Which alternative...?

[1940LaSalle]

DISCLAIMER: I'm not at my machine at home so I'm unable to post a screen shot of the map in question.

BACKGROUND: I'm Bismarck; it's about 1365 AD. I have gunpowder and chemistry (and hence musketmen) and am working on navigation. At the moment, my power rating (is that the right term?) is tops, at 235. The English follow in the mid-120s; then the French and Chinese in the mid-90s, with the Carthaginians bringing up the rear in the mid-70s (there may be other civs out there that are as yet unknown).

Until recently, the French were perceived to be the weak link since the Carthaginians already had their UUs on the board. Thus, I'd deployed significant military power on the border with the French, waiting for some reasonable pretext to lower the boom, seeing as my power rating is several times that of the French. The Carthaginians are effectively at the opposite end of the continent, meaning many turns to get man/firepower to let them have it--and there's a bottleneck through which all must pass, constricted by the Chinese on one hand and the ocean on the other.

So: based on that sketch, would you say it would be better to continue the earlier plans that would ultimately involve German troops marching down the Champs Elysée or make a major strategic shift and declare the new motto to be Cartaga delenda est (forgive my attempts; I never took Latin and I forget the correct spelling of the phrase in the original)?

 

[vmxa]

The French UU is tougher than the Hannibal's, so taking them out first is good. As time goes by the Carthage unit will just be more and more obsolete.

I am not big on bring in others. If you fear the will come in against you and that concerns you then alliance is ok. If I think I can keep the neutral, that is my preference. That way they do not get stronger, only I will.

 

[capnvonbaron]

forget navigation. You need military tradition if you're planning on going to war. Assuming you have access to horses, that is...

 

[1940LaSalle]

forget navigation. You need military tradition if you're planning on going to war. Assuming you have access to horses, that is...

Didn't see your recommendation until now. Funny you should mention that: I'm in a position where military tradition can be next in the queue (present research covers physics; got metallurgy and have horses). I may be wrong but I believe there may be some sort of shield penalty for switching tech research while one is in progress [?], so that's why I'm reluctant to switch on the fly.

 

[TheOverseer714]

You lose all the beakers invested if you switch, so you start fresh on the new tech. Kind of a hedge aganst wishy-washy players. Pick your techs and stick with them. Now if you only have a few beakers, no problem.

 

[1940LaSalle]

Thought as much. (By the way--and this clearly brands me as a neophyte--where would I see the beakers, at the zoom-to-city view?) That means I stay the course with physics until complete and then go for military tradition.

 

[TheOverseer714]

You'd need a utility program, such as Civ Assist II, which keeps track of beakers invested and beakers per turn, plus how many beakers a tech costs. Programs like that are like a tireless assistant, doing the stuff that only an extremely dedicated OCD player might do.

 

[capnvonbaron]

if you can load up the game from the auto-saves before you started researching Nav, you could do it that way. Otherwise, if you're more than one turn into it, I'd say finish it and go on.

 

[CarthageFTW]

My auto saves stop at 3000 BC why ?

 

[capnvonbaron]

typically, autosaves go back four turns, plus one autosave at 4000BC. You can change it in settings, I think.

 

[1940LaSalle]

forget navigation. You need military tradition if you're planning on going to war. Assuming you have access to horses, that is...

I looked at the Civilopedia re: military tradition and it was unfortunately rather terse, shall we say. I saw that it allowed the construction of a military academy which, I suppose, yields more long-term military benefits (creation of elite units from the get-go? not clearly stated) but I saw nothing that addressed/alluded to/hinted at short-term benefits. Any words of wisdom, please?

 

[Aabraxan]

In addition to cavalry, the Military Academy allows you to build armies without waiting for an MGL. You have to have one victorious army to build the Academy, though. It does not allow you to build elite units. Assuming that you have a rax in the city with the MA, you still build vets that will have to go to battle to become elites.

 

[capnvonbaron]

I looked at the Civilopedia re: military tradition and it was unfortunately rather terse, shall we say. I saw that it allowed the construction of a military academy which, I suppose, yields more long-term military benefits (creation of elite units from the get-go? not clearly stated) but I saw nothing that addressed/alluded to/hinted at short-term benefits. Any words of wisdom, please?

The short term benefits are definitely cavalry. 6/3/3 makes war go a lot easier, esp if you're still battling pikes/knights/swords. Cavs are even useful against muskets/rifles, but usually about the time of nationalization for me they become relegated to worker-abduction duties and picking off weak units like longbows or damaged defenders. They take on a renewed utility when you get replaceable parts... backed up with artillery stacks and infantry they make a great offensive punch, use the arty to bombard the heck out of cities and sweep in with cavs for the killer blow. Even better is when an enemy has roads/rails where you can use their infrastructure to keep the front advancing. Cavs make wars a lot shorter, thus less time for war weariness.

I must also admit that usually my first army will consist of three or four elite cavs. Once in awhile I'll have a knight army, but I don't see much point in armies earlier than that, they are usually outdated too quickly. Seeing that 20hp coming at them at three moves per turn will make the enemy pee their pants

 

[1940LaSalle]

Very useful insights! Thanks.

 

[Exwing17]

You research other things before Military Tradition? Mate as soon as I hit the middle ages I double click on that cavalry created wonder-tech and just leave my science to play! Just remember that warring people is fun, and cavalry make it funner! No one ever won a war with Smith’s Trading Company (although I’m sure you can link merchantilism to England winning wars but whatever).

 

[Northen Wolf]

You research other things before Military Tradition? Mate as soon as I hit the middle ages I double click on that cavalry created wonder-tech and just leave my science to play! Just remember that warring people is fun, and cavalry make it funner! No one ever won a war with Smith’s Trading Company (although I’m sure you can link merchantilism to England winning wars but whatever).

I usually go knights(chivilary) then go for cavalry, as I play pangea maps, tech speed is fast, so have to be conquests and knight 4 attack helps more than horsemen 2 attack...

 

[capnvonbaron]

meh. You're almost better just to barter for chivalry unless some neighbor of yours *really* needs a spanking now. Cavs come pretty quick after gunpowder, gunpowder or something to secure chivalry and usually everything else that civ has in its pockets. Build knights and upgrade them to cavalry for a quick mobile offensive punch.

Also, if your neighbors are greeks, japs, chinese, or romans, forget knights unless perhaps the latter three lack iron or you can produce a rediculous amount before the other civs get chivalry. (genrally a tough gig on higher difficulty levels). I suppose if you just want to take one or two key cities, knights work, but longer campaigns will be unsustainable. For conquering missions, just bum-rush military trad. and litter the countryside with their dead.