Warmongers - How Do You Do It?

[AdHHH]

After thinking about my long relationship with Civ, I suddenly realised Ive never won a game from warmongering, besides the C3C Conquests. My usual strategy from Civ through to C3C has always been to stay ahead in tech and have better troops so that I dont get attacked, and then build a spaceship (or the UN more frequently in Civ3). This has worked, I was up to Prince in Civ2 and getting there in Civ3, but how do you manage to takeover the world? I usually either use a late-ancient or medieval UU to take over my Continent and then play out the rest of the game. However, seeing the high scores, it's clear that invasion earns far more points, so how is this done? I take it it's not by using democracy... But what other tactics are there? I rarely destroy cities, but how could i take over completely? I also want to move up the difficulty settings and think that your advice could help me
TIA

 

[truckingpete]

What I did was read the War Academy for help..

Click this Link for the War Academy ---> War Academy


Hope this helps!!

Truckingpete

 

[skyline5k]

I always try to take over the world. I try to start on an Island, that I can fortify, expand to surrounding islands and increase my tech as much as possible. When I'm sufficiently ahead in tech and troops, I start my invasion with the nearest civ.

I did this using an earth map at one time. Started in Australia, and launched my invasion against the Incas. They had a city around Panama that I could use as a canal, so I took that first. BUT... A UN vote crept up, and I voted by mistake, and won the game after taking only 4 other cities.

 

[Chieftess]

When I warmonger, I always try to get my first war in (started -- and that's the first civ!) by about 250BC, and with atleast 20 swords (or some type of unit) ready at the front. Granted, I'm not the warmonger that some people are, which probably shows my builder side. Some probably have their first war by 1500BC-1000BC (save for the warrior/archer rushes). But, if I'm going to conquer, it's usually like this:

1st Civ - conquer with swords
2nd civ - conquer with knights
3rd civ - conquer with knights/cav
4th-5th civ - conquer with cavs
6th+ civ - conquer with cavs + artillery. Game Over.

Now, if you attacked early in the game with swords, you could do a sword/knight mix on your second city, knights on your 3rd, and so on. By habit, I never mess with artillery until the industrial age.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

1. Get tanks before everyone else.
2. DESTROY!

Higher production capacity also helps, so you can produce more units.

 

[immortals84]

Alot of times I go long, i send about 3 warrior units to another capitol and take it. It works half the time, more living space for me.

 

[Greyhawk1]

Dont everextend your lines. That SoD may look impressive but after garrisoning captured cities so they dont depose it only takes a few to start to run out of units and your advance stalls until fresh units appear on the front lines. In the ancient era that can take an age!

I normally advance slowly - advance, consolidate, garrison, advance etc..etc..

I also send in suicide mobile units to cut off any resources such as luxuries and strategic resources. Its unlikely they will survive a counter-attack but it can dent the AI's rep and/or production.

Coastal bombardments against any resources within range are effective too.

Always attack stacks rather than individuals. That way you dont get the forced move leaving your unit totally exposed and very vulnerable to counter-attacks. I also dont make the mistake of rushing to nab Workers. That can leave a unit very exposed and likely to lose both the unit and the captured workers with a counter-attack.

If you're attack is stalling all the time, make peace and regroup. Strike again when you have everything in place.

I'm a total builder but these tactics have been worthwhile to defence and attack for me when the game decides its time for war. I rarely initiate war but if its forced on me - so be it.

 

[blackhalo15]

Well, the best way I believe is if you have vanilla civ, use persia to make some settler factories, and try to be the first to get iron working, and then when you have a fair amount of cities, start making every city produce immortals, and destroy every civ on the map with them.

If you have ptw, use ottomans, and make a few settler factories, and expand until there is no room left on the map. Then just lead a normal nation, and try to be the first to get military tradition, and then make all of your cities produce sipahi, and kill everyone

 

[immortals84]

Originally posted by blackhalo15
Well, the best way I believe is if you have vanilla civ, use persia to make some settler factories, and try to be the first to get iron working, and then when you have a fair amount of cities, start making every city produce immortals, and destroy every civ on the map with them.

If you have ptw, use ottomans, and make a few settler factories, and expand until there is no room left on the map. Then just lead a normal nation, and try to be the first to get military tradition, and then make all of your cities produce sipahi, and kill everyone

Its like youve known me all along.

 

[AdHHH]

But how do you manage to keep all of the cities, do you destroy the cities, and what gov do you use, I turn to democracy straight away and war weariness is a real problem... War has to be over in 3 or 4 turns or else i have to change my tax slider, and how do you keep up in tech if the resistance is too strong and you get held back?

 

[Hawkster]

Democracy is a bad government for warmongering - monarchy or communism are better.

Cities can either be kept or razed dependent on end result required (conquest then raze - domination keep) some players raze Ai cities always then build new cities with their own settlers - it is a matter of preference.

Tech wise you can keep up by trading with other civs you are not at war with or by siging peace treaties and demanding tech as part of the deal then go to war with someone else - then repeat on that civ etc etc. A combination of demands and trade can work wonders.

 

[Darkness]

Originally posted by Hawkster
Democracy is a bad government for warmongering

I disagree!

Democracy is a bad government for long wars, true. But if you're going for fast decisive wars (preferably with fast units) it's often the best strategy to stay in democracy. The war wearines won't kick in because before it has a chance to do so, you've either destroyed the AI civ, or made peace (and have gotten some cities/techs for it).

That said, I almost never use democracy, because it comes available too late in the game. Republic is nearly as good a government and available very early in the game...

 

[Chieftess]

I often use democracy when warmongering. Although, my wars ARE fast and decisive (done within 10-15 turns).

 

[Corrado]

First: know your resources.

In the early game, you must find Iron. Research Iron Working early so that you can settle hills with Iron, and build a massive Swordsman army.

Then, talk to your opponents. If look at what Resources they have to trade, you can see whether they have Iron and/or Horses of their own. If they list it under Resources, even if it says "0", then they have access to it. Try to find a neighbor without Iron and Horses- with only Archers against your Swordsmen, you should be able to walk over him.

For the second age, when you get Knights, look for another neighbor without Iron and/or Horses- that will make their counter-attack easier to deal with.

Keep doing this throughout the ages: attack opponents who lack the necessary resources to build units to defend or counter-attack with. Vary this plan only when you desperately need a resource your enemy has.

Second: Wait for the counterattack.

The best way to open a way is to spend the first turn overwhelming a few enemy cities. But don't immediately press your attack: first, you want to try and get those conquered cities to a point where they won't flip. Second, by letting the computer send his forces after you, you can attack them in areas you control (and therefore your roads act as 1/3 MP and you can choose the terrain to attack him upon) rather than letting the computer use superior mobility to overwhelm your invasion force. Likewise, in areas you control, you can heal but the enemy can't. Once the invading stacks are defeated, you can turn around and press the offensive without worrying so much about counter-attacks. And if you've killed a lot of enemy units without taking much damage yourself, you might even force the enemy to concede cities in peace without having to attack them.


Third: Bring friends.

Don't attack an enemy alone when you can bring a friend to the party. Seek alliances with your enemy's other neighbors and try to convince them to join in the fun. Even if the price seems steep, keep in mind that additional enemies can distract your foe's army and cause him to split his forces. This is *especially* important if the one you're joining up with also shares a border with you: otherwise, your foe will try to join up with him, and it'll be *you* facing a two-front war.

 

[AdHHH]

But do you attack stronger enemies (i.e. those with more points than you, so that you can move up/defend your position on the scoring), or do you hit the weaker Civs, those you can destroy more easily, and consolidate the weaker Civs' points with your own? Is it more logical to attack those doing better than you or lead many weak allies against the world power? And wouldn't you need to be religious to change Gov quickly to fight under a monarchy (assuming democracy is your favoured Gov)?

 

[Chieftess]

You could attack stronger enemies, provided that you have other AIs gang up on them. That thins out their forces, and you can take city after city with little trouble. Although, you will have to be quick so that the other AI don't capture those cities you want.

 

[rschissler]

I'm a warmonger and usually stay with monarchy, so I am curious about those who use republic or democracy.

About how many turns can you fight a war before war wariness sets in? And more important, how many turns do you need to wait before you can start another war?

 

[Corrado]

Originally posted by AdHHH
But do you attack stronger enemies (i.e. those with more points than you, so that you can move up/defend your position on the scoring), or do you hit the weaker Civs, those you can destroy more easily, and consolidate the weaker Civs' points with your own?

I don't really concentrate on the score of my opponents- once I crush enough of them (or knock each of them down a few times), then I'll pass them.

I concentrate on my neighbors. As I said, I play a bully- I find the wimpiest neighbor, the one with the worst-performing army (i.e., behind in important techs, missing vital resources, or hurting real bad in a war with its own neighbor) and stomp on it.

Is it more logical to attack those doing better than you or lead many weak allies against the world power?

Think long term. The big dog in 10 AD isn't necessarily the big dog in 1500 AD- between random wars, resource locations, and GAs, the guy you once thought was a serious threat may go nowhere fast, while the guy you paid to beat on him turns into a monster. I say, attack your weak neighbors, assimiliate their lands into yours, and build up your own strength rather than worrying about specific rivals.

[qutoe] And wouldn't you need to be religious to change Gov quickly to fight under a monarchy (assuming democracy is your favoured Gov)? [/QUOTE]

Sure. But that's only if you favor Democracy. If you're planning for out-and-out war with your neighbors, you shouldn't be in a Democracy. Either go to Monarchy and later to Communism, or go to Republic first and stay in it.

Look, why do you want to be in Democracy? It's extra commerce, which means better science and money... but if you're assembling a force ready to take on your enemies, you lose all that money in army upkeep anyway.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Tech quickly to motorized transportation, should be plenty of time to kill the AI.

 

[kb2tvl]

There are some stages to war mongering. First, look at your targets power rating versus yours. If you are double theirs and if they are cautious, you better help yourself fast! That ai is ready for the taking...

Where an ai has equal or more power than you, you need to bleed their army. This includes declaring war(preferably when one of their spearmen + settlers are on your territory) and waiting for them to bleed off their offensive units. Keep units on mountains near your cities and build up a seige train.

Now archers rushes do work but you need to be pinned in and not have room to expand. Sometimes this happens and you need to depend on captured cities instead of settling your own. I avoid this and prefer to have roads + mines in place before waring too much.

Now civ 2 war mongering can be summed up by building the statue of liberty and changing to theoracacy, game over...

C3c is more dependent on getting iron and getting philo and pulling the free tech. If you can pull monarchy as a free tech, you can get a huge boost from monarchy.