Regent to Monarch

[jerichoharris]

I've pretty much mastered the Regent level inasmuch as I have won using a variety of Civs from Indians to Iroquois with a variety of win conditions. I moved up to Monarch a while ago but seem to be having as many problems as I did with the move to Regent. My micro-management involves cutting down wastage by using specialist citizens (usually scientists) and switching tiles, and I generally have plenty of workers.

The biggest difference between the two levels is that the IA seems much more aggressive at Monarch. I'll be steaming along quite nicely when I'll get steam rollered by the AI, the only AI (and there is only ever one) that's bigger than I am. The last couple of games I've had a bit more success by concentrating almost entirely on settlers and millitary units in the ancient age to the point of ignoring everything else. I know my biggest weakness it's my general reluctance to war if I can avoid it.

Any other tips would be appreciated.

 

[vmxa]

Not much to go on here. I doubt that lack of wars is going to be a stopper at Monarch. The last time I played a non AW game was a peaceful one at demi and it was pretty easy.

Monarch is the first level you give the AI a bonus and it is 10%. They also start with 2 def and 1 off units extra. So with those 3 units and a 10% cost saving, they will be able to get stronger, sooner.

No way for us to know if you have enough workers or are expanding fast enough without some saves. I presume you are talking about starts that are at least decent, so you probably do not have enough towns and workers and build too many structures.

Well at Monarch you can pretty much build whatever you feel like. You can surely play peaceful at this level, if that is what you like. Peaceful to me, means I do not declare on them and if they start a war I do not bare down and eliminate them for it.

I just take a few towns and when they ask for peace I let them have it. Now mind you I do not like this style of play, but it is a variant style in my book.

 

[Corwin of Amber]

The stuff that I have changed the most as I have moved up through the levels (now playing demigod) is 1) war, and 2) unit support, and 3) workers.

If somebody has something I want, or they are weak, I will attack them. In the current game, I didn't have oil, and there were only two or three sources on the planet, only one on my continent. So I just went and took it as quickly as I could. So don't fail to be aggressive if the situation warrants. Likewise I had crippled one civ and after awhile I realized they were just taking up space - I couldn't trade anything with them and they were just causing trouble, so I am about to wipe them out.

2) I was getting killed in unit support and too many buildings. I still probably build to many buildings, but at least I don't have more units than I can support. I make sure to build plenty of cities and get them to at least 7.

3) I was very proud that in this game, by the time I got to steam, I had everything roaded and all the tiles improved so I could build railroads quickly. After that I had a lot of workers join cities to get their population up to 7 after conqueroring, which helped to get libraries built quickly so I could expand the borders and prevent a flip back. I just keep enough workers around to mop up pollution.

You should post a save. Look under quick links for instructions.

 

[jerichoharris]

Cheers. I'll give the link a try in a couple of days when I next get a chance to play.

 

[jb1964]

Jericho, if you want to get into a quick monarch succession game let me know. I have mostly played monarch solo games but have started to move into emperor on tiny pangea maps.

Anyway, I just about always go for the fastest possible growth and the Republic slingshot. At monarch you should be able to be the first to Philo every time barring a real bad starting territory.

By the time Steam rolls in all the territory is roaded and improved and the workers are just lined up to send production into overdrive.

Wokers, workers, workers...

 

[Rurik]

I've pretty much mastered the Regent level inasmuch as I have won using a variety of Civs from Indians to Iroquois with a variety of win conditions. I moved up to Monarch a while ago but seem to be having as many problems as I did with the move to Regent. My micro-management involves cutting down wastage by using specialist citizens (usually scientists) and switching tiles, and I generally have plenty of workers.

The biggest difference between the two levels is that the IA seems much more aggressive at Monarch. I'll be steaming along quite nicely when I'll get steam rollered by the AI, the only AI (and there is only ever one) that's bigger than I am. The last couple of games I've had a bit more success by concentrating almost entirely on settlers and millitary units in the ancient age to the point of ignoring everything else. I know my biggest weakness it's my general reluctance to war if I can avoid it.

Any other tips would be appreciated.

In answer to your call for ideas I posted a monarch level game I just finished with a Summary for you to compare with your play style.

I built just barracks and temples for most of the game, carefully planned where my palace jump would be to, and ditto for placing my leader-built forbidden palace (FP).

I participated in wars which yielded techs and gold with little fighting, ambushed AI settlers for their free workers quite often, paid other civs to bear the brunt of the early fighting and joined in toward the end...after they exhausted each other, fortified units adjacent to enemy cities while my ally attacked...then took the city when I saw the defenders were depleted, bribed all the AIs to DOW each other alternately in an effort to give them all rep hits with each other and to keep them inflicting casualties on each other, gave AI civs cities whenever culture was likely to cause a quick flip if I kept it myself (I'd give it to whichever civ had a capital furthest away from that city).

Most of my cities were in ranks 3, 5, 8, and 12 from both my palace and FP.

 

[jb1964]

Most of my cities were in ranks 3, 5, 8, and 12 from both my palace and FP.

W/ C3C there's no need to build according to RCP.

Search for Bede's temple rant. I confess I'll build one now and again to try and maintain a boarder & resource/lux prior to war. Or if there's a single core city in need of one that would keep me from moving the slider up another 10%.

Other than that it's luxes and markets to keep folks happy.