Peaceful Space Race victory on Immortal?

[Octavian_2009]

Hi all, this is my first time posting. I picked up the Civ 4 all in one package off of Steam about a month ago, and have spent many hours since furiously obsessing over improving my game.

The guides and forums here have been absolutely fantastic. With their aid I just won my first Emperor game, a Space Race victory with Zara Yaqob on Normal speed.

My preferred playstyle is peaceful, with a micro managed specialist economy that maintains a healthy tech lead over other Civs. I barely pulled this off in my Emperor win, and it was due in large part to a favorable starting position, where I was able to block off a large peninsula with my cultural borders to prevent rival expansion into territory to be settled later on.

Is the above approach feasible in an Immortal/Deity game, assuming Normal speed, Standard map size, and the standard # of Civs?

I just can't imagine I'd be able to tech any faster than I did my last game, which had pretty ideal conditions. That means I'll be left in the dust if I move up a difficulty level. Not to mention I'll be hard pressed to claim enough land for my cities to begin with without resorting to war.

I am asking because I wanted to take my current approach as far as I could before returning to the drawing board and working on a different victory condition (probably Cultural), that would allow me to win on Immortal. I could also work on learning how to wage war effectively, but I'll probably have to drop down to Monarch because of my inexperience. (The best I've done so far war wise is a Praetorian rush on Prince).

 

[sherbz]

It is possible to win on immortal without resorting to war. Diplomatic and cultural are your two best options there.

I think for space, you need to be tech leader and for that, you need a lot of cities. Im currently playing an immortal game as liz of england. Ive managed to seal off enough land for 12 cities or so. Willem is tech leader with only 6 cities. I will catch him, but it illustartes the problems you face the higher up you go. Id say that if you continue with your current strategy then you might win 20% of your games on immmortal. But if you learn how to war then that figure will rise above 50%.

You might want to try playing as a different leader too. If you like running a specialist economy that does well on tech then elizabeth, darius or frederick might serve you better. I personally find it very hard on immortal without a financial or organised civ. Upkeep and maintenance are so much of a prioblem. Mehmed is also a good choice because of his traits (expansive, organised), coupled with the HAMM and Janisaries, make him probably the best all round leader in the game.

 

[Octavian_2009]

Of the leaders you mentioned, Darius is the most tempting. Financial + Organized would give a ton of flexibility during expansion. Elizabeth also sounds good, but do you think Philosophical is more or less effective in a specialist economy? I've read that a single GP producing city is more efficient than many, and I tend to get GP popping in many different cities when I'm running all of those scientists.

I decided to hone my warmonger skills and started a Monarch game with Hammurabi of Babylon. I also switched to Epic speed for easier troop movement. The game has gone ridiculously well so far, as I was able to score early bronze and axe rush the only two other civs on my continent. The remaining two civs I've met are both Buddhist, so I converted, and they are happily trading me techs while I expand as fast as my economy will allow. I'm trying to decide what tech level to reach before rebuilding my military to go for a domination victory.

 

[sherbz]

elizabeth offers excellent flexibility in my opinion. She is good in an early rex, as she is philosophical so you can get lots of early scientists for bulbing. Then late game, she has the financial trait which really helps your economy to recover after initial expansion and also to power through until the end. She also has access to the red coat. Which is arguably the best UU in the game because it comes at a time ripe for expansion (especially as you should have the stock exchange, the unique building, up and running by this time).

A good way to learn war mogering skills is to play as boudica. IMO she is the warring queen.

Darius gives you an uber economy (the best in the game). You could also play as mansa musa, as he gets an uber economy too with the mint bringing in 10% extra gold. He is also handy because he gets skirmishers to take care of those pesky barbs at the start.