Need Warmongering Help

[DJMGator13]

My current game: I am Sumerians, emporer level, std. map size, continents, sed. barbs.

I was very excited at my starting location. Ur had 4 Bonus grass & 1 Grass w/cattle. An excellent location for a 4 turn warrior/settler factory. Unfortunately I am boxed-in by the Ottomans after I built 4 cities. So I decided to try my first WARMONGERING game. I am usually a builder and I'm not proficient in early era wars. I usually wait for knights before starting wars. I am will later switch to cavs and only slow down when other civs have infantry.

Since the Ottomans do not have their iron hooked up yet I am sending swordman against archers. Before I took their first city my military advisor said I was "weak" compared to them. Once I took the first city I am now "average".

Defeating the Ottomans should not be a problem. I have never won a C3C game by conquest. I have had a late 1900's Domination victory using tanks, but I have not pushed the envelope on early wars. My questions are as follows:

1. Should I raze or capture the ottomans cities? If I raze I can continue to attack and with Ur as a strong settler factory I could easily rebuild the cities. Obvisously I would keep their larger cities, but the size 2 - 4 cities are they worth keeping?

2. Once I finish off the Ottos how do I attack the other civs? This is where my play style boggs down. I plan on getting MM so I can build galleys and explore/locate next civ.

3. Also any help on build orders - what to build and what not to build in cities when trying to go conquest/domination victory path?

Sorry for the length of the post, but i was trying to provide details to questions I thought people would ask.

THANKS

 

[DJMGator13]

My map did not upload the first time.

 

[lbhhh]

Finish off the ottomans ASAP. If it was my game i'd keep the cities and spend the 30 shields for building a new settler for each razed city on swordsmen/horsemen instead.

 

[unscratchedfoot]

The terrain is more barren than Mars and enemy has surprisingly no units for emperor level. I reckon start again because it'll be too dull.

 

[RegentMan]

Kill the Ottomans! I suggest keeping the cities and after the war. Found a couple more around your native area as there are a couple of unsettled areas that need to be settled.

 

[BkGreatWarnut]

I'd keep the cities...building settlers is a pain in the but...use the shields on city improvements or soldiers instead...

And like the previous post, settle that one area just south of your land...if you haven't already.

 

[Gengis Khan]

Personally I'd rather capture small towns & raze the big ones if improvements & Wonders aren't an issue. Small towns present less resistors that are easier to quell & take less time to starve down, both of these mean they're less likely to flip back. Large cities give you more slaves when razed.

I'd start razing the first line of cities you come to because I'd want to reposition them to fit my empire, not theirs. After that the choice is yours.

I'd also have settled a few more cities in your interior then you have, and would have had a couple settlers traveling with my troops for when I raze cities.

If there's not landbridge anywhere you won't have any option but to make full steam for MapMaking & pump out those suicide galleys.

When going for a normal Conquest, less is more. Meaning improvements should only be built if really needed. Markets and/or libraries(no point in building libs if you're not doing your own research) in the core of course, but any other improvements only if needed. Barracks everywhere that's producing units(but you can leave most of your corrupt small number of shield producing cities to catapolts). Of course this goes out the window if you have to go island hopping to get from Civ to Civ.

If the Ottomans are ahead of you in techs or have contacts, I'd do some "pointy stick research" because you're not going anywhere till you meet another Civ to attack. Capture/raze a few cities you want including the capitol, then sue for peace taking everything they have. Spend the 20 turns building up galleys, some more troops, and consolidating your cities; then when the peace is up take them out(unless they've gotten a couple new techs that is ). Then you'll have your continent, more knowledge & be ready to roll on the next guy.

 

[DJMGator13]

Thanks for the help everyone. I did keep playing the game and I'm doing well. I ended up only razing the first ottoman city, because I thought they would take it back too easily. Their counter attack was weak due to my UU 1/2/1 at the cost of a warrior.

As soon as I saw that I was boxed in I stopped producing settlers and switched to military. I had four cities and iron. I tried a fifth city to secure another iron away from the Ottos but I was too late. I started the war with the Ottos and never let them get their iron into production. I took out the Ottomans with mainly swords. No need for suicide galleys next continent was in sight of an island.

Once I secured the Ottomans iron I sued for peace and picked up 3 techs. Waited & built swordman like crazy for 20 turns then reattacked. After the ottoman war I was way way behind on techs but managed to build the GL thanks to a prebuild. In the two turns after the GL I picked up almost a dozens techs. I picked up 2nd tier techs all the way up thru education in 2or 3 turns.

Its now 1285ad and I own almost half of the world and I have the largest army. I also just produced my 1st calvary so the game should never reach the infantry stage.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[lbhhh]

Good job! You're well on your way to a decisive victory.

 

[RegentMan]

Wow! I'm glad you succeeded so well!

 

[tomart109]

Glad to welcome another new civ3 warmonger! Even in peaceful games, you want to be as strong as your neighbors - this cuts down on those ugly demands, and turns many of them to bluffs. And then, since you have forces, you might as well use them... when opportunities present themselves.

I would also recommend some articles in the war academy forum - they're fun to read, and will improve your game, in lots of ways.

 

[Gengis Khan]

Nice job!

 

[barbslinger]

Looks like an easy domination victory for you coming up.
I'm sure you were quite thrilled seeing how easy it is to slice through an AI in ancient times. I used to play like you too in waiting until I had quite a few knights. Now if I have a) 4 archers and b) more productive cities it is war time. Because if I can knock out one of the AI cities he is behind the 8-ball and I can out produce him militarily and he will be a goner. It's not unusual for some of my SP games for a war to be going in the first 30 turns. Good luck on your impending victory.