early game trouble

[Enigma256]

i think in my next game i'll get Cathy and Isabella as opponents, so they can found the religions, and i just have to take their holy cities once most of the continent has their religion.

are there any other religious nuts like them?

 

[Cam_H]

Catherine hasn't struck me especially as a zelot.

Someone may be able to pull out a game file that sets out details on the leaders' behaviour in this regard, but generally the tribes with the Spiritual trait tend to treat your chosen state religion more seiously. Spiritual tribes that begin the game with Mysticism typically are the ones that will found the three early religions.

Montezuma and Isabella are probably the two best recognised "religious nuts".

 

[BlackJAC]

Thanks, BlackJac. I'll have to be more selective about which cities to go after. Usually, I try to obliterate the other Civ and take the whole thing over only to have to quit due to the negative effects on my economy and research before finishing the job. Sounds like I should start with the tough ones first...

Would you recommend razing cities or taking over a big city that's deep in the other Civ's territory?

Depends really. I tend to keep any capital that I capture as they are always in decent locations. However, if said capital is way too far from my borders and will inevitably have severe culture pressure from other civs, I just usually raze regardless of what wonders that city may have and move on to the next city and so on... I've razed the pyramids in some games due to this very reason. I see no point in keeping something that will hinder or spread my troops too far and thin. it's all about having a long term goal rather than just focusing on the short term benefits.

As I said though, it depends whether or not I plan to expand in that general direction any time soon

 

[malekithe]

it's all about having a long term goal rather than just focusing on the short term benefits.

It would seem to me that razing the pyramids is doing precisely the opposite. You're forgoing long term benefits in exchage for a slightly more robust short term defense and economy.

 

[BlackJAC]

It would seem to me that razing the pyramids is doing precisely the opposite. You're forgoing long term benefits in exchage for a slightly more robust short term defense and economy.

That's the thing, I've never once lost a game because I didn't have a wonder. If the city is far away from my border with hefty culture borders from other civs, I'd rather raze them than let another civ capture them through culture. 9/10 times I just can't afford leaving 10 axes or maces in one city when I need them elsewhere. There's no point in having that amount of troops sitting idle during a war. So yeah, I'll raze the pyramids each and every time if it means the wars will be quick and decisive.

 

[cabert]

i had a very hard time with barbs on my first trial of chinese unification scenario.
I really had to build the walls (national wonder in this scenario, so no rush) to finally be able to warmonger a bit...

I only razed pyramids once (the mini-me challenge!). For me it's like burning a 500€ note : crazyeyes:

 

[pigswill]

Hi, everyone. This is a helpful thread, as is the one on the problems of the mid-game.

I recently had a game where I tried the early axe-man rush on my neighbors, the Indians who were led by Asoka. I managed to take 3 of his cities - I razed 2 and kept 1. By the end of the rush, he had 2 cities left, and I thought I didn't have to worry about him. Next thing I know, I see that he builds a few settlers, sets up a couple of cities, and proceeds to rush me! As a result, I ended up having to fight a war for most of the early game (Noble level), and my tech research slowed considerably.

How can I ensure that when I go after somebody and hobble them, that they stay down? It was annoying, and I ended up losing the game once other Civs came ashore. Should I have taken over all of Asoka's cities?

Thanks for the help, everyone.

One of the things I learned fairly early on is not to hobble AIs, you either try to stay friends or aim to annihiliate them asap.