What should I do?

[Brain]

Ok, I'm fairly new to this game so I need some tips. Here's a save of the game I'm currently playing. I'm playing on regent with the Persians on a small map with 6 other civs (well, 5 left as I wiped out the Babylonians).

Right now I'm trying to culture flip that iron square in the north before my deal with the Zulu expires. I used two workers to pop-rush libraries in those cities, but it doesn't seem to work so far. If that fails I'll just attack them with a bunch of immortals. Once I get chivalry I plan to build a horde of knights and crush them anyway.

Also, why do I have to spend so much gold? I just switched to republic and have to pay support for all my units, but I also have 50%+ corruption in some cities. I thought I would get less corruption with republic. I tried to get as many gold per turn as possible from the AI, but I'm still losing money. Should I spend so much on entertainment or switch some citizens to entertainers or taxmen?

Sorry for the long post but I'm still a little confused.
Feel free to comment/criticize any aspect of my game.

 

[ainwood]

Well, it looks like your save is in an unpatched version of Civ, so its a bit hard to comment. I suggest you go and download the patch from here, but note: If you do this, then you won't be able to complete this game - the save file is not compatable!.

However, a few general pointers (flying blind though): The cultural boundaries won't increase until you get 10 or 100 culture in the city - you might need to wait a few turns. How close can you settle to the iron?

Re Gold: The downside of the republic is, as you noted, unit support. Do you really need all the units you have? If you have lots of defensive units, try disbanding some. You may have more than you need, and often don't need any in core cities (I seldom build any).

Secondly: have you built lots of roads? Are you working lots of tiles that aren't roaded? You get 1 gold / turn (before corruption) extra from roading a tile you are working.
Re gold:

 

[Brain]

I didn't patch it because the patch gives me a 'no CD in drive' error, even though the CD is in there. I'm planning to buy C3C anyway, so I thought I might wait a little with that.

It's true that I have lots of units, because they served as military police before the revolution. I'm going to move some to my border with the Zulu and disband the rest. Almost all of my worked tiles have roads except maybe the cities that I conquered recently from the Babylonians, which are in the jungle. Corruption is still a big problem though.

Here's a screenshot for those who can't open the save. The iron is NW of Tyre.

 

[BasketCase]

In order to flip that iron square, you're going to need more culture closer to Hlobane--right now your empire is only encroaching on three of Hlobane's city squares.

You're probably going to need a city flip to get the iron. That iron square is not at all likely to become part of your territory--expanding your border to a square that's right next to an enemy city is EXTREMELY difficult, you'll need a gigantic amount of culture to do that. Flipping or conquering Hlobane will be a lot easier.

 

[Scuffer]

Trade to get some luxury resources. Combine that with marketplaces and you'll have happy people and more money. The happy people means you can reduce your luxury slider from it's high level, making you even more money.

 

[The Fjonis]

I agree with Scuffer. 5 on entertainment is a lot - usually I keep mine at 10 or max 20. They're usually not complaining too much

 

[nullspace]

Right now I'm trying to culture flip that iron square in the north before my deal with the Zulu expires. I used two workers to pop-rush libraries in those cities, but it doesn't seem to work so far.

The iron square will never flip, no matter how much culture you have. It is one space away from a Zulu city, and is two spaces away from your city, so it won't change. A tile can only switch owners if it is equidistant from the two cities. The city itself could flip to you, but it is much closer to the Zulu capital than yours, so that is very unlikely. The only certain way to get the iron is by force.

If that fails I'll just attack them with a bunch of immortals. Once I get chivalry I plan to build a horde of knights and crush them anyway.

Switching to knights might not be the best idea. Immortals have the same attack, and cost much less. If the Zulus are still using lots of impis, the knights can't even retreat when losing, and one of their big advantages is gone.

Also, why do I have to spend so much gold? I just switched to republic and have to pay support for all my units, but I also have 50%+ corruption in some cities. I thought I would get less corruption with republic. I tried to get as many gold per turn as possible from the AI, but I'm still losing money. Should I spend so much on entertainment or switch some citizens to entertainers or taxmen?

I can't imagine that 50% on the lux slider is actually needed. The slider is better than entertainers, but make sure you're not spending more than you need to.

It looks like you have many spearmen fortified in cities in your core that are costing you a lot of money. Disband them, or move them to the front where they can be useful. You can leave core cities undefended, just keep a few immortals in reserve to follow any enemy galleys that sail along your coast.

Get marketplaces and grow your cities above size 7, that will also help out your money situation.

 

[Lockesdonkey]

Yah. The lux is way excessive.

I've never needed it except during a long war. Usualy set to 0 for me.

 

[Brain]

Switching to knights might not be the best idea. Immortals have the same attack, and cost much less. If the Zulus are still using lots of impis, the knights can't even retreat when losing, and one of their big advantages is gone.

Good point. I usually like to launch a very fast assault of several cities (I call that a tsunami ), so that's why I like knights, but I guess the extra cost is not justified when I have immortals.

I can't imagine that 50% on the lux slider is actually needed. The slider is better than entertainers, but make sure you're not spending more than you need to.

If I lower the slider then some of my cities will fall into civil disorder. I can't get more luxuries because the only civ I can trade with is the Zulu, which I'm going to attack soon. So the only option I have is to compensate with entertainers in some of the cities.

I guess in the long term it won't be a problem if I eliminate the Zulu. Well, let's get to work then. Alea jacta est, or something like that.

Thanks for the tips.