question about deity

[greetswithfire]

how do you guys do it??

the general themes of my games are as follows

1. found capital with hopefully some production tiles, 2 luxuries and a river..this will usually let me get Stonehenge which guarantees a religion

2. forward scout for new city locations, steal a worker, buy a worker, sell a lux, buy a settler

3. settle second city.. by this point i have some idea of where i can expand without pissing off the AI and be able to close off my borders

heres where my problems begin...if im close to a warmonger AI (such as Napolean and Alexander in my last game) im invaded very quickly...i have alot of composite bows and manage to fend both of them off!!..they retreat and i accept a peace treaty from Alex that allows me to upgrade to mohawks and catch up on libraries etc..look for additional city tiles

but then a horde of settlers comes looking for cracks in my borders (which i seal) who then settle on , tiles and proceeed to grow and pump out soldiers...i build a few catapults and start razing them but by this time they somehow allied with the city states (which were enclosed in my borders) and they start invading me..all the while they advance in tech..

this process repeats until im either conquered or about to gouge my eyes out

 

[Orgetorix]

Don't accept peace right away unless you absolutely have to (like if you're fighting on two fronts). Keep building military. Push forward and lay siege to his borders with CB and warriors (mix in a couple of spearmen if up against Genghis, Attila, Ramses or someone with a lot of mounted). Get a medic promoted unit. Use scouts or mounted to peek into his lands in and take a peek of what's headed your way. Stay out range of his cities and fast units and make sure you're not in a position to risk your own military. He will keep sending out unprotected settlers. Capture them for free workers which you use to build roads to the front or maybe a fort. Build/buy settlers and expand behind your military towards him. Use your new cities as staging points to take him out once and for all. Your Military should be well promoted by now and you will most certainly have gotten your first general. His military, on the other hand, should by now be withered down bunch of rookies.

If the terrain is hard to navigate without heavy losses you can use the general to build an offensive citadel.

Now kill them all, God will know his own...

 

[LostInTime]

Sell luxes to close neighbors all the time so you can resell when they declare on you. (you should get tons of gold this way)

Build cities on hill and get composite bows somewhat fast so you can crush anything they send against you.

1. found capital with hopefully some production tiles, 2 luxuries and a river..this will usually let me get Stonehenge which guarantees a religion

It won't on deity. To be 100% sure you need a shrine first as well, or some faith from a hut.

heres where my problems begin...if im close to a warmonger AI (such as Napolean and Alexander in my last game) im invaded very quickly...i have alot of composite bows and manage to fend both of them off!!..they retreat and i accept a peace treaty from Alex that allows me to upgrade to mohawks and catch up on libraries etc..look for additional city tiles

but then a horde of settlers comes looking for cracks in my borders (which i seal) who then settle on , tiles and proceeed to grow and pump out soldiers...i build a few catapults and start razing them but by this time they somehow allied with the city states (which were enclosed in my borders) and they start invading me..all the while they advance in tech..

This part really depends on your game plan and map. Are you going for science etc.? And why are you razing the AI cities instead of puppeting them? The AI is nice and gives you loads of "free" cities near you to grab. Don't raze them

If you really want to rush 4-5 good city sites you need to block either with units or your own borders. So plan ahead block cities and what not.

And just accept that you will be ridicilously behind on tech. So beeline the important ones and get the wonders/buildings you need at approx the same time as the AI. You can catch up with spies or Rationalism later in time for the science victory.

Oh, and consider attacking and puppeting close city states at some point that you aren't 100% sure you can keep. Keep your back free ^^ (but the diplo hit can be bad, so if you are trying a peaceful game, keeping them ally is probably safer)

 

[Agent Cooper]

At deity, it's essential to use the AI civs DOWs on you to your advantage, if possible. If you have comp bows and reasonable city locations on hills, that should be good enough to fend them off.

Here's the trick you could try out someday - do not ask for or accept peace. Instead, go on the offensive with some 6-8 bows and a couple of melee units. It is perfectly doable to take AI cities with comp bows at deity - you just need enough of them and to apply some clever placement and switching tactics when showering their city with arrows, before your warrior takes the city. A walled capitol and a garrisoned defender will slow you down and perhaps cost you 1-2 units, but if you strike early enough and with enough bows, they will go down.

 

[Resonance]

That is actually a very important tip. Focus on ranged units on deity, and do so early. Composite bows in sufficient numbers allow to go and get offensive, and by the time you reach the stalemate (city strength at 50 or above) in late renaissance before artillery, you will have some range promotions and thus be able to stay on the offensive and take cities even before artillery comes into play. I do not find any reason at all to go for iron working and I never bother with large numbers of infantry before gunpowder. Actually, I prefer to have my initial warrior upgraded to spearman, since a pike is way more effective than a sword and is enough to block enemy melee right until musketmen.

 

[greetswithfire]

any of you guys have tips on avoiding the AI dowing you? i just played a game where i was fighting france, england, and the celts at the same time...all three started essentially on my doorstep...my first city was only 6 tiles from my capital but was viewed as forward settling...i took a strong city from celts but could not muster enough catapults to take the second 12 pop city because of the 3 front war haha...

my question is, how do you manage improving your cities and maintaining tech when involved in wars? should i buy only important buildings and focus all production on melee units and technologies?...i have no problems in the first 200 or so turns but i had just managed to get to civil service when i had knights and pikes knocking on my doorstep, while i had mohawks and composite bows..

i was debating going steel, physics but i need civil service badly do i not?

 

[jango76]

For defensive wars, even on multiple fronts, you can get away with a defensive building and a few ranged units that are an era out of date. Settling on a hill and having the city strength increase from Tradition helps quite a bit too.

Walls + archers will see off just about any Classical era rush.

Walls + comp bows will see off a Medieval rush.

Castle + crossbows will see off Renaissance rushes.

Consider clearing forest or jungle on key approach tiles near your city, so that attackers don't get defensive terrain bonuses. Having mounted units around (perhaps tucked away safely a couple of tiles along a road in your territory) can also be handy for quick in-and-out raids against incoming siege equipment.

Machinery is really the only critical defensive tech for long-term turtling, and you want to get that reasonably early in any case for Ironworks. Steel & Physics are an unnecessary detour, and ND isn't too important a wonder if you're not expanding rapidly.

 

[greetswithfire]

hey just one more question...what do i have to do to make peace with the AI...once again had a great game going with Babylon (love the science capabilities)..was fighting vs 3 at once again, who were all constantly throwing an endless stream of units to their deaths against my cities...not in any real danger of losing due to hill cities with WoB and xbows, but these wars have lasted 2 eras now and its getting taxing on my laptop...does the AI have a cue to sue for peace only when i have a certain number of units or allies? carthage finally offered a peace treaty but only when mongolia attacked them

on a side note, this was weird...in my city in closest prox to carthage and celts, i bought some luxury tiles when already at war and not caring about diplo hit...but when mongolia captured didos city he immediatly denounced me for expanding recklessly?

note: no further expansion had happened previous near mongols