Frenetic_Saxon
Chieftain
I guess I'm a peace-keeper at heart, because I'm finding it difficult to understand when I should wage a war against other civs. I'm also wary of tarnishing my reputation, so I tend to 1) concentrate on culture, and 2) build a powerful military, but usually only to defend myself against others and to disuade them declaring war against me.
I recently learned that it's good to go to war against at least one civ very early in the game, when/if I have a military edge on that civ. Doing that usually prevents that civ from expanding and advancing as quickly, but it also causes me to expand/advance more slowly. So I often look for choke points to close rather than immediatly going to war. Overall, I'm having difficulty trying to figure out how to balance technical advances against military expansion. I'm also having trouble knowing when to wage war later in the game (mid game / late game).
Example: In my current game, I'm Egypt and have built up my culture quite well. I'm on a mid-size continent with Rome and have acquired a good number of luxuries/resources. My original goal (hmm, I didn't really have one, other than to make sure I secured Iron) was to prevent Rome from expanding into "my" territory and to keep them appeased enough not attack me. I wanted the Pyramids and the Oracle, and I built them both. I then build the Great Lighthouse, but later lost the Great Library to the French, who are on a rather distant continent and built it first. It took me longer than expected to build up my military to send over to Rome. By the time I built barracks in my better cities and then built veteran Swordsman (I probably should have used my War Chariots earlier, huh?), Rome had Legions. The year was approx 600 AD. But I was able to overcome the Romans fairly easily. Rome is still alive, but with only two cities, and I acquired three techs from them during the peace negotiations. For my next war, I'll have to venture to another continent to attack either the Zulu (somewhat weak), Japan (most powerful), or France (powerful). The Americans, also distant, aren't much of a threat.
Who do I chose to attack, and why? Do I want France (polite) because they have the Great Library? Or do I attack Japan because they are powerful and annoyed, or the Zulu because they are rather weak? Or do I just start building improvements and focus on culture?
I'm really not sure where to go in this game, or any game for that matter!
I recently learned that it's good to go to war against at least one civ very early in the game, when/if I have a military edge on that civ. Doing that usually prevents that civ from expanding and advancing as quickly, but it also causes me to expand/advance more slowly. So I often look for choke points to close rather than immediatly going to war. Overall, I'm having difficulty trying to figure out how to balance technical advances against military expansion. I'm also having trouble knowing when to wage war later in the game (mid game / late game).
Example: In my current game, I'm Egypt and have built up my culture quite well. I'm on a mid-size continent with Rome and have acquired a good number of luxuries/resources. My original goal (hmm, I didn't really have one, other than to make sure I secured Iron) was to prevent Rome from expanding into "my" territory and to keep them appeased enough not attack me. I wanted the Pyramids and the Oracle, and I built them both. I then build the Great Lighthouse, but later lost the Great Library to the French, who are on a rather distant continent and built it first. It took me longer than expected to build up my military to send over to Rome. By the time I built barracks in my better cities and then built veteran Swordsman (I probably should have used my War Chariots earlier, huh?), Rome had Legions. The year was approx 600 AD. But I was able to overcome the Romans fairly easily. Rome is still alive, but with only two cities, and I acquired three techs from them during the peace negotiations. For my next war, I'll have to venture to another continent to attack either the Zulu (somewhat weak), Japan (most powerful), or France (powerful). The Americans, also distant, aren't much of a threat.
Who do I chose to attack, and why? Do I want France (polite) because they have the Great Library? Or do I attack Japan because they are powerful and annoyed, or the Zulu because they are rather weak? Or do I just start building improvements and focus on culture?
I'm really not sure where to go in this game, or any game for that matter!
