Emperor for Dummies

[whatever_du]

Thanks For Readind first.

My game is my 2nd ever game at emperor. The first one was a few days before when I ended Up having no luxuries, no ressources but Horses and 6 towns near marsh (out of 7)

The settings for This Second attemp is:

Emperor
Standard Random Map, Wet, Warm
7 AI
No Space Race Victory (don't ask why...)
Picked Ottomans (Fast Library/university, Fast Workers, Extra Shield, extra Tech by Era and % of Sc. Leaders.)

It's Freakin' Hard!

Haven't been to war Yet, no Golden Age. I don't care for Ottoman's UU for now, searching for Mettalurgy and I don't have Saltpeter.
I've lost 3 towns to the Maya Yet,
All have ''Deposed'', Including Uskudar the city on the Iron for my Peoples..
I have 3 furs and horses (1)

I've been able to get Gems and Iron from two far away Settlings, you'll see them on the map, with Uskudar and the 3 towns I lost to the so called ''Awesome'' Maya culture ... Imagine!
-I'm Orange (Ottoman or england like Orange)
-Red Dots: Deposed Cities
-Grey arrow: Uskubar where I used to have Iron
-Blue Circle and Dot: The dot is the Iron, the circle is my far away Settling 1
-Kind of green Circle and Dot: Dot is Gems, the circle is far away settling 2



I might be heading for a few Mayan cities but I just can't follow the AI at emperor. I'M way behind in tech, I barely keep Up by trading with weaker Civs.



So give me your toughts, I have like 6-8 knighs totaland pikeman and Spearman in my cities a few trebuchet, 6-7 total.

What should I try?!?!?!?

Here's a .sav by the way, you'll be Sultan Du

View attachment Du Emperor game 2.SAV

I'll be happy to read from you!

 

[megistatos]

OK i've had a look at the game. Firstly well done that you're surviving. In terms of score it looks like your going to catch the Incas, putting you a respectable 4th out of 7, though still behind the three super powers.

Your playtime is only 4 hours, suggesting that you've raced through this game. Take your time on Emperor level!

Generally the opening stages of a game will have a huge impact on what comes later. It looks to me like you expanded too slowly early on. If you'd settled Istanbul 1 tile north and built a granary early on, you could have churned out settlers to compete with the Mayans. Also, I'd have put cities closer together. In fact i'd recommend putting another West of Istanbul and another between Aydin and Izmit asap. One more city'll be enough to let you build the Forbidden Palace.

I was a bit worried to see 7 entertainers in your empire, only 1 of whom is necessary. The others should all go do some proper work-in the fields/mines!

Worker management is very important. Build lots and don't automate them(I only automate in late stages of the game in highly corrupt areas). I would send some workers back to your main cities to do some mining where you've got irrigation in Istanbul, and vice versa in cities which need to grow quickly.

Now to the future. Evidently, you need to attack the Mayans. Research to Millitary Tradition and build up your Knights. Either you can buy Saltpeter from the Incas by lowering science to 0%, or you can attack Tikal to take Saltpeter. Get as many Siphai as possible. The war will be costly, having to fight Riflemen, but i think after a while you'll be able to annihalate the Mayans. Then you'll be in a mutch better position to persue whichever victory condition you want.

Civillization has so much going on that it takes a lot of practice to balance everything properly. For good strategy advice go to the Civ3 War Academy, or like me, play Game of the Month, in which the friendly competition has helped me a lot. Also, remember to prioritise in what you do. Each decision should have a good reason behind doing it. If you really can't think of a strategy, building troops and doing some warring never hurt anybody.

Good luck!

 

[whatever_du]

Thanks for all the tips. I was able to win up to monarch with Automate worker, So I guess that now I'll have to play them manual.

On the cities, I always try to build them so no tiles comes in conflicts beetween my cities, especialy the capital.

For the 7 entertainers, I missed that one, I just began to really ''Manage'' My citizens on the Zoom to city other then puting entertainers when in Riot so I don't have the reflexes yet (reflexes ?? Is it a word in english?!). So here'S my question, should I circle trought all my cites, or at least every one that gain a population point, every turn so I can manage that properly?!? (More food, more shields or more Commerce(gold) depending on what I need at the time?!)

And with my workers, any quick tips on how to use them?!? I'd guess connect every cities first after working enough tiles to get my population busy.
And I'd also guess that a mix 50-50 of Mine and Fields is the way to go, except for cities with a cattle for exemple where you can build more mine.

Thanks again for the elaborate answer and for taking the time toi even load up my game. I won't have time to play until the weekend unfortunately, so might be able to use those new tips before I reload the game!

 

[megistatos]

Workers- I'd say have at least one worker per town. Some players would want more! Use workers sensibly. Improve the best tiles and then have your citizens work the improved tiles. Remember that in Despotism you don't get the third shield/commerce/food that a tile would normally produce, so don't irrigate grassland early on.

Generally I would actually irrigate cows etc. That way you have a very high food surplus which is useful for building settlers/workers quickly. The key is to get 5 surplus food per turn, build a granary, and manage shields well, thus creating a settler/worker factory/pump.

Once your cities reach a size when they won't grow any more(ie size 12), mine as much as can be to give 0 surplus food and maximum shields.

Roads are very important. They connect resources, speed up units, and generate commerce, so build lots. A simple rule is to road every tile after mining/irrigating.

Yes it is certainly useful to check cities and their citizens often. Reflexes is a word(meaning fast reactions- not needed in Turn Based Strategy games ), but I think a better word would be patience. Micro-management is rewarding but can also be tedious and time consuming. To win above Emperor definitely needs a large amount of micro-management. On Emperor level too it can be the difference between keeping up or falling behind your opponents.

To start with I'd suggest micro-managing your workers, and rearranging cities when they grow or when they are about to riot. Download CivAssist2 from the Civ3 Utilities section, which helps by alerting you whenever a city grows. Personally I will micro-manage a lot at the beginning of a game, but as my empire start getting large, and victory closer, I'm not so bothered.

Don't let micro-management get in the way of enjoying the game though, if it feels like a chore!

City spacing- the AI spaces it's cities to have a minimum of overlap. This is a weakness it has. Don't follow their example. A city can only grow past size 12 once it's built a Hospital. So up to that point there will always be 8 unused tiles in its radius(for example Instanbul) In other words, for every three cities you build with 20 tiles each(using 36 tiles), you could have 5 cities with 12 tiles available each(using all 60 tiles). This is simply a lot more productive.

Wide city spacing can be a good in a game in which you know you will need a small number of huge cities, but all too often it is a better strategy to have more cities. Also, if you do eventually feel you want more space for a city to grow, you can abandon cities to make the space.

Wow, I went on a bit there! Anyway, bear some of this stuff in mind when you next play, and if you have time post some updates as to how your game progresses.

 

[whatever_du]

Well... I just played 3 hours on the game and as soon as the Maya decided to attacked me, I'Ve been crushed, So I'll start a new storie with my new tips, including the one I took on The Unluckiest lucky Start

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=242561&goto=newpost

Interesting Game, if you have a few minutes (let's say a good hour) I recommend you read that!

I'll keep the same topic since I'm still Dumb! First post this week-end I don't have a lot of time tonight, I just wanted you to know that, I've been crushed !

I'll put in more details and screenshots and play less turns beetween posts so I can use suggestions to beat emperor.

Have a Nice WeekEnd!

 

[megistatos]

Too bad about the Ottomans. The Mayans did look pretty dangerous, it was bad luck that they declared war before you could hold them off.

I look forward to your next game. Any idea which civ you'll be? I'll be around for advice giving if needed.

 

[Ringo Kid]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/52183/Drago_of_the_Macin_12c_4000_BC.SAV

Good start for an Emperor level game.

Byzantines, standard size continents map with cultural conversion turned off.

Starts with ivory so you can build SoZ and get ancient cavalry for an awesome early military. Research mathematics and horseback riding while building about ten to twelve towns, then build barracks everywhere and a stack of veteran horseman and veteran Ancient Cavalry. Dont build anything else except horsemen, settlers, workers, harbors and Dromons until you conquer all your neighbors.

Build about 12 Dromons and bombard the coastal cities just before your horses attack them.

Always wait until you have at least ten fully healed units in your stack before you attack the next target city.

That should give you a great start, and a fun game!

 

[vmxa]

whatever_du do note that cows are special. Often I will irrigate my cow, if only one and later come back and mine it. IOW I want the extra food at the start, but later the shields are more useful, since the capitol is no longer making settlers.

 

[vmxa]

Just a short glance, but so many things that I would not like to see in any game.

Wide spreading of town. Building cath, towns founded far away from empire. Loss of towns to flip that are next to the capitol? Lack of workers.

You also have to understand you are next to a civ with a very early UU that is going to go into GA soon. You have to make adjustments for that.

One way, but not the only one, go to war as soon as you see a JT and put up a warrior for it to beat. GA started before it does much good. Get peace when you can, of course you best be ready to handle the war.

Seeing the close proximity, you may want to gear up for war on a serious basis anyway. You have to have land and you have to not let them build strong culture on your borders.

IOW, if you have remote towns next to their remote towns, fine, if they are near core towns, problem. In that case raze those towns and eliminate them.

I am guessing you did not get out and get contacts right away either and failed to get in your fair share of trades.

All things tend to fall apart, if you do not have enough workers to keep all citizens working fully improved tiles.