Condensed tips for beginners?

But do you need to stay in the AP religion yourself to win? Seems like it would be hard to get the AI to vote for you without shared religion...

Civic + OB + peace + fairtrade is usually enough for +8 at least - if not, there's always city liberation etc funkier stuff. There won't be much heathen hate if you just ninjachange your religion for the voting. You will be put on the vote even without it (since you're the AP controller) but religion gives double votes which might or might not be necessary.
 
Oh okay, quite a few differences from the UN victory it seems. Guess there hasn't been a whole lot compiled on it because everyone sees it as such a cheesy victory. I did find some educational threads in the HoF forum though, from past religious gauntlets. Thanks for the info!
 
Easiest way for AP win is build it in a religion nobody cares about that you dominate. Right after you build AP, switch out of that religion and back to the one your friend's in. Spread it to all their cities (since they'll likely stay in their other one, they are neither in the religion nor the owner of the AP, so they won't be eligible to be elected even if they have more votes than you). Then, spread it to one city for everyone else. If they're in theocracy, you can be cheesy and get open borders and just gift them the missionary (they'll spread it to one of their cities).

It is cheesy (if you do it like I mentioned). It can be not cheesy, though. You are part of the well-established religion block. Someone builds AP. You are first in pop, so you go against someone else. Everyone likes you better than the other person you're up against. Then you just need a little bit of spread to everyone else and you've won. Basically the same as a diplo win, except not all the cities on the planet count.
 
I believe if you built it you can go with any religion. You can find good info about the AP here
 
Hi I have a question, (I'm a complete beginner btw)
I am trying to win by conquest, so I have to eliminate all other civs without spreading to more than 65% if the map (as that would trigger domination victory). So i've just been razing all cities I conquer.
However, I made two other civs my vassals by capitulations and voluntary, so how can I attack them now? Is there a way I can cancel the capitulation and destroy them?
I tried to go into "what current deals we have" and clicked on capitulation but it said "cannot cancel this right now". There is also no "i'll stick your head on a pole option either" so I can't go to war that way :(
The only thing I thought of was to demand everything they had on the screen to make them so angry they went to war but they accepted it? Help!
 
Hi I have a question, (I'm a complete beginner btw)
I am trying to win by conquest, so I have to eliminate all other civs without spreading to more than 65% if the map (as that would trigger domination victory). So i've just been razing all cities I conquer.
However, I made two other civs my vassals by capitulations and voluntary, so how can I attack them now? Is there a way I can cancel the capitulation and destroy them?
I tried to go into "what current deals we have" and clicked on capitulation but it said "cannot cancel this right now". There is also no "i'll stick your head on a pole option either" so I can't go to war that way :(
The only thing I thought of was to demand everything they had on the screen to make them so angry they went to war but they accepted it? Help!

Having all alive opponents as vassals triggers Conquest victory, so you have nothing to worry about ;)

Getting rid of vassals is quite troublesome. Only way to do it is to coax them to break free which is very hard and has certain requirements in case of capitulation. But as said you don't need to do that.
 
If you capitulate everyone, that counts as a conquest victory. In BtS and Warlords, taking everyone as your vassal is actually the fastest way to a conquest victory - much faster than actually destroying everyone.

To answer your question - taking a vassal through capitulation can not be cancelled through trade. Only if you no longer meet the requirements is the deal cancelled (mouse over their name in the bottom right of the screen and it says things like "50% land of master" etc).

It sounds like you are doing just fine :) Keep capitulating them and you'll soon have your victory.
 
When playing on a pre-made map, such as the Earth 18 Civs map, how do you change the starting locations of civs? (hoping theres a way other than worldbuilder?)
 
Oh okay, quite a few differences from the UN victory it seems. Guess there hasn't been a whole lot compiled on it because everyone sees it as such a cheesy victory. I did find some educational threads in the HoF forum though, from past religious gauntlets. Thanks for the info!
there is abundant literature on cheesy AP victories in the HoF subforum.
The trick obviously is to be in your target religion on the turn you finsih it and then never again, or possibly just between the vote and the counting ...

What you seem ignorant of and that is of higher value, is the way diplomacy goes.
Maybe I should write a "ways into diplo points":mischief:.

Quick summary
bonus diplo moves
- peace, growing with turns (doesn't get big AFAIK, +2 max?)

- open borders, growing with turns (+1 after a while, max depends on the AI AFAIK)

- "fair trade" (aka getting ripped of in a trade), max +4, grows with unfair trade benefitting the AI. gifting something to an AI you just met (= on the turn you meet him) gives you instant +4.

- same religion, growing with turns, can be big, depending on the AI (+7 for isa isn't rare)

- same "favourite" civic, growing with turns, can be significant depending on the AI. you need to keep using the AIs favourite civic and he needs to be running it too. One of the easy ways to cheese your way to an AP win (because many AIs favour organized religion, which is easy to get early + beneficial while building a wonder).

- mutual struggle = bash the same dead horse. you can keep a war going for ages and grow this one quite high.

- giving help/tribute = give in to an AI's demand. if he was happy before, he'll be even happier, if he was angry before, he'll be less angry + won't declare for a while. It's not very big, but you also get the fair trade in the same time + it's sometimes easy.

- accepting favourite civic = agree to changing to an AI's favourite civic. same as giving help, it's not very big, but it's fast and also gives you the shared civics after a while.

- accepting a religion change = agree to changing to an AI's state religion. same as giving help, it's not very big, but it's fast and also gives you the shared religion after a while.

- providing resources = selling or gifting resources to an AI. grow with turns x number of resources. You can gift resources as soon as you have a trade network to an AI's capital. so this one is easy (you don't need most of the resources in the beginning) and early (no real prereqs, but having the wheel or sailing helps a lot). You can grow it faster by selling/gifting several resources.

- sharing technology = trading monopoly techs to an AI. Not all AIs care, but some do. Mansa Musa for instance.

I certainly missed some, but working those will net you enough diplo +s for a diplo win.

negative diplo moves
- war (duh!, do you really expect your war target to vote for you?)

- declaring war gives a flat -3 AFAIK, there may be a chance for the AI to forget every turn, but generally it's never forgotten.

- razing a city = you razed one of this AI's cities. flat -1 for each razed city AFAIK.

- razing a holy city = you razed a holy city, whatever the religion, whomever city it was. Bad idea.

- nuking = you nuked an AI and now you want his vote?:crazyeye:

- declaring war on a friend = you declared on some other AI which this AI was pleased+ with. Flat -1, with a chance to forget, but don't count on it.

- trading with the worst enemy = this AI is angry with some other AI, and you traded with this AI. Big penalty (-4 ?) + he will ask you to stop trading, and you get another penalty if you don't give in.

- you brought an ally in a war against us = you bribed an AI to declare on this AI. small penalty, but it's almost never forgotten.

- you refused to help during wartime = the AI asked you to fight an enemy and you refused. too bad.

- you refused to give tribute = the angry AI asked for a tribute and you refused. -1 + he will often declare on you. (you can also refuse civics or religion, and get a penalty for those). Note that Gandhi asks 100 times in a game, but doesn't give penalty for a refusal.

- heathen : you have a religion, and it's not the right one. Grows with time, and gets big.

- vassals : for each vassal you have, you get a penalty.

getting the bonuses is hard enough, but if you start with penalties, you'll never make it.
 
Cabert, thanks for an awesome post, that was exactly the information I was searching for! Yes, a strategy article would be perfectly appropriate ;)
 
sorry for late response.

@ adrianj: thanks on the info for GAge. I didn't know many of these effects, still...after the 1st GAge, waiting for 2 or more GPs to start another GA, it don't make much sense.. while you can use them one GP at a time for something else useful.
I had forgotten that i made some changes on the SpyScreen so that must've changed the available info on the graph. Thanks for reminding me.
The articles you linked are, well, overwhelming. I thought i was possessed. :D But i did get some clues. Charlemagne even went Friendly later on, but it didn't matter as i won Cultural. And for the 1st time i had 4 vassals and scored Ceasar leadership.
In 5.2. i was referring as if an AI stack attacks my stack. So, i have cavalries specialized vs mounted but i only get to attack the rifleman in the AIstack. Nevermind, i guess it's all mathematics.

@ swede: It's fun to explore and colonize that empty continent but just not that much when you need ~20 turns with a Galleon to get there.


Q: Can you bribe enemy units in BTS? Haven't tried this. Guess you have to place a spy in the same tile?
 
No, I'm pretty sure you can't bribe enemy units. Nor can you set off a nuclear device in an enemy city using a spy. I loved that move :)
 
This isn't really a game question but something I was wondering - is there a better way to take screenshots other than using PrtScr and then leaving the game to paste it in Paint and then going back in to take another pic, leaving to paste it, etc.??

Aka: is there a way to take multiple screenshots at once while you are in the game and then be able to put them online later when you finally do exit out?
 
This isn't really a game question but something I was wondering - is there a better way to take screenshots other than using PrtScr and then leaving the game to paste it in Paint and then going back in to take another pic, leaving to paste it, etc.??

Aka: is there a way to take multiple screenshots at once while you are in the game and then be able to put them online later when you finally do exit out?
When you press PrtScr in the game, the game should automatically save the screenshot to a .JPG file in My Documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword\Screenshots. Each screenshot file will have an increasingly-enumerated file name, so they don't get overwritten. There's no need to exit the game and paste the screen cap into Paint or any other program.
 
Hi, I wanted to know more about nuke/missile warfare specifically, what are the different types. For example, i know that ICBM's are powerful and have unlimited range but also they aren't that powerful and don't destroy cities. What are tactical nukes like? I wanted to use one but it was too far away from the target city so i couldn't use it :(

What other missiles/nukes are there and what are their strenths? I was under the impression that there was one that destroyed cities in one hit (not capitals though)?
thanks
 
ICBMs can't destroy cities but can wipeout garrisons/improvements/buildings in and around a city. I find tactical more efficient. Yes, they have shorter range but they're cheaper and you can move them around your cities or, the way i prefer, put them on a sub. I rarely use regular missiles. I find them effective only for defense if there's a surprising enemy attack and i don't have enough troops close by. They're cheap to make and have good effect on stacks.

I don't know if it's the level (prince) i'm playing or the code in BTS but i find nukes not that effective in BTS, compared to earlier CIVs.
 
Can someone point me to a thread that describes gold rush mechanics. I was browsing through the forum and found some really old ones from about two years ago. However I know the formulas there are wrong, cause I tested them out and they didnt work. Anyone know where one of these is?
 
I know it was nerfed, however has anyone come up with the new nerfed formula, because all that I've been able to find in the forums is from before the patch, which is obviously wrong.
 
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