From ekenworthy@cix.compulink.co.uk Thu Apr 25 11:12:38 1996
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic
Subject: Unoffical Civ2 Strategy FAQ v2.0 (TEXT) part 2 of 2
From: ekenworthy@cix.compulink.co.uk ("Edward Kenworthy")
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 10:12:38 GMT
Continued from part 1.
All distribution, copyright disclaimers displayed in part one of this
document apply to this part as well.
==============================
-SECTION TWO- STRATEGIES
==============================
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CHAPTER[5]: The Early Game
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[5-1]: Expand Rapidly
===========================
Build lots of cities quickly. Forget about building an army or
garrisons and build settlers. On Emperor level this is easy because you
don't get any discontent until your third citizen and by building lots
of settlers you ensure you don't have cities that big. On Deity level
it's harder because the second citizen is discontented. The plan here is
to still build lots of settlers quickly - but take the occasional break
to build a garrison or temple to keep the citizens quiet.
The sole exception to this is if you find yourself on the same
continent as another player. In which case the priority is to kill them
as quickly possible. Do *not* build up first - they will be too !!
[5-2]: Build Roads
===========================
Always build at least one road or irrigation with each settler
before building a city. Roads are important early for the trade boost
you get. Otherwise you'll run out of money !
Once you have 5-6 cities established begin to build roads
connecting them - both too increase the speed of response of your armies
and to improve trade.
[5-3]: Establish Your Borders
===========================
Seal off your continent as quickly as possible ! Along with
destroying any other civilisations you find on your continent you should
fortify units on its land borders as soon as possible to prevent others
moving in and thereby giving yourself exclusive access to the continent.
If you're playing in the real world then Africa is one of the
easiest continents to achieve this in - simply fortify a unit (and build
fortification when possible) at the Suez canal to prevent access to the
whole of Africa. (The Americas comes a close second - because you have an
ocean to separate you. The disadvantge is a lack of opportunities to
trade technology with other civilisations.)
[5-4]: Change To Monarchy
===========================
The most important early advance to get is Monarchy. Despotism is
just
too inefficient for you to get far with it. Although it is OK for the
early turns because of the reduced maintenance you pay for units.
"Get into Monarchy ASAP. Then once you have monarchy start
irrigating the hell out of your land. At this point, pump up the
population with a We love the ___ celebration. Boost the luxary rate to
get all of your cities into We_Love, and let this go for a few years till
they hit the aquaduct wall at size 8. Then reset the tax/science rate,
build aquaducts and temples, etc, and then have another celebration and
boost your cities to size 12. Once you research sewers, you can have
another sale.
"Of course, to have such large cities, its necessary to have
Mike's chappel (sp?) and other people pacifying Wows."
[jthibeau@wellfleet.com (John Thibeault)]
[5-5]: Republic Costs
===========================
Be careful about switching to Republic too soon. If you have lots
of settlers around (as I suggest) then you'll quickly starve them
because of doubling of food support.
"I am playing on the King Level, and I recently switched from
Monarchy to Republic. I had a bunch of cities, ranging up to size 14
(captured from the Babylonians), and I immediately had problems with
famines. I did not have many cathedrals (the evil Yanks had built
Michelangelo's Chapel), and popularity was a problem. I then switched to
Communism, and I am awash in food. During my brief stint as a
Republican, I lost several engineers to the famine. As a Commisar, I am
building new engineers and am growing my population. Long live Marx
(Groucho, that is)!"
[zcbag@cnfd.pgh.wec.com (B. Alan Guthrie)]
[5-6]: Trade, Trade, Trade
===========================
With the exception of one or two critical technologies I always
trade everything I can. This is because unless you have a commanding lead
over all other civilisations the others will trade amongst themselves and
you'll lose out. Don't trade a techology that allows construction of
Wonder you want to build. Unless it's for a technology that allows
construction of a more important Wonder that you won't acquire for a
while.
[5-7]: Wonders of The World
===========================
Wonders To Build. The ones to go for are: Pyramids, Great Library
and Great Wall. Some people also adivse Hanging Gardens and Colossus -
but I wouldn't bother - there' better stuff.
An Alternative Point of View from jthibeau@wellfleet.com (John
Thibeault)
"Initial WoWs to get are the Colossus, as this is a great boost
for trade, cash and research. Then go for the Great Wall, then the
Great Library, as a defensive measure to keep this thing out of the
hands of the Ai civs. My latest game on Emperor level (7 civs) I have
my capital building the Wow's, and 3 cities feeding it with caravans, and
I have managed to just squeak by in building these Wow's (plus the
pyramids) before the Ai civs have. It is important to get the Trade tech
pretty early, so you can use caravans to beat the Ai at making WoW's. The
Ai cheats by 'buying' Wows a little at a time each turn, and they seem to
be able to generate more cash than the human player can. The Great
Library will not help you if you are in the lead, but I feel that it is
vital to keep this thing out of the hands of the AI civs.
"Another strategy concerning the Great library is to destroy it!
Find the city that the AI has built it in, and keep attacking the city
(without capturing it) till the city is reduced to pop 1, and then
destroyed. No more library! =)
"One great way to wage war while in a republic or democracy is to
have both King Richards crusade and Shakespear in the same city. This
city can then support quite a large army in the field. My last game
(King,7) I had both of these in a sixe 19 city, and had an army of 36
Dragoons in the field, just waiting for the Ai civs to break those
treaties!! hehe"
"Has anyone researched for the "Great Library" right away, then
put your efforts and taxes into producing big cities, all the while your
getting tech from the library???" [schollr@esc.ccsd15.k12.il.us (Ryan
Scholl)]
-------------------------------------------
CHAPTER[6]: The Mid Game
-------------------------------------------
[incomplete]
[6-1]: Get Outta Here
===========================
Regularly insist that anyone you have a peace treaty with
withdraws their troops (if they're imposing).
[6-2]: Trust You Again ?!?
===========================
If a civilisation regularly breaks treaties never, never, ever,
sign another one with them. They *will* break it again. (And there's a
bug, at least in 1.06, that means you take the blame if someone violates
a treaty with you !! Nice one MP.)
[6-3]: Wonders of The World
===========================
Wonders to aim for are: Michaelangelo's Chapel and Hoover Dam.
-------------------------------------------
CHAPTER[7]: The Late Game
-------------------------------------------
[7-1]: Wonders of The World
===========================
You really should be a Democracy in the late game - otherwise
you're going to fall badly behind in production and technology.
Fundamentalism appears to be a sound alternative but fanatics are not
good units and technology is the only way to break the stalemates that
can develop in the late game - and Fundamentalist governments lose 50%
of their research (especially if it contradicts the Bible or Koran etc
Darwin's Voyage ? Lose two technology advances ;)).
Alternate points of view:
"Once you switch into a Fundamentalist gov't, stick with it to the end.
Granted, you loose alot of sci. but you make it back with the cities you
capture. The only reason you should change back to democracy is if you
have no idea where any of the other civs are."
[jake@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu (Jacob Daniel Walter)]
"One common approach, which works too well IMO, is to use
Fundamentalism to destroy all but one competing civilization, and to
reduce that last one to a single city. Then you can gently restore your
cities (using all the cash you get from tithes, disbanding units, and
selling your expensive coastal defenses and city walls to offset the cost
of raising the luxury rate and buying colliseums) to prepare them to the
switch back to democracy." [rdclark@aol.com (RDClark)]
"I agree that Fundamentalism is too powerful. I've had several games on
Emperor and Deity level that I won simply by building lots of cities
early, getting to Fundamentalism quickly, then out-producing all the
other civs and drowning them in cavalry, cannons and fanatics,
accompanied by huge gangs of settlers to make roads and, later, railroads
so that a cannon can be purchased outright in one turn, then in the next
railroaded right up to an enemy city to attack."
[rdclark@aol.com (RDClark)]
[7-2]: Defending Your Cities
===========================
Defending your cities. It makes sense to have a mix of units in
your front line cities. I.e. two good defensive units plus one or two
good attackers to take out those slow moving heavy hitters as they
trundle up to your city walls. A barracks (for the healing capability)
and of course city walls are a must.
[7-3]: Espionage
===========================
The only way that you're going to realistically win the
game by conquest is by using diplomats and spies to incite revolts in
opponents cities. Obviously this won't work against Democracies - but
that's not a problem because the computer seems to prefer Fundamentalism
anyway.
[7-4]: Spaceward Ho!
===========================
Alternatively, concentrate on defending your territory whilst
knocking you closest competitors and aim to win by building the
spaceship.
[7-5]: Oops - silly me !
===========================
Unless you really, really have to have a city and can't bribe it
(costs too much or it's a Democracy) do *not* send a spy in to plant a
Nuclear device ! It can be quite embarassing for the whole world to
declare war on you. Unless of course your a Fundamentalist regime and
everyone expects the worst from you anyway :) (Didn't stop the Yanks
bombing Libyan civilian centres though did it ? Perhaps there should be
an extra qualifier to this: As long as no oil is involved no-one will
care. ;))
[7-6] "The Vikings Launch..." AAAHHHH !
===========================
If another civilisation builds and launches their spaceship
before your ready - don't despair. Build the maximum structure, minimum
life support etc and maximum engines and fuel. As long as you pile
enough resources in and weren't already too far behind, your spaceship
will fly faster, catch up, overtake and you'll win.
(I've only been beaten to the launch twice. Both times by the
Vikings. The first time I won anyway because of a bug in 1.0 which meant
as long as you had launched a spaceship you won regardless of who
actually got to Alpha Centauri first. The second time I won by using the
above tactic.)
[7-7] Wonders of the World
===========================
You really should be aiming to gain the following Wonders: SETI
project and Cure for Cancer.
Don't worry if someone else beats you to Apollo Project or
Manhattan project because you get all the benefits anyway ! The only
problem is if you're not ready to take advantage of these - you can be
sure the other civilisations will be !
[7-8] M.A.D.
===========================
How to wage nuclear war. One short answer: don't. Enemy civs do
sometimes clean up pollution - but don't count on it. If you've managed
to build SDI in all vulnerable cities and need to then go ahead and try a
limited surgical strike.
[7-9] Guerilla’s In the Mist
===========================
Dealing With Partisans. Guerilla Warfare really bogs the game
down. If your opponents have this then you can probably forget about a
quick military victory. Conversley if you have it then you're unlikely to
be knocked out before you finish building your spaceship.
"I think I have found a strategy that helps limit those pesky
Partisans. Partisans only appear on empty land squares within a cities
zone of control. If you fill up all available land squares then take the
city you do not get any partisans. If you can't fill all of the squares
you can at least determine were the partisan will go. That way you can
kill him quicker. I like using bombers or fighters to fill up the
squares. With fighter I send them to the square they will occupy then
press 'W' to have them wait. Take the city then move the unit. The
computer player has placed a lot of rail around his cities. With Rail
you can send a land unit to occupy a square then Press 'W' then take the
city. You can use all of the units you have Waited with to take the next
city."
[nowakowsky@arc.ab.ca (Blair Nowakowsky)]
[7-10] Broken AEGIS
===========================
The earlier versions of Civ2 had a bug in it that meant the AEGIS cruiser
did *not* intercept attacking missiles and aircraft. This was fixed in
1.07.
-------------------------------------------
CHAPTER[8]: Player Tips
-------------------------------------------
[blank]
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CHAPTER[9]: War Stories
-------------------------------------------
[blank]
==============================
-SECTION THREE- MISCELLANEOUS
==============================
-------------------------------------------
CHAPTER[10]: Internet Resources
-------------------------------------------
[15-1] Third party programs
[blank]
[15-2] World Wide Web sites
[blank]
[15-4] Other FAQs and texts
[blank]
-------------------------------------------
CHAPTER[11]: Bugs, updates, future games
-------------------------------------------
[11-1] The wishlist
[blank]
[11-2] Questions regarding Civ2 present and future
[blank]
[11-3] Update patches
The current patch is version 1.09, available from the civ2 home
page.
[11-4] Errors in the Civ2 manual
None that I’m aware of.
-------------------------------------------
CHAPTER[12]: Conclusion
-------------------------------------------
My best score so far is 83% on Emperor level - without cheating. I'm
currently playing a Divinty level game and doing quite nicely ! And
this is all on a version of Civ2 that still has the auto-production bug !
My favourite starting position used to be America - but your just too
isolated. So now my favourite is Zulus, default starting position and
the real world map. Just the right balance between isolation and access.
-------------------------------------------
CHAPTER[13]: Revision History
-------------------------------------------
Version 1.0 Initial Strategy Guide
Version 1.1 Added Usenet culled comments
Version 2.0 Changed the format of the guide and extended it somewhat.
(
geocities.com/timessquare/lair) (
geocities.com/timessquare)