Hi. I have been following the forum since I bought Civ III a month ago, and have found several useful tips among these threads. Thanks for that!
So, in the interest of sharing knowledge, here is an idea I had in my current game that I haven't seen on these pages:
Game: Russians, Standard Map, 8 Civs, Deity
Right now, there are five civs left, and I am most likely third overall. The Persians seem to be dominating, and they have managed to get the entire world, except me, involved in destroying the weakest civ (France). I am enjoying good production benefits and science and resources from early conquering and am in Democracy (that's why I am staying out of the war). I have been able to move science between 80%-100% and just caught up in tech with it looking like I will take the lead now with Radio. I am building up my military because I fear that I am next, especially since France is almost gone and they are all allied. So, I came up with this peaceful expansion idea:
Tag-Along Land Grab. I am sending transports with settlers and defense to follow the navy of the other civs. When they conquer the French cities, the cultural boundaries retract, exposing valuable resources and already worked land, free for the taking! My plan is to settle on top of these resources and culture-bomb, not necessarily to conquer by culture but to hold on to my new cities!
I already stole an oil from the Iroquois before their border expanded culturally to draw it in, and I hope that as the French get carved up, I can get ahead in tech and grab some valuable resources, as well as finding some great city spots if I need to launch a military campaign. With an airport and some bombers, I should be able to weaken the enemy quite a bit and hold on to my cities. I am looking for a space-race win because I have great production and am heading for the tech-lead when I hit advanced flight and then get a free tech advance at the beginning of the next era. However, if I get the military, a conquest or domination victory might actually be a possibility ... but definitely not the way it looks now.
Well, I'm sure others have used this strategy, but I have not read anything on it.
What do you guys think? It seems resources are the things the AI coughs up the most money for in Deity, so grabbing these first should help keep me afloat economically and ahead in tech. I hope.
Thanks for the tips, everyone! I hope I can add something of worth as well ...
JFB
