[vanilla] Civilization Guide: America (vanilla)

[Bandobras Took]

Bandobras Took submitted a new resource:

Civilization Guide: America - Civilization Guide: America

America

Washington​

Introduction

In its founding and since, America has been a civilization in many ways shaped and defined by its wars. From the ideals of the Revolutionary War to its...

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[Morpheas]

Really like the screenshots of blocking liz to your south. Very useful information.

Perhaps an article on blocking would be helpful ^_^

Overall, love this article. I wasn't initially interested in the American civ, but after reading some more in-depth strategy here, I will be trying them out for a domination victory.

 

[ShahJahanII]

Really like the screenshots of blocking liz to your south. Very useful information.

Perhaps an article on blocking would be helpful ^_^

Overall, love this article. I wasn't initially interested in the American civ, but after reading some more in-depth strategy here, I will be trying them out for a domination victory.

Same.
A lot of these civs aren't that great until you read about them.

Question, is it better to take Honor with America, or Liberty to expand faster?
You could do both, but I have seen this proves too difficult and you will have to sacrifice taking more powerful trees later on.

 

[Bandobras Took]

Long-term, Honor is the better choice; if you aren't warring with America, you're not using their potential, and Honor has better support for warring.

Which isn't to say that a quick dip for a free Settler won't be worthwhile, but it puts you that much further behind on getting maintenance-free happiness from defensive buildings and 50% extra experience from combat.

 

[Antarion]

i often mix 2 of the starting trees nevertheless and liberty is also in most cases a must have if you want still have a chance for a culture victory.

 

[Bandobras Took]

If I want a chance at cultural victory, I don't exactly sprint toward America in the first place.

 

[ShahJahanII]

If I want a chance at cultural victory, I don't exactly sprint toward America in the first place.

True that.

 

[Antarion]

i always try to have this option...doesnt matter which civ!

 

[Bandobras Took]

I understand the sentiment, but this is a guide to a Civ, not exactly a guide to keeping your options open.

 

[ak47_refugee]

very well written and informative guide, thanks a lot

 

[ahawk]

I agree Minuteman is far better in actually game-play than on paper. When I first played America, I didn't put two-and-two together: the UA gives the Minuteman the ability to both see, and move, farther than almost any other similar unit in rough terrain. At first glance in writing, you forget about the UA's synergy with the Minuteman.

Play Highlands as a map setting with America, and tear up the competition. Anything with a lot of hills (or forests or jungle) makes for an interesting situation where you can both see, and attack, the enemy sometimes before they know what's coming.

 

[limitedwhole]

I respectfully disagree with the posters assessment that you should play Gerorge WAshington as a warmonger. The most powerful part of the manifest destiny is the tile grabbing. WAshington can scout and scoop up land and expand like no other. You are always working the best tiles and you are taking land away from your enemies at the same time you are purchasing it for yourself. I very often put a city or two close to opposing cities and steal all the tiles leaving him with a weak city not capable of developing well. George Washington is an empire builder. He is best used with an expansionist with a limited war doctrine. The Minuteman is an excellent hybrid unit useful for mantaining control of a hot border region. It is also the perfect unit to gift to a city state when you want them to have more fight in them (Two of these with a cannon is a mighty gift indeed!). The Bomber is once again most useful in limited war when in support of a weaker army. A weaker army with the support of washingtons bombers will inflict heavy damages on your enemy. I recommend using an expansionist strategy whenever you start with land available and then focusing on power projection by giving city states good military units and supporting them with your superior naval and airforce powers.

 

[tetley]

Washington's Minutemen and B-17's are just so awesome I have to agree that America is a warmonger. Just not necessarily a warmonger prior to Renaissance. You kind of need a decent number of cities prior to getting Minutemen, so that you can spam them once they're researched. IMHO what you do up to Medieval is kind of flexible, but once you hit Renaissance you need to be steamrolling with Minutemen.

 

[limitedwhole]

The minutemen are pretty sweet. Here are a couple tips I figured out.

1) Regular minutemen are good. No barracks needed in all your towns. Take the opportunity to cue of units in all your towns. Use them to soak up casualties. If they survive they will get promoted to Drill II or become medics.

2) Don't underestimate Cover 1+2. In any war plan or defense plan there will be the places you aren't launching an offensive from. Cover 1+2 let you withstand artillery fire so well. In this case you aren't attacking just trading artillery fire and holding the line, and you get your combat bonuses from terrain, adjacency, and fortification. No need to upgrade the drill on your defensive fighters. Make you sure you have a medic in the line behind them.

3) Don't be afraid to select shock line. Just because the unit starts with drill 1 doesn't mean you always have to go the drill rout. Minutmen function excellently at hybrid fighters.

 

[Bandobras Took]

I respectfully disagree with the posters assessment that you should play Gerorge WAshington as a warmonger. The most powerful part of the manifest destiny is the tile grabbing. WAshington can scout and scoop up land and expand like no other. You are always working the best tiles and you are taking land away from your enemies at the same time you are purchasing it for yourself. I very often put a city or two close to opposing cities and steal all the tiles leaving him with a weak city not capable of developing well.

Unless the AI has significantly changed, such behavior will leave you embroiled in a war; thus, I would stand by my original assessment of warmonger.

 

[Kerosene31]

Great read! I always thought that the American civ doesn't get enough respect. It can actually be a lot of fun to play. The +1 sight seems to be undervalued by many.

 

[Bandobras Took]

Quick-And-Dirty Gods & Kings Note Rather Than In-Depth Examination:

Longswords now upgrade to Musketmen.
Great War Bombers upgrade to Bombers.

In both these cases, this means America no longer has to hard-build their UUs when they become available; however, with the advantage of the UUs being advanced promotions, previous units upgrading may not be as big a deal as it first sounds.

With the possibility of huts giving Faith and being the first to meet Religious city-states thanks to their enhanced vision, America may be a sleeper for Religion -- no inherent bonuses, but always a possibility.

 

[Ozymandias9891]

Wow, have I been doing it wrong all this time! I've been going for cultural or science victories with the Americans. But after having read this, I think I'll try using these strategies and see what results I get.

Thanks for this!

 

[Bobby Digital]

I've been playing America pretty much exclusively, but I find that I have a lot of difficulty taking my games beyond normal difficulty. I play as Prince, I'll do fine. I move up to King, and I get rushed by multiple armies within the classical era. How would you recommend taking America across the threshold into the higher difficulty games?

For what it's worth, I tend to play marathon games on large maps.

 

[ArchyDarky]

I really liked this guide. I am pretty terrible with America and have always attempted to play them as a coastal civ (building many cities on the periphery). I've failed as a result, and your emphasis on warmongering makes a lot of sense.