Still pretty new and could use a bit of advice.

[GiantCornSnake]

Hey guys! I'm still relatively new to the Civ games and I was wondering if there are any good, descriptive youtube vids to help one get better at the game. I've played as high as only Warlord with little difficulty in staying ahead and winning but I feel like I am not a good starter because someone always beats me to Classical Age. I've played as all the standard civs (Steam Achievements lol) and won a game at either Chieftan or Warlord. I'd love to cross the line into difficulties where I'm not given a boost and where I'd be on the defensive. I'd appreciate any input you more experienced players can offer.


P.S.: Me and a friend were playing together on chieftan and the Barbarians had destroyers and infantry after I did but the AI civs were nowhere near that level. Is that normal?

 

[mindbreaker]

Well there is a War Academy thread where they discuss some savegames.

I would also highly recommend MadDjinns youtube channel. He is an immortal player, but from what I saw he explains general strategies in full games. In my opinion a very good introduction.

As to the barbarians: As far as I know they can produce units at the highest tech level of any player (AI and human). I just wonder that any barbarians are still alive by the time you have destroyers . Just remove them early on and they shouldn't pose a threat.

Edit: Here is the Military Academy thread, but the savegames they discuss there are already in the mid- or endgame.

 

[GiantCornSnake]

Thanks man. Yeah me and my friend were just horsing around on an archipelago map and since I was stuck on a 7-tile island with tons of fish, I decided to do a one city game while my friend had like 8 cites on a huge land mass. I was the Ottomans so I didnt mind the fact that there were advanced warships around for me to convert. One city with Naval superiority was pretty fun. sadly, the AI never settled more than 3 cities and never attacked either. Perhaps a higher difficulty is in order

 

[Buccaneer]

Or better yet, a different map type. Archipelago maps are the worst ones to play if you want to learn or a have a challenge.

 

[chazzycat]

Don't worry too much about being beat to the classical age, happens to me almost every single game. If they are the first to industrial that's another story

Agree with others saying archipelago maps are not the best for training. They are too easy for the most part (the AI sucks at naval invasions still). Try continents for the most rounded experience.

Prince is not a terribly hard level, just try it out a few times. If one thing doesn't work, try something else. At that level you can pick any number of potential strategies and be successful, you don't need to play "ideally" to win.

General tips for your level:

- grow your capital as large as possible in almost every circumstance and build all the national wonders possible there
- trade extra resources to the AI for lump sum gold (300 every 30 turns if friendly)
- try to stay ahead of hapiness by 5-10 points or so to keep growing
- don't forget city states. When policies are coming in too slowly, try to grab a cultural CS ally. If you have a large happiness buffer, grab some Maritimes to grow faster instead. If you find yourself having more than a couple allies, use the Patronage tree (first 3 policies on the left side are awesome)
- Plan your general strategy and keep in mind the policies that will be available at that time. For instance, a common strategy is the REX (wide) approach. This will found many cities and eventually happiness will be a problem, so after Liberty the best option might be Piety, in order to get Theocracy. Then you will have a large empire and Order will make a lot of sense when you hit industrial. Planning out "Liberty-->Piety-->Order" at least gives you a framework for your general strategy to play off of. Don't be afraid to adapt if needed, but in general you don't want to be thinking too hard about a policy choice the turn you get it - that is a sign of poor planning.
- learn some of the more common strategies of the early game. It's important to get a good start to set yourself up for the rest of the game. There are tons of articles on here about the NC Start, legalism/meritocracy usage, Tall vs. Wide starts, etc. Learn the steel slingshot/longsword rush - it's ideal for taking out your nearest neighbor. Everything is situational, but you need to have the tools to react to whatever happens.

Keep reading the boards, there's tons of good stuff on here for all level of players. Good luck and have fun.

 

[apocalypse105]

go and check out this channel on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MisterCiv5

It has tutorials for civ 5 from the beginning to mid and late game
It has even a combat tutorial and explains what social policies !!!!!!!!!

I just learned civilization to watch those videos enjoy!

 

[homerj]

I can give a few tips:

1) You don't need a lot of units to go to war. 4-6 melee, a couple ranged, a couple horse with a medic promotion will do you well for an army. Don't build 20+ units and try to move them around. It costs too much maintenance, and isn't needed.

2) Remember to pillage resources and roads when you're at war. They may have a lot of longswords when you first go to war, but pillage that +6 iron, and they won't be nearly as strong, and they can't make more. Destroying roads will slow the next wave of attackers when you're plowing through a civ.

3) Don't build every building. You may get a few extra culture for building a temple, but the gold hit won't be worth it. Also, things like aquaduct sound nice, but if there isn't a lot in that city for people to do, it's not worth it to grow a city so they can work some non-river farm..which leads to #4

4) Don't always grow every city as fast as you can. You should grow cities when there is actually something worthwhile for that extra citizen to do. Things like specialists spots, river farms, etc. It's not worth the happiness hit for a citizen to be working a non-productive tile.

5) Play the civs off of each other. Bribe one to go to war with the other. No reason for you to fight a full strength civ. Some civs are pretty cheap to pay to fight a war with who you want to attack next.