What should I do next? You decide!

[Wilphe]

Okay, when I first got the game I built military slowly and didn't really go on the offensive until the Industrial era. This led to a lot of Diplomatic Victories that were really conquest victories.

I'm now playing on Prince, Standard world size, Epic speed and my typical game goes like this, varies according to civ, leader and situation of course but that is the pattern.

Rush someone (or to be honest, often late rush towards the end of BCs)
Chop Stonehenge
Go for COL and then Nationalism (in a good game I found Confucianism and Taoism)
Liberalism (If I think I'll win)
Head for Steel
Work on victim #2 whilst heading towards Rifling and Assembly Line (which the AI really seems to undervalue)
Repeat until I get a conquest or domination victory (normally I technically get both the turn I capitulate the last AI)
I have started pushing on with Trebs/Macemen/Muskets but rarely.

Normal strategy is to create lots of vassals, either by colonisation or by capitulation as soon as and then gift back any cities I don't want (usually anything that isn't Holy or has Wonders)

Civics I never use:
State Property
Caste System
Police State
Environmentalism

My normal destination civics are:
Representation / Universal Sufferage
Nationalism (Free Speach in GA)
Merchantalism/ Free Market
Theocracy (Pacifism in GA or if I want a GP, normally for a shrine or corp)

Now I'm quite good at that on my current settings and have been getting victories now as early as the 1830s, which is at up to 150 years earlier than I used to when I was on Normal speed and aggressive later.


So question is, what do I do now? What will be the most interesting?

I do actually like warring, I just like to do so when I have the advantage.

Go up a difficulty?
Go up a speed?
Go up a map size?
Stay where I am and learn to use different civics?
Learn to REX noob!
Something else?

 

[Ghpstage]

Civics I never use:
State Property
Caste System
Police State
Environmentalism

I almost never use Environmentalism either, Caste System and State Property are great if used well so try those out some.
State Property is especially good for warmongering due to the bonus, bonus to workshops and the huge maintenance savings you make as your empire grows.
Police State is good occasionally, I only use it if I have massive War Wearriness problems though.
Make sure to add Serfdom to the 'never use' list!

My normal destination civics are:
Representation / Universal Sufferage
Nationalism (Free Speach in GA)
Merchantalism/ Free Market
Theocracy (Pacifism in GA or if I want a GP, normally for a shrine or corp)

Why only use Free Speech in Golden Ages? The +2 per town is very strong, and the double culture is nice too. Nationalism is good for warmongering, but it's usefulness drops a lot if you aren't drafting consantly.
Free Speech also gets more attractive as your empire grows, as the draft limit doesn't grow, while the effects of +2 :commmerce:/town does

All the religious civics are good in they're own way. Worth getting used to using

Go up a difficulty?
Go up a speed?
Go up a map size?
Stay where I am and learn to use different civics?
Learn to REX noob!
Something else?

These 3

Stay where I am and learn to use different civics
Learn to REX noob!
Rush earlier!

Get used to rushing earlier, particularly with axe and chariots at around 1600BC. If you underexpand and don't attack quickly after AIs start with free archery and archers, (Monarch+) you can land up in a lot of trouble very early.

Go for COL and then Nationalism (in a good game I found Confucianism and Taoism)
Liberalism (If I think I'll win)
Head for Steel

Not sure what you mean here, what has nationalism got to do with Taoism? Do you mean Philosophy?
If you keep going up levels trading will become much more important and as it does, the Liberalism race becomes much more attractive.
You could always abuse the free tech from Lib and go for free Steel

 

[Continental Op]

I will always go up a difficulty level when I win more than lose.

 

[phungus420]

Download and play a mod. Either Fall From Heaven 2, or a mod that's based on RevolutionDCM. Choose start as minors and/or Barbarian World as a start option.

 

[mechaerik]

Download and play a mod. Either Fall From Heaven 2, or a mod that's based on RevolutionDCM. Choose start as minors and/or Barbarian World as a start option.

Start as Minors+ Monarch or Higher difficulty - Inca = Difficult challlenge

 

[Wilphe]

State Property is especially good for warmongering due to the bonus, bonus to workshops and the huge maintenance savings you make as your empire grows.

I hardly ever build workshops or windmills usually just Farms, Cottages and Mines; waiting for Communism for them to become good doesn't have a lot of appeal.

As I regularly gift cities back to my vassals I never have significant maintence issues; and I like to use corps, so.

I know it's potentially useful, I've just never been in a situation where it's been a civic I've had availible (I usually ignore Communism) and I've had serious maintainence problems.

Why only use Free Speech in Golden Ages? The +2 per town is very strong, and the double culture is nice too. Nationalism is good for warmongering, but it's usefulness drops a lot if you aren't drafting consantly.

One of my issues is that I really, really, don't like anarchy. For a long time I would only change civics when I could do so for free; hence beelining Nationalism for the Taj. I still don't like doin it.

I normally run Nationalism + Theocracy but switch to Free Speach + Pacifism in a GA; though I rarely need to draft units later on I always want to retain the option.

Not sure what you mean here, what has nationalism got to do with Taoism? Do you mean Philosophy?

It's on the way to Nationalism, at least the way I go.

 

[cardgame]

Marathon is the best possible speed to play Civ on, the only exception being if you are short on time or impatient.

 

[Iranon]

I won't give any advice for speed/map settings because I think there is no 'best'... just my preception: I find quick speed takes away cute tactical tricks and turns it into a pure strategy game while epic+ takes away the tension I like (...can I win this war before the AI gets that military tech and upgrades all their units? But then, many players seem to hate exactly that on Normal).
Something similar applies to map size (small: Why would I ever run something other than Bureaucracy; National wonder cities dominate too much so I find too little room to experiment with different economy approaches. Large: Too much hassle managing all those faceless cities).


What I would suggest is varying your playstyle. All cottages/No cottages. No wonders/wonderspam. Ultraggressive/totally peaceful games. Maybe some totally bizarre conduct if you like the concept of a 'roleplaying challenge'.

If you don't mind losing once in a while, I'd suggest trying your hand a difficulty level higher... or even two (I found 'argh... heeelp!' a more fun attitude than 'hmm, need to concentrate to win'). Maybe you don't even intend to stay there, but some of your old tricks might not work reliably and it might breathe fresh life into your game.
Alternatively, go a level down and try out some wild and extreme strategies you always wondered about but didn't dare implementing fearing to throw a perfectly good game away.

 

[Jewman]

i would say go up a difficulty but im the exact same position as you. ive tried to play monarch countless times. and i can win a lot of those times. but its just not nearly as fun as prince. The Ai are way more competitive and you have to think about everything, and the whole fun factor of it all is removed. Prince is the most fun for me because the Ai is not completely ******** and they still surprise me sometimes. I almost always win in prince, so the challenge is often removed but i try new strategies all the time and make the game more fun for myself.

i like to try new types of empires based on the location of my lands. like i'll make a production heavy war machine that is unmatcheable or i'll run an empire wit multiple colonies and island possessions with a scary big trade network, or i'll just go to war in the most entertaining ways (and often suicidal) ways.

 

[Ghpstage]

I hardly ever build workshops or windmills usually just Farms, Cottages and Mines; waiting for Communism for them to become good doesn't have a lot of appeal.

Try some workshops out
They're useful long before State Property.

With guilds and chemistry they basically turn tiles into hills, running Caste System adds a further .
In most of my games my top producing city will be a workshopped, riverside, grassland city (maybe with some metals) and often will have started off in a jungle.
SP just turns them into monsters, with 2 , 3 or 4 per grassland tile and a 10% bonus to total production in the city. 2 4 is what grassland iron gives pre-railroad .

Heres a worldbuildered example (just WB in the techs and improvements not the map!) city with Guilds, Chemistry and running Caste System. Oh and it's on marathon.

Spoiler :

This is a decent city site, and setting a city like this up is not too difficult during the Rennaisance. SP would make this city something of a monster, giving +9 and +4 immmediately .


And this one is ingame, from a game someone posted on the forum. Its on Warlords so Caste doesn't get the bonus

Spoiler :

I had only taken over this game and altered the improvements in this city and was soon to go on a massacre spree . Normal speed here I believe.

Workshops are really good

 

[GenerallyGreat]

If your wars are getting a little boring play as hannibal of Mongolia or another cha leader and make all horse wars. It's great fun and if you get a big empire you can run through a rival in a couple of turns! Sure beats the monontony of sword/mace/rifle war.

 

[Bast]

Caste System is extremely useful. I almost always use it now. If you're not using it, it probably means you don't have big enough cities. I've found that food is extremely important and big cities are the best. The workshop bonus is really good in food rich, production poor cities and those are also the ones where Caste System is very effective for running specialists. If you're going for a cultural victory, you should be running Caste System for pretty much most of the game.

Environmentalism definitely has its uses. If I'm playing Financial leaders I like to build wind mills on hilly river tiles and get the National Park up asap with Environmentalism gives a commerce boost. In some games, it's the difference between your population growing and not growing.

State Property. I can't believe someone never uses it. Where do you even begin? If you're going to war or if you've got cities on another continent, this is it. I've found that lately with the maps I've been playing I can't afford to give away my colonial cities to a vassal. I need all cities I can get to grow my empire. This is where State Property comes in. It's really useful for that industrial/early modern age before you start founding Corporations. The hammer boost is fantastic for small, new cities and combine this with caste system for more from workshops, watermills etc...

Police State, okay this is one I agree with. I have to admit I never use this too. The problem with this is that if war weariness becomes a problem for me, this civic doesn't help anyway. I've had a game once where I was involved in modern warfare and I was at war against SoZ owner and I nuked him and the war weariness was so bad that practically no citizens were willing to work. I had Police State, Mount Rushmore, Jails, you name it. That's an extreme situation and I've never been in a situation like that ever again so therefore I've never needed it.

Actually virtually all military civics like Vassalage and Theocracy, I don't really use that much even though I do use these occasionally especially playing as spiritual India. The reason being that I usually rely on tech edge when going to war and I concentrate more on infrastructure and build up of units. If you can get some GGs get them to concentrate in a military production city and just use that city to produce quality units for the rest of the game. You don't really need those XP giving civics imo.

 

[Rusty Edge]

What I would suggest is varying your playstyle. All cottages/No cottages. No wonders/wonderspam. Ultraggressive/totally peaceful games. Maybe some totally bizarre conduct if you like the concept of a 'roleplaying challenge'.

If you don't mind losing once in a while, I'd suggest trying your hand a difficulty level higher... or even two (I found 'argh... heeelp!' a more fun attitude than 'hmm, need to concentrate to win'). Maybe you don't even intend to stay there, but some of your old tricks might not work reliably and it might breathe fresh life into your game.
Alternatively, go a level down and try out some wild and extreme strategies you always wondered about but didn't dare implementing fearing to throw a perfectly good game away.

If you like to war: If you ax rush, see if you can manage to take out a neighbor with only archers or longbows & cats( good practice for no metal or mounts ). See if you are able to successfully conquer a neighbor with what units you have available in each era. See if you can conquer a civ without having oil or aluminum of your own. I think these are good skills to have, because as you advance in difficulty you will sometimes be forced into wars that you wouldn't choose.

 

[Wilphe]

Okay, thank you to everyone who voted and a big thank you to everyone who gave their opinion.

I think I should move up a difficulty level, which was the majority opinion, however I want to broaden my game before that.

So I am going to stay where as the same difficulty but change my game plan around:

- Larger map size but at first keep civ #s same so I can REX.

- Then add some CIVs and practice early and continous warfare


Rules:
Don't create colonies unless the map points me to it.

Drive all enemies off the continent before I even think accepting Capitulation and don't gift them their cities back.

Build some workshops.

At this point State Property will start looking better.