Teach me and you. Give me a gem.

[shulec]

176. You can start researching tech on your first turn. You don't have to wait for the next turn. Just click on any icon on the list where the technology you're researching was supposed to be.

This is true, but you don't lose the beakers from the first turn. When you select a tech on the second turn, you will have just as much progress as if you selected it on the first turn.

 

[shulec]

177.
EDIT: This does not work. After about 4-5 turns (normal speed) the beakers seem to be automatically assigns to one of the techs.

When you start the game, if you end each turn without selecting a tech to research, you accumulate beakers that can be put toward any tech. You simply have to end the turn while researching a tech to "lock in" the beakers toward a tech.

If Mysticism is one of your starting techs and you want to found Buddhism or Hinduism, you can employ the above method to "wait and see" (or "no risk") research. When you are one turn from Meditation or Polytheism and the religion has not been founded, pick that tech at that time and get the one you want. If both have been founded before you can found one, the choose Agr or AnHus or Min with no penalty. Note that this only works for the first tech.

 

[shulec]

178. The turn after someone builds a Great Wonder, especially those in the medieval and renaissance era's, check the tech trade screen and there may be a civ or two that converted their missed wonder hammers to cash. Trade techs for big cash. (Or beg for small chunks of it.)

 

[Zeiter]

177. When you start the game, if you end each turn without selecting a tech to research, you accumulate beakers that can be put toward any tech. You simply have to end the turn while researching a tech to "lock in" the beakers toward a tech.

If Mysticism is one of your starting techs and you want to found Buddhism or Hinduism, you can employ the above method to "wait and see" (or "no risk") research. When you are one turn from Meditation or Polytheism and the religion has not been founded, pick that tech at that time and get the one you want. If both have been founded before you can found one, the choose Agr or AnHus or Min with no penalty. Note that this only works for the first tech.

This is VERY useful to know! (And I always thought that the beakers went to waste if you didn't pick a tech on the first turn...) Not just for mysticism starts, but in any circumstance. Waiting 8 or so turns, after you've scouted around your capital a bit, before choosing a tech could help you figure out whether you need to go with agriculture, animal husbandry, mining, etc.

 

[kochman]

178. The turn after someone builds a Great Wonder, especially those in the medieval and renaissance era's, check the tech trade screen and there may be a civ or two that converted their missed wonder hammers to cash. Trade techs for big cash. (Or beg for small chunks of it.)

Good idea

 

[Gorey]

100. Steal barbarian workers by putting a military unit (other than a scout) in a galley (not trireme, as previously misstated) and sneak up on a coastal barbarian city and snatch the worker with an amphibious attack.

Thanks for catching my fumble.

epic!! will try!

 

[shulec]

This is VERY useful to know! (And I always thought that the beakers went to waste if you didn't pick a tech on the first turn...) Not just for mysticism starts, but in any circumstance. Waiting 8 or so turns, after you've scouted around your capital a bit, before choosing a tech could help you figure out whether you need to go with agriculture, animal husbandry, mining, etc.

My apologies for the original post. This does not work. After about 4-5 turns (normal speed) the beakers seem to be automatically assigns to one of the techs.

 

[shulec]

War tips

179. If possible, take all of you opponents cities and do not vassalize (this is most applicable to mid-game wars). If you keep your opponent alive via capitulation, you will have more problems with cities trying to flip back to him, or getting an AP "reassign city" proposal, or having "We yearn to rejoin the motherland" unhappiness. Obviously, if you are on a final domination or conquest push, this doesn't matter.

180. When taking an opponents last city, especially on an early rush, send one unit to the far side of the city to drive the workers back into the city. If you don't, they will die with your opponent, and you miss out on a great opportunity to pick up some free workers.

 

[Ataxerxes]

A lot of learning here. Thanks all!

181. If you're doing a one-city challenge for space race, be very careful with building National Park wonder. Since it removes coal from your city, you can't build Aluminum Co. This has bitten me a few times. I never seem to get aluminum in my cultural borders if I'm playing one-city challenge.

182. One-City challenges are good ways to learn the game quickly for a beginner. Even if you're a turtle, OCC finishes in an hour or two.

183. Chop grassland forests before plains. You'll use the cottages more on grasslands. Sometimes you don't even chop plains forests for the health.

 

[6K Man]

183. Chop grassland forests before plains. You'll use the cottages more on grasslands. Sometimes you don't even chop plains forests for the health.

I would add a 183b:

Chop flat grassland forests first - especially if on riverside
(prime cottage land, especially riverside/financial. Also irrigable.)
Chop hill grassland forests second - especially if on riverside
(because you can more than recoup the production with a mine, or feed itself with a windmill)
Chop hill plains/tundra forests third
(because although you can recoup the production with a mine, they can't feed themselves.)
Chop riverside flat plains forests fourth
(because you can irrigate or chain irrigate to make them self-sufficient in food, and also watermill later)
Chop lakeside flat plains fifth
(because you can irrigate to make them self sufficient in food, but there's no watermill option)
Chop riverside flat tundra forests sixth
(you can cottage/irrigate/watermill these, but they are inferior to both riverside plains and grassland)
Chop lakeside flat tundra forests seventh
(because all you can do is irrigate these and they'll never add anything else other than as part of an irrigation chain)
Chop non-riverside non-lakeside flat plains forests eighth.
(they'll never feed themselves without an irrigation chain, and the Workshop is generally inferior to a railroaded Lumbermill)
Chop non-riverside non-lakeside flat tundra forests ninth... and try not to chop them at all.
(because they are utterly useless when chopped - no improvements other than road/rail/fort possible. With forests, they can be lumbermilled)

 

[6K Man]

184.

If you are playing for conquest on a huge map, eliminating an opponent entirely may prompt other opponents to spin off colonies up to the number of civs in your game. This can slow down your conquest. Taking vassals instead of completely killing opponents avoids this.

 

[kochman]

Chop non-riverside non-lakeside flat tundra forests ninth... and try not to chop them at all.
(because they are utterly useless when chopped - no improvements other than road/rail/fort possible. With forests, they can be lumbermilled)

I never chop these, as you mention, because lumbermilled they provide something, chopped they become, well, basically useless, for the rest of the game.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Chop hill plains/tundra forests third
(because although you can recoup the production with a mine, they can't feed themselves.)

I don't know about chopping forested plains hills. You only lose one hammer compared to a mine, and you gain health. You can lumber mill and railroad it later too.

 

[6K Man]

I don't know about chopping forested plains hills. You only lose one hammer compared to a mine, and you gain health. You can lumber mill and railroad it later too.

True enough - my point was that if you NEED to chop (e.g. in the early game to get out Settlers/Axes/Monuments/Granaries/whatever), you usually ought to chop in the order suggested, IMO.

If you can leave forested plains hills alone until Lumbermill/RR time (by having other improved tiles to work), so much the better.

And of course, if you are really hurting for health, you'd have to think twice about chopping at all.

 

[Terrance888]

Never trust Alexander, Monty, Napoleon or Katherine. Especially Monty and Katherine: Monty is crazy, and his crazyness can somehow win him battles. Katherine dazzles all unmarried and most married men with her *charm.*

 

[shulec]

186. If you are going for a culture victory, build a city that overlaps a few tiles in your culture city that are weak tiles (grassland hills or plains) and work them in your non-culture city to develop them to towns, while your culture city uses the mined plots in its bfc to build culture buildings. Then once all the buildings are built, start working those towns in your culture city.

 

[vicawoo]

10111011. Great artists bulb music after literature and drama. So if you accidently get one early or switch into caste, you can get a free tech at no cost and deny a golden age from your opponents.

Edit: more accurately, you're probably teching drama for the chance to bulb music.

 

[shulec]

@ vicawoo I'll take Robin Ventura vs. Nolan Ryan everyday and twice on Sunday... except for the day Ryan gave him the smack down!

188. If a neighboring civ throws down a culture bomb near one of your uncultured cities and if you will probably lose the city, gift it to him for the +4 trade relations. It is better to get something out of it than nothing.

 

[Kranden]

189. Don't ever be afraid to burn cities you don't need and especially ones you cant hold ESPECIALLY if you cannot support their cost and your own units. Remember that if you are outnumbered and his armies are far away burning a few of his important cities and falling back can win you the war. Don't be greedy for a city that you can do without (unless it has some amazing wonders)

 

[ICNP]

Corrolary to the above post: I've found that one of the best way to deal with protective civs that you can't just befriend, is to simply pillage their stuff. They most likely won't be able to stop your mounted units, because of their abnormal amount of archers.