Monarchy vs. Republic

Flinx · August 28, 2002, 18:31

So which is better, Monarchy or Republic? I find that paying for all my units grinds my science to a halt when I switch from Despotism to Republic while under Monarchy the free units and extra content faces more than makes up for the increased waste/corruption. I do not remember that last time I have been a Republic.

Do you use Republic? How does it fit into your strategy?

N. Machiavelli · August 28, 2002, 18:36

Ironically, I find having many short, rapid wars helps my Republic game. Most of the time you need only to concentrait on conquering one or two cities and destroying the majority of their offensive army to force them to capitulate. When they do, demand techs; which will make up for the lower science rate.

N. Machiavelli · August 28, 2002, 18:36

Hot dog, I'm a Prince now.

kimmygibler · August 28, 2002, 19:13

I usually go to republic if I don't have a big army and want to go for a tech lead. Also, republic becomes very useful if you have or are able to build marketplaces in several cities. Also, sometimes you just happen to get republic first. I'll often change to whatever of the two I get first.

Cyclotron · August 28, 2002, 20:27

I always find republic to be the better bargain in terms of income, science, and happiness. Of course, I tend to have a small and efficient military force as opposed to a large one, so my games run more cost effective (but my campaigns are riskier). Republic may cause unhappiness, but it seems that I can almost always counteract that with extra funds towards entertainment while still having a greater income than a monarchy.

I tend to only switch from there to demo if I am religious... otherwise, there is often too little difference between the rep. governments to merit a switch.

coryl · August 28, 2002, 20:39

I also find that marketplaces are key to my choice between the two. I go to Monarchy as soon as possible but only switch to Republic after I have half a dozen marketplaces in my core cities. They usually are my second building.

I also often wait until I can trade for one more luxury to counteract the loss of police units.

I've made the mistake of going Republic too soon and it's ugly.

Sheik · August 28, 2002, 20:42

It depends on what style game you are playing.

I switch to Republic ASAP. I can usually buy Monarchy later or research it later and I almost never use it. republic is great if you are playing a builder game and have a lot of cities but Monarchy is good for early war. For later war you can use communism.

Skanky Burns · August 28, 2002, 22:38

Going Republic before having market-places is a very good way to bankrupt yourself. I was losing money in one game where I wasn't even doing any research!

Sheik · August 29, 2002, 00:00

really? I have never seemed to have this problem.

The Pioneer · August 29, 2002, 02:45

Why did you post the same question in two different Forums simultaneously?! In my book that's called Spam!

EDIT: I saw your thread in a third Forum??? Why?

The Templar · August 29, 2002, 09:26

I have to go with Skanky Burns on this one. I go straight for currency after litteracy, then right before switching to republic, I pop rush as many marketplaces as are feasible. Once I become a republic, the marketplaces boost my economy so much that monarchy just isn't worth it. Of course, I also try to avoid having too large of an army. Insufficient marketplaces in a republic in my experience will leave you broke.

Destroyer · August 29, 2002, 18:48

I wait for as many luxuries and marketplaces in alll my cities before swapping, or you will need to set luxuries to more than 0% wasting tax and science.

Skanky Burns · August 30, 2002, 05:49

I have never used luxuries though.

dojoboy · August 30, 2002, 07:21

Quote:

Originally posted by The Templar
I have to go with Skanky Burns on this one. I go straight for currency after litteracy, then right before switching to republic, I pop rush as many marketplaces as are feasible. Once I become a republic, the marketplaces boost my economy so much that monarchy just isn't worth it. Of course, I also try to avoid having too large of an army. Insufficient marketplaces in a republic in my experience will leave you broke.

I'm in agreement w/ these fellas. Switching to Republic without first building the infrastructure (marketplaces) is a huge mistake. I'm in Monarchy just as long as it takes to get Republic, usually through force. I research Monarchy first for a couple reasons: (1) I can usually get it before the AI and the AI civs pay handsomely for it (techs, gpt, etc.) and (2) monarchy allows me to produce offensive units faster than staying in despotism while beelining for Republic.

TheStinger · August 30, 2002, 08:24

i always get republic as soon as possible, I make a beeline for it.

Then again i'm pretty rubbish

Redstone · August 30, 2002, 09:47

I'm in the middle of a game as Rome, monarch level difficulty. I was using a Monarchy government for ages as I waged war on first Egypt (ancient era) and then Greece (early medieval era). I have a good sized army of legionary, horsemen, catapults and some pikemen (so I've got units in the defensive unit upgrade path). Egypt were beaten easily and I got several GLs - first one formed a legionary army and second one rushed the forbidden palace.

But Greece proved a tougher opponent - the hoplite are evenly matched with the legionary and Alexander sent a concentrated swordsmen counter-attack. As the war with Greece dragged on I was slipping further behind in the tech race - my advisor telling me that the other civs (on another continent who I had no contact with) were completing wonders that I'd not even researched the tech for. By this stage I'd stopped research cos I didn't see the point - the gold is more valuable than the science. The downside is my legionary based military was going to become obsolete soon.

So for the sake of getting back into the tech race I planned to switch to Republic. I defined the 2 Greek cities that I had to conquer (1 with ivory and 1 on MY land) - focussed my army on those objectives and got building marketplaces in cities without barracks.

I got the 2 Greek cities I wanted, got a couple of techs out of Alexander in the peace settlement, switched to Republic (doesn't anarchy seem to last forever when your not a religious civ???) and now I'm catching up on the techs which are coming pretty fast as they're so cheap after the other civs have got them.

I think my strategy now is to go for democracy and continue building up the cities I captured, with the aim of going back to war when I've got a decent industrial era military. Need to build my navy too cos the next war could be inter-continental.

Man, I like this game!

planetfall · August 30, 2002, 15:09

It is impossible to know which is better until we know key parts of your game:

1-- what level are you playing at?

2-- are you a builder or a warmonger?

3-- Do you like long wars or short wars?

4-- Are you playing a religious civ?

Level below Regent, skip monarchy and go Republic.

Builder-- go republic.

Warmonger-- depends on war style.

Long wars-- forget republic, go Monarchy.

Short wars-- lots of territory, go Republic.
If average territory, it doesn't matter.

Religious civ-- who cares, you can switch fast, and not wait 7 turns between govs.

Caution-- you can go Monarchy without happiness and production infrastructure, but you are better off in Despotism than Republic if these are not in place first.