[BNW] Help with war

GunnarStahl

Chieftain
Joined
Jan 7, 2015
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63
Location
Chicoutimi, QC, CAN
Hey guys.

I am looking for your help... I am a casual CIV V player. I am now playing on King. I started just below Prince and I am working my way up in difficulty.

I can win with many civs, and in many ways. However, I experience problem with anything that is war. I am also not very inclined to play war-civs.

I am looking for a guide, or tips, to help me getting better at war. Some basic things like what to research to help, how to manage relations with other civs (denouncing, etc.), when to attack a city, how to attack it (units, etc.)

So, I am looking for your help! Thanks :)
 
Hello, GunnarStahl !,

I'm in the same boat myself; a casual player on King, doing games with and without mods . The best advice I have is :

1) Get and keep your economies under control;

2) Always have a positive cash-flow;

3)Don't build too many cities, too fast ... you have time to do what you need to do;

4) A strong army is a good thing for home defense, I like 2 range units per city, and more units for outlying cities (to discourage Bozo);

5) Build roads that you NEED, and can AFFORD . New cities can wait for roads until affordable by cash-flow .;

this will get you through peacetime, war has certain needs;

6) Define the target, and build a NEW ARMY for that target, figure our what you'll need and bring a few more to the party, one you can use (or lose to cost-of-doing-business),WITHOUT STRIPPING HOME DEFENSE !!! New units stay in cities, promoted ones go Visiting Bozo .;

7) Timing is the key, DON'T go until you're READY, and you have your ducks all lined up in a row .;

8) When you DO go, pillage everything that you can reach of Bozo's to cripple it, most cities cities should get damaged (have a few range boys to keep cities damaged) while driving on to the Bozo capital . If you HURT Bozo bad enough, Bozo will give up a city (or a few) in a Peace {Pieces ?} Treaty; in which case, take ONLY the city(s): A) closest to your border, and B)IF you can stand the Happyness hit to get this city(s)!!

9) Have a swarm of workers ready to rebuild your new turf . Puppet first, decide to ANNEX or RAZE after resistance dies down, courthouses are expensive . If razing, SELL what buildings you can(1 per turn, time it so the last building is SOLD the turn BEFORE the city burns down)build a couple of settlers to be ready to Found new cities on the turn of the old city blows away with the ashes, to keep and expand your new turf .

These ideas should get you going .
 
I am looking for a guide, or tips, to help me getting better at war. Some basic things like what to research to help, how to manage relations with other civs (denouncing, etc.), when to attack a city, how to attack it (units, etc.)
There are many different wars : defensive wars, early skirmishes, limited conquest, conquest for Domination victory, full genocide
  • If you have troubles defending, at King you merely need one ranged unit in every city, a few melee units that you fortify just outside the cities never attack with those) so the enemy can't totally surround you (2-3 for your entire empire is enough unless you go very wide) and a few (again 2-3) horses to snipe enemy siege and ranged units. With Oligarchy (provided you went Tradition) and walls, your cities with such a defense are almost impossible to conquer (a very fast Shaka might give you some troubles).
  • Early skirmishes means trying to steal workers (or better settlers) from a neighbor and pillaging tiles or trade routes to gain an economic advantage, without even a conquest plan. This won't work very well below Immortal thought cause the AI doesn't have early stuff to steal. For such wars the starting warrior (or even a scout) is enough but later horses are king with their mobility. How to effectively pull those strikes requires practice rather than a guide but as a rule of thumb, avoid staying in range of a city if the opponent went tradition, especially if he has warriors inside. Then, hit and run back to safety, heal and repeat.
  • Limited conquest is trying to steal a few cities to expand your empire before switching to another victory. A few tips
    • The earlier you take cities, the more time they have to grow and become a productive part of your empire. Ideally you want to strike with archers/chariots/warriors. Early cities are incredibly easy to take at king so if an opponent is very close to you and you can't/don't want to grow peacefully, switch to early war. Research Archery and the Wheel and go Liberty. With the bonus production you can get a few of those fast and eventually you'll still get settlers of your own, including a free one.
    • When you are ready (2-3 of each chariots, archers and warriors should be enough if the opponent doesn't have early unique units), move your warriors first and attack the city so at least one is wounded, this way the AI should focus on your wounded warriors rather than the dangerous but fragile chariots, fortify wounded warriors and bombard city until it's low enough to take in one turn.
    • Your goal is to have 6-8 cities including your own relatively early. After that, you can switch to any victory.
    • Bonus point for doing this before contacting other civs because you won't take any diplomatic hit for doing this.
    • If archers become to weak or you waited too long, try to get them to Composite. Composite rush is a very efficient strategy but a little more tricky as it requires having a stock of archer and enough money to upgrade them all when you get the tech but it can take any capital if done right. Similar tactics (try to get a melee unit wounded) apply but stronger cities means you might want a few spearmen.
  • Domination Victory requires more planning because you can't just go on a rampage early and keep going till you win unless you are very good and very fast. Happiness and research will drop and you might find yourself in a bad position so
    • Try to focus an good economy and research as if you were going for science at first. You'll need this. You don't need to start as early for this war
    • After you have the basic science infrastructure ready, go for crossbows, if you get them quickly enough, they can ravage medieval cities. Don't bother with catapults, a trebuchet might help but they are tricky to use. Use the same tactics as for early rushes, only with stronger units.
    • At that point, you are more likely to have surplus workers, use one as a bait : park him near an enemy city with cavalry slightly behind and wait for someone to come and capture him, then kill with cavalry, retreat and repeat, you can kill a lot of enemy units this way.
    • Don't try to keep every city, it will only kill your economy
    • If you want to keep some friends early, don't eliminate the first civs, take their capital and best cities but let them live, you'll take less of a diplomatic hit. Alternatively suck it up, everyone will hate you before the end anyway. You need a very robust economy that doesn't depend on other civs for domination games.
    • A key tech for victory is Dynamite. Artillery will eat enemy cities if you can get them before they progress too far. Artillery+Cavalry can be enough to win domination on Deity with about any civ for the good warmongers. I tend to win later but it will get you a long way towards your goal. Artillery is the first useful siege weapon because of it's range 3. Have them outside of city range, move a cavalry to see the city and bombard, then if you can't take the city move back and repeat next turn.
    • You can start with Tradition or Honor (search for Honnor Commerce Autocracy strategy in this forum) Tradition is easier. Don't forget tech and economy along the way.
  • Full genocide is for those civilizations that really pissed you during the game. Depending on the era, any of the following army/tactic above can work. Try to get them at war with as many opponents as you can in order to minimise diplomatic penalties. If possible, keep cities they captured last (City States are perfect) so you can eradicate them by liberating a city. That will negate the genocide penalty.
 
Wow guys!!

Thanks to you both for your guideline! It will surely help me! :)
 
Also, to add to what i said. When considering early conquest it's worth checking your targets choices of social policy and religion. Both Oligarchy and Goddess of Protection makes early cities more dangerous. If a civilization has both, cities will hit a lot harder. It's much easier to take cities from a Liberty civilization (and they are the most likely to block your peaceful expansion)
 
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