Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
There's a link in my sig to my Beginners' Guide. Check it out. Sounds like it's just what the doctor ordered. 
I cannot win
- Thread starter Algrinon
- Start date
Tristan daCunha
Pacifist Aggressive
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2006
- Messages
- 274
Algrinon, Civ 4 is so complex it is difficult to make suggestions without actually looking at your game. But you will not go wrong by following Sisiutil's suggestions.
First of all, I want to thank all of you who helped a noob who thought he knew what the hell he was doing. You could have flamed me. I read threads for hours and never really got what I needed.
Secondly, Sisiutil; I would have paid 9.95 for that pdf. Half way through it now and I plan to start a game here shortly. I have 15 hours to play today
I will post more later but I wanted to say THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH!
/salute and Rage on
Alg
Secondly, Sisiutil; I would have paid 9.95 for that pdf. Half way through it now and I plan to start a game here shortly. I have 15 hours to play today
I will post more later but I wanted to say THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH!
/salute and Rage on
Alg
GenghisPanda
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2007
- Messages
- 19
Good luck and don't forget to look at what tech leads to what techs.
Huxley Hobbes
Anarcho-capitalist
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2005
- Messages
- 162
Aye, although I've always had the hang of Civ IV reading Sisiutil's stuff has improved my game hugely.
The best advice I can give is this: Take your time, and don't be concerned about winning. Be concerned about having fun. I lost plenty of games, and I don't mind, because usually when I lose it's because I tried some insane strategy that has no business working - and often they don't work. Sometimes they do. But I have fun not so much in success as in simple experimentation.
Even if you do find winning to be the most fun you can have in Civ IV, however, don't worry if it takes you a few games to start doing so, and don't worry if you don't always win. Sometimes the dice just don't fall the way you'd like, and sometimes they do. Half the fun is making the best of inevitably varied situations of course
(Oh, as for barbarians, you can do well if you beeline for Masonry and then get the Great Wall.)
The best advice I can give is this: Take your time, and don't be concerned about winning. Be concerned about having fun. I lost plenty of games, and I don't mind, because usually when I lose it's because I tried some insane strategy that has no business working - and often they don't work. Sometimes they do. But I have fun not so much in success as in simple experimentation.
Even if you do find winning to be the most fun you can have in Civ IV, however, don't worry if it takes you a few games to start doing so, and don't worry if you don't always win. Sometimes the dice just don't fall the way you'd like, and sometimes they do. Half the fun is making the best of inevitably varied situations of course
(Oh, as for barbarians, you can do well if you beeline for Masonry and then get the Great Wall.)
Stolen Rutters
Deity
There are more sources to help. Try the War Academy in the main civfanatics area.
http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/
http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/
Oh, I have plenty of cottage cheese! I just wasn't turning them on. I just played a game to about 1000 bc. I didn't get tree chopping tech so I screwed myself but I am about to play again. I did get caterpults tho and finally pwnd an enemy city.
I have a question though, in my capitol I have a pissed off citizen. I want to change him, kill him, do something to make it better. How do I do this?
This game is so complex. Gonna go to physical rehab and hit it up again later.
You all are awesome, thanks for your help.
I have a question though, in my capitol I have a pissed off citizen. I want to change him, kill him, do something to make it better. How do I do this?
This game is so complex. Gonna go to physical rehab and hit it up again later.
You all are awesome, thanks for your help.
Adopt the slavery civic and then use "the whip" to rush production. It's a button with a little arrow pointing upwards to the right of the construction options panel.
Archers.
Spearmen beat chariots and horse archers.
Axemen beat warriors, spearmen and swordsmen.
Archers and chariots beat axemen.
Swordsmen beat archers.
In a single player game, you are unlikely to be rushed by War Chariots or Immortals. (Barbarians never show up in chariots.) So don't bother with many spearmen. Instead build a mix of axemen and archers. You still might want a spearmen or two in case an AI decides to pillage your stuff, but in general I never use them.
Spearmen beat chariots and horse archers.
Axemen beat warriors, spearmen and swordsmen.
Archers and chariots beat axemen.
Swordsmen beat archers.
In a single player game, you are unlikely to be rushed by War Chariots or Immortals. (Barbarians never show up in chariots.) So don't bother with many spearmen. Instead build a mix of axemen and archers. You still might want a spearmen or two in case an AI decides to pillage your stuff, but in general I never use them.
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
A cautionary corollary: Archers only beat Axemen if they're fortified on good defensive terrain and/or within a city, and even then it's not a guarantee. And Chariots have indeed been the counters to Axemen since Warlords came out, but only when attacking.
This is something to keep in mind as the game progresses: every unit has a a "counter", a unit that is explicitly in the game to oppose that particular unit to prevent someone from gaining a huge advantage.
In the medieval era, for example, Crossbowmen are the counters to melee units such as Macemen. Knights, in turn, totally pwn Crossbows, but are in turn vulnerable to Pikemen, who counter all mounted units. And there's more; in fact, I've come to appreciate the medieval era more and more, as it has the best assortment of units apart from the modern era, without the latter's bloat and mind-numbing unit micro-management.
Check the description of each unit, in the Civiliopedia and by hovering the mouse over it in the city screen. You'll see each unit has some sort of bonus against other units. Think about what units are opposing you and choose the best counters to them.
This usually means you need a mix of units to effectively defend yourself. Barbarians will first come after you with Warriors, Archers, and Axemen; Axemen and Chariots are the best defenders against those units. Eventually the barbs will send Swordsmen your way, and again, Axes counter Swords. Later still you'll start seeing barb Horse Archers, and now you'll need Spearmen or, better still, Pikemen.
Against other civs, you need to know what resources they have. If you're expecting (or better yet, planning) to war with a neighbour, do they have horses? Iron? Copper? That all determines what units they can build. If your enemy has no horses, you don't need mounted counters like Spearmen and Pikemen; if they do have them, you'll need several of those units. If your enemy has no metals, bully for you--they'll only be able to defend with Archers, and enough Axemen or Swordsmen can ruin an Archer's day.
Sorry. I should have made that more clear. Luckily barbarians can usually be induced to attacking you in unfavorable terrain rather than pillaging, so archers work just fine.
What country and leader are you playing as? Some guy, I think it is babylon, gets archers that have +50% vs axemen and spearmen.. he could be good for defending.. the mali have archers with streanth 4..
Or you could play as Sumeria, their axeman, the vulture, gets str 6 but only 25% vs axes and spears
Or you could play as Sumeria, their axeman, the vulture, gets str 6 but only 25% vs axes and spears
Was it barbarians or another civ? With barbarians you can usually just fortify an archer on the outskirts of your territory on a forested hill and they will stupidly attack you.
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
Not in BtS, they won't. They've gotten somewhat smarter. Only somewhat.
What you do is use a honeypot. Improve a flatland tile that's on the path from the barbs' favourite spawning grounds to one of your cities. Farms or cottages on plains or grassland are good for this. Ideally there should be one or more good defensive tiles right next to it, like a hill, or even better, forest or jungle. Plant one or more barb-busters (Axemen are best for this, as they receive defensive bonuses) on the defensive tile. The barbs will hone in on the honeypot tile, looking to pillage it; they won't fight your unit that's on good defensive terrain, but they'll stand right next to it like a bunch of idiots.
That's when you swoop in and kill them.
OMG I was at 70% science and making 5 gold per turn. Now I am at 30 and only making one? I took Mecca but Medina still stands and I am sending my army to slaughter it.
How can I cut down my costs? I have a lot of hamlets now. I am not sure what the heck is going on.
How can I cut down my costs? I have a lot of hamlets now. I am not sure what the heck is going on.
Similar threads
