Tips for Winning on Noble

[benjiface]

Hey guys,

Okay, I have been playing on Noble Level for about a month now...I usually can kill one or two civilizations, but I end up really far behind in technology by about 1500-1800 AD. What are some tips for winning on Noble?

How do I not get so far behind on techs?

What are some tips for generating money?

I have tried a lot of different strategies, but none have worked so far?

By the way, I am a Mac user, so I am playing Warlords.

Any help would be appreciated...

 

[manu-fan]

Ahh...Mac users unite!

Taking over another Civ early is a good stratey. I try to expand to 4 or 5 cities before doing this. I usually use a Swordsmen based attack. It will sometimes stall out before I finish them off, so I wait for Catapults before finally finishing them off. Then, prioritizing economy by getting Courthouses up and running and cottages etc. works. Also, I usually try to prioritize building The Oracle in my capital. Then, I can choose Metal Casting -> Colossus, or Code of Laws -> Confuscism -> Great Prophet building, to help the economy.

Then, it's off to beat up the next Civ (with Maces/Catapults and maybe Trebucets).

I'm usually on a par with other Civs during the early years, then steam ahead as I take over more land and get my economy really humming.

Note that I usually make my Capital a hybrid city. Some cottages for coin, and mines and stuff for production. It usually has good food sources. This is especially useful later on for Bureaucracy.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

 

[PimpyMicPimp]

You actually cannot win past Warlord on a Mac, it's in the XML. Sorry.

I kid, I kid. Anyways, besides what manu-fan has said, I'd also recommend reading some of the ALC threads found here http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=5320091

I gaurentee you will learn a lot!

 

[Living Parasite]

Let me first start out by saying that I'm a Monarch player and I play BTS.

The first thing to go over is how to get a good economy going. There are two distinct types of economies you can run in Civ, Cottage Economy (CE) or Specialist Economy (SE). For now until you reach Prince (as most guides say) stick with CE and then investigate SE after you feel comfortable playing a CE and want to be more flexible.

Here are some quick tips for running a CE:
*Order your workers to build cottages on any title that produces 2 or more food (that of course isn't a special resource like rice which you want a farm on...). Floodplains and grasslands that are cottaged up are the backbone of a well oiled CE.

*Civics are your friend. In a CE the Liberalism race is all the more important. Liberalism unlocks Free Speech and Free Religion (as well as your free tech you get if you're first to Liberalism). Free Speech MAY be better than Bureaucracy depending on how productive your capital is in terms of commerce and hammers. Free Religion gives you a hefty +10% research in all cities which will help you breeze past your foes in the tech race.

*Some other important civics in a CE are Emancipation and Universal Suffrage. Both of these are unlocked with Democracy so that is another important tech you will want to get.


Having a good economy is key to keeping up with your enemies in technology. Hopefully, I've helped you a bit. And remember, courthouses are your friend, build them early and often, especially in those conquered cities of yours.

 

[benjiface]

Guys, these are all helpful tips. I have read a lot in the Warlords Academy, and that has helped...but I always end up getting out-teched...I will try some of your suggestions.

 

[Morred]

If you're getting out-teched you may be expanding too quickly, what does your science rate look like?

 

[pigswill]

Research has nothing to do with science slider and everything to do with beakers/turn. A big empire running at 40% science can produce more beakers than a small empire running at 90%.

 

[Morred]

Research has nothing to do with science slider and everything to do with beakers/turn. A big empire running at 40% science can produce more beakers than a small empire running at 90%.

Yes, but if he only has a huge empire due to cranking out a settler every second build everywhere, then the science rate would have to go down to stay in the black, and it does take time for the empire to build itself up to a point where they get a lot of beakers/turn. I hope that made sense.

 

[benjiface]

Okay guys,

I am reopening this thread to continue discussing why I can't win on Noble in Warlords. My most recent attempt was my closest yet, so at least I feel like I am making progress, but I am still frustrated.

Let me explain the circumstances behind this last attempt (which is still ongoing) as an example of how things are going. So I am doing great, it's about 1500 A.D. I am on an island that I shared with the Romans and Julius Caesar and Victoria and the English. I eliminated Caesar and now I am working on Victoria. I am in second place as far as the scoring goes. I am first to Gunpoweder and Chemistry. So I have Grenadiers taking English cities like crazy. I had been really working hard on cranking out cottages to stay on top of research. Alexander the Great is running in first place, his score is 2400 and I am at 1700.

I think I may have kept a few too many English cities, because I start losing research. I get attacked from across sea by Montezuma, which delays my offensive against Victoria. I fend off his attack (and I don't lose any cities), but I am falling behind on research again. By the time I do this, and I go to attack Victoria and she has Infantry. I have Artillery, but my best attacking units are Riflemen, Calvary and SAM Infantry. I take two of Victoria's biggest cities, but right off the bat they revolt and continue revolting and the population dwindles dramatically.

I have to call off my assault because of her infantry. Now by this time I am well behind in the score in 3rd or 4th place. What did I do wrong? Did I keep too many enemy cities? What is a good general rule...? When do you burn the city? When do you keep it?

Any thoughts will help... thanks guys

 

[benjiface]

Addendeum: Currently it is approx. 1932 A.D.

 

[LlamaCat]

What did I do wrong? Did I keep too many enemy cities? What is a good general rule...? When do you burn the city? When do you keep it?

yep, that's probably it.. you need to watch city maintenance. How to know when to keep a city and when to raze? Really in theory it's simple: look at your financial adviser screen, look inside your cities, see how much money and research you are generating and how much each city is costing you. Look at what civics you are running and their cost. Everything costs maintenance so if you start taking a lot of new cities that will take time to develop into paying for themselves, you just need to think it through.

But more importantly, post some saves and/or screenshots and people will look at your game.

PS also consider if the city you are capturing has wonders or shrines... usually not a good idea to raze those no matter what your economic situation. But I said "usually."

 

[botski]

Are you building courthouses in the cities you take? I've always found that after a good earlyish war where I've taken 3-4 cities from someone, my research drops significantly (usually to 40%) . I'll usually build a temple in these cities to build happiness and then build a courthouse. Once all the courthouses get built, I generally can up the research from 40% to 50 or 60%.

I'd say in this game you had some pretty bad luck with having your offensive war thwarted by having to fight a defensive one as well, mixed with having the cities you've taken constantly revolting. I do believe (and I could be wrong, though I think I read it here) that having more troops in the cities you take will minimize revolution chances. I have never had good luck with fighting multiple wars in the later stages of the game.

I am a collector of conquered cities. I only burn them if there is significant wasteland in the cross. If you burn them and leave a cultural hole, someone else seems to be right there with a settler to take it.

I play vanilla, for what it's worth.

 

[OTAKUjbski]

Let me explain the circumstances behind this last attempt (which is still ongoing) as an example of how things are going.

QFT:

But more importantly, post some saves and/or screenshots and people will look at your game.

Since the game is ongoing, I figure there's no reason not to ...

I eliminated Caesar and now I am working on Victoria.

Why? What do you stand to gain from the war you feel you need?

It sounds like you're well ahead of her and in a comfortable position to launch into space, so I'd bet the war was entirely unnecessary.​

Alexander the Great is running in first place, his score is 2400 and I am at 1700.

Similar to above, unless Victoria has something vital to your Victory Condition (you should know it by now), Alexander is the only leader you should be worried about.

I think I may have kept a few too many English cities, because I start losing research.

Very possible. The only reason not to raze cities is if you hope to quickly vassalize your opponent.

Did you check to see if Victoria was willing to Capitulate? Vassalizing then gifting back the worthless cities is a great way to regain favour. (It's been a long time since I played Warlords ... could you gift cities for +diplo?)

I get attacked from across sea by Montezuma, which delays my offensive against Victoria.

Who is(are) Monty's friend(s)? (It's possible Victoria bribed him into attacking you.)

Before going to war, check diplomacy. If your target has close friends (especially warmongers like Monty or Shaka), try to bribe them to attack somebody else or somebody else to attack them. This keeps them off your back.

I fend off his attack (and I don't lose any cities), but I am falling behind on research again.

Similar to the above statement, if you bribe the whole world (especially and at least the top dogs) into war, there's less likelihood somebody will run away with the tech lead (since everybody's research suffers during the worldwide war).

What did I do wrong? Did I keep too many enemy cities? What is a good general rule...? When do you burn the city? When do you keep it?

See above comments.

General rule: If {insert action here} doesn't directly increase your chances of achieving your desired victory condition, don't do it.


-- my 2

 

[Revenant27]

I decided to make a post because I was in your position recently (except i play bts) where right around your time I found myself behind in tech. I also posted a topic asking for advice, and one thing really stood out. Someone mentioned to me that I might be underexpanding. My next game I specifically expanded hardcore early in the game waging war the whole way and taking all the cities i could get my hands on. While my tech was down to 40% early in the game, by the time 1700s rolled around, I was in the tech lead, had more land than anyone, and generally dominated the rest of the game.

so my advice is simply, try expanding more, the short term tech loss is more than made up once you get those cottage cities up and they start maturing into towns.

 

[Geoffroy]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=246889

Orion's school for winning at Noble.

I'm a fairly new player, and now I managed to win diplomacy, space race and cultural at Noble. I'm looking to improve my war tactics before going to a higher level.