As embarrassing as this sounds, I have yet to win a game in Civ4 or Warlords. I have read the forums till my eyes crossed, and printed out wonderful tutorials from this site on winning through Cultural, Diplomatic and The Space Race. The worst part is that I have been playing this game since Civ1. I never seem to get offered the option to build the Space Vehicle parts (it is not x'd out in the options). Trying for a Cultural win, I never get 3 Cathedrals, and never get to where I have 3 cities with outstanding culture. I end up mired in Future Tech and my cities stagnate and rot. My cities are great, usually I am rolling in money. Obviously I am doing something Horribly Wrong. If you can help, or direct me to yet another tutorial to print out( heh heh) I would be eternally grateful, and I mean Eternally!
Still have not won a game
- Thread starter LimeCat
- Start date
coffeeholic
Chieftain
Have you ever tried going for a Domination victory? I find the war like conditions are easier to win.
I usually play a custom game and enable: Cultural and domination victory conditions. Then play and try to take over the world.. also you could try lowering the difficulty. I am an avid player but only able to beat Prince. I find that in order to win at higher levels requires too much micro managing.
I also find "Epic" speed to be easier because you have more time and your mistakes are not as amplified as in "Normal" speed.
good luck
AJK
I usually play a custom game and enable: Cultural and domination victory conditions. Then play and try to take over the world.. also you could try lowering the difficulty. I am an avid player but only able to beat Prince. I find that in order to win at higher levels requires too much micro managing.
I also find "Epic" speed to be easier because you have more time and your mistakes are not as amplified as in "Normal" speed.
good luck
AJK
manu-fan
Emperor
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2006
- Messages
- 1,005
Play on Epic - Large
Get 3 cities and then (if copper) go to war against nearest weakest neighbor with Axemen. If no copper then wait for Iron and go with Swordsmen or wait for construction and go with Catapults and other offensive units. Don't be afraid to pause a war for 10 turns if you can't sustain the onslaught. Once I take 1 opposing city, I've now got 4 to his 2. Peace Treaty for 10 turns to churn out more troops while he is at a disadvantage is sometimes really good.
Use catapults to bombard the defense down to 0% and then sac 1 or 2 cats to do collateral damage before attacking with other units. Or, just attack with the other units if they are like 80% sure of winning.
Once you've conquered one other CIv, you're well on your way to victory. Build up your economy and then start churning out more units to go after your next victim.
Rinse and repeat.
Cheers.
Get 3 cities and then (if copper) go to war against nearest weakest neighbor with Axemen. If no copper then wait for Iron and go with Swordsmen or wait for construction and go with Catapults and other offensive units. Don't be afraid to pause a war for 10 turns if you can't sustain the onslaught. Once I take 1 opposing city, I've now got 4 to his 2. Peace Treaty for 10 turns to churn out more troops while he is at a disadvantage is sometimes really good.
Use catapults to bombard the defense down to 0% and then sac 1 or 2 cats to do collateral damage before attacking with other units. Or, just attack with the other units if they are like 80% sure of winning.
Once you've conquered one other CIv, you're well on your way to victory. Build up your economy and then start churning out more units to go after your next victim.
Rinse and repeat.
Cheers.
JackRules
incompertus vapulus
For culture wins, you need to build 3 temples for every one cathedral, so to get a cathedral in each culture city you need at least 9 cities with temples. I am not sure but I think this goes for each religion you have in those cities.
_ATOMEN
Chieftain
You should try for a domination victory attacking with swodrsmen and catapult will kill ur early enemy then u will have 2 civs it will be a big advantage.Consequencely, try for a fast rush and use speed as epic.
Stolen Rutters
Deity
Welcome to the forum. Kill all your enemies if you are so far ahead that it doesn't matter.
I've played Civ since Civ 1 (skipped 3 though, too buggy)... and I can't beat Warlord difficulty in Civ 4 (Warlord XP).
So... I play Chieftain difficulty... usually small maps, continents (though I just beat a pangea map for the first time), epic speed.
There is a lot of "luck" to go along with the strategy...
- luck you don't die with an 93% attack success rate
- luck that the resources "pop" into a sphere you either control, or could get to
- luck that the AI's don't gang up on you
Lot's of "luck" needed... oh... and good strategy.
One thing I found: when you first start, before you even MOVE the FIRST TIME, check to see you are near a coastline. If not, regenerate map.
This means you can have your "back to a wall" and not be easily surrounded by warmongering AI's. Work outwards from there...
All good thoughts for me to try. I have wiped out the nearest neighbor before, but have not done a total domination. Usually its cause I want that one culture out of my way. I am going to try Prince and Epic ideas tonite and see how that works with using cultural and domination. You guys are great for answering. Thanks!!! Onward and upward!
pigswill
fly (one day)
The classic recommendation for winning a first game is to play the romans, locate iron and go to war using praetorians. The main thing to remember is not to conquer too quickly coz either city expenses will destroy your economy or you'll be overrun by barbarians. (Unless you build the great wall in which case you can simply win by conquest; raze every city you capture (forget about capturing wonders or shrines)).
If you ain't winning warlords don't play prince. Stay at warlords level, small map, pangea, epic speed.
If you ain't winning warlords don't play prince. Stay at warlords level, small map, pangea, epic speed.
PMabey
Warlord
how about starting on something less than prince?
You gave me to courage to come out of the "winless closet" myself. I haven't even come that close to winning a Noble game in either Vanilla or Warlords, but I'm getting closer with each game after 6 weeks from starting from scratch. To be honest about it, this is my 1st turn based game. I've been a online auto racer for nearly 10 years, but at my age (59) hand/eye coordination just made it a frustrating experience. So I opted after doing a lot of research and playing the demo to purchase Civilization IV as well as Warlords.
I find myself doing more reading, taking notes, and downloading guides, then actually playing, yet I do manage to play at least 4 games per week.
Even though it might take forever to finally win a game. I'm so engrossed in the actual game play, that the hours just fly by.
So much to learn, so little time to learn it in.
I find myself doing more reading, taking notes, and downloading guides, then actually playing, yet I do manage to play at least 4 games per week.
Even though it might take forever to finally win a game. I'm so engrossed in the actual game play, that the hours just fly by.
So much to learn, so little time to learn it in.
TM Moot
King
welcome to the cfc...
although there's plenty of detailed stuff on here (alot of it is way over my head!), there's plenty of good basic advice, help and suggestions on here as well
Happy Hunting...
although there's plenty of detailed stuff on here (alot of it is way over my head!), there's plenty of good basic advice, help and suggestions on here as well
Happy Hunting...
DarkFyre99
Prince
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
- Messages
- 419
You need to build the Apollo Program before you can build spaceship parts.
To build three cathedrals in a city, you need to have three religions in that city. To build a cathedral, you need to build three temples. So to get three cathedrals in your three best culture cities, you need nine cities with three religions in each city, for a total of 27 temples.
Which is it? Are your cities great, or are they rotting?
My first instinct is that you're not specializing your cities. By dedicating your cities to a specific purpose (Research, Wealth, Military Production, Wonder Production, Great People) you maximize their output, and don't have to nearly as many buildings as a "jack of all trades" cities. Your National Wonders are vital in this process.
I think the best thing you can do is to read either Sisiutil's All Leader Challenge games, or some of the Succession Games. Watching someone else play (especially the ALC's, where people offer opinions on what to do next) is often helpful.
I recommand going for a cultural win. It's the easiest, doesn't require to go to war and guides for this can be found easily.
Some basics :
- start a new game with Gandhi on warlords or Saladin on vanilla.
Why?
because spi + philo is simply the strongest combo for cultural wins.
- select chieftain level (settler is even easier but I just can't force myself to play settler. It's not a real level IMHO)
- select quick speed (normal is OK too, but epic and marathon give too much time for a late game war)
- go for meditation, polytheism, monotheism, while building warriors and settlers. settle good cottageable cities, 3 should be well placed enough to cottage spam. The rest (6 at least) are helpers, and can have overlapping with the 3 previous ones. Good production city(ies) would do you good too.
- go for agri->pottery while building workers
- go for priesthood while building workers, use workers to improve resources + build cottages around your 3 "wanabee legendary" = most cottageable cities.
- the cottages in the 3 legendary cities' fat cross should be worked all the time to grow them to towns. So if you want to grow them by working mostly farms, the helper cities should work the cottages. Do you know how to select which tiles are worked?
- go for BW while building the oracle in one of the 3 legendary ones, and granaries all over the place. You can start building monasteries and temples.
- when BW is in, go for writing->alphabet, start chopping the woods around the city building the oracle (if you have marble around you can make a detour to the wheel and to connect the quarry and have a bonus production for the oracle) (if you have copper around, connect it!)
- when the oracle is built, select theology.
At this point you should have 4 religions + 1 wonder+alphabet.
Now, it's time to be a builder. Except that you want good defense too.
You should connect every resource in sight and start trading around for techs (even chieftain AIs will have something to give away). Don't trade polytheism or alphabet for a while.
Start building monasteries then missionaries all over the place. You can select a state religion if your most immediate neighbours have the same one and you can select it too.
If it's not so, just send one buddhist missionary to every immediate neighbour (you need to open borders) and one hindu/jew/christian missionary to other neighbours.
It's time to go for drama->litterature->music, while continuing to cottage / road / improve resources and building missionaries/temples all over the place (don't forget to have 2 axes per city, a few spears may be good too if you managed to trade for hunting).
When you have drama, start building theatres in at least 6 cities, including the 3 big ones.
When you have litterature, build the national epic in your best GP farm site. I like it to be one of the legendary ones, but it's not necessary. This GP farm requires a theatre, then the globe theater and will work food tiles (seafood, food resources, farms) while running artist specialists.
You can start building the great library. It's best built in one of the 3 wanabee legendary, but not in the GP farm. You want 1 GS, not 2
.
When you have music, settle the artist in one of your wanabee legendary + holy cities. You should get a prophet soon, build the shrine for the most common religion in this city.
When you have the great library and music, you can trade every tech you want. Time to backfill.
good techs to get : mathematics, currency, sailing, IW, monarchy.
Now it's time to go for liberalism :
tech to CoL (you may get confucianism) while building those theatres (the rest can still be building missionaries, monasteries, temples as neede : you want a temple for each religion in every city. Priority to the 3 big ones.
When the 6 theatres are built you can start globe theater in the GP farm.
When you get a GS you lightbulb philosophy.
Meanwhile you tech towards paper->education.
If you have not used enough artists in the gp farm, you will have a second GS. Use it for an academy in a legendary city.
You can trade paper or philo, but not both. Don't trade education. build courthouses everywhere except capital. I didn't mention it, but your 3 big ones can build libraries, and you need at least 6 of those.
As soon as you have philo and education you start teching towards liberalism. Start building universities. When you have enough of those, build oxford in your great library city.
When you're 2 turns away from liberalism, trade away. You want to tech as high as possible now.
You can trade education if needed, noone will beat you to liberalism now.
You should have monarchy now (trade). If you managed to trade for CS, you will choose nationalism as free tech. If you didn't you will choose Divine Right, giving you one more religion
.
Now you switch to free speech and free religion, set research to 0%, the 3 wanabee legendary start working as many cottages as possible, you push the slider towards culture as high as possible without running out of money.
Build market (and grocer, and bank if available) in your shrine city. to increase this, build markets in helper cities and run merchants to increase this. Build wealth in your helper cities to increase this.
Your 3 wanabee legendary continue to build all culture buildings available (including hermitage in the "second best"). Priority to cathedral at this point.
The artists you get from your GP farm should be stacked and counted.
When you have enough of them to bring your 3 big ones to legendary at once, you use them as culture bomb.
Et voilà.
Some basics :
- start a new game with Gandhi on warlords or Saladin on vanilla.
Why?
because spi + philo is simply the strongest combo for cultural wins.
- select chieftain level (settler is even easier but I just can't force myself to play settler. It's not a real level IMHO)
- select quick speed (normal is OK too, but epic and marathon give too much time for a late game war)
- go for meditation, polytheism, monotheism, while building warriors and settlers. settle good cottageable cities, 3 should be well placed enough to cottage spam. The rest (6 at least) are helpers, and can have overlapping with the 3 previous ones. Good production city(ies) would do you good too.
- go for agri->pottery while building workers
- go for priesthood while building workers, use workers to improve resources + build cottages around your 3 "wanabee legendary" = most cottageable cities.
- the cottages in the 3 legendary cities' fat cross should be worked all the time to grow them to towns. So if you want to grow them by working mostly farms, the helper cities should work the cottages. Do you know how to select which tiles are worked?
- go for BW while building the oracle in one of the 3 legendary ones, and granaries all over the place. You can start building monasteries and temples.
- when BW is in, go for writing->alphabet, start chopping the woods around the city building the oracle (if you have marble around you can make a detour to the wheel and to connect the quarry and have a bonus production for the oracle) (if you have copper around, connect it!)
- when the oracle is built, select theology.
At this point you should have 4 religions + 1 wonder+alphabet.
Now, it's time to be a builder. Except that you want good defense too.
You should connect every resource in sight and start trading around for techs (even chieftain AIs will have something to give away). Don't trade polytheism or alphabet for a while.
Start building monasteries then missionaries all over the place. You can select a state religion if your most immediate neighbours have the same one and you can select it too.
If it's not so, just send one buddhist missionary to every immediate neighbour (you need to open borders) and one hindu/jew/christian missionary to other neighbours.
It's time to go for drama->litterature->music, while continuing to cottage / road / improve resources and building missionaries/temples all over the place (don't forget to have 2 axes per city, a few spears may be good too if you managed to trade for hunting).
When you have drama, start building theatres in at least 6 cities, including the 3 big ones.
When you have litterature, build the national epic in your best GP farm site. I like it to be one of the legendary ones, but it's not necessary. This GP farm requires a theatre, then the globe theater and will work food tiles (seafood, food resources, farms) while running artist specialists.
You can start building the great library. It's best built in one of the 3 wanabee legendary, but not in the GP farm. You want 1 GS, not 2
.When you have music, settle the artist in one of your wanabee legendary + holy cities. You should get a prophet soon, build the shrine for the most common religion in this city.
When you have the great library and music, you can trade every tech you want. Time to backfill.
good techs to get : mathematics, currency, sailing, IW, monarchy.
Now it's time to go for liberalism :
tech to CoL (you may get confucianism) while building those theatres (the rest can still be building missionaries, monasteries, temples as neede : you want a temple for each religion in every city. Priority to the 3 big ones.
When the 6 theatres are built you can start globe theater in the GP farm.
When you get a GS you lightbulb philosophy.
Meanwhile you tech towards paper->education.
If you have not used enough artists in the gp farm, you will have a second GS. Use it for an academy in a legendary city.
You can trade paper or philo, but not both. Don't trade education. build courthouses everywhere except capital. I didn't mention it, but your 3 big ones can build libraries, and you need at least 6 of those.
As soon as you have philo and education you start teching towards liberalism. Start building universities. When you have enough of those, build oxford in your great library city.
When you're 2 turns away from liberalism, trade away. You want to tech as high as possible now.
You can trade education if needed, noone will beat you to liberalism now.
You should have monarchy now (trade). If you managed to trade for CS, you will choose nationalism as free tech. If you didn't you will choose Divine Right, giving you one more religion
.Now you switch to free speech and free religion, set research to 0%, the 3 wanabee legendary start working as many cottages as possible, you push the slider towards culture as high as possible without running out of money.
Build market (and grocer, and bank if available) in your shrine city. to increase this, build markets in helper cities and run merchants to increase this. Build wealth in your helper cities to increase this.
Your 3 wanabee legendary continue to build all culture buildings available (including hermitage in the "second best"). Priority to cathedral at this point.
The artists you get from your GP farm should be stacked and counted.
When you have enough of them to bring your 3 big ones to legendary at once, you use them as culture bomb.
Et voilà.
Wow! Thank YOU, cutlure is what I realy wanted to learn. I am so excited I printed this all out and can't wait till tonite to try it out. You guys are just the best. Every post here has been helpful. I can't believe what an idiot I have been to not have been posting and reading here YEARS ago, gad I am a slow learner!
Cat
Cat
