Looking For Some Tips on Empire Expansion

[lundif]

Hi. I started playing Civ 4 this fall, and I have seem to have basics down (for Noble difficulty at least). Now, I'm looking for some tips on efficient empire expansion.

My favorite maps to play are huge Tectonics or Earth2-style maps, with a conquest win in mind. I was wondering if anyone could share their thoughts (or point me to a thread here) on how to keep my ground army marching from conquest to conquest, with minimal downtime between taking out opponents. Once you've annihilated another civ and have their choicest cities, what do you focus on building before you start cranking out more troops (preferably the non obsolete variety)? Thanks much.

-Lun

 

[CivMcNut]

It looks like you've got a healthy appetite for winning by military. One thing you can do to keep your troops moving at max speed is have at least one medic unit in your army. Resting up your troops after they get damaged in battle is the most time consuming thing you have to deal with besides actually moving there. If you can rest in a conquered city or part of your own territory that will greatly speed up your troops. Make sure you build lots of siege units. Use the siege to not only lower the defenses but suicide one or two units to knock down the defenders' strength.

If you're going for a Conquest Victory you will have to raze a bunch of cities. Keeping them can result in you getting an accidental Domination victory.

 

[Yared]

When you get a great general, use it to power up a weak unit and make it into a super medic. Put that weak unit in a stack with superior units (e.g., a warrior in a stack of infantry). When someone attacks your stack, it won't attack the warrior because the strongest defender always gets targeted.

This super medic will keep your stack rolling through the countryside of your enemy

-

Before attacking someone, plant some spies in their cities and put the weight on that AI. When your stack gets to a city with a spy on it, make it cause the city to revolt. It will lose all of its cultural defences, making it easier for your units to capture the city. Only works with BTS.

BTW, make sure you're producing enough Espionage Points before.

 

[dirtyparrot]

A super medic does help in keeping your stack on the move. Also chaining capitulations allows for less troops needed for garrison and more that can be used for an invasion (at least in the short term).

 

[lundif]

Ah thanks for the tips. A super-medic in particular is something I've never thought of and I'm definitely going to try that.

I think I didn't state my actual question quite clearly enough though. What I'm specifically wondering about is this:

Once I conquer Civ A, I want to turn the newly acquired cities into military producing machines ASAP so that I can invade Civ B with an even more unstoppable force..and then move onto to Civ C with a still larger army. Also, by the time I get to Civ D or E, the travel distance from my first city's location is pretty far, so it becomes more efficient timewise to shift my production focus to more centralized locations.

Now I could build a barracks in each new city (if needed) and start popping out fresh troops right away, but (especially for early wars) my economy, and thus my research, needs to recover a bit. So I was wondering if people had any strategies for getting the new cities economically viable ASAP so i can get a larger army (that adequately reflects my newly enlarged population base) on the road toward the next Civ. Thanks a ton!

 

[magicwalker]

Have a strong economy before you go to war, i.e. cottages being worked.

Depending on the era you are warring in, having access to State Property will assist you greatly in your efforts to expand your empire via conquest. This will also help you considerably in turning your newly acquired territories into hammer-heavy cities (workshops and watermills in large abundance).

Prior to this, though, having the ability to build Wealth to support your growth is very beneficial -emphasize getting Currency before you completely crash-out your economy.

 

[kopema]

Now I could build a barracks in each new city (if needed) and start popping out fresh troops right away, but (especially for early wars) my economy, and thus my research, needs to recover a bit. So I was wondering if people had any strategies for getting the new cities economically viable ASAP so i can get a larger army (that adequately reflects my newly enlarged population base) on the road toward the next Civ.

In the later game, I've found that Corporations are extremely helpful in jump-starting new cities. The flat bonus in Food, Influence and Hammers makes a HUGE difference in a newly-conquered city. I include Executives as a vital part of part of my invasion force.

As for moving troops to the front, that's what Airports are for. I always buy one as near the front as I can as soon as the Rebellion ends. You do know that you can move an unlimited number of units to one city in a turn, as long as they all come from different cities, right? That way, every newly-produced unit in the world can be ready to roll out of one frontline city the turn after it's produced, with no need to worry about Transports.