Stuck in n00ble game

[Darth Meanie]

Hello, I play on Noble, but am mediocre about it. I was playing a Big and Small map and a combination of bad luck and poor planning shut me out of most of the main continent. My empire is puny in size, but is the most efficient economically. I cannot compete however with the larger empires. I contemplated war, but my two neighbors are
1) Montezuma w/ Cover Melee units
2) the power leader

My plan so far has been to rush to get optics and expand to the sea, but how should I go about? I am really in a rut. I cannot think of any good strategy.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113442/Great_Leader_AD-1130.CivBeyondSwordSave

 

[Silence101]

Hello, I play on Noble, but am mediocre about it. I was playing a Big and Small map and a combination of bad luck and poor planning shut me out of most of the main continent. My empire is puny in size, but is the most efficient economically. I cannot compete however with the larger empires. I contemplated war, but my two neighbors are
1) Montezuma w/ Cover Melee units
2) the power leader

My plan so far has been to rush to get optics and expand to the sea, but how should I go about? I am really in a rut. I cannot think of any good strategy.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113442/Great_Leader_AD-1130.CivBeyondSwordSave

I'm at work so I can't look at your save, but based on what you wrote I wanted to share some thoughts.

Unless you know of another prime piece of real estate that's unclaimed somewhere, I don't think expanding a small empire overseas is a good move for a couple reasons. First of all, there's a excellent chance that this land has already been claimed - especially if you've been out-expanded already. Second, even if you do find good unclaimed land, the matinence is going to negate any benefits you might receive. I'm not saying that this is never a good strategy, but I think I would look at few other ideas first.

Without seeing the save, I guess my initial questions are: What map size/type? How many Civ's? What Civ/leader are you? And maybe most important, what victory condition are you going for?

If you're going for a cultural victory, or a space race victory, you may not need to do any expanding. You mentioned that you are the most efficient economically... that's a strong position to be in. Work on specializing the cities that you do have to ensure that you're getting the most out of them.

If you're taking a more aggressive approach or you fear that the AI will eventually be able to surpass you economically, launching an attack on your neighbors may be the best move. I know you mentioned some challenges with Monty and the power graph, but this just means you'll need a bit more preparation. Honestly, when it comes down to it, the war challenges you mentioned don't really mean anything... just prepare accordingly.

Make sure that you have some good production cities that can spit out units reletively quickly. If you don't already, learn to love siege units - they make it possible to take cities from just about anyone. Build a powerful but balanced army. If you have BTS, espionage can work wonders for you.

 

[zienth]

Remember, unless you're attacking with archery units, Monty's cover melee units don't matter on defense. They will help when he counterattacks you, but they won't hurt your attacks at all. And if you are attacking with archery units, um, why are you attacking with archery units?

Zienth

 

[slaze]

I cannot compete however with the larger empires. I contemplated war, but my two neighbors are
1) Montezuma w/ Cover Melee units
2) the power leader

You're the tech leader; you have many options. Despite it being 1130 AD macemen, are one tech away at Civil Service. Monty's cover promoted jaguars and axemen will have plenty of trouble with just a few maces. Engineering is nearby, you could research that next for trebs, pikes and the road movement; an excellent war tech and a necessary one when delayed for too long.

It seems that you're a little afraid of using the whip and i think it's about time you jumped on the bandwagon, so to say. This game is all about tiles; trading food for hammers and commerce and with that the case, you'll see it's a very good deal to have whip for 3 pop when you have two unhappy citizens in Carthage. Whip other cities too. whip buildings, whip units.

The Great Preist should probably just be settled. And probably settled in whatever you'd want as you'd want as a corporate headquarters (if you plan on getting there). I don't see you gaining much by lightbulbing down the religious path, and you won't be getting a shrine soon (at least i don't think).

The city you're about to found where the settler is i'd found 1S. You lose three ocean tiles and gain a coast, a forest plain and a marble plain.

Religion is key. I like that you did No State Religion and depending on your choice, that may continue to be the best course of action. If you went off to fight Huayna you should probably go buddhist, but if you fight monty (the easier of the two), then it's either No State or Hindu, depending on long term plans.

Monty's the better choice I beleive. His cities would be better for you as they're coastal and you could ride out the Colossus a little more. Calixtlahuaca i'd burn and put 1N, burning Tlaxcala with it. The rest of the cities are good except for maybe Teotihuacan which should be 1N to get the fish.

Overall it's not bad. On the GNP graph you're low on production, but there are many ways to get it, the whip being one of the most effective. With so few cities you'll probably have to whip more than you'd like, but having somebody else's land, from a food-hammer-commerce point of view is just too worth it.

 

[Big Boss Man]

Viva La Resistance ! Enlarge your standing army and dethrown Monty !
It may be a tough road to hoe but you can do it . Attack Attack Attack , Start pumping out ( 8 xp points ) units . Make two waves , Wave A : Maces and Cats or better . Wave b : Future garrison for the city wave A will take .
Repeat until Monty is dead