I was the best science and cultured civlizations and the Russians killed my capital!

[sebanaj]

How can that happpened, i was finishing the Sistine Chapel!!

I had all better units than them, but they beat me!!
How the hell can a hill be so effective...
I was the best civilization, i had great improvements in all my cities!! I didn't care about an army, i just had about 3 or 4 pikemen and swordsmen in all my cities! but yet the Russians beated me with groups of 4 Horseman, Archer...

I couldn't defend the capital, Babylon, cause i was building the sistine chapel, i couldn't give out all the shields for building more defensive units...

But what i had were the best units of that game...

I want for the next game three items to build...or make some improvement that lets you build more than one thing in a city at a time!

I deleted the game i was too angry, the Russians declared war cause i refused to give them Teology and Engineering... even though i helped them before with technologies...

Egypt, Persia and Greece didn't want to help me defend against the Russians because once when I was at war against Germany i rejected them (germany) technology, and i allied them with me, and then Germany offered a peace treaty after we destroyed all their units that were coming, i accepted, but Greece, Egypt and Persia kept the war going, and they refused me against Russia cause they said i didn't respect our last alliance against Germany... But they were the ones who kept fighting... so in the next game, when there's an alliance, everyone should be present to discuss new peace terms...

 

[zebomba]

Welcome to Civ 3 dude. No more bluffings now.

Remember: army. A huge one.

And then, you can do what they did .

 

[hamster]

dont get angry. get even. give one of the neighbors some technology or gold (bribe) and get an ally against russia. and let them do the fighting while u rebuild your cities and a brand new butt-kicking army.

just dont forget that no army is complete without 12-16 artillery units to turn his cities to rubble.

 

[hamster]

one of the fun aspects about civ3 is putting on a fake smile when dealing with other civs, all the while following your own agenda. remember, backstabbing is part of the game.

 

[sebanaj]

I was Babylon, i played with Marla Singer great map, with Realistic starting locations, so i started in the mesopotamia where the tigris and eufrates are...

well i occupied from the black and caspian seas to the persian gulf and the Actual Saudi Arabia... My country was doing greatly, building things, i built the Great Library, but only gained from it three or four advances, until i got Education...

Then everyone was starting to bother me threatening for technology... My friends were the neighboors; Egypt was great with me always helped me, so was Greece and Persia...
But the Germans and the Russians are constantly bothering me...

France and India were always kind with me, England not so much, but they were struggling, so i didn't care much about them... Japan was really weak in technology... so i sold them like two...

Shame Egypt, Greece and Persia took my peace treaty with Germany as a betrayal... and didn't want to ally again...

The war against Germany was like this, they attacked me from the north passing by where Istanbul is in real life... But they got stuck against me, the Egiptyans and Greece, and Germany lost like 14 units in a few turns... so Germany sent me a peace treaty and i accepted it... then Egypt , Greece and Persia kept fighting instead of ceasing fire...

 

[sebanaj]

by the way i always play in Regent, cause it's the more realistic, which neither you or the other countries get bonuses...

 

[sebanaj]

i could offer Egypt 500 gold for ally against Russia and they kept saying no cause of the peace treaty with Germany...

 

[sebanaj]

another thing i'm wondering!! how they suddenly can send around 30 units in a few turns!!!

I'm not used to build any army, except one or two in the beginning to dedicate only to grow the country and build good things, commerce and lifestyle... never cared about an army tho!!

cause when i played caring about the army i was left behind in technology and culture...

 

[RogueNine]

Its all about balance. I never used to like a big army in Civ 2 either (at least until I had researched everything, then I took over the world in 5 turns. ) But in Civ 3 you need an army. At least 2 defensive units per city, and what I call 'taskforces'. I usually place a couple groups (taskforces) around my empire. They consist of a few fast attack units (Horsemen, Knights, Cavalry, etc. depending on era), a few defensive units (Spearmen, Pikemen, infantry, etc.) and a few bombarding units. (Catapults, Cannons, Artillery, etc.) These taskforces could respond to any war threat, or even respond to settlers trying to cross my territory to go somewhere else. (Surround them with horsemen. )

Anyway, you can't just research/city improvements all the time anymore, you gotta build up a sizeable army as a deterant. Also, the AI is alot smarter than in Civ2, they will attack in groups, not just one unit at a time. If you don't look forward to alot of combat, try playing on an archipalego map. (If your on the world map, start in Britain or Australia.)

Good luck, and welcome to Civ 3.

 

[sebanaj]

i'm doing well again, i maximized gold and bought alot of units and Russian sent a peace treaty... but i now i need to recover in science... Cause Egypt, India and China know Theory of Music and Gunpowder!! and i offer 400 gold and they don't want to give it to me...

 

[Psychlone]

The computer doesn't usually like to sell technologies like gunpowder or wonder techs (such as music theory) unless you have something substantial to give. 400 gold's not going to cut it, sorry to say. The computer players are looking out for themselves, is what it boils down to. Forming an alliance and then declaring an early peace is not a smart thing to do. Back off on the fighting if you must, but don't sign a peace treaty until the 20 turn minimum time has passed.

As for the balance of building an army vs. city improvements/wonders, that's what the game is all about, nobody can really teach it. Both are important, you just have to find the proper mix based upon the situation.

One tip: next time a computer civ demands technology or cash in tribute, and your advisor says their military outnumbers you, you should probably give it to them.

 

[sebanaj]

they may outnumber, but i thought what the hell if they have no technology... so i thought i could easily beat 10 archers and 10 horsemen with 3 or 2 pikemen and swordsmen... i couldn't believe it when a horsemen were beating them up with ease!! and they kept coming and coming and i couldn't just do anything cause i didn't have the time to build more units...

 

[sebanaj]

to Roughnine:

Do you put the taskforces all in the same square, or separated!? to occupy more terrtory!!

 

[zebomba]

You're kidding... fend off quite similar units but at a 1:4 ratio? It wasn't possible even in Civ 1 or 2!
If you think this is bad, play at a harder level and try to defend against some 30 tanks or 20 bombers.

 

[RogueNine]

Originally posted by sebanaj
to Roughnine:

Do you put the taskforces all in the same square, or separated!? to occupy more terrtory!!

Since I usually build a fortress to station my taskforce, they are usually all in one square. But these forces are usually just stationed somewhere for a long time, then some fool will bumble into my territory and I'll move them where they need to be. Their goal isn't to occupy territory. (I do have offensive groups of units that I use for invasion purposes also.)

 

[sebanaj]

yah i was too overconfident, i had superior units, just not in number...
but mine were Swordmen and Pikemen, against Horseman, Archers and Warriors... I could build also Longbowman but didn't cause of their low rating in defense...
I didn't have city walls cause their mantenaince cost is 2 gold

 

[sebanaj]

my mistake was caring about developing the civ... and forgot completely about the army...

 

[sebanaj]

I won't ever play at a harder or lower level than Regent, cause it's the fairest level... where you depend purely on your resources and your civilization abilities... and the computer civs also don't get extra or less units than me, or with more or less cost...

 

[RogueNine]

I started on regent too. Now I've moved up one to Monarch and have actually had my ass handed to me twice in a row. (Albeit much later into the game, it was close both times.) So its nice to know that once the challenge on one level is done, there is a big difference in the next level that adds to the challenge.

 

[sebanaj]

The first game i played wasn't Regent , I started in Emperor...