*sigh* Looking for advice...

[Noobophyte]

I'm new to Civ, so please forgive me if this is an old topic/question...

I'm getting my hat handed to me, repeatedly, on Warlord level. I've tried dozens of maps, dozens of races, letting the AI choose the path, removing AI from the entire equation and controlling every movement of every unit, I've tried rapid expansion at the cost of development, and I've tried rapid development at the cost of expansion...nothing seems to help. I just keep getting walked on.

So....I suppose my question is this, what would you recommend as a "good" starting race, and what expansion/development path would you recommend?

The farthest I've researched was Magnetism, but I was soon handed my ass by the Russians/Germans/Romans/Greeks who had apparently had a meeting and decided that my plots of land were desirable, and in a not-so-rare gang rape, I was shown the door.

I'm also VERY tired of my fortified Elite Pikemen in the mountains getting repeatedly taken out by stock warriors attacking me from open ground. I lost 16 Elite Pikemen in a row to Warriors, so I'm definitely under the impression that there is something wrong with the game, but maybe I'm just looking for excuses. (Vanilla Civ.)

I'm finding this game frustrating beyond belief, but want to learn what I'm doing wrong. I have no problems losing, or not winning, any game...provided I understand WHY, and am able to work on improving that.

So any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

[Dease]

The War Academy has LOTS of strategies and tips, there is also a forum dedicated to Civ3 strategy and tips, basically read a lot!

I REALLY wish I was in your situation because I only discovered this site after I was permenantly terrible at civ, now I'm trying to acually play with good strategies but time is more of an enemy to me now

 

[dze27]

Welcome to the forum

It's a matter of taste which civ you choose, but a lot of people like Persia and Egypt, especially for Chieftain or Warlord level. The Mayans are a very good choice if you have the Conquests expansion pack.

If you post a save game or a screenshot of your empire it would be easier to offer specific advice. It does sound like you've had more than a bit of bad luck if your Pikemen are losing to Warriors though.

You have a production advantage over the AI at the Warlord level, so I suspect you may not be building enough Workers to fully extract this production. You should have at least 1 Worker per city and have them constantly improving the land. Mine grassland, hills and mountains and irrigate plains. Make sure every tile within the city's radius has a road (and later, railroad). Build enough military units so that you are strong compared to the AI and then they won't threaten you. Also build lots of artillery units (Catapults, Trebuchets, Cannons, Artillery) since they upgrade throughout the whole game and are invaluable in weakening the enemy.

I don't think the exact order of research matters all that much in the Ancient Age unless you have some specific goals. For instance, you might want to go for Iron Working early if you're the Persians, and then launch a early attack with a stack of Immortals. I don't usually have a specific plan for that age because there are always free techs through goody huts and trading opportunities which always change my plans.

Check out some of the articles in the War Academy to get you started. There is some great advice there.

 

[Sparrow3]

Hi welcome to CFC:

You have come to the right place. Questions get answers here, so ask. I play on Warlord, also. Usually, I win or at least don't IT handed to me.

Here are some suggestions: Initally try to expand as much as possible. Do not neglect your military; however. Go to the military advisor. If he says you are weak compared to your neighbors, you will have trouble. Send most of your military units to the border. One spearman is usually enough in interior cities.

The coalition of Russians/Germans/Romans/Greeks probably sensed your weakness. The AI likes to jump on weaker Civs. Mutual Protection Pacts will help here; but be careful, if you sign an MPP with a weak Civ you could find yourself in an unwanted war.

Try to Trade as much as possible. Especially for techs. It is the best way to keep up.

Well these are some starter suggestions. I am sure many others will have helpful suggestions, too. Good Luck!

 

[Pook]

I totally agree with Sparrow 3, and with Dease's comment to read the War Academy. Unfortunately, I also only discovered this site after repeatedly getting my clock cleaned at Monarch level. That was a big step down for me, from waxing the floor with the Deity level AI in Civ II. After reading the 80+ articles in the War Academy and putting them into practice, I went from a mediocre Monarch player to a competent Emperor player.
I was a builder in Civ II. I've had to learn to be more aggressive (faster expansion and more emphasis on building offensive military units) in order to succeed at Civ III.

 

[Noobophyte]

Thanks for the welcome.

Well, I've been reading, and there is a lot of excellent recommendations here...I'll keep reading, and put into practice as much as I can.

Another question, a bit tough to answer I think, but how "long" does a typical game take you? I've been running a Large world with random settings, and I am able to get up to around 250-1000 AD in a matter of hours. Is this too fast? Should I be spending far more time micromanaging things, or is it relatively safe to allow the computer to make the bulk of the decisions early on?

 

[Pook]

In my opinion, yes it's too fast. My typical game on standard size map runs at least 40 hours. I still don't think that 40 hours is really enough. From what he's said, Zerksees often takes over 100 hours. Of course, he's got a much higher winning percentage than I do.

 

[SesnOfWthr]

The first turns have a trickle down effect for the rest of the game. If you can build a small lead in the beginning, then exploiting and widening the gap over time will get easier.

Make sure EVERY square your cities are working has a road. Do not underestimate the importance of this.
Don't be afraid to trade tech for tech, especially early. The quicker you get out of the AA, the quicker you can exploit your advantages.
Make sure you are familiar with the sliders and how they work.
Try to grab luxuries. They allow you to grow bigger, which is a very good thing.
Build on rivers, when possible. This allows you to skip building an aqueduct, again so you can get bigger.
ABOVE ALL: READ THE WAR ACADEMY!!!

I could go on, but I'm sure you're bored with me already, so HTH.

 

[bingen]

The need for micromanagement is crucial early on. Some advice on this:

1.Workers: Personally I retain manual control of these into the mid-industrial age when everything is done to my taste. I then automate most with Shift-A to do pollution cleanup. My advice is to contol them manually through the ancient age at least. And build a lot of them.

2.Governors: You can use these for happiness control in your cities without it hurting you too much. However, never let the governor decide what to build.
If your cities have a lot of entertainers, trade for additional luxuries or increase your luxury spending.

It is a bit weird that you are struggling a lot on Warlord as you get a lot of bonuses compared to the AI. Even if you let governors and such make all decisions for you, you should still be ahead because of these bonuses. This leads me to suspect that yours is a failure of diplomacy. Trade techs if you can. Also, when at war, sign alliances with the AI, this gains you an ally instead of an additional enemy.

For more and better advice, post a save.

 

[Colonel]

word of advice (this always works) if u have alot of comptuer players near you in the begining take out a lead city of theres then declar peace and get there tech for peace then atack and repeat

actually this works well when in any war at any time

i had one empire giving me 300 gold straight and 50 gold per turn just for peace between us they had not tech at the time

 

[kb2tvl]

LOL, get 1.5 workers per city and build a few more pikes. Use cash luxaries to get rid of the entertainers. Don't bother going to monarchy or rep untill you have a quarter of your cities size 7+

 

[erickcid]

As ultimately the core of win-loss is loosing your cities, being able to hold out for 4-6 turns till you can manage some type of peace agreement is a priority. Build spearmen at a regular pace. They can be upgraded the length of the game. Keep your cities well stocked with spearmen and you will seldom loose one. I dare say never at warlord level. I recommend getting barracks out rather quickly. Veteran units early on are a good advantage. If you intend to play the length, and limit your unit building early on to spearmen and workers you can create powerful, self sufficient cities that are near untakeable by the AI. Setting aside your ego is also good for long term game play. There is no shame in paying out a pitance of Gold to another civ. They do not harass you often, and the payout generally buys you a good length of peace. I do not like fast games. For game length, and good practice, set your game to no barbarians. This will force every civ to research and trade for technologies, rather than freebies. Goodie huts can rocket your through the first Era, which cheapens it. This is also good practice for your city building skills. I am not sure if there is a setting for barbarians and no goodie huts, but if there is, I would use that more often than not. Mircomanaging your sliders, which I mean make it a habit to adjust them before every end of turn (set always wait at end of turn on in preferences) ensure that you never waste a drop of gold. A tech can start at one cost and steadily drop as it researches, saving you a small fortune, which can be used in trades, and to keep peace.

 

[Yashed To]

Noobophyte, I just felt the same way when I played my first Civ III games. After playing Civ I and II for ten years consecutively, succeeding in higher levels at both, I was quite shocked getting whipped my butt in Civ III regularly.

Due to this frustration I sold the game twice (talking about being consequent) and re-bought it three times (talking about being inconsequent - or stubborn, or silly ), last time with the Conquests add-on.
I still play on Warlord level and finally get my standard victory in world domination game after game, thus I think I'll switch to a higher level - finally ...

For Warlord level (just my two cents): In the first turn put the science slider on 100%. As long as you don't build any city improvements you don't need any money. You'll get your money from the occasional hut or as soon as barbarians turn up after conquering their villages. I had some games where I got about 1000 G this way in ancient times.
Expansion is the key word in the first 2500 years. I often leave my cities undefended and build settler, settlers, settlers. Only after interacting with other civs I invest in military (except for your initial one warrior unit to hunt down barbarians).
If you find an undefended city in ancient era, conquer/destroy it. Most civs never really recover from this early setback, and they too don't have the military power to really hurt you. As soon as they enter your home territory so much time has passed that they will accept a peace treaty (and don't be humble - demand anything you may get your hands an. I once had a peace treaty with the Iroquois where they handed me over 6 of their 7 cities, leaving them just their capital!!).

Don't waste your time using stratetic geographical places like mountains (this worked well in Civ I and II, but not in III). Defend a.) your cities, b.) resources sites you use (enemies *love* to destroy the roads to resources).
Hurt the enemies as soons as they enter your territory. You don't have to kill their units. Most units will retract from the battle field after losing one or two points. Thus bowmen (only in defense!), catapults, etc. do help a lot.

If you have the Conquest add-on, build the Statue of Zeus and Knight's Templar. You'll get a huge powerful military force virtually for nothing. Also, in the beginning I totally underestimated the strengh of armies. An army full of knights or cavalry is both a great offensive and defensive unit.

Technology/Era deveploment (on Warlord Level): You should reach the medieval era beforce 600 A.C. If you don't, your enemies will have an advance in technology you won't be able to keep up with. Industrial age not after 1750 A.C. and Modern age not after 1950 A.C.

Build embassies as soon as possible. Embassies allow military treaties with other civs. So, if Civ A invades, try to get alliance treaties with those civs neighboring Civ A. They'll declare war on Civ A which most of the time retreats from your territory defending its own borders. Which should leave enough time to either build units yourself or transport defending units to the crucial city.

Hope this helps. This strategy worked for me - at least I've got the "soandso the Clever" in the Hall of Fame and scores of 2000 on Warlord level (hey, I'm totally pleased by them!!)

But what do you other guys ('n gals) do with 40 + hours of playing?!? I do my World Domination in about 12 hours, and Space Race in about 16 hours net time (on Warlord level).

 

[zim3031]

Here's my rather simple strategy:

Unless you start with it, research pottery. Put the science slider from 70-80. Then build a granary while your worker is hopefully working the land. Once your granry is done, your city should have a decent size (3-6).
Next I start the settler pump. If the barbarians are on, I will alternate constantly between warrior/spearmen and settler. If your second city is suitable then it can become a "worker pump."
From here I continue making most cities produce either settlers or workers. And when you meet other civs, start building your military.

 

[scoutsout]

Have a look at this thread. Lots of good stuff in there.

 

[alamo]

Threads, shmeads,...

build troops - lots of troops - early and often

then go exterminate someone

I'm also VERY tired of my fortified Elite Pikemen in the mountains getting repeatedly taken out by stock warriors attacking me from open ground. I lost 16 Elite Pikemen in a row to Warriors, so I'm definitely under the impression that there is something wrong with the game...

That should never happen, unless your are saving and reloading. Reloading will not change combat outcome if you have preserve seed turned on.

Have you patched the game? Vanilla was at 1.21, I believe.