Struggling at Noble

[JBConquests]

I have a similar problem, I am trying to move up to Noble. I am doing well scientifically, I usually lead in Science with Ghandi. Financially I am doing ok, but I think I could do better. If I could just make myself build more cottages it would help. I tend to think that cottages are a waste of a square that could be used better for food or production. I know that is wrong thinking but habits are hard to break.

I am really struggling with the military side of things. If I go to war with somebody, I will spend half or more of the game before I conquer them. I see all these posts which advise "Take out a couple of your closest neighbors in the early game." If I do that then the game is about over by the time I win. I do build siege weapons and large stacks of units but it takes up so much of the game to do this.

I guess I need to read the war academy more.

 

[Stuck in Pi]

I just did my second game on noble (lost first one), and I took out my closest neighbor really quick. I found him fast, then made two warriors and hit him. I got lucky enough to win and wipe him out. Now i have half of the continent to myself, have been the first to circumnavigate the globe, and have a big tech lead.

It took me a while to get the right start, but i have tons of land with flood plains, hills, and plenty of resources. My neighbor is same religon, so i got peace there until i get a big lead. More to come as it develops...

 

[MrG]

Regarding the axe rush/war side of things, this is the one part of my game I'm generally reasonably good at.

I try to use cease fire rather than peace treaties, try to raze non capital cities/holy cities and pursue short sharp wars rather than long involved ones.

That way you have periods of peace, war weariness doesn't murder you and you also get your cities.

With regards axe rushes, I'd consider 6 axes an absolute minimum, and if you are pursuing an early rush, I'd beeline bronze working immediately and settle near copper as soon as you find it (obviously) then churn out axemen and nothing else with liberal use of chopping and pop rushing.

Things to bear in mind though.
1) the distance your nearest neighbour is to you, the further they are the harder it is to pull off a successful axe rush
2) The number of enemy cities, you really ought to know rough troop deployments and resources too - if they have loads of axe men by the time you are ready to attack, it probably isn't worth trying.
3) Your position - if you have lots of space and decent terrain to expand into, you're usually better off building settlers and workers like mad and peacefully blocking in your nearest neighbour, developing your economy and taking them out at your leisure later when you hve catapults and a decent tech lead.
4) Who your neighbours are - if you have monty, the romans, alex, isabella or any aggressive civ next door, and they have iron/copper its best to take them out sooner rather than later.
5) When you do decide to attack, go straight for the opposition capital, expect to lose troops and consider 3:1 odds in your favour as a minimum requirement if you are attacking archers.

That works for me but I'm sure if you search the forums you'll find much more succinct and expert advice.

 

[PimpyMicPimp]

I was in the EXACT same situation as you not too long ago. I can empathise

The jump from Warlord to Noble is a big one, but not impossible. The thing for me was when I finally understood how to really optimise and specialise my cities.

Also, I recommend reading some of the threads found here http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=5320091

The ALC definitly helped my game and are entertaining to boot! While you don't need to read through every comment, I'd suggest at least scanning some pages, there is insight abound in those things.

Lastly, remember, just have fun. Don't get too caught up in levels, the game is for having fun. Don't be afraid to lose, either! A challenging game is fun and losing a game is usually more informative than winning one, since you can look at why you lost and what you can do differently next time.

 

[Horace]

I find that if youve taken a city or two and realise you are going to run out of steam before you wipe the other civ out, just move your troops around their cities (not attacking them & preferably in defensive terrain) disrupting all their resources and workers and generally ruining their production and growth. you can then pick them off a short time later. also this way you dont just waste units in low odds battles and gift them city defence promotions.

 

[JBConquests]

Whew, I finally beat noble. BTS knocked me from Noble back to Warlord but I finally won my first BTS game on Noble!!!

It was a very close thing. I will definately take some of the advice on this thread next time as I was half way through this game when I noticed this thread.

I forced Hammurabi (my neighbor) to be my vassel after taking 2/3 of his cities. Suryavaarmen was my next neighbor but he was friendly so I skipped him and declared war on Gilgamesh. Took 3/4 of his cities before I realized he was Pacal II's vassel. I guess I should pay closer attention to the Advisor screen. I thought that if you took enough of a vassel's cities he would automatically stop becoming another civ's vassel? He only had 2 left out of 7 or so!!

At this point I stalled so I went to peace and rebuilt my economy. In the mean time Suryavaarmen went from friendly to cautious. I was going for a space race victory - I just needed an engine and life support. Suryavaarmen was way ahead of me in tech but he didn't have Oil and no one was giving him any!!!! So he asked for $3200. I suppose I should have given it to him but I figured he would declare war on my anyways so I said no. He declared war and managed to take several of my cities but I held on to launch the space ship. What saved my bacon was one of those random events which allowed me to force him to go to peace. I barely won.

 

[PimpyMicPimp]

I just did incredibly well on noble, though it was the 30 Civ Earth mod if that makes a difference. It was like Warlord again, anything I wanted, I got, and no one could touch me in terms of military. Asia, central Europe, and most of Africa were mine. It felt almost cheap to win with Space race
That's the best I've ever done on noble, I'll play a few more games and if their like that, I think it might be time for the elusive prince :O

 

[Stuck in Pi]

Continuing on from earlier...

Lincoln is gaining on me in techs, I have a good amount of riflemen (better than anyone else on my continent), but everyone else seems to have more troops. Any suggestions?? Note: it is 1880ish, with only conquest on.

 

[ccrowe1990]

One thing that is very useful IMO is to have a friendly civilization that is really aggressive and have him fight your battles for you. For example, I like to befriend Monty because I can have him declare war on anyone if I give him enough techs in return. It is beneficial because I can research techs while there is a world war going on that is slowing everybody else's technological development down. So eventually, I will come out on top technologically.

 

[Swein Forkbeard]

One tip for you: always axe-rush an opponent who doesn't have access to metals or horses.

I only play Civ4 on weekends, so I don't get much done. I won on Noble twice in Warlords, but I'm struggling in BtS.

 

[shaunthegreat]

Ok, I'll try to add my own advice as someone who recently graduated to noble.

First, qwertz's questions are the best place to start. if they aren't all answered yes (you might not need the war academy, but if everything else is yes start there), then go go back to warlord and try random everything.

second, my own advice based on my experience.
1) try louis or huanya capac. If you want wonders you need an advantage, and industrial will do that.
2)build the great wall, and the oracle. You will need the great wall to keep barbarians out. And the tech moves faster so you need that advantageof a free tech.
3)if you can build on hills with archers/longbowmen. Not necessarily needed for all cities, but if you have equal access to resources, go with the hill.
I guess to summarize learn how to recognize good city locations. They aren't always the sites highlighted by the game.
4)If you automate your workers, don't. This is another thing that is forgivable on easier difficulties, but not on noble. and don't forget to build cottages. and don't build improvements in a city that can't work them when you have a city stagnating for lack of improvements. if the worker doesn't have anything else to do then go to it, but don't build a farm just to look at.
5) Don't build every building. They don't all help you.
6)not all improvements need roads.
7) When attacking, don't forget to pillage. if you destroy his access to copper/ iron, he can't build swordsmen/axemen. Also cities without food shrink and lose production.
8) try playing rhye's and fall if ou haven't already. It can really help with different strategies if you try for the UHV's

Some of these things may be pretty basic, but they are things that are easily forgiven (IMHO) on the easier levels, and not so much on noble. If you screw these things up, you can't win.

 

[kristopherb]

I'm just starting a prince game. My suggestion ,Know what you want and get it. Use your strengths of your chosen civ (UU,UB,traits) this is why I love Chuchill.Axe rush's work but not on a Frickken huge map. Use your instincts.

 

[Stuck in Pi]

Alright, I found an opening in the Zulu, which unfortunately were vassals of Asoka, but he's at war with Sitting Bull. So, currently i'm wiping out Ragnar of the Zulu (yes unrestricted leaders) but don't know where to go next. I think I might backstab Greece (Sitting Bull), but I need their armies to be skewered by Asoka. We'll see where this goes.