Prince-level Strategy

[miserable09]

Hello.
Playing an awesome game on Prince.

Have advanced to around the time of electricity, and the same thing happens every game. My two neighbors, France and Inca, invade (out of the blue) and then I'm up the creek. I've been replaying the same game as I got an awesome spot on a pretty fair random map.

Was wondering a few things:

1. How many units do you guys normally garrison cities with?

2. How do you balance keeping up a decent amount of troops while maintaining any kind of science budget.

3. Any strategies for what to do when a greater force invades?

 

[Anaztazioch]

1. 3 archers with city defance and 2 melee units, 1 vs cavalary 1 with healing.

2. many cottages, Judaism temples are great too. Also i like to do this techs 1st. :
[a]. Fishing (only if coastal cities, makes money from water)
. Hunting
[c]. Archery
[d]. Mysticism (start building Stonehenge, but when it will be 1 turn to finish, stop production, to stop prod, use city build screen start other productiona and right click on stonehenge name in qoue)
[e]. Monotheism/Dualism (Dualism only if playing as Cyrus. Zoroastranism is good as it gives you science)
[f]. Thw Wheel to make roads and money from trade routes.
[g]. Masonary (Finish eighther Pyramids go heridary rule if pyramids. secure stone or marble dont need both, marble is more valuable for future)
[h]. Politheism (Try avoiding founding Hinduism as you doint need it, rush The Partheon for GPs and Temple of Artmedis as its a good wonder, but Partheon is better)
. Priesthood. Spread your religion, but 1st rush Oracle, but DONT finish it before having both Pottery and Bronze Working
[j]. Pottery, if you have wine in your borders. Gives happiness and money. If you dont have wine, skip this tech for now.
[k]. Mining. Make gold, silver, gem mines if possible and secure 'em.
[l]. Bronze Working. Get copper.
[m]. Pottery. If you have it resarched allready skip it.
[n]. FINISH Oracle ASAP now and get Metal Casting. Build Forge and Colosseus in coastal city and you got fair amount of money.
[o]. Now enemies should have Writing witch will give you opened boarders and faster resarch as well as more income. Now get Improvements like Argiculture (about 5 turns it should be with opened borders), Pasture.
So far your economy should be fine. Only early wars might make it harder to obtain, so try to mainain peace, even by giving hight tributes.

I use such strategy in all difs higher than Noble. On Diety its much harder ton get Oracle before enemy.

Also remember that not completing wonders, but getting money from "wasted" hammers speeds up your resarch. I know that Pyramids can give you Polytheism and Priesthood in ~25 turns (2or3 times faster)

 

[miserable09]

Thanks for the tips man! Great stuff! A few followup questions

Do these tips work in total realism? I tried right clicking on stonehenge and it just went away...

Also, do you mean to complete stonehenge, or just cancel it? Canceling it did not seem to boost my research any.

finally, how about settlers and workers? When do you fit them in while building your archers and melee units?

-m

 

[Hian the Frog]

Hello,

Funny. I use nearly the same way as Anaztazioch. Only one or two minors changes with tech priority but the whole idea is quite good.

As the Team Tester, i often use Prince level.
Garrisoning is quite uneasy. It depends on how many civs are around you. The general idea is: one or two archers with City Garrison in each city. One spearman and/or axeman also. It depends on how your are rich and what level of research you want. Note that in early game, beeing around 70-75 % is sometime good ! To finish, a group of chariot with collateral damage promo as strike force. Their goal is too strike as many units as possible even if they had to die. Weakening a stack of enemy troops is often enough to make them dying below your walls. Note that walls are among the first building i build.

That's all.

Enjoy.

Hian the Frog

 

[Anaztazioch]

As to think of it, i rarelly build walls in cities that are on hills.

As for units, i usually have 1 city with high food to make settlers and one city with production to build barracks and units.

I usually play on Diety (modified diety so AI doesnt have any free tech and starts with warrior and settler as i do, but he still have faster resarch, lower maintanance, more healthiness and more happiness, and faster production).

Also as for how many units stationing, its about your leader traits. If you are Japanese (best for units i say), you dont need much. Barracks and warrior and you have a unit to heal, and 1 or 2 archers with city defend. One archer gets xp from barbs so fast that you can disband the other one to save some cash/or set him out as Mercenary to get money from his contracts.

Also Immortals are best early units. you dont need more than 2 immortals/city to defend from barbs. You dont need even melee unit with Healing.
Close thing with Skirmishers.

Also if you can, use weker and no longer needed units to weaken attackers. They die and lower your maintanance + weaken enemies. But dont forget that this way you can give him xp for better promotions as well as a Great General.

Do these tips work in total realism? I tried right clicking on stonehenge and it just went away...

Do you mean you lost the shields (dont get money back, when AI will finish it?). Also to get money for resarch you need to wait for AI to complete Stonehenge, this way you get money from hammers you put to wonder.
But if you loose hammers... Well then you cant right click it. You must have controll over this city all the time, as each time you will finish "new" production it will auto change back to Stonehenge (you will recive scrolling message).
I usually contoll the city as there might be a time when enemy will finish other wonder and i will need some GPs.

As for garrisoning units. Dont stack too much of em before heridary rule. 2 or 3 units is enough to fight off weaker enemy forces and barbs. But if enemy will rush out with a stack, you must fight back, cant just camp in cities thinking they will go away . Your defenders wont have time to heal back.

Best defending is with Mongol keshiks and keshik archers. Fast and high withdraw. Use promotion to eighther give'em more collateral or withdaw. Use their speed to attack and retreat (to avoit loosing units) behind enemy range. Withdraw will make your keshiks not die often.

 

[bovinespy]

I figured I'd take time out from a grueling slugfest as Korea on the TR Earth map to get some advice. This game, I stayed small (Seoul + 3 cities in Manchuria) and bee-lined to Construction so I could start cranking out my Hwachas. Just before loading up my boats, Catherine attacks from out of the blue with a huge stack from the depths of Siberia. I fight them off, and get a status quo peace treaty ASAP. With my rear (temporarily) safe, I then sail across the sea and dump my Hwachas on Japan. My army did quite well, but he totally out-classed my navy. After about 15-20 brutal turns of slaughter, I just about have Toku on the ropes in Hokkaido, when that scumbag Qin stabs me in the back! I actually have to make peace with Toku short of annihilation (something I almost never have to do when playing vanilla civ4) just to fight off the Chinese hordes! Great stuff - and this is my 3rd attempt with Wang Kon on Prince (the other 2 ended badly - we won't speak of that ). It's really a challenge so far.

Anyway, what brings me here is questions of overall strategy. I've noticed that, from game to game, I tend to play in 3 specific ways that differ from the AI:

1. I never allow Open Borders (I don't want those lazy buggers getting my hard-earned research for free!)
2. I never run Slavery civic (I can't stand the idea of having to play whack-a-mole against phantom foes that can pop up instantly outside any of my cities.)
3. I never seem to build enough units to wage aggressive war (I'm OK on defense, but once I try to take it to the enemy, I'm always vastly outnumbered.)

It occurs to me that #1 and #3 are probably closely linked. The AI builds lots of units, which hurt his research, but then again, he usually has Open Borders with nearly everyone, which greatly reduces tech costs. Maybe if I knew how far ahead/behind I was in tech, I wouldn't be so paranoid about having Open Borders, but with no tech trading, I have no direct way of knowing where I stand vis-a-vis the AI.

So what do you guys do? Do you try to get and keep a tech advantage? Do you focus more on quantity rather than quality of units? Do you run slavery and deal with the revolts, or do you also avoid it?

Just looking for a little constructive feedback. This mod is awesome, but it plays so differently that, despite playing Civ4 since October '05, I still feel like a n00b.

 

[Anaztazioch]

1. I rush Expansive tech, to build Oracle and get Metal Casting, than open borders to get agriculture, sailing, aniimal busbandary and wrting in less than 10 turns, after that i cancel opened border unless i need allies.
AI rerelly use the advantage of Opened borders, he usually continue his own que of resarch instead for resarching Metal Casting from my pple.

2. Slavery is AWESOME when playing carismatic and imperialistic Cyrus. Early great generals and expirianced units. Use GPs to join as specialists and withbarrack you have units with 5xp points. Vasselage, Theocracy and stables makes you have units with 13xp ! With such expiranced army (not single units) you dont need them in high numbers.

I also switch my civics alot. It hurts if your not spiritual, but again you can get more profit from them. Beurocracy, Representation (or Heridary if you dont have pyramids), Caste, Philosophy are best for peace. When you are preparing to war Get Police State (or Despoteism if you can afford lowering happiness from leaving Heridary), stick to Beurocracy unless you are making foot units witch need xp from Feudalism, stay Philosophy as you allways need great people. Once you are Ready for war get Police state, Feudalism for unit support if Beurocracy is not enough, and Stick with Phylosophy for few turn, when warwearines will hit your cities change to Theocracy.

As for war tactics i often use this. Use single fast cavalary to run as deep is his country as possible razing mines and pastures over strategic resources 1st, than go for food, than production again and towns last.(DAMN i love to play with Keshiks). Also feel free to pick up on any of his small unit stacks, dont try to couse collateral damage on small units as than he will move that units to cities and you want them undefended. While yor cavalary will do lots of "mess" inside his nation start your conquest campaign.

Conquer no more than 33% of his cities, than ask someone to help you in this war, and sign peace the same turn. Get your army back, heal them, bring created backups and now use your most productive cities build wealth and less productive cities build units. Now when 10 turns will be up, declare war again, send your cavalaries for recon and slowly move in your conqest army. Capture another 33% of terrain and force him to become your vassal(or simply finish him off). And now your conqest of This Civ is complete.

This strategy works Best as Spain (with conquistadors) and Mongols (with Keshiks).