King to Emperor transition - hints on mechanics and gameplay

[qhash]

I think this kind of thread might be helpful to me and to other players like me - long with the series, good at general strategy and tactics, but a little worse in micro and game mechanics.

The problem with the transition from King to Emperor is that King is really easy and Emperor is significantly higher ( lower levels transitions are not so huge). On the King difficulty level no matter what map I am playing on, what civ I choose or what are my enemies, I win 90% of my games ( and there are not so many of them, as I am time limited). On Emperor - I won one game in G&K and now none in BNW.

Looking through some threads, I have noticed that by the turn 100-120 most of you are a lot more developed, have bigger cities and doing more bakers. I must do something wrong.

My last game was Korea and my initial assumption was that I will play with just 2-3 cities and I will rely on GP generation and will go for tech. victory. Another point on the list was that I will not attack an enemy civ.

In general the game outcome is:
- I am maybe able to build a wonder or two, among which there are no GL, HG, ToP, Pyr, SH or NotreDame.
- I am technologically mediocre at most
- my army is weak
- they have 3-4 cities, i have 2 and only the Cap is OK by means of size, prod, bakers,etc.

My approach is as follows. I go for scout-shrine-worker (i can't see any worker to steal from CS by the turn I can build it), then I am trying to build GL, if I start later, it is not possible to get it at all. If i do not have three forest to chop, it is not even worth trying to get it. I am improving tiles, some lux, looking for a good spot for two other cities. I have also noticed that if I will no find ruins with culture boost +20, I am usually playing much slower as I do not open Tradition tree so fast ( its the stacking effect of not having +3 culture).

Maybe I should biuld caravans faster ? I am usually low on gold. I am selling embassies for 1gpt , lux for 3-4 gpt if I can, but its hard for me to buy a settler, pay a CS i need. I can't build enough military, I can't build wonders, do enough trade... I feel like on King it was just OK, only a few improvements to the AI gameplay could fix the thing. The Emperor is like the AI has so many bonuses that I am not playing the kind-of-simulation game but rather kind-of-a-chess game, therefore I need some good movements advice.

What would you recommend for micro management that I might be lacking of? Here is the screenshot of my last game.
How do you start your game exacly? Technology, build order? Maybe I am trying to built wonders too much?

Screenshot: LINK

any help appreciated.

 

[bison21]

What really helped me was the bnw-poland guide. Not because of poland, but rather some of the core strategies that I would do wrong:

The guide suggests:

> Lots of scouts, rely on religious city states for pantheon (I had just given up on religion)
> (!!)Ignore the bottom of the tech tree for as long as possible (I always chose it as a priority, for CB and guilds, leaving my culture behind and getting only a policy after 25+ turns)
> Pantheon and religion should focus on growth and/or on faith so that you starting 3 cities are strong (I always went for science or gold boosts, but I still pick Tithe)

And btw, even for G&K standard you are far too slow. You are 100+ and have only one city. When I played emperor in G&K I followed the tradition starter, having 3 cities down by that point. Especially because Germany settled next to you, you either have to take him out or go south- I'd just re-roll tbh.

I have a save on emperor turn 105 with 3 cities, good gold, culture and science. It really works- provided you don't start between Attila, Germany and the Zulus. I can't cope with that sort of start yet

 

[BorisTheCat]

Is that salt mine the only hammer tile in your borders? You should have bought and mined at least one hill, or just settled closer to them if you can still get the luxes

 

[Koffee510]

I've been playing CIV for years and had a huge hiatus for the past couple, just getting back into it now. I had never played an Emperor game in CIV 5, just reached the critical point where I'm snowballing away with the Netherlands in my first game on it pretty handily.

Speaking for myself, Emperor isn't too different from King, the AI just has a few more units, but diplomacy feels remarkably similar.

That being said, it looks like your biggest issue is just expanding aggressively and early. Even if you are going for a small, tall empire, you do need to found your cities as early as possible, if you're going to get prime real estate on multiple luxury resources/river tiles that you want in the early game. Try not to actually build settlers in the first 50-ish turns, buying them with gold and using the Liberty tree tends to be more efficient. Focus on expanding to (different) luxury resources, and trade any extra to the AI (it seems in G&K, you can average 7 GPT per resource auctioned off to the AI, really helps in buying settlers). You know well enough to steal a worker if you can, avoid getting one until you have the tech to actually improve stuff.

As for tech, Emperor is forgiving enough to let you run up to Writing with an eye on Philosophy and the National College before you need to get Construction for Composite Bows. You'll be at a slight disadvantage early on in tech, but if you dutifully make a library in every city asap and get the College up early, you should be able to equalize by the Medieval era. The Great Library isn't absolutely necessary to pull even in tech, building it that early hurts more than helps, in my opinion.

I guess you just got to worry about infrastructure before victory conditions. A science victory isn't determined in the Ancient Era, you have plenty of time to catch up if you play fundamentally sound in the opening.

 

[homegrown]

The first thing you have to learn jumping to Emperor is that there are far fewer early wonders available and if you really really want one (like Petra), you need to beeline for it. That said, skip the GL. You *can* still get it on Emp, but it's just not worth the opportunity cost. Get yourself 4-6 archers and a couple of caravans hauling food to the capital instead.

The good news is with libraries and universities running specialists, you should quickly take the lead in tech without having to worry about settling every city next to a mountain. You don't really need observatories until Immortal/Diety.

The last thing to mention is to not hamstring yourself with "I won't attack any other civs". That is the only way to deal with a potential runaway and you have to do it earlier rather than later. If you want, you can antagonize the enemy enough so he'll attack you first, but don't be afraid to fight. That's what your archers/cbs/xbows are for!

 

[Philosophia]

I'm making the transition as well and what I find really useful is to just ignore wonders and play solid civilizations. I used to play the "ok" civilizations in GnK because they were fun and I personally just liked them, but now that I'm starting to transition into Emperor I've been playing the better ones like Babylon, Poland, etc and for the most part ignoring early wonders. It's helped me learn how to do things and tech properly without have to use the Great Library.

 

[qhash]

Thanks a lot for your hints guys, i will try them.

 

[qhash]

follow-up request - does anyone know a really good youtube "let's play" or tutorial series where I can see some tactics and tricks turn by turn at the Emperor level? I can't have even 60% of the BPT,GPT or city size shown in screenshots of the other players. In my games I manage to be in the narrow tech lead (being 2nd or 3rd civ), but I am always last in culture (they do double) and tourism.

And is the Terracota so strong now that AIs prioritize it? In my last game it was 3rd built wonder (Washington) , just after GL and SH. Afterwards, there was no war.

 

[Mantinel]

Just some general tips to help you in your play on Emperor:

Be peaceful
While warmorgering is a valid strategy, now in BNW it's easier to play safe and just be friends with everybody. This changes around late middle ages / renessaince when your empire should have good roots and you should be able to get the runaway civ if needed. Try to pick one with most wonders.

Tradition is the way to go
In my opinion, Tradition is the best tree to have nowadays. It's opener grants you early culture flow and other policies give you lot of food and gold in your capital. Hanging Gardens are now more obtainable and one of the best early wonders.

Science, science, science
To be successful, you're science needs to be proritized. I usually go for writing first, then grab luxury techs and then Philosophy for NC. Build it before settling your second city. Then I usually go for Mathematics for Hanging Gardens and then beeline for Education. After that, focus on getting Scientific Theory in a timely manner. Don't ever stop growing in your capital. It will provide you with your main science output through the game.

Expand smart
When you build NC it's right time to expand. If you have decent income and some trades with AI, you should be able to buy a settler and hardbuild one in your capital. Around this time your luxuries should be back from AI and your happyness should be around 8. Settle one city forward to AI and try to settle the second city away from the AI. That way you reduce the diplomatic hit by settling in their way. Always place cities with at least 2 luxury resources, even if on 3rd ring. If not possible try to pick cities with additional value - natural wonders, lot of production from pastures or even jungle based cities for good population and science. Always send your workers with settlers to exploit those new luxuries as soon as possible.

Keep your army low but potent
Most of the fighting you'll require when playing peacefully can be done with just your archers. I usually produce second warrior to feel safe early on, especially if lot of barbarians spawn from different angles. You need to have at least 3 units when expanding. If you get DOWed after expanding, your forward city could be vulnerable. It's good idea to build it on hill for extra protection and if possible, buy Walls. AI's are generally dumb and will swarm on your city and usually fail horribly.

Religion isn't mandatory
While faith bonuses are nice, don't go overboard to get a religion. While early shrine is nice, it's maybe better to build extra scout and try to get the early pantheon from religious city states. If you happen to be on a desert, by all means go full religious, but otherwise it's not that important or easy to get and while all the bonuses are great, they will set you back in other areas.

Hope this helps you at least a little to beat emperor. I'm myself playing 90% of my games on emperor as I find it most enjoyable.

 

[Tony.Uk]

Deleted

 

[Calouste]

You have 615 gold sitting there doing nothing. At least buy that Oasis tile and the River side hill and work those. Specially because it looks like you have Petra, you should have bought those tiles long ago.

Border expansion in BNW is significantly slower in most cases because there is a lot less culture in the early game. So you have to aggressively buy your resource tiles if you don't want the cultural expansion to stick you with useless plains and coastal tiles until the Renaissance.

 

[red_doctor]

As an Emperor player myself, this is my advice:

1. Science: No matter what victory you go for, you cannot afford to fall behind. Yes, go for the techs for your type of victory first but don't forget the Science techs. Research agreements are always welcome.

2. Tradition or Liberty: Both work if you know what your goals are.

3. Patronage: For me the best one to go after your opener (Rationalization comes close). In BNW some CS demands are almost free influence (Trade routes, Great Artists/Writers/Musicians). I try to get all the culture City States first which allows me for more policies. The Tech boost if you go CS heavy is also awesome. And the finisher with the great people always helps.

4. Don't ignore tourism, or after the industrial you are going to have problems maintaining your happiness.

5. Wonders: You'll get them as soon as you get the tech lead. Before that it's hard and a matter of luck. Beeline for one if it's vital to your strategy but especially early game do not focus heavily on wonders.


And yes while going peaceful is easier with BNW, warmongering is more fun and challenging (so maybe try it after you have some more experience on this level).