Condensed tips for beginners?

[mystyfly]

Teching IW early usually isn't much of a good idea. I play on higher levels (immortal or deity) and usually barb axes are no issue as the whole world is covered in cities. If there is still space for barbs to spawn tough, fogbust.

If there's no horse/copper near your capital to get with the second city, tech archery.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Teching IW early usually isn't much of a good idea. I play on higher levels (immortal or deity) and usually barb axes are no issue as the whole world is covered in cities. If there is still space for barbs to spawn tough, fogbust.

If there's no horse/copper near your capital to get with the second city, tech archery.

yanner39 already has archery
I agree fogbusting would be a good idea but so would a military resource
remember most of the people asking q. in a thread called "Condensed tips for beginners" aren't going to be playing at immortal/diety and the game plays very differently at lower levels especially in terms of how quickly the AI expands

 

[Sisiutil]

Good stuff. Thank you.

In addition, fortify your Archers on good defensive terrain. Barb Axemen will usually attack fog-busters, but even Archers can withstand Axe attacks if they're, say, fortified on a forested hill. Archers get a built-in +25% bonus for being on a hill, up to another 25% for being fortified, another +25% from the hill's "defensive terrain", and +50% for the same from a forest. So, a whopping +125% bonus if they're fortified on a forested (or jungled) hill, and that's before any promotions are counted!

If the fortified Archer dies, the barb Axe should be so weakened by the attack that another Archer should be able to kill them (just wait until they move to flat terrain--barbs are often obligingly stupid that way).

 

[yanner39]

In addition, fortify your Archers on good defensive terrain. Barb Axemen will usually attack fog-busters, but even Archers can withstand Axe attacks if they're, say, fortified on a forested hill. Archers get a built-in +25% bonus for being on a hill, up to another 25% for being fortified, another +25% from the hill's "defensive terrain", and +50% for the same from a forest. So, a whopping +125% bonus if they're fortified on a forested (or jungled) hill, and that's before any promotions are counted!

If the fortified Archer dies, the barb Axe should be so weakened by the attack that another Archer should be able to kill them (just wait until they move to flat terrain--barbs are often obligingly stupid that way).

I often don't think about these bonuses but it's so true.

Thanks again.

 

[yanner39]

When the city is producing a unit or building, it goes in the queue and indicates the number of turns it will take to complete. Does the number of turns include other Civs turns?

Say there are 6 Civs in a game, which means there are 6 turns. During my turn, I queue 3 Axemen which take 2 turns each (for example). This should mean that when it is my turn next, I should have 3 Axemen ready to go?

Correct?

 

[AmazonQueen]

When the city is producing a unit or building, it goes in the queue and indicates the number of turns it will take to complete. Does the number of turns include other Civs turns?

Say there are 6 Civs in a game, which means there are 6 turns. During my turn, I queue 3 Axemen which take 2 turns each (for example). This should mean that when it is my turn next, I should have 3 Axemen ready to go?

Correct?

no, the no. of turns listed is the number of your turns it will take to complete the unit/building etc

think of it as each AI having 1 go in a given turn, not as each AI having a seperate turn

 

[yanner39]

no, the no. of turns listed is the number of your turns it will take to complete the unit/building etc

think of it as each AI having 1 go in a given turn, not as each AI having a seperate turn

Thanks. So when it asked me what I want to build next and it says Axeman (6), that means that that it will take 6 of my turns to produce? So the more production I have the faster things will get produced.

What about technology? If it says that Currency (62), that means it will take sixty two turns to research the technology?

Sorry for the dumb questions.

 

[JujuLautre]

Everything (research, production, whip anger...) lasts for a certain number of *your* turns; it never includes other civ's turns.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Thanks. So when it asked me what I want to build next and it says Axeman (6), that means that that it will take 6 of my turns to produce? So the more production I have the faster things will get produced.

What about technology? If it says that Currency (62), that means it will take sixty two turns to research the technology?

Sorry for the dumb questions.

Yes
However with very long time periods your city may have grown and be working extra tiles reducing the time to build/research slightly

There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers which I shall try to provide

 

[Rolzup]

Here's a hopefully simple question for my first post....

I've got a lot of experience with CivII (I would go to bed at 3:00 AM and be plagued by vivid dreams of tank units sliding along my railroad tracks towards the Celtic capital...ah, to be in college again!), a little with CivIII, and about two weeks of CivIV under my belt.

In the games that I've been playing (Warlord and under at this point) I've been having the same trouble in the Modern era: an agressive neighbor overhwhelms me with such a flood of troops that even a significant tech advantage is entirely useless.

It's not what I'm used to from my earlier versions of Civ, where four or five units was general enough to defend against the AI civs. At least, long enough for me to get some reinforcements there.

Last night I moved a stack of about 15 units into enemy territory, only to watch the entire stack wiped out by seemingly interminble number of enemies.

What's the guideline? How many units do you need to attack and defend with in the modern era? And how do you produce that many without crippling your other areas of production?

 

[Sisiutil]

Welcome to CFC, Rolzup!

The key isn't really numbers but relative strength. Keep your eye on the power graph (F9, then change the display using the top-left drop-down list). If your power rating is significantly lower than that of your rivals, you may be in trouble. (Keep in mind that in Beyond the Sword, you need to accumulate enough espionage points against your rivals to see their demographic data, such as power level; in plain ol' original Civ IV, this is not a concern.)

Older units still count towards your power rating (just less effectively as time goes on), as do military buildings (barracks and drydocks). The best plan of action is to keep producing military units steadily, interspersed with your civilian builds, as the game goes on; dedicate one production-heavy city to pumping out military units almost exclusively (build the Heroic Epic there to help). But build units every now and then in your other cities as well. Upgrade units with a significant number of promotions, replace those without.

 

[Silverdawn]

Continue to build a significant number of siege units like artillery to weaken their stacks. In the modern era, fighters and especially bombers become available to help with this and have the advantage of longer range.

Adjusting tactics might also be helpful. Was your stack of 15 a mixture of units that could counter what they were attacking you with? Did you put your stack on defensible terrain to get some advantages when they attacked you? Were you aware they had such larger numbers before you attacked because of scouting or did they surprise you?

To reduce the size of stacks in the modern era, killing or significantly curtailing AIs in earlier eras is helpful.

 

[JTMacc99]

I've got a lot of experience with CivII

Heh. Me too. I would say the BIG thing I needed to break myself of from Civ II was that it is much better policy in Civ IV to fight your big wars well before the modern era. There are so many more things to say about how to do that, but I think that is number one adjustment I needed to make between the two games.

 

[ashille]

another slightly noobish first post question. just wondering, what is the recommended number of AI civs to play against on a standard size fractal map?

 

[CCRunner]

Whatever the default number is is normal. I like to add a few civs depending on the map size. Usually 2 or 3 for standard. They make warring easier I feel as long as you can still get resources.

 

[Silverdawn]

For standard it is 7.

This PDF by Anion is excellent. You can find the info on page 75.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=236346

 

[Sisiutil]

another slightly noobish first post question. just wondering, what is the recommended number of AI civs to play against on a standard size fractal map?

It would depend upon what type of game you like to play.

As mentioned above, the default number is seven civs on a standard size map. This tends to give you a good balance of room to grow and nearby civs to trade with and/or war upon.

However, if you find you're getting easily out-REXed early on, you may prefer to reduce the number of civs by a couple so that you have more room. Just understand that this will definitely mean more barbarians, since there's more unclaimed "fog" for them to spawn in, and be prepared for them. On a fractal map, it also increases the chances of being isolated--which you may prefer. Fewer civs would also benefit you if your play style is more like a peaceful builder.

If you're more of a warmonger, however, you may prefer to increase the number of civs by two or so. This will give you more targets to choose from (and potential allies as well). It also increases the number of potential trading partners so you can keep up in technologies while your research rate inevitably decreases during a war.

So basically, decide upon what type of game you want to play and base the number of civs upon that.

 

[ashille]

thanks guys your ALC threads are awesome sisi

 

[Alhole]

I just started playing for real after reading every ALC (it took a while). I'm winning comfortably on Warlord so I'm hoppin on up to Noble, and I just have a few questions. Why is it when I tell the governor to stop putting in specialists I'll check a few turns later and find one of my scientists decided to become an engineer? Also, where can i download the mod in this screenshot? (I grabbed it from one of obsolete's threads. I was looking for his strategies since the screenshots aren't in the threads in the sample game directory. If they're rehosted anywhere and you know that'd be
swt)

 

[CCRunner]

Here is the Mod. It's called Bts Unaltered Gameplay or BUG.

For the second question is the the automate governor button on? It was for me for quite a few games. Otherwise click the emphasize option.