Fun strategies - a special challenge

[monkybone]

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[rah]

OCC on a hub world. Always WAR. You can try it on a Pangaea but they come at you a bit too fast then.
Both can be quite the adrenaline rush.

 

[Rusten]

Use the succession game forum as inspiration. There used to be variants played there all the time.
I can start by recommending playing as the taxman.

In our greed for taxes we are not allowed to research techs -- we want to keep a 100% tax slider.
Our main beaker resource will probably be extorsion, but we're also allowed to buy techs with our gold and broker with the techs we've extorted or bought.
Initial worker techs is OK -- we need to get the economy started first.

https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/cause-im-the-taxman.340580/

 

[civfanchambers]

As mentioned an always war game can be fun. Try using the Chinese and beeline the techs for an early Chinese crossbows stomp. Another fun game is playing on Pangaea map and choosing all your rivals. All war mongers. Very interesting to see so much war pressure all over the map.

 

[RedKi-rr]

Try to play just Deity and have good percent rate of wins. Try to win Deity in Warlords/Vanilla.

Immortal in BtS can be won relatively easy, but it should take some time before Deity becomes boring and requires an additional objectives.

 

[Robo-Star]

Any other ideas? I'm not looking for objectives like maximizing score or anything like that, just to add some flavor to the game. I play at Immortal, so that may rule out some of the funkiest stuff.

Maybe look into the Unique Historical Victory objectives from Rhye’s and Fall of Civilization:

http://www.kalle-online.net/blog/games/civilization/rhyes-and-fall-of-civilization/

 

[rah]

People underestimate the impact of always war. (besides always being attacked)
All the advantages you can get through diplo/trades evaporate.

 

[Pangaea]

People underestimate the impact of always war. (besides always being attacked)
All the advantages you can get through diplo/trades evaporate.

Definitely! It's a HUGE game changer. Apart from getting pummelled non-stop all game, by everybody, just the no tech trading limitation is pretty big - particularly when taken into account that the AI will keep trading between each other. From the Always War games I played, realistically the only chance to keep up was heavy reliance on tech stealing. That meant getting the Great Wall and Great Spies was essential.

Although the games were at Monarch or so, it was without doubt the toughest games I've played. And demanded a totally different approach from 'normal' games. If you want something tough OP, Always War will definitely provide it. Can be mighty frustrating though... If the tide turns against you, there is no coming back, as there will be wave after wave after wave of attacking, with increasingly bigger and more dangerous stacks.

(PS: You *need* hill cities in strategic locations)

 

[s.bernbaum]

Quick question: I've never tried Always War. Does it mean all the AIs are at war with the human or that plus the AIs are always at war with each other as well?

 

[Pangaea]

Every AI declares war on you when you meet them (or vice versa, I forget, it happens automatically). The AIs aren't at war with each other. So it's essentially you against everybody else, and everybody else are teaming up. It's not an easy ride

 

[civfanchambers]

In an always war game you the player automatically declare war at first meeting with every civ you meet. A tip to make it a little easier. Play a custom game and set no tech trading. That way the Ai can't trade with each other. Also you might consider playing one difficulty lower than you normally would play at. Always war is a big adjustment. Tough to put into words/description, but a military economy is needed. Sulla has an always war game on YouTube playing as Babylon. While he eventually gives up the game, it's worth watching to see what to do, and what not to do. And good luck.

 

[Quoth the Raven]

Try these settings:
Highlands
Duel
18 civs
No tech trading