Bibor
Doomsday Machine
I think it would be fair to say that the developers of Civ4 gave us plenty of options on how to play this game. Over the years, as we, the players, learned the game and it's mechanics, combined with the fact that the development on this game ceased a long time ago, meant that certain strategies started to first take shape, then solidify and ultimately crystallise in our playstyles.
The best known of these is probably "The Bureaucratic capital" play, which in this post I call "Expanded One City Strategy" (for reasons that I will present shortly). In this strategy, the main city is the capital, with the ideal one having as much food as possible (taking up as few tiles as possible, ideally corn or flatland pigs), while also having as much grassland flatland riverside tiles as possible, for cottages. Around this city there is a first ring of cities, overlapping with tiles workable by the capital. These cities are also focused on food, and the triple role of these cities is to "work the cottages" of the capital while also providing infrastructure and military units for the rest of the empire (whipping). The second ring of cities (and beyond) is almost exclusively tied to food (and sometimes other resources), and serves again as infrastructure for the capital, as well as whipping points for units.
The goals of this strategy are to get to Civil service as soon as possible (for Bureaucracy), to Oxford University (for science boost) and to a size large enough to work all the cottages "prepared" by the capital and it's first ring of cities. Other cities are there "just to prepare the terrain", either by providing infrastrucutre, worked cottages or whipped units, whereas the capital serves to provide the brunt of the research (science) to a point where this research will unlock units (usually Cuirassiers, Cavalry, Infantry and/or Cannons) that enables overpowering one or more (preferably all) AI players for a victory.
As many players will point out, this strategy heavily relies on buildings essential for growth (Granaries, Lighthouses) for frequent whipping, with the rest of the production queue being filled with workers, settlers, military units and merely an occasional building, like a barracks or the 5+1 universities needed to build Oxford. All this means that cities other than the capital are basically whipping outposts. And little else. It's not uncommon to see cities with population 3 in the middle of the game, with 40+ unrest turns remaining.
This "Expanded One City Strategy" is a very valid one, probably the most powerful one, it's not the only one. Playing on the Deity difficulty level tends to push players into optimal strategies such as this one. That's the main reason I don't like Deity: a world where everyone's has a finance PhD, because that's the optimal play, it becomes boring real quick.
UN victories, space race victories etc. favor growth, development and powerful cities. These strategies require buildings and corporations, because these games don't rely on conquest as much, but rather on total population and its productivity (and possibly diplomatic relations).
While this game is way past its prime, I still believe there is room, especially for new players, to experiment, try and play this game as the idividual players "feels" it could be played. As such, I'm a strong advocate of not resorting to simple answers like "Build granaries and whip" when asked about the strategies on buildings and corporations. Or "get to cav and whip" when asked about how to win militarily. These questions come up relatively often (as often as they can after all these years) – let us provide some context and variety when appropriate. This game deserves as much.
The best known of these is probably "The Bureaucratic capital" play, which in this post I call "Expanded One City Strategy" (for reasons that I will present shortly). In this strategy, the main city is the capital, with the ideal one having as much food as possible (taking up as few tiles as possible, ideally corn or flatland pigs), while also having as much grassland flatland riverside tiles as possible, for cottages. Around this city there is a first ring of cities, overlapping with tiles workable by the capital. These cities are also focused on food, and the triple role of these cities is to "work the cottages" of the capital while also providing infrastructure and military units for the rest of the empire (whipping). The second ring of cities (and beyond) is almost exclusively tied to food (and sometimes other resources), and serves again as infrastructure for the capital, as well as whipping points for units.
The goals of this strategy are to get to Civil service as soon as possible (for Bureaucracy), to Oxford University (for science boost) and to a size large enough to work all the cottages "prepared" by the capital and it's first ring of cities. Other cities are there "just to prepare the terrain", either by providing infrastrucutre, worked cottages or whipped units, whereas the capital serves to provide the brunt of the research (science) to a point where this research will unlock units (usually Cuirassiers, Cavalry, Infantry and/or Cannons) that enables overpowering one or more (preferably all) AI players for a victory.
As many players will point out, this strategy heavily relies on buildings essential for growth (Granaries, Lighthouses) for frequent whipping, with the rest of the production queue being filled with workers, settlers, military units and merely an occasional building, like a barracks or the 5+1 universities needed to build Oxford. All this means that cities other than the capital are basically whipping outposts. And little else. It's not uncommon to see cities with population 3 in the middle of the game, with 40+ unrest turns remaining.
This "Expanded One City Strategy" is a very valid one, probably the most powerful one, it's not the only one. Playing on the Deity difficulty level tends to push players into optimal strategies such as this one. That's the main reason I don't like Deity: a world where everyone's has a finance PhD, because that's the optimal play, it becomes boring real quick.
UN victories, space race victories etc. favor growth, development and powerful cities. These strategies require buildings and corporations, because these games don't rely on conquest as much, but rather on total population and its productivity (and possibly diplomatic relations).
While this game is way past its prime, I still believe there is room, especially for new players, to experiment, try and play this game as the idividual players "feels" it could be played. As such, I'm a strong advocate of not resorting to simple answers like "Build granaries and whip" when asked about the strategies on buildings and corporations. Or "get to cav and whip" when asked about how to win militarily. These questions come up relatively often (as often as they can after all these years) – let us provide some context and variety when appropriate. This game deserves as much.