For me the key is to get into the industrial age to set up for a win in the latter stages of the game. I like long games, so sue me.
Anywho, keeping healthy established foreign relations is key for me. This way I can boost my economy through a realistic representation of trade, economic development, military buildup and infrastructure development. But once I hit the Industrial Revolution, lookout.
First off, build Leonardo's Workshop so you can improve your military at half the cost. Build the Hoover Dam to dot your map with hydro plants, and as soon as you can build factories in every city you control. Trust me, sacrificing military buildup in the short run pays off in the long tenfold, especially when you find yourself able to build your space ship about 10 times faster than your nearest competitor. Remember, the reason the United States turned the tide in WWII was not just because of its immediate military strength, but because it had a manufacturing base capable of outproducing both the Japanese and Germans at the same time. By the time the US landed at Normandy the German war machine was literally out of gasoline, its factories were kaput and the US was churning out enough tanks to run four blitzkriegs of Poland. Trust me, follow the mid-20th century model of the US if you enjoy a long game.
This strategy will force you to play nice with the AI for quite a while, but this will also allow you to lay rail lines all over the map while developing an infrastructure that will allow you to build battleships, tanks, mechanized infantry and modern armor at an astounding rate. The payoff comes in the modern age when you find yourself able to produce as many as 10 or more veteran (you do have the Art of War don't you?) units every turn to add on to draftees you are pulling out of your larger cities. Once you install nuclear power plants, you are on easy street, because if you play your cards right, you can have an economy that is pumping anywhere from 150 to 1200 per turn into your coffers.
So here's the breakdown:
1. Just get to the industrial revolution with solid relations and a high culture score. I have found high cultrue generally prevents overt aggression in most cases. Then begin building factories in every city you can.
2. Build Leonardo's Workshop and the Hoover Dam ASAP. Beat the AI to these two very important wonders and you will get an incredible advantage when it comes to building guns.
3. Keep enough workers around to keep building rail lines in every nook and cranny of your empire. You will need every shield you can get your hands on and the workers will be handy for pollution outbreaks.
3a. In the case of pollution, if you can keep a good 40 workers (either slaves or homegrown) around you can control most pollution problems in one turn. Do it and save yourself the trouble of waiting for sqaures to become available again. Also remember to micromange the cities every turn to maximize the production levels. When a square gets cleaned up, make sure that it gets worked again immediately.
4. As soon as you can, build cleaner running power plants and get those nuclear plants up and running. Unlike the real world, nukes here only go in to meltdown if you let a city go into prolonged unrest.
5. Build recycling centers and mass transit. They lower pollution levels to two per turn if both are built. Trust me, they remove a ton of hassles.
6. Churn out the military units and build an invasion force allowing you to run a classic two front (read: two enemy) war if need be.
On a side note:
I prefer to build a gigantic navy to coinide with my ground forces. I like to have about 20 to 30 battleships and as many AEGIES cruisers as possible at the ready and at least five aircraft carriers. This way I can ring my empire and repel transports and marauding vessels while supporting an anivasion force. Trust me, nothing beats a state isolated from the riff raff in this game.
Any thoughts guys? Similar experiences, anecdotes, feedback, strategies? Anywho, I love this site.
Anywho, keeping healthy established foreign relations is key for me. This way I can boost my economy through a realistic representation of trade, economic development, military buildup and infrastructure development. But once I hit the Industrial Revolution, lookout.
First off, build Leonardo's Workshop so you can improve your military at half the cost. Build the Hoover Dam to dot your map with hydro plants, and as soon as you can build factories in every city you control. Trust me, sacrificing military buildup in the short run pays off in the long tenfold, especially when you find yourself able to build your space ship about 10 times faster than your nearest competitor. Remember, the reason the United States turned the tide in WWII was not just because of its immediate military strength, but because it had a manufacturing base capable of outproducing both the Japanese and Germans at the same time. By the time the US landed at Normandy the German war machine was literally out of gasoline, its factories were kaput and the US was churning out enough tanks to run four blitzkriegs of Poland. Trust me, follow the mid-20th century model of the US if you enjoy a long game.
This strategy will force you to play nice with the AI for quite a while, but this will also allow you to lay rail lines all over the map while developing an infrastructure that will allow you to build battleships, tanks, mechanized infantry and modern armor at an astounding rate. The payoff comes in the modern age when you find yourself able to produce as many as 10 or more veteran (you do have the Art of War don't you?) units every turn to add on to draftees you are pulling out of your larger cities. Once you install nuclear power plants, you are on easy street, because if you play your cards right, you can have an economy that is pumping anywhere from 150 to 1200 per turn into your coffers.
So here's the breakdown:
1. Just get to the industrial revolution with solid relations and a high culture score. I have found high cultrue generally prevents overt aggression in most cases. Then begin building factories in every city you can.
2. Build Leonardo's Workshop and the Hoover Dam ASAP. Beat the AI to these two very important wonders and you will get an incredible advantage when it comes to building guns.
3. Keep enough workers around to keep building rail lines in every nook and cranny of your empire. You will need every shield you can get your hands on and the workers will be handy for pollution outbreaks.
3a. In the case of pollution, if you can keep a good 40 workers (either slaves or homegrown) around you can control most pollution problems in one turn. Do it and save yourself the trouble of waiting for sqaures to become available again. Also remember to micromange the cities every turn to maximize the production levels. When a square gets cleaned up, make sure that it gets worked again immediately.
4. As soon as you can, build cleaner running power plants and get those nuclear plants up and running. Unlike the real world, nukes here only go in to meltdown if you let a city go into prolonged unrest.
5. Build recycling centers and mass transit. They lower pollution levels to two per turn if both are built. Trust me, they remove a ton of hassles.
6. Churn out the military units and build an invasion force allowing you to run a classic two front (read: two enemy) war if need be.
On a side note:
I prefer to build a gigantic navy to coinide with my ground forces. I like to have about 20 to 30 battleships and as many AEGIES cruisers as possible at the ready and at least five aircraft carriers. This way I can ring my empire and repel transports and marauding vessels while supporting an anivasion force. Trust me, nothing beats a state isolated from the riff raff in this game.
Any thoughts guys? Similar experiences, anecdotes, feedback, strategies? Anywho, I love this site.
