hoLLo
Chieftain
My first thread 
I rarely post, but I'm here reading every day.
First of all thanks to everyone on these forums. Great community here.
So I'm trying to organize my ideas and was hoping some people here can help, and thought maybe this can help others. I've developed a combination of strategies that have really helped my game immensely. I win nearly every emperor game and I've got 3 immortal wins under my belt (two with HC*, one with Gilgamesh) and that is primarily due to these forums. So thanks to all, except for Attacko I think he needs medical help. J/K..... I think
So as the title implies, I'm tying together Land, Victory Conditions and Leader Traits into a philosophy if you will. It's not so much a strategy because it is more generic to every game. It's more of a frame of mind.
I began reading these forums a while back and learning about specific strategies and gambits, and got into the habit of having my strategy set out with the traits I wanted before I even saw the map. I'd say "I'm going to run a specialist economy, with an Oracle CoL slingshot, leveraging philosophical then yada yada yada" before I even saw the map. I got stuck in these strategies, and had some games where it worked magnificently and others where it just flopped. So now I'm learning to adapt, and that is what this thread is about.
So here's my philosophy: Play your land, your traits, your victory condition above all else. Which means at the very least you have to see the map first before you can decide anything. Which is why scouting is one of the most important parts of any game for me. I try now to base all my decisions on these considerations. And it's working very well for me. Whenever I look at one consideration I compare it against the other two.
This one is the hardest things for me because it requires a lot of big picture thinking. There are countless threads about improving your land, specializing your cities, and running a certain economy and I recommend reading all of them. I have narrowed it down to three choices which help me simplify the decisions regarding 'what to do with my land'. Before I list them I should say I don't necessarily believe in "The Cottage Economy" or "The Hammer Economy" etc. because it implies that there is a hard and fast way to be efficient and what I'm trying to say is that adaptability is the most important thing. BUT I do believe in "The Cottage based economy" and "Specialist based economy" etc. and that it's important to have a general direction for your empire's land. Also somewhat within this category is diplomacy, not all AI neighbours were created equal, and their presence near your land should be a factor.
1. Cottages: Does your land support it? Do your traits support it? What is your VC?
* I still build farms and workshops when needed, but focus on growing cottages
* Financial isn't the only trait that supports cottages, Expansive helps with fast granaries and workers (workers to build cottages, granaries to grow faster despite smaller food surplus), Organized helps with just about everything, Industrious can help you build forges (usually lower production in cottage heavy cities) and wonders, Creative for faster libraries which are essential to a cottage heavy city, the list goes on
**Having said all that about traits, I find land trumps traits every time. I have run a cottage based economy with Philo and a specialist based economy with Financial because the land told me to 
* Does your continent allow you to get away with this diplomatically? Cottage spamming next to Monty with opposing religions is a bad idea
* Are you thinking about domination? How will you produce the units to do this? Cottages often result in a hammer sacrifice, how will you make up the hammers?
(given your land, VC, traits) Universal Suffrage comes later in the game, even with the pyramids you wont have many mature towns, so how can you survive until then? (given your land, VC, traits)
** I find that in a cottage heavy empire having at least one city free of cottages emphasizing production is essential
2. Farms: Does your land support it? Do your traits support it? What is your VC?
* I still build cottages and workshops when needed......
* Philosophical isnt the only trait that supports farms, Creative offers cheap libraries for specialists, as well as theatres (dont forget Globe Theatre) and coliseums for happiness to offset slavery/drafting penalties, Charismatic also for happiness, Expansive offers health solutions and cheap granaries to grow populations, Organized just always helps, Spiritual for changing civics eg. Caste system/pacifism to run specialists then easily switch to Slavery/O.R. for producing buildings or units, switch to Nationalism for a draft etc
* Farms can be used for specialists, whipping and drafting, all can be used to great advantage. Does your land/traits/VC support specialists, whipping or drafting?
* Do you have luxuries that can be hooked up? This helps immensely if your thinking about whipping/drafting
* Do you have enough fresh water for irrigation? Food resources?
* Do you have many hills to mine? If yes then farms might be a good idea
* Farms often result in a commerce sacrifice, how you will you make up for this? (given your land, VC, traits)
** I find that in a farm/specialist heavy empire having at least one city full of cottages emphasizing commerce is essential
3. Workshops: Does your land support it? Do your traits support it? What is your VC?
* I still build farms to work the WSs out of necessity
* For me this is usually a later consideration, around guilds+chemistry
* I have converted a farm based economy and a cottage based economy to workshops en masse before, and its because my land, traits and VC pointed in that direction
* For this point it is important to not get lazy, as I have done many times before, and reevaluate your land improvements. Wake the workers, make em work!
* The most important consideration here for me is VC, what are you trying to achieve? If diplomatic victory is what youre after, workshops wont really help much, but if Space or Conquest/Domination you might want massive production, and workshops after chemistry give just that
Ok so I just re-read what I wrote and this probably isnt very well organized, so maybe you guys can help put it in the right order. If you skipped through all that to get to the bottom this is what I am saying:
Adapt to your land, know how your traits help, know your VC, and how it all mixes together.
Oh and sorry if this has all been written before, I try to read as much as I can here but I cant possibly read it all if it has been done in another thread, kindly post the link below.
I rarely post, but I'm here reading every day.First of all thanks to everyone on these forums. Great community here.
So I'm trying to organize my ideas and was hoping some people here can help, and thought maybe this can help others. I've developed a combination of strategies that have really helped my game immensely. I win nearly every emperor game and I've got 3 immortal wins under my belt (two with HC*, one with Gilgamesh) and that is primarily due to these forums. So thanks to all, except for Attacko I think he needs medical help. J/K..... I think
So as the title implies, I'm tying together Land, Victory Conditions and Leader Traits into a philosophy if you will. It's not so much a strategy because it is more generic to every game. It's more of a frame of mind.
I began reading these forums a while back and learning about specific strategies and gambits, and got into the habit of having my strategy set out with the traits I wanted before I even saw the map. I'd say "I'm going to run a specialist economy, with an Oracle CoL slingshot, leveraging philosophical then yada yada yada" before I even saw the map. I got stuck in these strategies, and had some games where it worked magnificently and others where it just flopped. So now I'm learning to adapt, and that is what this thread is about.
So here's my philosophy: Play your land, your traits, your victory condition above all else. Which means at the very least you have to see the map first before you can decide anything. Which is why scouting is one of the most important parts of any game for me. I try now to base all my decisions on these considerations. And it's working very well for me. Whenever I look at one consideration I compare it against the other two.
This one is the hardest things for me because it requires a lot of big picture thinking. There are countless threads about improving your land, specializing your cities, and running a certain economy and I recommend reading all of them. I have narrowed it down to three choices which help me simplify the decisions regarding 'what to do with my land'. Before I list them I should say I don't necessarily believe in "The Cottage Economy" or "The Hammer Economy" etc. because it implies that there is a hard and fast way to be efficient and what I'm trying to say is that adaptability is the most important thing. BUT I do believe in "The Cottage based economy" and "Specialist based economy" etc. and that it's important to have a general direction for your empire's land. Also somewhat within this category is diplomacy, not all AI neighbours were created equal, and their presence near your land should be a factor.
1. Cottages: Does your land support it? Do your traits support it? What is your VC?
* I still build farms and workshops when needed, but focus on growing cottages
* Financial isn't the only trait that supports cottages, Expansive helps with fast granaries and workers (workers to build cottages, granaries to grow faster despite smaller food surplus), Organized helps with just about everything, Industrious can help you build forges (usually lower production in cottage heavy cities) and wonders, Creative for faster libraries which are essential to a cottage heavy city, the list goes on
**Having said all that about traits, I find land trumps traits every time. I have run a cottage based economy with Philo and a specialist based economy with Financial because the land told me to 
* Does your continent allow you to get away with this diplomatically? Cottage spamming next to Monty with opposing religions is a bad idea
* Are you thinking about domination? How will you produce the units to do this? Cottages often result in a hammer sacrifice, how will you make up the hammers?
(given your land, VC, traits) Universal Suffrage comes later in the game, even with the pyramids you wont have many mature towns, so how can you survive until then? (given your land, VC, traits)
** I find that in a cottage heavy empire having at least one city free of cottages emphasizing production is essential
2. Farms: Does your land support it? Do your traits support it? What is your VC?
* I still build cottages and workshops when needed......
* Philosophical isnt the only trait that supports farms, Creative offers cheap libraries for specialists, as well as theatres (dont forget Globe Theatre) and coliseums for happiness to offset slavery/drafting penalties, Charismatic also for happiness, Expansive offers health solutions and cheap granaries to grow populations, Organized just always helps, Spiritual for changing civics eg. Caste system/pacifism to run specialists then easily switch to Slavery/O.R. for producing buildings or units, switch to Nationalism for a draft etc
* Farms can be used for specialists, whipping and drafting, all can be used to great advantage. Does your land/traits/VC support specialists, whipping or drafting?
* Do you have luxuries that can be hooked up? This helps immensely if your thinking about whipping/drafting
* Do you have enough fresh water for irrigation? Food resources?
* Do you have many hills to mine? If yes then farms might be a good idea
* Farms often result in a commerce sacrifice, how you will you make up for this? (given your land, VC, traits)
** I find that in a farm/specialist heavy empire having at least one city full of cottages emphasizing commerce is essential
3. Workshops: Does your land support it? Do your traits support it? What is your VC?
* I still build farms to work the WSs out of necessity
* For me this is usually a later consideration, around guilds+chemistry
* I have converted a farm based economy and a cottage based economy to workshops en masse before, and its because my land, traits and VC pointed in that direction
* For this point it is important to not get lazy, as I have done many times before, and reevaluate your land improvements. Wake the workers, make em work!
* The most important consideration here for me is VC, what are you trying to achieve? If diplomatic victory is what youre after, workshops wont really help much, but if Space or Conquest/Domination you might want massive production, and workshops after chemistry give just that
Ok so I just re-read what I wrote and this probably isnt very well organized, so maybe you guys can help put it in the right order. If you skipped through all that to get to the bottom this is what I am saying:
Adapt to your land, know how your traits help, know your VC, and how it all mixes together.
Oh and sorry if this has all been written before, I try to read as much as I can here but I cant possibly read it all if it has been done in another thread, kindly post the link below.
