Strategy Advice Needed

[Nightfang]

I started a new game last night, all random settings on Regent level. This will probably be my last Regent game for a while, and this was to be my final test before I move up in the levels.

I drew the Babs, on a nice grassy area on the northern part of the landmass I was on (discovered it to be Pangea later. Standard size map, looks like mid range land/water distribution, 4 billion, temperate). Barbs are on random, but do not seem to be much higher than restless.

I built my first city, and soon four others. I at first thought of attempting a 5CC, but being unsure of the rules of the 5CC style, I decided against it. I have six cities now, and my seventh will come in when a Persian city north of me culture flips.

I do not want to build any more cities. The only cities I want are ones I can take through culture flips.

I built up hard and fast, building temples, libraries, granaries, and such. I was able to net the Oracle, Great Library, and Hanging Gardens in Babylon. I am building Sun Tzu, but it is really a prebuild for the Sistine Chapel when the GL nets me Theology.

I want to get the city culture win, so my goals are to hit Sistine, JS Bach, Copernicus, Newton's, Shakespeare, ToE, Suffrage, Hoover (maybe, depends on whats going on when that time comes), and UN in Babylon.

My outlying cities produce culture and science improvements, then spit out spearmen to defend with.

I have very little resources in my lands. No iron, no horses, with the only luxury I have is furs.

Obviously, I need to get the tech lead and keep it, using techs to trade for luxuries, resources, and GPT. Currently, I am at tech parity, with a little deficit spending. Selling my world map every few turns helps keep that evened out.

Babylon is at size 12, and I am finishing up improving the surrounding land. I use it to produce wonders and culture improvements. If I hit a lull in the wonders, I will have it produce settlers to bolster other cities. It will replenish the lost citizens fast, anyway, so no big deal. If everything is running smoothly, I will have it produce military or wealth.

On the histograph, I am blowing everyone away on culture, and currently lead in points.

The Middle Ages has only just begun, so I have plenty of game left.

Thoughts, comments?

 

[zagnut]

It seems to me that you have already won this game. Now it is just a matter of waiting for the fat lady to sing.

If you don't want to invade your neighbors, then your only alternative is to grow science and culture. Since it is the beginning of the Middle Ages and you already have a small tech lead, if you keep working it like you have, then by the end of the MA you should be dominant.

Seems to me that you should do everything you can to bolster your science rate since it is only in the tech race that you don't have a big lead. You might consider pitting the other civs against each other. Declare war on a civ on another continent and then make an alliance with its neighbor. The two of them will fight it out and weaken each other, while you go merrily on building your civ.

 

[Park Ranger]

Sounds almost exactly like my win with Babylon and the one-city cultural victory condition. I finished with 8 or 9 cities.

One thing I recommend for the Middle ages is to go straight for democracy and free artistry. Democracy for the revolution (you'll want the trade) and free artistry for Shake's Theatre. Also democracy will be a good trading chip to get you in the running for ToG and Newton's.

When you get to industrial era get sanitation quickly with so few cities you want to grow past size 12, again to increase your commerce.

When I did this I was sharing continent with Chinese and had to suck up to them big time with lots of trades and gifts (I gave in to extortion demands regularly).

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[nullspace]

Since you already have the Oracle, Great Library, and Hanging Gardens, you're pretty much set for the cultural win. The Pyramids would have been nice for the 4 culture, but it is such an early, expensive, and highly contested wonder that it would be hard to get the rest of the cultured early wonders.

Don't forget to build all the cultural improvements, they give more culture per shield than most wonders, and you can buy them with cash. All of the small wonders give culture too, especially the Heroic Epic. Of course, you'll need to fight to be able to build that one, but fighting wars just to get leaders is one of the best ways to get the single-city cultural win. Build an army with the first leader so you can build the Heroic Epic, the Military Academy, and the Pentagon. Use the rest of the leaders to hurry wonders. Just because you're cultured, doesn't mean you have to be nice!

 

[ThePrankMonkey]

i only won one game with a cultural victory and i usually have most of the GWs in one city (usually my capitol or the city i built right after it). so WTH am i doing thats keeps me from winning a cultural victory? it may be because i usually have less cities. it seems ive been having a streak of bad luck getting stuck in jungle and desert areas to start the game off so i cant expand all that fast. i know they later can give up good resources like oil rubber and aluminum but still to expand with more settlers its kind of a pain. so i usually wind up wiping out my neighbors to expand.


and how do you know when a city will flip to you? there are two cities im eye balling my latest game and i have a ton of culture near them and im waiting for them to flip to me. although i notice a city with a luxury or resource never flips. or am i just insane?

 

[Park Ranger]

Originally posted by CivIIenthusiast
i only won one game with a cultural victory and i usually have most of the GWs in one city (usually my capitol or the city i built right after it). so WTH am i doing thats keeps me from winning a cultural victory

To win a cultural victory by getting 100,000 culture overall you need to have a large number of cities early on that build cultural improvements early.

TO win by getting 20,000 culture in ONE city, which is the topic of this thread, you need to focus obsessively on culture in that city. The earlier the build the better. For example (assume a religious civ):

Palace in 4000BC
Temple built by 3250 BC.
Colossus by 1700 BC.
Great library by 700 BC.
Library by 650 BC
Hanging Gardens by 250 AD.
Cathedral, university and colosseum all done by 500AD.
Another wonder (Sistine chapel!) by 800AD.

With all these builds you would be producing 72 culture per turn by 1800 AD, ands already have amassed somewhere around 15,000 culture. Without any other culture producing builds, this city would hit 20,000 culture by 1940 AD (actually I think I goofed it would be earlier).

Tough to do without a Leader, and often games end long before 1940. But notice I didn't include any wonders built after 800AD, which can help bring that date back to some where in the late 1800's (think JSBach, Shakespeare, and Newton for another 20 cpt total). No mention of the small wonders either.

Anyway the above build schedule is just one route, specifically for a coastal+river start with Babylon; notice the library is placed after the GL because GL is done with a prebuild started prior to discovery of literature. An alternative would be temple, Oracle, Pyramids, library, Hanging Gardens, cathedral, university, colosseum, etc., the sort of thing you might see the Egyptians do with a great leader in the age of chariots.

I'm no pro only pulled it off once but I look for it so I've calculated these builds often.

Cheers.

 

[Nightfang]

I was able to score the Sistine Chapel pretty easily, and just wrapped up Shakespeare's Theatre. The AI beat me to Copernicus, since I was driving for Shakespeare, but I figured the 6 culture value of the Theatre was better than the 4 value of Copernicus. I just got ToG, and Newton's is in the process of building. I should be hitting Industrial Age real soon.

The AI has been agressive in techs, making my life difficult. No matter how hard and fast I research, I have been at parity for the entire Middle Ages. I am looking for two things now, the Nationalism slingshot, and Theory of Evolution. These two alone should propel me ahead in techs, and make life a little easier.

 

[Nightfang]

Well, I hit Nationalism, right at the same time the other scientific civs, so a few of us already had Nationalism. But, I was able to sell it off to several others for large sums of cash. I went for Steam Power, and once I got it, proceeded to offer it and see what I could get. Jerkxes offered a whopping 143gpt for it, and I took it, expecting him to back out and attack me.

He never did.

I got to Medicine, and drove for Sanitation. Just as I got to Sanitation, many of the others got Medicine, so selling that was out of the question. Because of my trading, I am Polite or Gracious with everyone. Diplo win will be a snap, but I do not want that.

I pondered my situation for a few moments, and realized something. I saved my game, and reloaded a save from about 600 years previous. Aside from the few culture flips, the map was almost identical. There had been no wars! That was why I was fighting to keep up the tech pace. I sat there dumbfounded for a few minutes. This was my first Regent game where no wars had broken out, between me or any of the other civs.

I am now driving to Scientific Method. My goal is in sight, though many many turns away. Wall Street is wrapping up in Babylon, and I will start some sort of prebuild for ToE in a few turns, if I can. I am going to need ToE to get ahead now, no doubt about it.

Luckily, though, my treasury is huge thanks to the payments from the other civs, especially Persia. I am at 100% on the slider, too, so I am researching as fast as the game will allow me. All cities have the proper improvements. I am in Democracy, as well, that helps.

I have no coal in my borders, and no one has any to trade yet. I think I have drawn yet another map where coal is scarce (my third Regent game with very little coal on the map).