Domination Deity

[BurnBabyBurn]

I have been playing Civilization awhile and managed to win every time on Immortal... Though when I stepped up to Deity, Domination Victory, this is a whole new ballgame and I cannot seem to survive too often through bad starting locations.(I usually play tiny Maps/Or small and the same set of opponents and city states) I usually always play Pangea(prefer no Naval units if I could wish it) and I usually use Bismark, ironically... my last game 1 one reload I got what would have been a Science Victory.. but threw in the towel and instead decided to go a Nuke Rampage of France. That didn't even work with 5-10 Nukes...he had so many units, you could fire them in rapid fire and just manage to hold your position if the terrain was good.

I just cannot stop the AI from spawning 20-30 Units pre-Industrial and hammering no matter what I have. I usually have learned to survive my first wave but by the second or third wave I am usually facing Muskets and I am working on getting Xbows. I am maxing out Tradition and waiting for Rationalism to come, and at best managing 3-4 cities... I am always having my lands coveted by the AI and I can never stop the constant DOWs from this.

What can I do to improve my game play here and manage to get a better chance in Deity with Pangea? My style of play is usually maxing out my population and usually it to gain science fast(Food Focus) and I don't cheat, reload when I'm frustrated and can learn but if I really want to win this I cannot reload. I have to prove to myself I can defeat a machine...

Do you have to cheat to win on this level due to the spam or play Science/Culture Victory? Sort of boring? That or a more rush style civilization?

 

[budweiser]

Here, have a look at this challenge.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=528303

Its fairly easy to win domination.

 

[Acken]

If you make a quick search you'll find multiple example of Deity domination wins. Every Deity Challenge series have had people winning by domination on this very subforum.

 

[BurnBabyBurn]

Checked those out some...seemed not to address my questions though. Although I will dig deeper later.

P.S. In all other Civs, since Civ 3 onward...there has always been a civ or two with an extreme early set of units that could survive just about anything or accomplish anything, I guess I will have to poke through each to figure out which has the most progressive power to keep a Civ safe during the establishment phase. The current War aspect of this Civ and Gods and Kings seems to favour Terrain and no Unit is as awesome as in the old days.

 

[Olodune]

Its fairly straightforward to win a domination victory on Deity/Pangaea with 95% of starts. No reloading The hard part is winning quickly. Players like Acken/glory7 can win standard/standard Pangaea Deity games in the t130s with XBs. Read about game #1 in the current deity challenge series. Growing/Teching/Defending until Artillery/Bombers is much easier and safer.

Easier Civs to survive the early game:

Babylon - Really the easiest I think. Super Archers, better Walls, and free teching.
The Huns - Early production bonanza. On a small/tiny map all you need are Horse Archers and Battering rams. Easier than Babylon if you know what you are doing.
Shoshone - Lots of free land + you can get a CB really, really early.
The Zulu - If you choose Shaka then he can't attack you now can he?

 

[consentient]

I am a bad player and I win on deity domination some of the time by going liberty, rushing 5-8 CBs and taking a nearby vulnerable capital, then sitting back and tech-ing to dynamite and cavalry and sweeping through the other capitals in one big push. If you stay on the back foot, a nearby aggressor will indeed come at you with a horde. But if you build up a reasonable force yourself, get that aggressor to go to war WITH you (even if they don't commit any troops) against a weak guy, then they are likely to not DoW you the whole game, I find. So if I'm in the same area as Shaka, Gandhi and Harun, I'll pay Harun or Gandhi to DoW the other, and discuss with Shaka if he wants to join me. Usually he is keen.

With an AI capital under your belt by T80 you can have a nice science gain that will help you reach the industrial era 1st, 2nd or 3rd at the worst. Because you'll be beelining, provided the aforementioned sweep takes no more than 30-40 turns, upgrading as you go, you'll massacre everyone.

N.B> This is Pangaea. I can't do continents yet. Much harder. Especially if the other island has NO coastal caps.

 

[BurnBabyBurn]

consentient,

and everyone else thanks for the writing. I have tried your precise strategy, with 7-8 CBs by turn 40-50(it is slow going as I like fast pace and I also like small maps to get the action early) issue is usually I am up against the weirdest thing... 10 enemy CBs and they are using them pretty good. They also have about 10-15 mixed other units on their 2nd wave, and only the weakest Civs come at me with less. I have managed to get a peace and never a Capitol. Not sure if my siege technique needs brushing up or my micro-management. Perhaps I am not getting enough units. I never get above 15 Military Units(usually lower tech than AI) by turn 75ish... With only 3 Cities on a Smaller map or 5 at the very Max, I have failed with your exact strategy at least a dozen times so far. Which on Immortal is a surefire walkthrough.

Perhaps it's the Civs I am up against or the fact I am angering them off by the location of my cities on a small map. (Usually 2 of my opponents covet my lands)

 

[Hammer Rabbi]

bribe the AI to war with each other. deity domination more often requires early diplo choices do help with this. this ties them up militarily while you get to focus with less threat from their rushes. this will let you use your units for the first wave, promote them and build for the next wave at a better time rather than being constantly swamped with attacks.

you crave action early in a small map but instead play a normal map to slow it down. you can get 2-3 city spots that they might not crave. deity requires a bit more patience unless you are doing some Egypt chariot archer rushes. if you instigate the DoW too often you get the warmonger penalty and lose trade partners too quickly. anger one or two people so they DoW you but pay attention to who their friends are. If they are good trading partners try to anger another civ with no similar friends. this helps your chances of waging wars when you have the advantage.

you may not enjoy that style of play, delayed action, but it would be worth trying to get your no-reloads victory.

 

[consentient]

I don't think map size makes any difference to the AI's unit production, so the issue here may simply be playing on quick game pace. The ratio of hammers to unit moves is against you.

If I understand correctly, then in general, the slower the game pace, the easier because you get more moves in relation to everything else that goes on.

Even then, on Deity I have NEVER approached a victim ca. T60 and found resistance in the form of 15 units. Let's say I'm Assyria and I have 2 Siege Towers and 6 CBs. With correct positioning, that army could easily take out 15 mixed warriors/archers, but the biggest questions you need to answer are:

- How are they producing so many? (game speed?)
- How are they getting CBs before you? (are you beelining?)

Beelining construction and delaying NC usually means that any non-unit-spam civ (Portugal, Morocco, Venice, etc.) will be a cake-walk, even on deity. You just HAVE to make sure that everyone hates them, and preferably, get THEM (the victim) to DoW others, then denounce and attack.

[EDIT: This was my starting point. I think it's a really good guide]