Quesitons about playing on Emperor and above with many civs and Domination Victory

[Borgis]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I think I'm missing something here.

I like playing on Huge maps with LOTS of civs, like 12-15 of them, and with lots of city states, like 25-30. To help balance things out I play on Quick speed. I like big, epic games. I generally like playing Domination victory on these types of games (I find science victory too easy and cultural victory too boring).

On these types of games, I kick ass on Prince and King levels. On Emperor, its really, really tough. I do okay, as 4th or 5th ranking in overall points, but once in endgame (like around year 2050 and beyond), the remaining civs are so damn powerful there just no way in hell I can take over the remaining 8-9 original capitals I still haven't captured for a Domination victory.

My question is do you Emperor-and-above guys play maps with this many civs? Or do you keep the number of civs down to a manageable level (like 3-6) on difficulty levels that high?

I'm getting the feeling that paying Dominanion on Emperor with over 10 civs is something that just isn't done...or am I wrong?

 

[Stellarnight]

It is definitely doable. I am nowhere as skilled as a lot of players here but i consistently win at Emperor. I usually play on Huge(10 Civs) and occasionally i add 2 more Civs. Domination is definitely viable and depending on the map, it could be quicker than say a SV or a CV.

The Key is recognizing break-points in military technology. These break points are the best time to go capture some capitals. Ignoring UUs, the break-points are as follows:

The first Break-Point is Composite Bows. If i see a Civ that is nearby, i usually beeline towards Construction, get out a few C.Bows and rush the AI's capital. Works especially well on non-pangaea maps where you and the AI are isolated hence reducing the diplomatic penalties. If there are other AIs who are met, just take the Capital and sue for peace immediately as firstly you achieve your aim of taking the capital and secondly, taking any more cities or wiping them out is a bad diplomatic move and strain on your happiness.

The Second Break Point if the map leans heavily towards land-based combat is Artillery. Three Artillery guns will pound any city into dust provided the AI has not progress far beyond you scientifically.

If it is sea-heavy map, Frigates are a very powerful force. You could take a string of capitals in 50 turns with frigates. This however require some luck in that the AI settles their capital next to the sea. If not, secure a beach head city and invade from there as per the land strategy.

The next Break Point has to be Bombers as Artillery becomes less effective due to the long wait before the upgrade to Rocket Artillery.

Basically i find that starting early by taking one or two capitals will massively help. Try to aim to take one or more capitals at each break point. Once at ideology, Autocracy can kick in which gives you the momentum to blitz the rest of the the capitals. There are also times where you fight to a standstill due to terrain or overwhelming enemy forces. Do not be afraid to make peace. Consolidate your forces, focus on Sciences to upgrade your force and strike again.

Do not forget Science! Domination is also partly about being advanced enough in military tech so you are one upgrade ahead of the enemy.

Recommended Policies: Tradition/Liberty. Commerce is a must have. You will be facing monetary issues and cheaper purchases once you hit autocracy tenets are a fantastic boon.

 

[troublmaker]

I keep the number of Civs low.

And if I spawn next to the Mongols, Assyria, or Denmark I just leave. Cause eff that noise.

 

[vibe96]

Remember to concentrate on science! Getting to those techs already stated will give you huge bonuses! Also, try to get branderbourgh gate in your capital. Stealth bombers are amazing in late game too.

 

[Bulldog Bats]

Don't forget diplomacy. If on continents, always good if you can wipe out the civs on your continent so no one knows of your (mis)deeds.

Also, friends and those who go to war with you will not hold your warmongering against you as much. Make friends (hopefully furthest away from you so you can keep the friendship as long as possible.

Eventually anyone left of the map will hate you - you want to put that off as long as possible so you have partners for trade to keep the happiness up.

 

[reddishrecue]

In most of my emperor games, I rather focus on a traditional start and aiming for world wonders because it seems that tradition guarantees victory more. With many civilizations, AIs will most likely war against each other and denounce each other from the warmonger penalties that they may get from conquest. I used to go for domination in emperor and above because the AI got far in technology sometimes. The only domination victory I've had as domination in above is with China and the use of the chu ko nus once. I rage quit a few since I failed with other civilizations. I have failed a domination victory with China on emperor difficulty and above though.

 

[Seabastian Civ]

It is definitely doable....
The Key is recognizing break-points in military technology. ...

Nailed it ^

I LOVE the scenario you describe. I love big huge, crowded maps. The key is starting early. You need to take at least one capital with CBs. Keep this force rolling and you might take two.

Crossbows are grossly overpowered for their era, as well. You can knock out half your continent with just crossbows (basically).

To clean up, you need bombers en masse, battleships, and beeline for the most devastating unit of all, the Xcom. Drop a spy into a capital, build 6-7 Xcoms (or better yet, upgrade paras) and in one turn drop them all around the capital. They're amazing units designed to Mop up holdout civs.

 

[BenitoChavez]

I like playing on Huge maps with LOTS of civs, like 12-15 of them, and with lots of city states, like 25-30. To help balance things out I play on Quick speed. I like big, epic games. I generally like playing Domination victory on these types of games

Huge Map + Quick Speed + Domination is a very difficult combo. I can win immortal domination games but for huge maps I set the speed to marathon. Large Map = Epic Speed. Standard Map = Standard Speed

 

[Borgis]

It is definitely doable. I am nowhere as skilled as a lot of players here but i consistently win at Emperor. I usually play on Huge(10 Civs) and occasionally i add 2 more Civs. Domination is definitely viable and depending on the map, it could be quicker than say a SV or a CV.

What speed do you play?

The Key is recognizing break-points in military technology.

Got it!

If i see a Civ that is nearby

That's the big flaw (or misunderstanding on my part) I see in your advice. We're talking bout Huge maps here. There's never a civ "nearby" at the start of the game. Not for a very long time. Quickly running around at the start of the game and taking capitals is not really possible on Huge sized maps (unless you use a mod to keep respawning the map I suppose).

Recommended Policies: Tradition/Liberty.

I get Tradition but why liberty?

What I usually do is max out Honor, Tradition, and Commerce and put a little in Patronage. And yes, I blast the crap out of my science as best I can.

I ignore Liberty because I only create 4 cities, then puppet everything else. Bad idea?

Huge Map + Quick Speed + Domination is a very difficult combo. I can win immortal domination games but for huge maps I set the speed to marathon. Large Map = Epic Speed. Standard Map = Standard Speed

That's what I was thinking. How exactly do slower speeds benefit me on larger maps?

 

[Bulldog Bats]

Among other things, the free settler and worker help you develop your cities sooner. The extra happiness helps, and you can either pop out an early GG or GS.

 

[CraigMak]

You have to really be on your game to dominate a world with so many civs. This is because, the more civs you add the greater the chances there are of one of them running away before you can get to them.

Let's say that on Emperor the game has a 10% chance of creating a civ that can contend with you. This means that if there are 10 civs then that's a 1/10 chance x 10 civs = 100% chance that one of them will end up running away with the game before you can knock them down a few pegs.

The more civs you add the greater the game's odds of getting at least 1 civ that's stronger than you. Especially if the map is so big that you can't knock the civ down. You need to dominate hard, have great science and excel in every aspect to make sure no other civ dominates harder than you.

Take over your area fast and get your science rocking quickly.

 

[Memoryjar]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=507802

He's playing quick speed too, but standard maps.

I played Huge maps (22civs or more), domination in standard speed on Emperor. On quick speed it's maybe a little harder. I used too win around T300 - T350 without bombers.
AI is not competitive for warfare. You just have to manage cities range damage. Build enough units and don't stop before you have two or three armies to conquer the map. Not too many (6 ranged and 2 melee are enough). Sometimes, I lose an unit and have too build reinforcement. Annexing capitals is need to have this reinforcement.

 

[LoneRebel]

That's what I was thinking. How exactly do slower speeds benefit me on larger maps?

I always only play on standard speed, but they say that slower speeds tend to help the human player more than the AI. Slower game speed lengthens build times without affecting units' movement speed. And the human is better than the AI at warfare; a decent player will never lose more units than the AI does in any war.

The result is that in wars, the AI loses more units than the human which it has more difficulty replacing due to the slowed game speed. This applies to the human as well, but then he won't be losing as many units, or any at all. This is probably even more useful on higher difficulties where the AIs have huge across-the-board bonuses to growth, production, everything.

In effect, slower game speeds minimize the AI's production advantages and maximize the human advantages in tactics and maneuver. Playing on quick is probably actually making things harder for yourself.