Hey Halcyan2,
I enjoyed reading your game writeup in the after action report. Seems like you have a lot of fun with your slower strategies, and I learned a couple of things from you too! I really like your two ideas for:
- "gift-a-city-to-an RA-partner-that's-about-to-be-eliminated" trick, and the
- "get-Kahn-to-take-City-States-so-that-you-can-liberate-them-later" trick. I think this could also work well with other CS-aggressive civs like Askia, Montezuma, and Oda (though they don't get the CS-attack bonus, I often see them taking CSs).
Thanks Arnold_T. I'm glad you're enjoying the write-ups. I know they're a bit lengthy but it's nice to know that people are reading them and learning from them!
Yeah, I'm more interested in learning from the GOTM experience (by comparing my games to others) and having fun. The competitive aspect is a nice touch but I'm not too invested in trying to get a super quick victory.
Keeping track of your besieged AI ally can be challenging though. Ideally, you'll have a unit nearby that can watch the battle unfold. If it's all the way across the world, you'll probably want to watch the damage bar of the city - if it is going down into the danger zone (maybe even if it's half way down) you may need to give that city away soon.
If you don't pay attention, you might be surprised when the Civ is instantly destroyed. It's one of those micromanagement issues where you have to be careful you don't make a mistake (similarly, researching/building to 1 turn away and remembering to change it before finishing it, or micromanaging the tiles you are working with).
If you are early enough and have enough units (6) you can also surround the besieged city and prevent the aggressive AI from killing your friend (like I did with Helsinki).
Yes, I enjoy the "diplomatic" aspect of the game (though it still needs some work). I love bribing civs to war with each other and I enjoy games with warmongering civs.
1. In non-GOTM games, I have had occasions where a warmonger civ (Mongolia, Songhai, Aztecs) are the runaway civ and are steadily buying up all the city states and becoming a legitimate diplomatic threat. One solution is to have them declare on other city states such that all the CS' declare permanent war on them. Suddenly the civ is no longer in the running for CS alliances.
2. Generally, I like to trade for everything an opponent has before DoW'ing them. I definitely want all their gold (so they don't rush buy lots of units). But sometimes they don't have any gold, so I just bribe them (with luxuries and GPT) to attack others. If attacking other major civs, I get diplomacy bonuses (for common war) and the others can help in the ally efforts. If fighting CS', they can actually be useful military allies on certain difficulties (if they are sufficiently advanced).
3. If the enemy civ declares war on a city state, you essentially get a "beat up X units of the enemy civ" quest from the city state. Doing so nets you a bunch of influence with them (around 1000 GP worth), so it can save you money. Note that if you have the enemy civ declare on multiple civs, each one will trigger one at a time and there is a chance that some of the targets will declare permanent war before the enemy civ declares (meaning you won't get the "beat up my enemy" quest). Of course, sometimes AI's are reluctant to DoW once they've already entered into wars, so it may be tricky to get the optimal ordering. Some AI's are picky about their CS targets (I think proximity is a factor). Some leaders rarely will attack CS (based on their flavors and personality).
4. Expecting AI's to crush the CS' so that you can liberate them can be tricky (but rewarding). It really depends on the strength of the AI's (as mentioned, Mongolia's bonus against CS' make them the optimal choice if you want the CS actually conquered). When you liberate them, you get an automatic UN vote and about 150 influence. Note that when you first liberate them, they default to their last ally (even if the 150 would now make you their new ally) and that doesn't get corrected until last turn. If they previous ally is at war with you, the CS *does not* war with you and the ally status gets corrected (supplanted) during your next turn. Note that this strategy may not be good if you are relying on Scholasticism or CS luxuries since they are likely to take a bit hit when the CS is conquered (population halved, improvements pillaged).
On your comment: "Generally, I've just found it's easier to get along people with a Tradition start with few cities than expanding a lot with Liberty"
My advice about the Liberty start was not to "expand a lot", just to get a quick start to get to two or three cities. During my time here in the civ5 GOTM training series forum I've noticed that the fastest players generally use the Liberty start and usually only found two or three cities themselves, and then puppeting other civs cities after that. I used to go into the Tradition tree very often in my games - being a Wonder-addict I had to have the Aristocracy SP! but now as a recovering Wonder-addict I'm coming to realize that the Traditon tree only slows down my game by delaying the time to Scientfic Revolution.
I think part of it is an adjustment from prior Civ games where you really want to go city crazy. One of the things I like about Civ V is that tall empires are actually viable (compared to prior games where they really weren't). The main weakness now is the lack of resources (for trading) but it's still a major improvement over past games. In Civ IV, I'd try to build 5 cities ASAP and would typically build over 20-30. In Civ V, it's common for me to stick with 2-4.
I think Tradition is interesting (especially Aristocracy for the wonder bonus) but I really, really *hate* Legalism. In some games I don't even build 4 cities. Other cases, trying to wait for the optimal time to get the free cultural building is annoying. I really wish they changed it. They could move it down in the tree. Or maybe give you the option of choosing when (and where) to get the free cultural building (add a button that you can click when you want it). I guess that's just me being a perfectionist!
) when G&K will come out.
() second city against Darius (bottom-left). I am constantly attacked by Oda, Darius and Helsinki and it seems to be only a matter of time until my "empire" crumbles to dust. Hiawatha has sent help again, this time it's a riflemen (top-right).
