Want to win beyond the sword on noble level

[whazzup81]

I have tried many times to beat this game on noble and have failed every time. The AI civs are always bigger than me and have bigger armies as well. What should I do to turn the balance of power in my favor? Also, I have read the articles on diplomacy in the war academy and I can never successfully pit civs against each other. Besides, alliances seem to switch too frequently anyways. Any help and advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CCRunner]

Axes.

Take down an enemy civ or two early and add their land to yours before anyone else can. You won't have any sort of economy for a while but in the long run it's worth it.

 

[wjyeo]

hey I agree with the reply. For my style, I always try to take down a few Civilizations first before moving on. Maybe you can try increasing your research also to use tech to battle them.

 

[Rusty Edge]

Sometimes the problem is trying to please everybody, when you have to take sides . Then nobody really likes you or trusts you as much as the next guy.

Have you ever tried being Shaka's buddy? Giving him everything he asks for?
Joining him in war? Mutual struggle is great for relations.

 

[nbcman]

Early on one of the best ways of pleasing an AI is accepting their state religion. Then when Monty wants to declare war (and he will) there will be a heathen for him to attack rather than you. Also giving tribute, gifting technology and mutual military struggles will help with your relations. If the AI has a favorite civic that you can revolt into, that will help relations too.

Also CCRunner07's suggestion is good too. If you are far stronger than your opponents, they wont attack. And if you eliminate your opponents, who cares about diplomacy.

 

[azzaman333]

The AI's prime weakness is its ability to war effectively. Abuse it and you can win much easier.

 

[thelibra]

This may seem like the Lazy Man's answer, but check out the War Academy articles, read the strategy guides, especially some of the starter ones. Look for threads that ask questions on topics you're unsure about yourself. If you're not yet winning Noble, then there's still several basics of the game that you have yet to fully comprehend. That's not an insult by any stretch of the imagination, it's a nod to the sheer complexity and depth of field for every aspect of Civ4.

I'd say by the time you can consistently win Noble with random leaders, you have a solid comprehension of most gameplay elements in Civ4.
Once you can consistently win on Monarch with random leaders, you have a solid comprehension of gameplay strategies.
Once you can consistently win on Emperor with random leaders, you have a solid comprehension of military strategy and critical timing.
Once you consistently win on Immortal with random leaders, you have a mastered all of the above and have them down to a science.
Once you consistently win on Deity with random leaders, you have it down to an art.

I myself am only "doing okay" at Emperor level, meaning I'm still trying to get a firm grasp of military strategy and critical timing, even though I've got a pretty solid grasp of gameplay strategies and elements.

I would recommend that, for now, you simply focus on learning the ins, outs, and hard numbers behind each gameplay element (such as the difference between commerce and gold, city maintenance vs. civic maintenance, mapping out your wonder attempts ahead of time, when to whip, how to choose (or not choose) the best civic for your situation, etc.).

 

[Turquoiside]

This may sound noobish, but it worked for me. Move up to Prince anyway. In the space of maybe two games, you will be able to do a lot better on Noble.