My Tips

[Mayhem]

I think the Navy is very important in this game.

Library, then Mag's is a good way to go. I also like to get the War Academy for the steamboats, they become vet after 1 fight.

And with shakespeare's wonder, you can make all your boats supported from that city, in democracy or republic. And they'll never be unhappy, this is a very important naval wonder in my book.

I remember a recent game on emperor, i captured around 9 cities with a combo of ironclads and pike or gunmen.

After that you can basically starve the other cities out... Take away shield squares, it disbands their units, then just take out that 1 guy.

 

[starlifter]

By Duke o' York:

then being given Horseback Riding and The Wheel through the Great Library will increase the cost of the tech you need for that wonder and will slow you down

Absolutely right. HBR and the Wheel, altough with Map Making, Warrior Code, Iron Working, Seafaring Construction, and the Republic are research killers in the dash for Monarchy, Philosophy, and Trade. HBR and MM can often be totally avoided until mid or late game.
The Great Library is a science-killing luxury that is normally best avoided, except with certain terrain leaves you with no choice.

The GL is a good choice for those who are refining their strategies, but if one can make an early Republic or early Democracy work well, the GL is best directed to a Purple Civ, or at least a contained Civ. Otherwise gifting could cause a 3rd Civ to have all the advances you obtain (for newer Civ 2 players, remember you generally give away all your tech to the key civ).

For newer players: it is not the quantity of advances you have, but the timing and specific advances. In a stable mid or late game Democracy, the issue is negligible. But in early game, the junk advances should be avoided at all costs if you want to advance quickly. This also directly related to the race for certain wonders, like Marco Polo, Copernicus, and sometimes Michelangelos Chapel.... and most definately KRC and Leos.

Marco Polo will allow you or orchestrate and yes even "direct" the research efforts of the entire world to benefit you, the human. Marco Polo is proactive, GL is reactive.
Ideally, you want the key civ to build the GL, but that is not possible to control with precision at all times. But gifting Literacy can sometimes do it.

Kev has pointed out the big equalizer: Dips. If an AI has a tech you really need, and Marco Pole does not help, then bribe a barb trireme (the dip will probably be aboard now), and off your go.... steal it. But you may have to gift trading partners of the target civ to endure they swap and the target civ has only the advance you want. In a nutshell, it might planning from early on.

A lot of things in Civ can be counter-intuitive, and the GL is a good example. In summary, if you like to hang out in Monarchy until Communism or Fundy, the GL might be an option. It eventually will fill in the tech gaps that will open up due to slow science production.

 

[Shirannybl]

Does anybody know if we can "buy" a city(trade something for a city) from another civ? I don't want to go to war and take it, I want to offer money and buy it, the same with Wonders, can I buy it?Any help I'd appreciate. Thanks, Shirannybl.

 

[duke o' york]

Yeah!
You will need to build the diplomat unit (see left ) and then move him up to an enemy city. When you reach the city, move the dip into it as you would if you were attacking it and a menu will pop up. The options are: found an embassy with the civ, steal technology from the civ, investigate the city, sabotage improvements, poison the water supply and incite revolt. If you choose to incite a revolt in the city, another box will appear saying "Dissidents in the city of (eg) Hamburg require 245g to revolt" and you will be given the option to pay this amount for the city or not. It is usually worth it but you may need extra defensive troops to hold the city. The price of the city is based on various factors. It is also possible to use the diplomat (and later the spy, an improved version) to bribe enemy and barbarian units by moving as if you will attack them and then paying the price demanded but be careful as the diplomat is a non-combat unit and cannon fodder for most regular troops so he will require protection.

 

[starlifter]

This graphic might help see what's going on. The pop up menu looks like this when you use a Diplomat to against a city:

The way you get the menu is to ram the Diplomat into the city, as if it was attacking.... that's when the menu will appear. If you want to bribe the city, choose the last option, "Incite A Revolt", and hopefully you have enough Gold to commit the bribe. If not, you will be told so an no movement will count against you for aborting the bribe.

Note: The Diplomat is unable to poison a water supply .... it is only the Spy that can do that.

I don't want to go to war and take it, I want to offer money and buy it, the same with Wonders, can I buy it?

If you are at a Cease Fire or at Peace, you will have the option to pay twice the normal cost of revolt... bribing a city while at Ceace Fire or Peace is called subversion, and it can be possible, but expensive. You cannot bribe individual things in a city, like units or improvements or wonders.

Welcome to CFC and the Civ 2 Forums! As you get the hang of Civ 2, you may want to join in the fun Game of the Month (GOTM)! It has it's own Forum.

 

[Shirannybl]

To Starlifter and Duke o'York - Thanks so much for your answer. When I asked to buy a city Iwas talking buy from the Leader itself, in Civ3, anyway thanks very much. You are very kind.
Shirannybl.

 

[starlifter]

To Starlifter and Duke o'York - Thanks so much for your answer. When I asked to buy a city Iwas talking buy from the Leader itself, in Civ3, anyway thanks very much. You are very kind.

Aha! So that means you will now have to go and get Civilization 2 and play it so you can see those trusty Diplomats in action!! . Come on back to our Civ 2 Forums anytime