The Builder's Perspective Part One - Ancient Era

[Blitzer]

The strategy boards on Apolyton have been a great assistance to my progression as a Civ3 player, and I have decided to refine what I have learned here into a strategy guide. Much of what I will discuss has been gone over in other threads, and I will attempt to give credit where it is due.

Most of the information given here will differ from those in other guides as I will be exclusively dealing with the builder style of play. I find that this style, while not always condusive to the highest score, is both the most flexible and most enjoyable to play. This allows the player to enter a game with no predetermined victory goal in mind and adapt as the game as it progresses. It should also be noted that I play my games mainly on standard sized maps, on Monarch or Emperor difficulty.


Civilization Selection

Two main factors go into selecting the best Civilization for your game. The more important of these is the traits possessed by the civ. Most traits have some merit, but for the builder style of play there are three that stand out. If you are going to focus on infrastructure building, it is only natural that you select traits that enhance this desire. Often in strategy games I will select a faction with abilities contrary to the playstyle that I wish to use, in order to hide weaknesses. In Civilization, this is an option, but not one I would reccomend. The second difference of civs is of course their Unique Unit. For the builder, however this is a wholy secondary concern.

The traits I have identified as the most important are Industrious, Religious, and Scientific. The first of the three allows you to build up your terrain tiles more quickly, the latter two allow cheaper city improvements. The secondary abilities of all three traits are also very attractive to the builder, giving them a clear edge over the field. I have found that the corruption reducing effects of the commercial trait do not offset the benefits of having cheaper infrastructure in the first place. If your temple costs half as much in that far off city, you effectively have a 50% reduction of corruption for the purposes of building that improvement anyway. If this trait halved the cost of marketplaces and banks, it would be an exceptional trait, but as it stands, it cannot compare with my three prefered traits. There are three civilizations that have two of these three traits, and indeed in practice as well as in theory they are the strongest civs. A wonderful bonus is the fact that two of the three civs have exceptionaly powerful ancient era UU's, and the third has some unique strengths.

The Persians are my choice as the top civ in the game. Although at times I find myself wishing for the religious trait, I suspect I would not be happy completely unless I could have all three. Combat will be discussed later, but suffice to say that a 4 power attacker in the ancient era is nearly unstoppable against a single target.

My second choice would be the Babylonians, and it is only their weaker UU that tips the scales in the Persian's favor. There are two very important strengths of this UU that are often overlooked, however. Very few games are played where the player has neither horses or iron to build an army with, but the first time you find yourself in that position, you may wish you had a low tech option. The Babylonian player need not fear having to fight his initial war with archers, knowing that regardless of his map position, a 2/2 unit is only a tech away. Idealy, however, the Babylonian player will save his Bowman to trigger a golden age at the time of his chosing. This allows for excellent coordination of the Golden Age with wonder building.

The Egyptians are probably best for those who seek to expand rapidly before settling down to build. I am not one of those, but the strategy is sound. War Chariots are frighteningly quick to reproduce, and are the choice of many a pop rushing despot as well as the culture builder. I don't do much military pop rushing, and large scale wars in the ancient era are difficult if you wish to quickly build cultural improvements as well. For this reason, I seldom play the Egyptians.

Any of the three are great choices. A few other civs bear mentioning. An interesting choice is the Aztecs, which I have experimented with some after reading here about the power of their UU. Obviously the early warmonger in me refuses to come to the surface, as I managed to play them as a builder civ, exploiting their 2 move warriors as explorers to compliment their religious ability. For all intents and purposes, the Aztecs are Religious, Militaristic, and Expansionistic, and I will be playing this civ some in the weeks to come to see if indeed this civ has the potential to reach the same level as my preferred three. Other militaristic civs such as the Germans, Chinese, and Japanese have strong UU's in later times, and share at least one of the "builder" traits. These civs are good for those who wish to build peacefully for some time before engaging in their war of conquest sometime in the middle ages.

The Early Game

Not unlike chess, Civilization has many theories as to the best series of opening moves. The 1.16f patch changed many of my opinions, and an early military rush is very much nerfed. To begin, I would suggest that you not make more than one settler move prior to colonization of your first city. Moving your settler onto a gold hill, or into contact with a river or fresh water lake would be the only moves I would suggest. Covering a poor terrain tile with your opening city is also acceptable, but I would reccomend against it.

Once your city is founded, your first build should always be a warrior. If you have a bonus food tile, your initial worker should quickly road and mine it (or irrigate in the case of a flood plain). The initial warrior will begin exploring. I suggest using an expanding circle pattern as opposed to following a shoreline or walking steadily in one direction. First priority is of course finding a site for your second city.

Your opening city will not be working more than 2 tiles for some time, so after your worker has improved the two best tiles, he should start building a road towards your second city site. You must ensure that your city is producing at least two shields at this point. If you irrigated a flood plain, your second terrain tile must produce a shield. Two flood plains does little good, as you have no garrison, and will not be able to keep the bonus population happy anyway. Irrigating a desert will produce settlers more quickly than two flood plains. If you have a bonus food tile, you should be able to start your settler immediately after building your first warrior. If you lack a bonus tile, a second warrior. If your starting position is so poor that more than two warriors need be built before your city has a chance to grow to size 3, I would strongly suggest using the "Worker Gambit", where you rejoin your initial worker to the city in order to more quickly produce a second city. If you do use this gambit, it is essential to replace that worker as soon as possible, as your road network must be built as quicky as possible.

After building the first settler, your capitol needs some bounce back time before producing another settler. Since we are builders, we are already thinking about building our first wonder. We're going to need 2 garrison units and a temple to keep that population happy while building our wonder, and thanks to our excellent civilization choice, we can either build a spearman or a half price temple at this point. Make it so. We only have one or two warriors out there exploring, so the second city should pop out another warrior, then a settler.

Once the capitol has it's spearman/temple, it needs to produce another settler, followed by either spearman or temple, then start that wonder. The second garrison troop will be provided either by one of the initial warriors (once it reaches a size where it is required), or idealy by a conscript warrior popped out of a hut. If you wait and crank a third settler out of the capitol before starting your wonder, you are going to lose it to the AI 90% of the time. By using this method you will win it 90% of the time. To recap, I advocate a Warrior, Settler, Spearman, Settler, Temple, Wonder opening in order to ensure that you grab that all-important lead in the wonder race.

If your capitol is in a poor site for wonder building (or you cannot find a good second site for settler building), you may wish to switch the roles of your first two cities. If this is the case, I would suggest not building any settlers from the second city, and simply following the spearman/temple/wonder progression. This will allow your capitol to continue cranking out settlers. If it turns out that your second city is in a far better location to serve as capitol of your empire, I would suggest working towards the collapsing capitol stragegy as described by Xin Yu and reposted here.

Jump moving capitals. Looks like if you disband your capital, the capital will re-appear in your most populated city. So if you build or capture a city near another civ and use workers to add to the population then disband your capital (build a settler at size 2 while make food shortage by hiring all citizens as specialists), you move your capital for free -- save the need of a great leader (well, not exactly free since you lose a well established city but it should be a lot cheaper than spending 400 shields for the new capital). But remember don't build wonders in your first capital or you may lose them.

Strict micromanagement of your wonder city is the key to winning the race. Move those workers onto forest/hills tiles early. You aren't in a race to get your city to size 6. All you want is that wonder as quickly as possible... not only because you want to win the race to the wonder, but because the sooner your wonder city is done, the sooner you are out of the defecit position you have put yourself in.

Once your first three cities are started, you need to realize that your early commitment to the wonder is going to seriouly hinder your development throughout the BC period. At this point, you most likely have three cities, a settler, a worker, two spearmen, and a pair of warriors. One of the two warriors is going to have to head back to the capitol to garrison eventually, so use it for now to garrison your third city while it builds a worker. As your first worker progresses towards your third city, your second worker will improve a couple of tiles in each of the two satelite cities, and then head to the capitol (with the warrior) to finish the tiles around your capitol as it grows to maturity. Your second city should continue to produce settlers. Either City 3 or City 4 will need to be on a coastal tile, as this too will soon be earmarked as a wonder city, dedicated to either The Great Lighthouse or The Collosus. I am currently following the "Size 12 City" city placement system for core cities. This system is exceptionally illustrated by Dimension in his essay "City Spacing Paradigms" found here...
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=40504

After your first worker has completed your four city road network, you will most likely have discovered Iron Working, and must now concentrate on securing a source of Iron (using a colony if needed). Soon your wonder will be complete in the capitol, and you will be able to use that production power to address your laughable military. New cities should follow the Spearman/worker/temple pattern if possible, and those workers should be used to improve 2 tiles around their host city, and then assist in the military/resource road network.

As soon as you fill out your territory with cities, one city should be dedicated to cranking out workers for the duration of the game. I tend to rename it to "farm" and leave it building workers. A city with one grassland can be set to crank out 1 worker every 10 turns and never grow above size 2. an excellent investment and a fine use for that wasted space between your main cities.

Continued...

[Blitzer]

Research

In the early game, there are three techs that are crucial to the development of your early empire. If you have selected one of the three preferred civs, you will already possess two of them, and can begin research on the third. The techs Bronze Working, Ceremonial Burial, and Masonry are all critical to jump-starting your capitol to whatever wonder you are attempting to build. In order to start the wonder, you must have two garrison units and a temple in the city, as well as the tech to begin building a wonder. As the only base tech that allows a wonder (ignoring city posistion) is masonry, regardless of which wonder you are going to race, you will begin building the Pyramids.

Once you own these three, you are going to want to research Iron Working in order to locate the sources of these critical resources. Following Iron working I will generally try to trade with the AI to get Alphabet, and then progress up the Literacy tree. Getting those libraries built early is pretty big in the tech race.

The AI seems to research/buy the first two levels of tech first, and then race Republic. I find that often they neglect Currency, instead going after monarchy/map making/Construction, and often I can beat the AI to it... especially if I have built the Collosus. Often I am able to propel myself into the middle ages by beating the AI to Currency. If you are playing on Emperor or Deity, you aren't going to beat the AI to anything, so just research construction and try to beat your missing techs out of them, I will not purchace any tech from the AI with the exception of Alphabet. I will trade tech mind you, but I need my gold. If prompted with a tech trade for gold, I will instead give a small gift of gold to maintain good relations.

If you find yourself on an island with only one other civ, or somehow alone your strategy must change. Map Making becomes your top priority, so as soon as you realize your position change your tactics.

Wonders

Throughout this text I've stressed ways to build wonders, but never adressed the ones you are building... and for good reason. When I start a game I know I am going to build at least one Ancient Wonder, and hopefully two, but which those are is not predetermined.

In my opinion, the best of the ancient wonders is without question The Pyramids. If all goes according to Hoyle, it is the Pyramids which I will be building in my Capitol. Obviously the benefits of this wonder are most apparent in the early stages of the game, and this is one of the reasons that I will hinder my early expansion in order to build it as early as possible. It is the only early wonder which never expires. Unfortunately, the AI also knows the power of the Pyramids. It places great importance on building it, which is why you must take an all-out blitz approach to building it if you intend to win the race.

On the other hand, the AI does not seem to understand how good The Collosus is. Either that, or it simply does not switch to building it since it's Pyramids city is not on a coast, and even if it is, they will prefer to build the Oracle or Great Library. No complaint here. My secondary wonder city is always on the coast, in order to build this wonder. With the tech bonuses the AI gains, it's an absolute neccesity if you wish to beat the AI to the middle ages... which is entirely possible on Emperor regardless of what other people claim. Like the Pyramids, it has a shelf life long into the game expiring with Flight, which is a good 3000 years away.

As a side note, if you are playing the Egyptians, you will almost always trigger your golden age with the building of the Pyramids. I've several times managed to build both these wonders in one city by parlaying the GA directly into the building of the Collosus. As I recall the build time on the second wonder was 18 turns. Obviously a combination of excellent starting position and some luck, but there is no reason your second wonder city that is already building the Collosus cannot benefit from this triggered Golden Age under normal circumstances.

As with tech research, if you find yourself isolated from the larger group of civs, your strategy must change. Concentrate on The Great Library in your capitol, and The Great Lighthouse in your coastal wonder site. There are no other ancient wonders that I will consider building. If you dedicate your opening to the completion of these wonders, you will get them 90% of the time. If you miss out on one or more you can switch to another, but only these four are powerful enough to sacrifice critical time at the start of the game to complete. At the very least you should be able to get one of the three best ones.

City Improvements

One of the biggest pitfalls of the builder is not knowing when to stop building. Not every city needs all the ancient improvements, and in fact you can hurt your development by building too much.... either by neglecting terraforming by not building enough workers, not building a large enough military, or simply by building too many improvements that tax your imcome to the point of draining your tech.

At the very least every city needs a temple and a library. I would suggest having two barracks cities in the ancient era... one on the border closest to your neighbor and one in your capitol after your wonder is complete. The economic bonus of the marketplace is generally not worth the investment in the ancient Era, and I usually will not build any improvements except libraries and temples until after my city is larger than size 6. The same can be said for both courthouses and Colluseums. Generally, you are better off simply keeping an entertainer in any cities large enough to require a Colluseum or alternately solve the problem by simply pop rushing another unit.

As with everything there are exceptions. Your two Wonder Cities are going to be building Middle Ages wonders within 50 turns, so the ancient era is a good time to get started on that colluseum. A marketplace and courthouse in the city with that Collosus will definately pay off in the short term let alone the long run.

Warfare - Tactics

At some point in the ancient era you are going to need to go to war. Regardless of if this war is to secure resources, expand your territory, sue for tech advances or simply generate a leader to build your forbidden palace with, at some point you will need to go to war.

The most important resources in the ancient age are Iron and Horses. You absolutely need both by the time Knights become the military standard, but to effectively wage war in the ancient era you can manage with one or the other. Timing is important. If you are playing the Babylonians, you have the luxury of your UU requiring neither iron nor horses, but the flip side of this is that both Horsemen and Swordsmen are superior, to say nothing of the UU's your opponents may be producing. Therefore, assuming you do not have Iron or Horses, that should be your priority target.

Assuming you are playing one of the builder civs, your strategy will be predetermined by your UU. Persians will want to go the catapults and Immortals route, while the Egyptians will want to advance with chariots. The Babylonians have the choice or a horseman rush or a catapult/swordsman advance. I am a proponent of swordsmen over fast units in the ancient era, but pick the style that suits you. You will want some form of combined arms for certian, but generally one or the other will be your main assault. In the past I have advocated equal parts spearmen, swordsmen and catapults for a swordsman-based offensive, but in recent weeks, I have cut down the number of catapults and spearman to about 1/4 the number of swordsmen. A force of 10 swordsmen, 5 spearmen, and 5 catapults would be normal for one of my initial attacks. When I do play the Egyptians, I don't really take much of a combined arms approach. Basicly I crank out as many chariots as I possibly can and rush them to the front with a few spearmen. It gets bloody, but if every chariot takes out even one oposition unit, I am winning the war on paper.

Example Savegame

In an attempt to illustrate some of the strategies I have described in this essay, I have enclosed a savegame which I feel is a prime example of the tactics I prefer. The starting position is quite good. I was able to found my capitol on a coastal square surrounded by shielded grassland. Unfortunately there is very little food production in the surrounding terrain. Following the warrior/settler/temple/settler/spearman/Pyramids pattern in my Capitol, and using the 12 square city templace, I was able to generate enough food in my second city to get some settlers going. The satelite cities followed a Spearman/Temple/Barracks/War Chariot model, interrupted when possible to create a settler or worker.

Building the Pyramids did indeed trigger my Golden Age, and as you can see my Collossus is a mere 4 turns from completion. If I wish, I can switch to The Great Library. By investigating Hamburg, I see that the Germans are a full 64 turns from completion, wheras I am only 21 away. Germany has communications with both Greece and Rome, so I will not build the library, and simply complete the Collossus and crush the Germans. As Germany has both Iron and silks, and I have Incense and Horses already and Ivory/Spices within reach, I am in a very good position to take an early military action despite my very early commitment to my wonder. If I wish, I could also attempt to build the Great Library with an eye towards a cultural victory with Thebes as my centerpiece.

The key to gaining this strong position was undoubtably the use of the Size 12 city strategy to "share" Thebe's abundance of shielded grassland with the otherwise desert-ridden Memphis. Had I gone with a larger spacing, my colonization efforts would have been woefully slow. All my core cities are going to have woeful food production until I am able to crush Germany and irrigate from their capitol. Luckily they all have decent shield output and low corruption and I will be able to continue building my army.

This save is a good example of the adaptability of the early wonder. Although I would prefer to build libraries and some more chariots before taking the offensive, my lack of food production will not allow it. At this point, a military offensive and hopefully a leader to place my Forbidden Palace in the center of the German's exceptional starting position is obviously the best tactic. Settling the southern part of the continent will fall on the shoulders of my capitol. Please note that this was a completely random game, which I started at the completion of writing this text. No reloading or restarting to gain a terrain advantage was used. Had my capitol not had as good a shield producing capability, I would have found a second city to start my Collossus.

Hopefully the time I've taken to put my thoughts on paper will help some of you, and I encourage any feedback on these ideas. I'm going to get to work on The Builder's Perspective Part Two - The Middle Ages, which will of course center on how you can build three of the "big four" middle age wonders on Emperor.

[Aeson]

A very well written guide, nicely done. I don't often play from a builder perspective, my first cultural buildings or wonders sometimes wait until the late BC's or early AD's. A couple things I have noticed, mainly important on Emporer/Deity, or just for maximizing efficiency. One is that as a Religious Civ, it's usually best to beeline for Monarchy. I can beat the AI to Mysticism about half the time, Polytheism and Monarchy almost all of the time. Depending on the number of Civs in the game, trading these 3 techs can get me close to the leaders in research on a Deity game, without having to go to war. It can be the fastest way to get to the Republic. And as a Religious Civ, even if you can't trade for Republic, switching to Monarchy will help while you wait.

Also, Warriors are the most efficient garrison units to build, using Spearmen for perimiter cities only. Another way of approaching defense is to use Warriors only, with a few Horse units that can quickly respond to any approaching force. The best defense is a good offense, even if you don't actively use it. The "defensive" Horsemen can also be used for offense when the time comes. In situations where bonus food tiles are available, building only Warriors for garrison units can speed up early expansion greatly.

For a city dedicated to only producing workers for the remainder of the game, it would be best to set up a 'Size 6' city next to a fresh water source. The initial investment into the city will be more (granery, happiness improvements), but a worker per turn for the rest of the game will quickly make up the difference.

Other than that, I think you hit the nail on the head.

[Blitzer]

One is that as a Religious Civ, it's usually best to beeline for Monarchy. I can beat the AI to Mysticism about half the time, Polytheism and Monarchy almost all of the time. Depending on the number of Civs in the game, trading these 3 techs can get me close to the leaders in research on a Deity game, without having to go to war. It can be the fastest way to get to the Republic. And as a Religious Civ, even if you can't trade for Republic, switching to Monarchy will help while you wait.

An excellent point, which mirrors my own observations, but one which I have found is not condusive to the builder style. Firstly, it is essential that you research the third and missing of the Bronze Working / Ceremonial burial / Masonry trio in order to get your wonder started within the first 40 turns. I have found that on Emperor, if you waver at all from your Monarchy beeline, you may find that the AI has beaten you there. Now you are well and truly hooped, as you haven't been building armies and cannot engage in a war for tech. Additionally, you leave yourself in a poor position if you are forced to switch to the Great Library if you find yourself isolated... not having literacy by the time your wonder is completed would be a horrible situation to be in if you found yourself alone on an island with the Iriquois .

You have, however given me some pause for thought, as if while playing the Babylonians, you could start with Mysticism as your first tech, and by having both Ceremonial Burial and Bronze Working already, you can use The Oracle to start your wonder and trade Mysticism to the AI for Masonry and Writing. I'll give it a go in my next game, and see what happens, but I have a feeling I'm going to end up with The Oracle, no libraries, and no tech until Monarchy

Also, Warriors are the most efficient garrison units to build, using Spearmen for perimiter cities only. Another way of approaching defense is to use Warriors only, with a few Horse units that can quickly respond to any approaching force. The best defense is a good offense, even if you don't actively use it. The "defensive" Horsemen can also be used for offense when the time comes. In situations where bonus food tiles are available, building only Warriors for garrison units can speed up early expansion greatly

Another excellent point, which of course I will have to disagree with . Since this strategy allows for only the 2-3 initial warriors as your "military" until the completion of your wonders, it is quite possible that even a few barbarians will be too much for your scouts to handle on their own and your warrior-garrisons may fall to them. Your point about the roving defensive troops is a good one, however. Perhaps I will try to mix in a few horsemen with my early builds as barbarian defense. If nothing else, it sounds like a good way to start building up an elite core of attackers for your first war, even if they are built without the benefit of a barracks. Perhaps then, I can hold off on building spearmen for a while, and then later upgrade the warrior garrisons to swordsmen attackers. Unfortunately my prefered civ will not upgrade warriors... one of the few weaknesses inherant in the Persians.

For a city dedicated to only producing workers for the remainder of the game, it would be best to set up a 'Size 6' city next to a fresh water source. The initial investment into the city will be more (granery, happiness improvements), but a worker per turn for the rest of the game will quickly make up the difference.

Now this is a strategy I need to start using. The problem I find is that often getting a city that produces 10 shields/turn requires that you use one of your core cities as the worker farm. I'm not sure how converting one of my precious core cities into a pure farm will mesh with my Wonder building strategy, as two of the (usually 5) core cities will be dedicated wonder sites, with the other two serving as military bases. to be honest, the 5th city seems to inevitably end up in a poor position and simply tries to keep up with the other core sites in culture while providing plenty of science. I think the early size 6 city most likely does not fit into my plans, but it definately should have a place. I'll try converting one of my Forbidden Palace cities into a worker farm next game and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for the feedback Aeson, as always excellent points from the warmonger

[Aeson]

I admit that other than OCC games, Ancient era wonders hardly ever play a part in my planning. The exception is the Pyramids, as the AI who builds it is painting a big red target on themselves. I would agree that some of my points probably wouldn't work too well for a pure builder, as they are more "all or nothing" type risks that would need military intervention if they fail. The beeline to Monarchy is a good example, as "backdoor trading" or a lucky Expansionist Civ can really mess up any research path that is depending on tech trading. The Iroquois are worst at screwing things up, as they start with Ceremonial Burial, and their Scouts can very easily get Mysticism and Polytheism right off.

The 'Size 6' city should usually be put off until later in the game. It does take some time to set up, and early on just a handful of Workers can keep up with the terrain improvements. Setting one up around the time you build the FP sounds like good timing.

I think you should try the all Warrior approach, mixing in a couple Spearmen at the start if it makes you feel safer against the Barbarians. UU's can be upgraded to, just not upgraded from, so the Persians are probably the best Civ to use this with. The main drawback is building Barracks to allow for the upgrades. I like to dedicate one city as the main garrison unit factory, other cities can focus on just building improvements and settlers. Build a Barracks there, and then continue to produce veteran Warriors mixed with the occasional Settler/Worker to keep it at the proper happiness size.

This city can serve as the upgrading point for your warriors as well, so it's best to set up near the borders of your territory. Having 2 Warriors per city that can be upgraded instantly to Immortals if the need arises is probably the quickest way to build up a (potentially) strong military. And it will save a few turns of production per unit that can be dedicated to other builds. Once you are ready to switch to a Republic, the Warriors can all be upgraded for a quick "free" war. This should be decent timing for a Golden Age, and you need to get rid of some units to keep costs down anyways. A handful of Immortals should be able to take a few extra cities if you want them, or plenty of captured Workers. You can keep a few Immortals in perimeter cities, with mostly Horse units for a fluid defense.

I've always played the peaceful builder in previous Civ/SMAC games. Not being able to build all the wonders on Deity is too much for my perfectionist sensibilities to deal with. So I go for the perfectionist military route, which is still possible. Maybe someday the AI will learn to just let me build the Pyramids, to keep the barbaric hordes from getting restless...

[Arrian]

Good guide. I also play a builder type game... although there is usually plenty of war also. My games are Monarch level, primarily Normal/Continents with roaming barbs.

I heartily agree on your top 3 civs, but I would re-order them:

Babs
Egyptians
Persians

The Babylonian civ traits are incredibly powerful, making their UU meaningless to me. Generally, my cities produce all the improvements they can and then, only when they have nothing better to do, they build barracks and start producing units. If I discover something that allows for a new improvement, military production is immediately scrapped, and the improvement is built. Thus, the Babs are GREAT for my style, because I get those improvements done quickly. I find that, when I play the Babs, I build up my military earlier than when playing any other civ, simply because those temples and libraries didn't take forever and a day to build. So, although the Babs are clearly designed to be awesome culturally, strong scientifically, and weak militarily, I find that they are strong in all three areas, given a bit of time.

To boil my playstyle down to the bare essentials:

1) REX
2) Build infrastructure & early wonders
3) Build military
4) Kill/Build more wonders (golden age often triggered now)
5) Industrialize
6) Kill again
7) Decide whether to keep killing or build the SS.

The Egyptians are also great, because of the early REX boost industrious workers allow for, coupled with Religious, the best overall trait out there.

Persia is strong, no doubt, but playing a non-religious civ is painful during revolution, and early in the game when I'm DYING to build some temples, but either lack the tech, or see a lot of: Temple, 60 turns. Also, since we are discussing the "builder" style, I'm not really giving full credit to the Immortal (which, if used against spearmen, is unstoppable).

Research:

Straight for Literacy, then currency. When playing an industrious civ, I will gladly trade away masonry for alphabet, because I actually WANT the AI to get going on the Pyramids (see below).

WONDERS:

Ok, I'm a heretic. I don't care for the Pyramids. I feel that the size 12 barrier and the difficulty of keeping your cities happy early on makes building the Great Library better. Also, since I'm spending the early game building up, I have no troops to beat on a neighbor with (in order to get tech out of them). Finally, building the Pyramids requires a VERY early committment, and hurts early expansion, which I consider absolutely crucial. I am unwilling to do that (it seems strange to build a wonder which provides a growth boost to each city at the expense of building more cities). The AI will go for the Pyramids over the G.Library, which is fine by me. Actually, the best thing that can happen for me is an AI finishing the Pyramids really early, so that the others cannot switch over to the G.Library and thus lose their built up shields.

I start getting really greedy about wonders in the Middle Ages - the only ones I don't care about are Shakespeares and Leo's. After that, I want them all.

Early garrisons:

I primarily use warriors if I have a bunch of food available (and a good start usually requires lots of food). There is no way I'm slowing down settler production to build a spearman. If I get attacked that early, I'm screwed anyway. And the AI counts units, so 2 warriors are more of a deterrant than 1 spearman. Once I have iron, I will upgrade those old warriors, which I use to help garrison border towns. Often I will have a city with high shield output but low trade and food from which I will build a bunch of vet. spearmen to replace the old warriors.

City builds:

I agree with building a temple and library in every city, but strongly disagree with the idea that marketplaces generally aren't worth building really early on. The earlier I can get those built, the better! They make more people happy, and increase revenue, which is crucial for the switch to republic. Usually, my cities build improvements as soon as those improvements are available.

War:

If I can, I hold off on war until the Middle Ages (read: Knights). This gives me time to build up a strong infrastructure and build a bunch of units too. I like to use overwhelming force when I fight, so I'm willing to delay in order to build more units. The Middle Ages are, IMHO, a great time for your golden age. If you get the important Middle Age wonders, while also gaining territory and resources, you will be set for the rest of the game.

A second war will often be fought once I have Cavalry (sometimes this is the first war). By now I should have a nice little tech lead going, and will be able to use Cav against musketmen or even pikemen. Too good to pass up, really.

If I fight again, it will probably be with Modern Armor.

General observations:

I think Blitzer's need for ancient war is directly related to his Wonder choice. Building the Pyramids means having a smaller empire early on than you would if you decided against them. So, the logical thing is to expand at the expense of a neighbor or two. Also, lacking the Great Library, one falls behind in tech on Monarch and up... thus warfare is necessary to catch up.

The Great Library allows you to gain the tech lead without coercing a neighbor. That means I can build infrastructure instead of troops early on. Clearly, however, losing out on the Great Library is a devastating blow for me, as all of my plans depend upon getting it.

-Arrian

p.s. Another decent builder civ is the Indians. I agree that commercial is weaker than scientific or industrious, but it is still useful, and you do start with the alphabet.

[pchang]

You cannot upgrade to UU's. You can upgrade from them. However:

Persians: Since their UU is a replacement for the swordsmen, there is nothing they can upgrade to.
Egyptians: Since their UU is a horseman w/ terrain restrictions, you might as well wait until knights to upgrade.
Babylonians: Bowmen upgrade to Longbowmen. Pretty much useless. I have purposefully built no UU's and instead used wonders to trigger my GA with these guys. Worked out great since the GA was triggered right at the end of Ancient era/beginning of Middle Ages and allowed me to build a couple of other wonders (Sun Tzu/Leonardo - I abandoned the builder strategy and conquered the world with knights/cavalry).

[Aeson]

Your right Pchang, I got it backwards on the upgrading. I always use Horses, and avoid the Indians, Japanese, Chinese, and Russians because of this. I still think 2 warriors are better than 1 spearman for the most part, but the Persians/Romans would get the least use out of them.

[Hawkx9]

Ok, sorry for the total newbie question, but when I try and download the save game "egyptian example.zip" from above I receive a file named "attachment" with no file extension. Can someone tell me how to download the actual file?

Again, it's probably an obvious answer, but enlighten a newbie.

Also, what exactly does "REX" stand for? I assume it means some sort of ICS but I've never seen the reference before.

Thanks.

[Aeson]

Just rename "attachment" to have a .zip at the end, it should open fine.

REX stands for Rapid Early eXpansion I think.

[Blitzer]

The Babylonian civ traits are incredibly powerful, making their UU meaningless to me. Generally, my cities produce all the improvements they can and then, only when they have nothing better to do, they build barracks and start producing units. If I discover something that allows for a new improvement, military production is immediately scrapped, and the improvement is built. Thus, the Babs are GREAT for my style, because I get those improvements done quickly. I find that, when I play the Babs, I build up my military earlier than when playing any other civ, simply because those temples and libraries didn't take forever and a day to build. So, although the Babs are clearly designed to be awesome culturally, strong scientifically, and weak militarily, I find that they are strong in all three areas, given a bit of time.

Arrian, this sounds a lot like the way I started playing. I do adapt the "build all improvements before units" style a little later in the game. However, I find having virtually zerio military in the early game to be a little inflexible for my tastes. I found that the builder-extreme style you play tends to end up the same way every game, ending in a spaceship win. While there is nothing wrong with winning by spaceship 90% of the time, I like the variety that an earlier military expansion provides. Perhaps you have further refined your style to allow a graeter variety of wins, but I find it difficult to obtain any early conquest or domination wins without commiting to warfare a little sooner.

As for your choice of Babylonians and Egyptians over Persians, it makes sense no doubt. I value the Scientific attribute over Religious mainly because it gives a leg up on the Middle Ages wonders... but that's a topic for another thread .

Straight for Literacy, then currency. When playing an industrious civ, I will gladly trade away masonry for alphabet, because I actually WANT the AI to get going on the Pyramids (see below).

Very similar... I imagine you don't detour early for Iron Working as I do mainly because your military is of secondary concern. Makes sense.

Ok, I'm a heretic. I don't care for the Pyramids. I feel that the size 12 barrier and the difficulty of keeping your cities happy early on makes building the Great Library better. Also, since I'm spending the early game building up, I have no troops to beat on a neighbor with (in order to get tech out of them). Finally, building the Pyramids requires a VERY early committment, and hurts early expansion, which I consider absolutely crucial.

The Pyramids makes for some nice pop rushing power for getting those temples (remember, they cost my Persians 60) and of course troops rushed quickly without too many adverse effects on the empire. Definately affects early expansion.

I agree with building a temple and library in every city, but strongly disagree with the idea that marketplaces generally aren't worth building really early on. The earlier I can get those built, the better! They make more people happy, and increase revenue, which is crucial for the switch to republic. Usually, my cities build improvements as soon as those improvements are available.

Marketplaces cost 80, making them an enormous commitment for the size 6 and under city. They come after Aqueduct for me in my build list.

I think Blitzer's need for ancient war is directly related to his Wonder choice. Building the Pyramids means having a smaller empire early on than you would if you decided against them. So, the logical thing is to expand at the expense of a neighbor or two. Also, lacking the Great Library, one falls behind in tech on Monarch and up... thus warfare is necessary to catch up.

Actually... when I build the Collossus, I can usally catch up by hitting currency first and trading it... often that propels me right into the middle ages, and I can trade Monotheism for a goverment. Remember, neither government is a prerequisite for making your way into the middle ages, thus I never research them. The AI will give it's eye teeth for Monotheism, so why bother researching a government in the Ancient Era when you probably want to stay in despotism until after you are ready to start your middle age wonders?

As for garrisons, I tried warriors and they did work better than spearmen.... but I ended up with a ton of worthless warriors in the late middle age and it took months to build all those musketmen =(. Probably works best with a civ that can upgrade to swordsmen... I can see myself building 10 pikemen and upgrading 20 warriors to 20 swordsmen (for only 800 gold) and then using them as the grunts in my knight army. Not a bad idea, will have to try it with the babs. Of course they will all be regulars which will make it even more of a pain in the ass getting my GL for the FP. Probably stick to spearman, tho I may start bulding warriors in those first satelite cities and then having the second garrison be a spearman. Frankly never gave any thought as to garrisons, just built the best defensive unit I had. Glad you guys brought it up.

[ShuShu]

... I too like to be a builder. But I like trying to walk softly but carry a big stick. I only fight wars when others attack and I only fight them long enough to win peace. At the lower levels this resulted in easy space ship and capital culture wins.

I am not sure whether I like this style because I enjoy the added challenge or because clicking a stack of 100 units each turn to wage a successful offfensive is just not my idea of fun...

I have currently been playing on Monarch and have observed the following modifications to the above.


1) Since Capital culture is desirable, start those religious civs off with a temple FIRST, then settler then spearman/bowman/warior. The expanding culture of your capital will scout the surrounding terrain for you!

2) Minimize research, as you make your beeline to literature because your target is the great library (for its CULTURE). Rely on the 40 turn max to make your discoveries. Use the cash to buy techs from others. Emphasize buying techs that come with a backup wonder in case you lose the race to the Great Library (Oracle is useless, but it gives good culture).

3) Stop buying techs if it becomes clear you are going to win the GL race as they will all come for free. Otherwise, buy everything possible and get to republic as quickly as possible.

4) Wage cultural war. The AI leaves gaps for growth with its early cities. Place your settlers in the gaps. A temple and library will not flip the other towns quickly, but I have flipped quite a few size 12 cities in the medievil era. If nothing else, your cultrual power opens most of the land for your developement and chokes off the other towns.

5) Always have at least one barracks town building units. The goal is to have enough units to discourage attacks and threats and encourage trade.

6) As the Babylonians I find that the Medival period marks my transition from tech buyer to tech seller, because of that first free tech at each level. By the industrial age, I am generally 2-3 techs ahead. Buy the modern age I am 4 turns per tech.

7) Monarch provided the first real challenge to this approach and it took a while to stabilize it. I have yet to try it on emperor and of course, from what I hear of deity, wonders were made to be taken not built.

8) Starting city tip. Move the worker first, just in case there are a couple buffalo, err cattle, roaming of in the plains.

9) Absolutely move the Settler to the river as a size 12 city builds monuments much faster than a size 6. That one turn to get to the river cost you 2 maybe 3 shields. The size 7-12 difference recovers 1-12 shields per turn. Capital culture is a powerful tool, so the sooner you build those buildings the sooner you win.

10) Since you are building cultural stuff, happiness is generally not an issue, because luxuries take care of the folks when you are small, and coleseum+cathedral+Sistine really does the trick.

[Arathorn]

Thanks for the builder hints. I find this style of play semi-attractive, but I can never make it work for me.

What level of difficulty do you play on? (I ask not to condemn, but because I want to know.... I play deity because I like a huge challenge. That's what's fun for me.) Also, what size world and how many opponents? To me, that influences the success of certain styles.

From what I've experience, if I tried this strategy on deity, I would build a little, get the second city going, start working on Pyramids, build a third city, lose the Pyramids race and change to Oracle, try to trade techs and fail. I would end up with no wonders and get wiped out by a horde of samurai while I was still way back in the AA.

I will admit I've not had time to actually try to do this, but with only a few cities, where does the tech come from? How do you even come close to keeping up? I seem to end up fighting cavalry with infantry around 10 AD in deity.

Arathorn

[Hermann the Lombard]

Arathorn,

I can't give advice about Deity; still getting my bearings at Monarch, but I'll quote the following from Grim Legacy in Vel's Strat Thread #3:

Originally posted by Grim Legacy
DW: I don't agree that the only way to get out of the 'huge hole' at Emperor and Deity levels is conquest.

There is no doubt that the human player starts with a big disadvantage -just take a look at the replay and you'll see *each* AI civ has 4-5 cities by the time you've built 2 (build orders in your capital being: warrior warrior settler).

Yet, as time goes on, the player is able to gear up with careful city management.

-now comes the inevitable part-

In my last game at Deity level - large, continents, 8 -, I played the French and I had the fortune of being in the possession of a sizeable land. In the end I had managed to build 17 cities. Of these cities, three were weak (tundra and sea-ridden). A further 2-3 cities were mediocre with dry-ish land. These cities were typically the ones founded pretty late. The remaining cities were good or excellent.

So, I was able to catch up in tech with the AI around 1400 AD. I certainly did not experience any late-game tedium: I was racing the tech tree against my now-massive rival the Persians (I estimate well over 40 cities). Guess what? I won. In 1700 I successfully launched my spaceship, winning the game.

I had not taken a single enemy city. I had gotten only 1 elite unit (a warrior, thanks to barbez), no leader. I had only had 3 short 'conflicts', in which I removed a total of 5 small towns that were compromising my lands. The biggest army I had was 14 horsemen, who eventually transformed into 8 cavalry, which were disbanded later.

Sooo... it *is* possible to use 'other' tactics.

[Arrian]

Blitzer -

I agree that my "practically no military early on" approach has its weaknesses. However, I don't think that it locks you into a SS win 90% of the time. The fact that I do win by SS 90% is largely due to my lack of patience for warfare past a certain point. In other words, many of my games could easily have ended by domination, but I just wasn't willing to go do it... so I built the SS. However, I will confess to a certain (Civ IIish) fondness for the old "build up, grab the tech lead, and use that to win however you choose." In Civ II this meant Howitzers (and for me, spies, as I preferred the cities intact). In Civ III, Modern Armor can pretty much roll over anything short of Mech Inf or other Modern Armor. I also have a MAJOR aversion to letting the game drag on long enough for any of the AI's to get nukes. I hate nukes (again, this is somewhat a Civ II thing), because they sully my prosperous, cultured, advanced civilization.

It's all about goals. Here are mine, in no particular order:

Largest land area
Highest Population
Best Culture
The lion's share of the Wonders
Access (locally) to at least 6 luxuries
Access (locally) to all strategic resources
Technology lead (hopefully a big one)

After I have all of the above... I just don't have a compelling reason to send my legions of Modern Armor forth to sheath their swords in the beating hearts of my enemies (ok, even though I usually shut them off, I kinda miss those corny Civ II advisors).

Scientific vs. Religious - well, I understand your point about the free advance giving you a leg up on the middle ages wonders, but overall, I think Religious is better. Of course, this is why I love the Babs so much. The turn advantage of those two traits together is fantastic.

Pyramids = better forced labor. Ahh, I never even considered that. The only pop rushing I do is to get the original round of temples and libraries done. No units, unless it's an emergency (which usually means I'm done for anyway).

Great Library - one other benifit I forgot to mention is the ability to run minimal science for a little while to build up a large treasury just prior to switching over to Republic. If you've got marketplaces in your core cities, you won't notice the loss of that free unit support. The large reserve is for rushbuying, and now you can jack that science rate back up. If this all works out properly (and I make no representation that it does all the time), I'm usually several techs ahead of the AI by the time I'm getting toward the end of the Middle Ages. This, along with judicious use of shield storage via the Palace and Forbidden Palace, usually nets me the wonders I want.

I generally avoid trading Monotheism to the AI (except for civs on another continent who are way behind... finding them is a priority for me, usually involving the sacrifice of several galleys and their crew). The reason for this is that I don't want them to get to Theology. Sure, I would still get there first, but there is method to my madness. I research Feudalism first now (used to beeline for Theology). I start building Sun Tzu. I also pre-build the Sistine using the Palace or F.P. until I have Theology. Meanwhile, the AI will start on Sun Tzu as well. I will complete it, and if all has gone well, the AI still won't have Theology. Doesn't always work, but it's great when you make them waste all of those shields. I finish the Sistine uncontested, and then it's clear sailing to Copernicus, Bach and Newton (and a huge tech lead).

-Arrian

p.s. Arathorn - I dunno if you were asking everyone, but I'll answer anyway: Monarch level, usually on Normal Maps/Continents. Obviously, the strategies I use would need adjusting for a Diety/Huge/Pangea

[Blitzer]

In Civ III, Modern Armor can pretty much roll over anything short of Mech Inf or other Modern Armor. I also have a MAJOR aversion to letting the game drag on long enough for any of the AI's to get nukes. I hate nukes.

This clearly illustrates my point. My games rarely last until the modern era, or rather the AI never hits the modern era. As the game progresses, the offensive units (especially UU's) become less and less effective than their defensive counterparts. It is possible to build a majority of the wonders, while still maintaining your infrastructure and yet win the game militarily. It is this that is my goal, not simply to sit back and play the role of the builder, but use my strengths culturally, tchnologicaly and economicly to vault my empire into dominance, and win the game at the earliest possible date.

What level of difficulty do you play on? (I ask not to condemn, but because I want to know.... I play deity because I like a huge challenge. That's what's fun for me.) Also, what size world and how many opponents? To me, that influences the success of certain styles.

I have not been successful on deity with any of these techniques. I play on Emperor difficulty, as on deity the builder style is simply not as effective as military conquest. I have completed several Deity games, but frankly they were boring. I have won by SS (continents) , Militarily (on Pangea), and culturaly (continents, with the ICS culture strategy). The ICS cultural win was my attempt to win the game as a builder on deity, and if you consider it a valid win (I have my doubts), then yes it is a builder win on deity. However, that used none of the techniques and strategies outlined in this thread.

My SS victory was basicly a horseman rush with the Iriquois that secured my contientnt. Apparently the Zulu did a similar thing on their continent at an early date (for the most part, there were some irrelevant 2-3 city civs still kicking around on islands and such). Although the Zulu and I repeatedly atempted to invade each other's contients and I did manage to build up a tech lead, this game became an insane ironclad-fest that quickly lost any sense of enjoyment, and I was more than happy to complete my spaceship and win.

Having beat deity in several different ways, I prefer to return to the Emperor level as it is more condusive to "fun" play. Yes I do win almost every game, but there is still a challenge, and each game is different.

[ShuShu]

I expect to work up to emperor, and at least try deity, but I am finding that as this 4x genre evolves, deity ceases to be a less play balanced game.

It is interesting to have watched this evolve. Civ I's top difficulty was equivalent to monarchy or emperor today. MOOI allowed you to survive merely by the good graces of the AI which would allow you to survive long enough to compete. MOM reduced the length of time the AI allowed you to grow but added a minumum grace period. CivII was the first time I felt Deity actually reduced my options rather than increased the challenge. SMAC seemed to overcompensate by having the different factions burn off their excess capacity fighting each other without little gain in total power as a result. Now what I hear is that Deity in CivIII makes it impossible to build ancient wonders. That's not an added challenge, that is a reduction of options.

If deity increased the intelligence of the AI that would be one thing, but by merely increasing its production it leaves you with one and only one objective: offset the massive production advantage of the AI. I believe Deity has become a concession to the warmongers who complain these games are not competitive enough and that the lower levels are intended to play the game as intended with all the new gadgets. Plus it is always fun to play checkerboard, turtleshell, Ghengis Khan games on deity just to see how well they work to offset the major advantages.

I just don't take it as such an assault on my manhood as I used to when I decide that I like playing a level lower than Deity.

My eyes were opened to this playing HOMMIII on the highest difficulty. You get no resources to build an army, and without an army you can get no resources. Result: you must play the race that generates an army without the need for resources. Great fun, but if you tire of being a necromancer... well, time to step down a level.

[Arrian]

Hey Blizter, were you planning on writing a mid or late game version of your builder guide?

I enjoyed discussing the early game, and I wonder how different our approaches are later on.

-Arrian

[Blitzer]

I wasn't sure people were interested enough for a middle ages guide... if there is enough demand, I'll post the second installment, it still needs a few hours of work, however.

[GarP]

I am very interested in seeing more on the later eras. Even playing the Aztecs, my game always tries to go toward building rather than conquering. I wanted to ask a question about the Great Library. It sounds as though a lot of players get the GL then quit doing science and let the other civs feed them advances. Every time I get the GL, the other Civs just stay right even with me in technology, or they make sure that only one civ acquires techs that I dont have, until suddenly I get Theology and Education, and it's over. I almost never get a lot of techs out of it. Am I doing something wrong? I seems clear that the AI knows what I've got, even if I dont open the diplomacy window.

Thanks for any advice. It's (almost?) as much fun learning about the game, as playing it.

[KithrupFugitive]

Originally posted by Blitzer
I wasn't sure people were interested enough for a middle ages guide... if there is enough demand, I'll post the second installment, it still needs a few hours of work, however.

I'd be very interested in reading about pursuing a builder startegy through the middle ages. I realize that engaging in combat is sometimes necessary, but I've never found it satisfying that the Civ series seems to so heavily favor the warmongering style in terms of scoring/rewards. For that reason I have really enjoyed reading this thread.

Thanks!

[Arrian]

GarP -

Here's what I do (Monarch level). My first tech beeline is obviously literature (I usually purchase masonry if I'm not industrious), followed by currency. The GL usually nets me just about everything else in ancient times. Occasionally I will need to research one or two other ancient techs before shooting forward into the middle ages. Builds in my cities are usually: temple, library, marketplace, cathedral, colleseum, bank (with the occasional unit or worker, depending on the situation). Oh, and if the city needs an aqueduct, it gets one as soon as I know I can keep it happy - usually this means either a cathedral or marketplace prior to the aqueduct. My military is usually very thin until the mid-middle ages, but my economy & culture rock, and because of that, I start to leave the AI in the dust.

The first tech I research in the M.A. is Feudalism. This allows me to start on Sun Tzu in my capitol, while a second good-production city is working on the Palace. Then I go for Theology (if I'm playing my beloved Babylonians, I get Monotheism as a free advance, so it's even quicker). The "palace" city switches to the Sistine, and I usually research up the Engineering line (Eng., Invention) for a bit... sometimes I get these from the Library, it all depends on how strong the AI's are. Then I research Education and start building universities all over the place. Then on to Astronomy for Copernicus, then Music Theory for Bach, then I switch back to the other side of the tech tree and beeline for Theory of Gravity for Newton's, then Military Tradition for Cavalry. Finally, Democracy (although if I'm not doing any fighting I may do democracy earlier). Then Magnetism and onward to the Industrial Age. By this point, I'm usually 3-4 techs up on the AI if all is going well.

If I can trigger a Golden Age in the Middle Ages, I will. Often I do it with Wonders (Great Library + Sistine triggers for Babylon, for instance), but probably more often with a war.

Suck the AI's treasury dry by selling luxuries for gold/turn. Once you build up a bit of a tech lead, sell off harmless tech like printing press for crazy amounts of gold/turn. The AI's will all be running 70% taxes to pay you. If you fight wars, aim for more luxuries. Make the whole world dependent upon you for their citizen's happiness, and you will ensure you stay rich and they stay poor - and backward.

-Arrian

[Hermann the Lombard]

Originally posted by Blitzer
I wasn't sure people were interested enough for a middle ages guide... if there is enough demand, I'll post the second installment, it still needs a few hours of work, however.

Well, I'm interested, as I find the transition from "Ancient" to "Medieval" to be one of the trickier parts of the game. Not only is it a time of tech change (and great opportunity for Wonders), but it's the time to switch from the initial strategy to an ongoing strategy.

[GarP]

Originally posted by Arrian
GarP -

Here's what I do (Monarch level). My first tech beeline is obviously literature (I usually purchase masonry if I'm not industrious), followed by currency. The GL usually nets me just about everything else in ancient times. Occasionally I will need to research one or two other ancient techs before shooting forward into the middle ages. [lots of good stuff snipped]

-Arrian

Do you just drop your research to zero until they have to run past you? I've usually continued on one research line, staying away from the philosophy/republic line (since it was said that the AI goes in that direction), hoping to pick up techs on the others, but game after game, the AI civs seem to hold back so I wont get anything (at least thats the way it seems). If I switch to zero or very low research, then the AI can pick one civ to push ahead with research while everyone else holds back and builds units, so I'm out of luck. I guess that is probably what is happening already. It just seems like I dont get enough out of the wonder to be worth it, but I'm hearing a lot of success stories from other peoples games.

Thanks for the other suggestions. Some of it I already do, but there's new stuff in there for me to try.

[Arrian]

GarP,

Actually, I've been leaving my tech/tax rate at 50/50. Like I said, straight for Literature... masonry gets bought, along with the wheel and ironworking, although sometimes I research those (by the time I do, they take 4 turns each because every AI has them already). Doing this on Monarch, the AI blazes past me in tech, though I'm the first to writing and literature. Often, however, I talk to AI's that have 6 or so techs I don't. No biggie, I'll get those from the library. I NEVER trade writing or literature. I will trade alphabet once I'm close to literature, if any AI's don't have it yet.

The AI doesn't tend to go for currency, so that's a tech I probably won't get from the G.Library. That fact, coupled with the value of marketplaces, makes it my 2nd beeline. After that, it's republic, assuming the GL didn't give that one to me. By then, the G.L. gets me construction and polytheism, catapulting me into the Middle Ages.

-Arrian

[Selkirk]

I've been using the egyptians on deity lately. Research wise, I start with the Wheel. Playing the egyptians, it is absolutely essential to find horses.

Also, Sometimes you can trade wheel for bronze working and warrior code if a neighbor doesn't have it. You can sometimes trade masonry, too.

Then I beeline for literature, then beeline for monarchy, then for currency.

I agree with using the warriors. If you build about 2 warriors per settler while expanding, the computer won't straight out attack you, but will extort from you instead. I always give them what they want. If I am going to go to war, I want to decide when.

I usually start building 3 warriors then a settler. I station one warrior in my capitol, then send the other two exploring.

After the REX phase is over, I make sure I have a temple, library, and barracks in each city. Each river city gets a marketplace.

Then, I build chariots in all cities. I'll build as many as I can afford, gradually ratcheting down my science until its at 10%. You don't want to start building chariots until you are fully developed in all cities or the upkeep and corresponding slow down in science will cripple you later.

When I couldn't possibly afford another chariot, then I unleash them on the neighbor of choice. Usually the computer is far ahead and may have musketeers or even knights. If you wait until your opponent has cavalry, you are doomed.

The first attack will trigger a golden age and allow more chariots and more science. I set all cities to building chariots.

With 20 or 30 chariots (sometimes as low as 10 or as high as 50), you can blitzkrieg through a computer player destroying or capturing cities.

Its death by a thousand papyrus cuts for the computer at this point. The chariots are cheap and expendable. Destroy everything and don't slow them down trying to defend them with spearmen. (Destroy cities if you think you can't hold them with 1 or 2 chariots left behind.)

Stop when the computer is down to one or two cities then extort all of their tech.

Switch to the next computer player.

Use the chariots until your golden age is over, or you start to hit riflemen or cavalry.

Then disband them all in your new cities to build temples and courthouses.

Hopefully, you got a leader which you can use for a forbidden palace.

Beeline for democracy.

Build Cathedrals, Banks, and courthouses in all cities plus aquaducts if necessary.

Beeline for the next age, ignoring all optional techs.

Get steam and build RR with your Bazillion captured workers.

Get industrialization and build factories in every city.

Get nationalism and military tradition.

Then build cavalry for war II. You must time this war to occur before the computer beats you to tanks. Sometimes it isn't possible.

With fully developed cities including factories and coal plants, democracy and war time mobilization, you can churn out an impressive number of cavalry.

Seize as much as you can, then make peace and disband your armies for improvements.

The only wonder that I have ever been able to build in a deity game is Hover Dam. I only get that in about 50% of my games. Thats about when I catch up to the computer, tech wise.