Leaders: How to play them and how to play against them!

[TheMeInTeam]

Cathy ALSO has a fairly low buildunitprob. However, her CRE/IMP massive rex tendencies often mean she gets more land than other AIs (compensating somewhat). She is every bit the backstabber mad lists and therefore despite a low-ish build unit pro she tend to attack at unusually opportune (for the AI anyway) times and meets with greater success as a result. Her WFYABTA cap is very high (only MM is higher IIRC) and she'll trade techs even with people she doesn't like, making her a force in the tech picture too. This is problematic if it combines ---> a tech lead over hapless AIs that she decides to . It's better to not let her get out of control unless you're the ONLY person she likes (the lone scenario she can be trusted). When compared to other AIs, I view her as one of the most effective in computer hands.

 

[Stewie0416]

Can someone please put up a list of Backstabbers? I know a few like Cathy but i think i'm missing a lot of them. If someone could that would help A LOT!

 

[royal62184]

Shaka, Zulu, Genghis Khan, Monty - these 4 I will never trust unless friendly
One of the french guy betrays me a lot and GW of America has betrayed me a lot, but i don't know if i was unlucky or what.

 

[Diamondeye]

Catherine does not declare on Friendly. She can be bribed to attack friends by other friends, but that is an entirely different thing. Be her only friend (or her richest friend) and bribe her to attack the others. She can serve as an excellent attackdog if you make sure she stays at Friendly and does not outgrow you or find another friend.

 

[DMOC]

Shaka, Zulu, Genghis Khan, Monty - these 4 I will never trust unless friendly
One of the french guy betrays me a lot and GW of America has betrayed me a lot, but i don't know if i was unlucky or what.

I think all 3 French guys are like that.

 

[DMOC]

Can someone please put up a list of Backstabbers? I know a few like Cathy but i think i'm missing a lot of them. If someone could that would help A LOT!

You can check the beyond the sword reference tables. The thread is stickied in the BTS forum.

Off the top of my head, leaders that are the WORST backstabbers:

Victoria
Catherine

There are definitely at least 4 more. There was a "Pick Your Leader" series where they had all backstabbers that had a 20% chance of declaring on pleased. You could try searching that.

EDIT: Here it is

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=272589

 

[Diamondeye]

That'd be... Alex, Cathy, Louis, Mao, Monty, Qin Shi Huang, Victoria, Willem... Right? Or am I thinking 3.13 - and are there any differences?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Mehmed is also a backstabber I find, and he techs pretty well too.

 

[The Almighty dF]

Suppose you could do one of the Chinese leaders soon?
I've never been able to play as either, so I'm curious.
Also curious about Hatty and Augustus, since they seem pretty weak compared to their companions (Ramesses being a great wonderhog and Julius having a trait that aides him in the strategy that both Roman leaders follow.)

 

[Bibor]

Joao is dangerous if he's your closest neighbour. Not that he's very powerful, but he's really agressive if not able to expand. And he's very stubborn about it.

 

[madscientist]

I'll do Agustus and Mao next. Maybe during my lunch break.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Mehmed is also a backstabber I find, and he techs pretty well too.

Mehmed doesn't declare at pleased...at least not in BTS...

 

[pi-r8]

For Tokugawa, try to conquer as much land as possible during the middle ages (using the AWESOME samurai) while beelining nationalism + rifling. Once you've got those two techs, even the most worthless city can instantly pop out a Combat 1, Drill 1, CG 1 riflemen. At that point, you can roll over almost anyone.

 

[DMOC]

Joao is dangerous if he's your closest neighbour. Not that he's very powerful, but he's really agressive if not able to expand. And he's very stubborn about it.

I agree. There's really 2 things he does:

1. Expand
2. Declare war if #1 is not possible

I think he and Catherine of Russia are tied in being CIV's best expanders.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I agree. There's really 2 things he does:

1. Expand
2. Declare war if #1 is not possible

I think he and Catherine of Russia are tied in being CIV's best expanders.

I agree completely. They are right up with sitting bull with the "incessant demand annoyance spam" too .

I trust Joao more than Cathy though. He doesn't declare at pleased either.

 

[madscientist]

Added my views of Mansa and Agustus. Agustus is probably a little different than most people views (He offers much more than running the countryside with Prats) and he is still one of my favorites to play because he is so diverse and multi-dimensional.

 

[Iranon]

I agree that Augustus is one excellent wonderspammer. Another early hammer bonus is very welcome, and whipping discounted settlers into discounted wonders is excellent.

 

[ventrue]

I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the civs in this article.

http://guides.ign.com/guides/896712/page_6.html

That is th eonly other article I have seen that has some opinions on how to play the leaders and it is not as in depth as this article.

 

[The Almighty dF]

I tried out Augustus using the strategy you suggested.
The only difficulty I really had was keeping ahead tech wise in order to grab the wonders I needed.
I probably would have had an easier time if I wasn't surrounded by Wang Kon and Elizabeth.
Aside from the tech issue (which may have just been me), your strategy works perfectly.

 

[The Almighty dF]

I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the civs in this article.

http://guides.ign.com/guides/896712/page_6.html

That is th eonly other article I have seen that has some opinions on how to play the leaders and it is not as in depth as this article.

After reading that guide, I can honestly say... they never even bothered to play the game.
Then again, it's IGN. The same site that claims Family Guy and Neon Genesis Evangelion are among the 10 greatest cartoons ever made.