The unbeatable and easy way to win at Monarch level.

[Halion]

Now I don't play at immortal or deity. I like to enjoy a civ4 game without getting too mathematical about it. (Forget civ5, the mechanics and 'immersive feel' are lousy, imv.) Monarch level for me is just fine, a fun 4-5 hour romp to victory around 1400ad enjoying the view without having to think much. My laptop lags in the late game, so must avoid.

1. Creative leader necessary. Much nicer that newly conquered cities build courthouses than monuments.

2. Tech immediate requirements for resources given at start of game. I need horses so AH is a must, and if no horses within reach of projected cities 2-5, begin again. Use 1st city as settler/worker pump till 5 cities in total, then library. Run 2 scientists to bulb math for chopping out the Horse Archers.

3. Get to writing around 2000BC, then HR, build stables in cities 1-5, then Alphabet to trade for IW, archery etc.

4. Annihilate nearest neighbor as soon as army of 12 Horse Archers assembled, victim normally crushed by 100BC. No vassaling for first conquest. Meanwhile teching CofL, then beeline to guilds.

5. Always courthouses and barracks as first build in conquered cities, then Horse Archers.

6. On to next neighbor safe in the knowledge that Knights will come on stream around 500AD.

7. Enjoy smashing up the opposition. Win around 1400AD. I'd like to get the win date down to before 1000AD but haven't succeeded yet.

Finally much respect goes to Chris on YouTube with his magnificent Lets Play Deity series.

 

[capnvonbaron]

... or just be Rome and shut off research after IW and construction, and win in 500AD.

Just sayin.

 

[Kid R]

I know where you're coming from here. Trouble is, when I start playing in this kind of mechanical way I realize Civ is the wrong game for my gaming needs and I would be better off loading up some tower defense, or a RTS skirmish of some kind, or Risk.

There's only any point playing a game of Civ to be challenged and think about it IMO.

 

[Halion]

I understand the points made, for me the challenge is to try to get the win date down as low as possible, (Pangea, normal speed, standard map with 6 opponents I should have said). If I had more time to play then I'd probably try different ways, as there are so many variations to approach civ4. That said, civ4 will be a permanent fixture on any setup I have, so there's time to get round to the other styles later

 

[Lemon Merchant]

There's only any point playing a game of Civ to be challenged and think about it IMO.

I just realized that I've been playing for four years, and that ^^ is why.

Now I just have to win this first game.

 

[Kid R]

Winning is overrated - losing with dignity is way cooler

 

[Halion]

@capn

'... or just be Rome and shut off research after IW and construction, and win in 500AD.'


Thanks, I'll give that a go, presumably thats a catapult and praetorian annihilation strategy!

 

[vranasm]

saw this game? http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/game_info.php?entryID=23852

 

[capnvonbaron]

@capn

'... or just be Rome and shut off research after IW and construction, and win in 500AD.'


Thanks, I'll give that a go, presumably thats a catapult and praetorian annihilation strategy!

Ya. Whip/chop a dozen Praets and a stream of 'pults, that'll usually do it for a normal size map. You'll pretty much destroy anything up until muskets and maces start becoming widespread. You might run into problems if a PRO civ gets LBs or has a lot of hill cities, but thats why you kill those off first. A good strategy is to choke those early on with a couple of warriors. Steal their workers and perch the warriors on hills in the enemy's capital BFC early. Prevent them from expanding and make it all that much easier when the Praets roll in.

Bonus if you score elephants. A couple of Wellies in your stack of Praets really rounds things out nicely.

 

[reddishrecue]

Or the AIs can double team you as you try to attack their AI friend.

 

[babar]

I would try the Praet rush without catapults first. One of my first immortal games was just praets. It took a while but no one even got to longbows, I guess because they kept losing their trading partners. Barbs will disturb the peace of your wasteland, so not razing the Great Wall city (like i did) would be a good idea.

 

[UnforcedError]

I understand the points made, for me the challenge is to try to get the win date down as low as possible, (Pangea, normal speed, standard map with 6 opponents I should have said). If I had more time to play then I'd probably try different ways, as there are so many variations to approach civ4. That said, civ4 will be a permanent fixture on any setup I have, so there's time to get round to the other styles later

If you want to get the win date down you should also consider chariot and axe rushes which work fine on Monarch against the first 1-3 civs (that way you can also secure prod resources you lack and don't have to restart the game). HBR is actually pretty costly. Also, even before that: steal some workers with scouting warriors whenever the opportunity presents itself

 

[kochman]

I would try the Praet rush without catapults first. One of my first immortal games was just praets. It took a while but no one even got to longbows, I guess because they kept losing their trading partners. Barbs will disturb the peace of your wasteland, so not razing the Great Wall city (like i did) would be a good idea.

Yes, you can get Praets more quickly... start conquest then. But still work toward getting catapults because as the AI gets better techs he can start to oppose your Praets better... the catapults can soften him up nicely.

 

[DrakeD]

If you wanna win early, Ghandi or Sulemain is your best bet. Get writing and library's as soon as you can. Avoid fishing, so you can bulb machinery and engineering. You can bulb metal casting too, but I usually self-tech it and get an academy instead.

edit: My best play is domination on immortal at 1430, but Ive seen a thread when someone managed conquest before 1200 at diety.

 

[ElJojo]

Eh, that's why I enjoy continent-type maps, you can't go and win with such a mechanical strategy. Sometimes you even find out that the other continent has been conquered by a strong civ and then, at least you have to plan your invasion...
How do you not get bored if you use the same rush strategy on pangea ?

 

[babar]

Yes, you can get Praets more quickly... start conquest then. But still work toward getting catapults because as the AI gets better techs he can start to oppose your Praets better... the catapults can soften him up nicely.

When I did it years ago (one of those games I remember fairly well though, being my first Immortal conquest) I had too many praets to be able to research anything else. I was almost on strike the whole time, and finally got alphabet near the end in about 900 AD. Maybe not the most efficient strategy, but it had the virtue of great simplicity.

 

[kochman]

When I did it years ago (one of those games I remember fairly well though, being my first Immortal conquest) I had too many praets to be able to research anything else. I was almost on strike the whole time, and finally got alphabet near the end in about 900 AD. Maybe not the most efficient strategy, but it had the virtue of great simplicity.

Yes, the higher the difficulty level, the more likely you can over-extend yourself...
Capturing cities brings in lots of gold of course. I've expanded so rapidly, without CoL, that I ended up losing almost my entire army because of strike... I didn't win that game.

 

[babar]

Yes, the higher the difficulty level, the more likely you can over-extend yourself...
Capturing cities brings in lots of gold of course. I've expanded so rapidly, without CoL, that I ended up losing almost my entire army because of strike... I didn't win that game.

Also razing pretty much everything helps, but also a few desperate turns of anarchy can save your army until the next score.

 

[capnvonbaron]

hah, yeah I've had to resort to manually assigning every last citizen in my empire to working commerce-generating tiles (at 0% research) to avoid the strike demon. Sometimes I've had to stretch an early conquering sortie just to bring in enough pillage bounty to keep afloat. Definitely helps if you capture a holy city or catch a lucky break on an early Great Person to bulb alpha or currency. Otherwise, you might hope to have a couple of nice riverside gold mines to fall back on