Early Game Gambits (please comment)

[AnaNg]

Heh, I've been struggling with trying to convert to warmongering - early game is going ok though so I want to mention:

If your opponent is Protective, or switches to Slavery and has copper in his borders, you should strongly consider changing targets or abandoning this gambit.

Another option instead of abandoning is, if you've scouted well, you're confident that there's only one resource (or the multiple are close enough for you to get to quickly) and especially if you have an early mounted unit that can rush to it - just go destroy that resource and camp it with a couple of units. Of course if your own resource is near a border, you'll want to the same with yours to protect it.

Costs: You must dedicate your entire empire’s research and production to swift victory. If you fail to achieve a timely victory, you will have lost substantial ground to the non-warring civs in the game.

With regard to this, or getting behind in techs. It often works out better for me if, instead of a quick annihiliation, I leave the opponent with one city (that isn't their capital - they seem to take that whole capital loss hard and it softens them up) then trade them, well, all of their researched techs to leave them alone for 10 rounds.

This does 2 things: It buys ME time to heal up my units/get the reinforcements to the front line. It also essentially puts me ahead of a lot of the other civs in techs as I've got a lot of the early military ones and now some of the builder/religious ones as well. If I just wipe them out I have to research that myself. So maybe even if you can't take them out quickly, make sure you ask for a LOT to leave them alone (I was stunned at how much they're willing to give away at that point. I realized I wasn't asking nearly enough when I first started with this.)

Then, with all your units healed and ready and the cap city out of revolt, the cease fire ends and it's pretty quick to just take that last city. Seems like only very rarely is the civ able to get a settler built and settled by then - usually I kill them with mounted units while the stack is after the last city.

Course these comments may be a little more detailed or ahead in era than you want for a quick guide to early gambits.

 

[Diamondeye]

I'm referring to this.

I found the articly VERY enlightening, but, I, well... Kinda thinks it's a little too much of the good stuff playing with a notepad and pencil by your side and calculating turns 1400 years ahead... Is this needed to play that well?

-if it is, can't anyone open a "tutorial" on how to find out these things
I'd really like to be enlightened.

 

[Shoot the Moon]

Is this needed to play that well?

To play that well, yes. To play well, not necessarily, but to play that well it is. Once you become competent at the "big picture" strategies, then the area of your game that you can achieve the most improvement in is micromanagement. As a starter article, I would recommend this. Be warned that it is an old article, so some stuff has been changed in patches (specifically the slavery bug has been fixed and binary science is not as useful anymore because rounding occurs at civ level instead of the city level.

Oh, the War Academy is also useful. Specifically the Empire Management and Game Mechanics sections. Basically, the better you understand the mechanics of the game (for example WFYABTA) the better you can use *cough*exploit*cough* them to your advantage.

Finally, the GP tech preferences list is incredibly helpful.

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

Wondering if this will work.

Imperialistic, build settler first if you have a hill-forest tile, as you get 50% more hammers for settlers. 17 turns: coincides with animal husbandary, bronze working or pottery. Then build a worker each in both your cities.

I don't have BTS yet, but could be hilarious with the Portugese, what with both imperialistic and expansive, two crappy traits. Maybe I could work some REX strategy out that consists of granaries, settlers and workers, don't know.

 

[Diamondeye]

To play that well, yes. To play well, not necessarily, but to play that well it is. Once you become competent at the "big picture" strategies, then the area of your game that you can achieve the most improvement in is micromanagement. As a starter article, I would recommend this. Be warned that it is an old article, so some stuff has been changed in patches (specifically the slavery bug has been fixed and binary science is not as useful anymore because rounding occurs at civ level instead of the city level.

Oh, the War Academy is also useful. Specifically the Empire Management and Game Mechanics sections. Basically, the better you understand the mechanics of the game (for example WFYABTA) the better you can use *cough*exploit*cough* them to your advantage.

Finally, the GP tech preferences list is incredibly helpful.

I followed the first link and read the main article - thanks. I realize I ain't so much of micromanager than I think when compared to these guys. geez...
Anyway, I gotta try this out - havent actually played C-IV for a while.

 

[Percy]

Wondering if this will work.

Imperialistic, build settler first if you have a hill-forest tile, as you get 50% more hammers for settlers. 17 turns: coincides with animal husbandary, bronze working or pottery. Then build a worker each in both your cities.

I don't have BTS yet, but could be hilarious with the Portugese, what with both imperialistic and expansive, two crappy traits. Maybe I could work some REX strategy out that consists of granaries, settlers and workers, don't know.

Could be interesting, but you'd have to have very good land to settle, or research Currency and CoL fast, because otherwise you'd go broke very, very fast.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

Wondering if this will work.

Imperialistic, build settler first if you have a hill-forest tile, as you get 50% more hammers for settlers. 17 turns: coincides with animal husbandary, bronze working or pottery. Then build a worker each in both your cities.

I don't have BTS yet, but could be hilarious with the Portugese, what with both imperialistic and expansive, two crappy traits. Maybe I could work some REX strategy out that consists of granaries, settlers and workers, don't know.

Unrestricted Leaders to the rescue!

Joao II of Sumeria.

The traits for a fast REX, Ziggeraut (Courthouse that's available with Priesthood) and the Vulture (Souped up Axeman) for some early Urban Renewal...