Leaders/Civs for Beginners

[VoiceOfUnreason]

My first topic, here I go!

I'm quite a new Civ player. I just got Civ4 and Walords about three weeks ago and I got hooked. But there's a lot of tough things in Civ. One of them is when I start a new game. I don't really know what leader to choose!

But now it's kinda hard. I don't know what leader to use, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this subject.

So, to the point, are there any leaders that you think would be easy for beginners to use? There are some that I tried and can't seem to work. The American Leaders are hard for me, I tried both of them.

Hatshepsut would be my first recommendation, by a whole lot.

She's one of the leaders who has her original traits - therefore a lot of the strategic material you will find is still relevent.

Big Wheels solve your early barbarian issues.

Creative means that you don't have to stress over the border pop mechanic in the early game - you can claim territory without having to think about it at all.

Spiritual means that you don't have to stress over the anarchy mechanic at all - change civics or religions at your whim, and learn how those work.

In other words, playing Hatty allows you to concentrate on the game.

When you start worrying about more advanced concepts (like running specialists to generate great people), Hatty is right there with you - the obelisk and half price libraries are pieces well suited to starting to generate GP early in the game.

She also has the advantage of a clear research track in the opening - Animal Husbandry (for the War Chariots) & Writing (cheap Libraries) are on the same line, and easily identified; Mysticism is parked just on the other side.

 

[utberguy]

Hmm, it's hard to say. As you move up, the AI researches a lot faster, so that you can't simply sit back and move up the tech tree without falling behind.

If you are falling behind it's probably one of several things.

-Not trading enough. This is essential since the AI civs will always trade with each other. Bee-line for "trade bait" techs that none of the AIs will have yet (e.g. Alphabet, Drama, Paper.)

-Not enough cottages/commerce. It's important to never stop expanding your economy. This usually means spamming cottages in all the prime locations (i.e. river-grassland and floodplains); but there are other ways. For example, in my current game I drew Archipeligo, so there is little room for cottaging. So instead I built the Great Wall, then used the engineer for the Colossus. I drew a Financial civ (Korea) so my economy is producing nicely without the need for a ton of cottages.

(It's ok to build one or two of the early wonders with a specific strategy in mind. For example, you might be Philosophical and go for a Great Wall to Pyramids Specialist Economy. [Look up threads on the SE in the articles section. Don't worry about doing it yet, just get an idea and start looking into great people more.])

Anyway, as I said it's hard to tell without seeing one of your saved games. But it's probably a combination of stalling on the cottage spam and not trading enough.

thank you so much!! I think you've ID'd my problem. i will definitely try it and report back. (after the exams are over, that is...)

 

[Ecofarm]

Screw the exams! You need to learn to make priorities in life and civilization provides an early opportunity to do so without (against ) input from others.

 

[AnitaGaribaldi]

Hmm, it's hard to say. As you move up, the AI researches a lot faster, so that you can't simply sit back and move up the tech tree without falling behind.

If you are falling behind it's probably one of several things.

-Not trading enough. This is essential since the AI civs will always trade with each other. Bee-line for "trade bait" techs that none of the AIs will have yet (e.g. Alphabet, Drama, Paper.)

-Not enough cottages/commerce. It's important to never stop expanding your economy. This usually means spamming cottages in all the prime locations (i.e. river-grassland and floodplains); but there are other ways. For example, in my current game I drew Archipeligo, so there is little room for cottaging. So instead I built the Great Wall, then used the engineer for the Colossus. I drew a Financial civ (Korea) so my economy is producing nicely without the need for a ton of cottages.

(It's ok to build one or two of the early wonders with a specific strategy in mind. For example, you might be Philosophical and go for a Great Wall to Pyramids Specialist Economy. [Look up threads on the SE in the articles section. Don't worry about doing it yet, just get an idea and start looking into great people more.])

Anyway, as I said it's hard to tell without seeing one of your saved games. But it's probably a combination of stalling on the cottage spam and not trading enough.

P.S. Check out this guide when you have some time (and you're not playing): Intermediate Tactics

I agree with you. I plan my games. I plan the tech path, trying to figure out the techs I need to research, the techs I'll lightbulb and the techs I'll get from trade. I use this tech tree and this forum thread to help me. I may build the Stonehenge, to get an early Great Ptophet and lightbulb Civil Service (only Vanilla). I can keep up easily with the AI at Monarch.