world domination

[johncross21]

I ususally play world domination on noble

i normally build until I have got some strong melee units and then take cities, recover quickly and repeat but...

get bogged down mid game and after getting rid of one or two other civs

by that time its difficult to start a new war without a huge armies and by the time they are assembled they are rapidly becoming obsolete

seems to be huge penalties for having too many cities

what am i doing wrong

 

[Hold The Onion]

what game speed are you playing? if normal speed, slow it down to epic so your units get more moves before they become obsolete. also make sure to maintain a reasonbly healthy economy so that you can get to important military techs first to allow a bigger window of opportunity for your units to attack.

 

[johncross21]

thanks - a couple of follow ons -

how important is whipping - because I don't tend to do that much (perhaps I'm too soft)

how useful is religion for warmongering. I never use it

how many big military cities do you need to win in a medium size world

 

[Cam_H]

Whipping is not compulsory to win, but it is a very powerful tool that can shave many turns off your game in the early part to provide you with an almost exponential benefit in the later game. Practically every city should have a Granary fairly early on (there are exceptions, and the Granary may defer other important builds), but combining; a Granary, the whip, and food-rich cities can accelerate your empire's development markedly. Don't think of it as killing population - it's a way of converting food into hammers.

Refer to the other thread you've opened on religions and war, however not only do you offset war weariness with Temples and State Religion happiness, but the Theocracy civic can be helpful in strengthening your army's chances at war with the extra XPs. It may also help you dogpile AI tribes better (especially if you're sharing a religion with the likes of Spain or the Aztecs {as the most glaring examples}).

Your question on army size is too general, but a couple of SoDs of fifteen to twenty units with a large proportion of City Raider and Siege weapons will often be sufficient in the Renaissance or Industrial Eras. Perhaps surf the Succession Games Forum, All Leaders Challenge series, or some other 'round' type games (e.g. aelf's Immortal Challenges being just one) for ideas on how others tackle combat.

 

[rabidveggie]

Ya I never whip either however, having multiple cities early hurt off the start, but will eventually greatly chip into science and production later.