)- No, often I use archers to attack barb archer on open and for busters. For attacking they getting first strike promotions. For for busting - Guerilla. Long and archrs get GUerilla for stack defence.
Build Stonehenge - not often, only if waranted.
Use the GP from Stonehenge to build a religious shrine or to rush a tech to get a religion- only as situation, some times it just become supperspecialist.
Chop all trees on hills, along rivers, & plains with fresh water
Chop most grassland trees.--- Actially I chop grasland, but often elave lot of trees if health needed.
(usually) Go to BW ASAP and time a worker so it pops out the turn before BW is discovered- yes

NEVER
Build Explorers - I build them. Galey time exploration and cyicide/scouts.
Build Crossbowmen - build if behind in military tech, usefull agains Macemans.
Build horse units that aren't UU's (I hate not having City Raider promotions and they aren't good for defensive troops) - yes
Build Musketmen- try it, actially at that time I get Nationalism and draft them.
Give drill promotions (until tanks) - true
Give amphibious promotions- true
Use State Property (probably because I don't play enough large/huge maps)-true
Build watermills- I build them in later cities destignate as industrial.
"Save" forests to build lumbermills on them
Build Chichen Itza - build it, if I can cheaply and want more GP points.

Actially what I never did but wanted to try is to finance my empire by pillaging-raising in distant war. Just capturing near by cities allway seems to be a better option.

 

[MasterShake]

Always: Oracle
other than that I like to try most of the stragies on this sight

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Always
Lose track of my cities after a couple wars (especially if I play one of the native civs where they all sound like giberish anyways)
Hold off on national epic until I determine where it will help but not block a better national wonder combo, by which time it is too late to help.
Try to found two or three religions first
Have double anyone's culture and a third their power. (Oh sure, attack me because your people like me better than you!)

Usually
Avoid continents and archepeligo (sp?) maps, because ships can't carry enough to make wars any fun.

 

[n0xie]

Always:
- Beeline for BW (gee wonder why)
- Beeline for Writing (library) and alphabet (trading all the techs you skipped) after BW
- Add 2 specialist scientists to library as soon as it finishes (if there is a food bonus resource) to force an early acadamy
- Usually try to Oracle slingshot to Civil Survice for Bureaucracy and to found Confusionism
- Go worker, warrior, worker, warrior, settler in my first city (with a little help from chopping and switching between warriors and worker/settler so the latter get the chop hammers), using the first warrior as additional scout and the 2nd warrior to defend city. Usually use the first warrior for fog gazing when barbs are suppossed to come wondering about.
- Chop 2 more workers in my 2nd city. Four workers is a good number to start your first 5-7 cities with.
- Try to create a good production city as one of my first 2-3 cities for wonders/units
- Try to build Great Library, Pyramids or Oracle, depending on the AI
- Never build Stonehenge UNLESS I have stone really close
- Try to create a cottagecity for science/gold
- Try to avoid going to war as much as possible till my economy/cities are strong and I'm prepared
- End the game with the first warrior I ever build still fortified in my starting city
- Suck at diplomacy