UNOFFICIAL CIVILIZATION
2 STRATEGY FAQ/GUIDE This CIV2 Strategy guide is in no way related
with Microprose or the official guide except in topic, and is not meant
to be competition to the latter either. The material in this guide is free
for everyone and I hope it will help you enjoy CIV2 more.
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Settlers/Engineers
Settlers are replaced by Engineers with
the discovery of Explosives. Engineers move twice as fast as settlers and
therefore also build roads,irrigate etc. twice as fast as settlers. Settlers
also have 2 moves instead of 1 for settlers. Both settlers and engineers
are very vulnerable, so defend them.
Another good thing about Engineers which
settlers can’t do is terraforming: to change terrain radically. Use this
possibility as much as possible to improve the resources around your cities.
Warriors
These are the worst combat unit in the
game. Only build them if you’re desperate and have no better technology.
The only good thing about them is that they are very fast to build, even
with a very low production rate.
Phalanx
At the beginning of the game, these offer
the best cost-stregth ratio. However, Archers are better and you should
upgrade as soon as possible. A good defensive unit in the beginning of
the game.
Phalanxes are upgraded to Pikemen.
Legion
Quite a good unit against Phalanxes and
Archers but slow to move. The legion has a short life span as the invention
of Elephants makes these units moreless useless. Legions are upgraded to
Musketeers.
Explorer
A very good unit if attacking an enemy
when you don’t know exactly where his cities are and how big his empire
is. The explorer has a movement of 3 regardless of terrain and it ignores
enemy zones of control. Use the explorer to discover the extent of
your enemy’s civilization if you are planning to attack and don’t know
where all his cities are.
Partisans can be used as improved explorers
once you invent Guerilla Warfare.
Explorers are never upgraded by Leonardo's
Workshop and do not become obsolete.
Pikemen
Pikemen have their defensive strength
doubled if they're attacked by mounted troops. If you use Legions
or other unmounted units to attack pikemen, they are easy to beat.
Phalanxes are upgraded to Pikemen. Pikemen
are upgraded to Musketeers.
Musketeer
An excellent defensive unit until the
invention of conscription (Riflemen). It's hit
points are double that of the non-gunpowder
troops so they are good for attacking anything like Phalanxes, Archers,
Pikemen etc. even when these are fortified. Also use these to attack Dragoons
and Cannons: unfortify them if these are just outside your city because
its better to not take the risk of the cannon or Dragoon beating your Musketeer
(because they can) when you can easily beat them by attacking.
Riflemen
The best cost/strength ratio, and a good
defensive unit for the rest of the game. A regular, cheap unit that you
can build if you can’t afford/ don’t have the time to get better ones.
Also good for attacking Cavalry, Cannon, Musketeers, Dragoons etc.
Leonardo's Workshop upgrades all defensive
units to Riflemen when you discover Conscription.
Alpine Troops
A bit better than Riflemen but more costly.
The good thing is they can move three squares regardless of the terrain
type. They can still take advantage of Railroads, but Roads don’t help.
A couple of these fortified in a city will work even against Tanks (Armors).
These troops are never upgraded by Leonardo's
Workshop and no other infantry types are upgraded to Alpine troops.
Paratroopers
The computer uses these a lot. If you
leave a city undefended (or all the defenders are killed)the computer will
use one if it has one. Always. Good for taking islands (eg. Japan) if used
with naval bombardment (attack the town with ships). Use Paratroopers with
Battleships or Bombers to get the best out of them and don’t be afraid
to attack Partisans with the Paratroopers.
These troops are never upgraded by Leonardo's
Workshop and no other infantry types are upgraded to Alpine troops.
Marines
The major ability of Marines is that they
do Amphibious assaults (they can attack directly a city from a transport
ship. Have the same attack points as Cavalry but better defence (also less
moves).
These troops are never upgraded by Leonardo's
Workshop and no other infantry types are upgraded to Alpine troops.
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Horsemen
Horsemen are good for taking cities at
the very early stages of the game. Phalanxes make Horsemen just about useless
for attacking. You can still use them for exploring, though.
Chariots
Chariots have much less use here than
in Civilization (the old one). The equivalent in CIV2 of Civ Chariots are
Elephants: don’t bother with Chariots, build Elephants.
Elephants
A good unit which is strong and fast.
Use it against Phalanxes and Archers, but forget Elephants when you get
Musketeers.
Upgraded to Crusaders/Knights.
Knights
These are the equivalent of Elephanzs
at a later stage in the game. Watch out against Pikemen though.
Elephants are upgraded to Crusaders. Upgraded
to Dragoons.
Crusaders
Basically improved knights. Weak in defence
however.
Elephants are upgraded to Crusaders. Upgraded
to Dragoons.
Dragoons
A good unit against Musketeers and anythin
weaker than Musketeers.
Upgraded to Cavalry.
Cavalry
The best of the mounted troops. The Cavalry/Riflemen
strength ratio is like the Tank/Alpine Troops ratio.
Not upgraded to anything. Dragoons are
upgraded to Cavalry.
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Armor
Armors (tanks) are good for both defending
and attacking. Especially good against Riflemen. The tank also has 3 moves
making it very mobile.
No units are upgraded to Armors. Is not
upgraded to anything.
Mechanized Infantry
The best defensive unit around. Also relatively
cheap to build.
No units are upgraded to Mech. Inf..Is
no upgraded to anything.
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Use Cannon/Artillery/Howitzers with railroads. Build the railroad up to the enemy city and then use the Heavy weapons. This is the best strategy because of the poor defence and slow movement of these units. If you’re prepared to take the risk of sacrificing two engineers, then use the 2 engineers to build a railroad, this is a fast way to get enemy cities. (2 engineers can build a railroad on a road in one turn if you make them do it on the same turn)
Cannon
Weak for defending and slow to move so
make sure you either have a defensive unit on top of the Cannon or have
no enemy mounted troops around.
Cannons are upgraded to Artillery.
Artillery
Use this with railroads and defend it
well because of its weak defence and slow movement rate.
Cannons are upgraded to Artillery.
Howitzer
A very powerful unit if used correctly
(defence and movement are better than with Artillery).
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Trireme
A good ship for initial exploration. Carries
only 2 though.
Caravel/Galleon
Good ships for exploration and Colonization.
Frigate
Don’t bother, get an ironclad.
Ironclad
A good unit until Destroyers come along.
Transport
Carries 8. Escort these with Destroyers
and Cruisers/AEGIS Cruisers.
Destroyer
A good unit until the invention of coastal
fortress and cruisers. If you’re the first to get it, you have an upper
hand and will be the most powerful naval force. Fast and cheap, good also
for reconnaisance.
Cruiser
Basically an improved Destroyer: slightly
stronger, slower and more expensive. A good unit for patrolling and escorting
transports.
Battleship
A very powerful weapon. The strongest
naval unit. Until the invention of the Cruise Missile, you can roam the
seas at will. This unit can beat any sea unit and is also excellent for
coastal bombardment. The civ with the most of these rules the seas. After
the invention of the cruise missile, protect these with AEGIS cruisers,
“ AEGIS for one Battleship. It’s worth it since the Battleship is so powerful.
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Fighter
Use these to destroy Bombers and Spies/Diplomats.
You can also use these against weak units: Engineers, Artillery, Explorers,
Cannon, Destroyers etc. Veteran Aircraft are significantly better.
Bomber
Put these on top of units so as to make
these units unattackable by land units. When bombing cities, use these
in large numbers: one is useless, you need 2-3 at least to weaken the city
defences properly.
Stealth Fighter
A powerful weapon against Armors, Bombers,
even Mech. Inf. Never attack a city with a fighter. Also try to have veteran
fighters.
Stealth Bomber
Same as for Bomber but many times more
powerful. Use these in large numbers and with Aircraft carriers.
Cruise Missile
Causes unrest in a Republican or Democratic
city and quite expensive. However, excellent against Battleships. Don’t
bother using it against AEGIS cruisers. You should also use these against
submarines if you see that they are carrying missiles (could be nukes!)
Nuclear Missile
Use these only in the following cases:
-You’re sure the enemy doesn’t have nukes
(or has very few)
-You have SDI defence in all or most cities.
-You are sure that you can take some big
cities (the enemy will make peace)
-You can handle the pollution (solar plants,
lots of engineers) to prevent global warming
You can make missile silos with nukes
and airbases: just remember to defend the airbases with land units (NB.
you can’t build fortresses on airbases).
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Caravans/Freights
Caravans are very slow except if you have
roads/railroads. Use them because they bring you lots of money if you get
the supply/demand right. The further the destination city is from the starting
city of the caravan/freight, the more money you will get. (I once took
a freight from Europe to America withe two cities of about 20, I got 1200
gold! And I didn’t mention the increased arrow production in my town).
Freights are good because they’re easy to produce and move 2. You can also
use Caravans/Freights to help build wonders if you need to outrace an opponent
in building a wonder.
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Palace
Reduces corruption a LOT.The further a
city is from your capital (where the Palace is) the greater the
corruption (except when you’re a Democracy.)
Without a palace every city has corruption
like it was the maximum range away!
Temple
Reduces the number of unhappy citizens
by 2. Increased effect with Mysticism and the Oracle doubles the effect
(if you have it).
Granary
this allows you to gather food stores
which halves the city’s growth time and acts as a buffer during famine:
very useful.
The Pyramids give a granary into each
of your cities. Also changes one unhappy person into a content one.
Barracks
If you have Barracks in a town than any
new land unit produced there is veteran. Also any unit heals much faster
in a town with Barracks (make it sleep for 1 turn and it will be completely
repaired.) Airports have the same effects on air units and Port Facilities
for naval units.
City Wall
City walls double defensive the strength
of any units within the city. The best defensive situation in a city is
to have 2-3 Veteran and Fortified modern units (Phalanxes/Archers, Musketeers,
Riflemen/Alpine Troops, Armor/Mech.Inf) and City Walls.
Air units and Howitzers ignore city walls.
City walls prevent losing one population every time a unit within the city
is destroyed.
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Always build a WOW if you can, but if you
have to choose, here’s a list of importance.
If you have to race for the building of
a WOW with another civ, here are some tips:
· Disband units (preferably obsolete
ones) in the city (this adds 1/2 the production cost of the unit to the
WOW construction.)
· Use Caravans/Freights to “help
build wonder”
· Put your tax rate up to max taxes
for the time of you construction and then buy the WOW when you can (but
don’t forget to adjust the tax rate back again)
The BEST:
Great Library, Leonardo's Workshop, Michaelangelo's
Chapel, Darwin’s Voyage, United Nations, Statue of Liberty
GOOD ones:
King Richard's Crusade, Great Wall, Hoover
Dam, Copernicus's Observatory, Magellan's Voyage, SETI project, Eiffel
Tower, Sun Tzu’s Academy, JS Bach’s Cathedral.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got THESE:
Oracle, Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, Lighthouse,
Shakespeare's Theatre, Marco Polo's Expedition, Apollo Project, Manhattan
Project, Women’s Suffrage.
If there’s a lot of water (like on the Large Earth map) Magellan’s expedtion and the Lighthouse shoul be placed in the ‘BEST’ category as they increase the speed of your ships leading to more naval power and chances at colonisation.
Denying Wonders
If you have a wonder, this means obviously
no one else can have it. Use this to your advantage. When faced with powerful
enemies, here’s some WOW’s worth a building races and some sacrifices for:
· UN/Great Wall- (you will have
to make peace if the enemy wants it)
· Great Library- The enemy will
develop by far faster than you
· ManhattanProject - Try not build
this except if you really need nukes because once somebody has built
it, everyone who has missiles can get nukes.
· Leonardo’s Workshop- whoever
gets this should become the most powerful military force (presuming they
discover things relatively fast)
Some discoveries cancel the effect of wonders.
So plan carefully in advance the effects of your discoveries. Here are
some examples:
· Metallurgy cancels the Great
Wall
· Automobile cancels Leonardo’s
Workshop
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Leonardo’s Workshop
Leonardo’s Workshop is one of the best
WOW’s, it upgrades your units to the most modern ones available every time
you discover a new thing. However, all units lose their veteran status
when upgraded. Watch out no other civ gets this.
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Use engineers settlers as much as you can
(and build LOTS of them). To give you a number, sometimes I’ve had over
35 engineers in action at one time. The trick to land development and expansion
is as follows:
At the beginning, alternate settler construction
(build a settler, build something else, build a settler...etc) This allows
you to expand and grow simultaneously.
With these settlers, Irrigate and build
a road or do any other 1or 2 actions (but no more). Then build a city and
more settlers. Like this you can expand very fast.
Once you have around 6-7 cities, build
a little less settlers, put some to develop the land constantly, and keep
building cities with the rest.
Irrigation
Irrigation gives you more food. But start
by irrigating ‘shields’ and Wheat (if there is any).
Roads
Build roads between your cities. This
improves your military strength and helps you for trade.
Mines
Once you have some irrigation and roads,
build mines to increase your production rate. Mines and a railroad on Hills
is excellent, and mines on Coal or Copper with a railroad is AWESOME. There
are some places on Earth where there is excellent production potential.
One is at the tip of South America. With a Democracy, Railroads and mines,
I achieved 105 shields! In the Middle East aroud Baghdad there’s another
one of these places (with the coal and the hills) Here I managed to get
112! (And I never cheated with these, I swear!)
Madrid on the Europe map is also an excellent
place for production.
Railroads
2 Engineers can build a railroad in 1
turn. Use this to build railroads to enemy cities and the Blitzkrieg them
with Armors and Artillery/Howitzers!
Farmland
This is good if you’re looking for big
cities . On the Earth (Large Map-in France), using terraforming and Farmland
and with a democracy I managed to make a city of 42! (Without cheating!)
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Republic
A very good form of government: efficient
and relatively easy to keep the people happy.
Military and Science are balanced.
Democracy
This form of government should only be
used in 2 cases:
· You are either the largest or
else a very large civ which can afford increasing Luxury rate and paying
for temples.
· You are a very peaceful nation
and are not going to go to war with anyone else for a while.
In these cases, and maybe some exceptions,
this government is EXCELLENT for Economy and Science. It cuts back the
military though. You can keep up with a short war if you have WOW (especially
the UN) and can afford to put the Luxury rate quite high up.
There are 2 more important things to a
Democracy:
Units/cities can’t be bribed (YES!)
CAUTION! One turn of disorder causes government
to collapse and anarchy to set in (watch out if you are a big civ) This
can happen if you invade a city and forget to check the happiness of the
people. BE CAREFUL!
Fundamentalism
This is THE govt for war. You get TONS
of money and LOADS of units. Unhappiness is 0 but so is science.
I suggest you adopt this when you are
ether very far ahead the others in Science or the others are far
ahead of you (discovery by conquest).
Communism
An OK early version of Fundamentalism.
Monarchy
In the beginning try and switch to this
as soon as possible.
Despotism
The only good thing abou it is that it’s
not Anarchy!
Anarchy
Hmmmm.....well.......I can’t think of
anything good about it.
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· Remember to capture your continent
completely as soon as possible: on earth, build forts around the Suez canal
for Africa, Mexico for either one of the Americas. Asia and Europe are
harder to seal off but if in one of these, try to get the Middle East:
it has excellent production potential.
· Barbarians come in areas that
are undiscovered (at least if you play ‘raging hordes’) Play with ‘Raging
Hordes’, it’s much more fun and sometimes the Barbarians can capture enemy
cities (cool). You also get 20 extra points on your score (if you care).
· Trade and Settlers are the key
to money and science...remember that.
· Don’t trust civ’s that break
treaties, they’ll do it again, trust me!
· COLONIZE and EXPAND: don’t stay
on the same continent, move out early in the game, otherwise you
will never beat it.
· On Earth, each area has its own
assets, take your pick: China is very fertile (lots of people), Africa
is very isolated (safe at first, but tough to expand), America is also
isolated (beat the other civ’s in America early and you can have both South
and North for yourself, its tough to conquer the rest of the world though.)
Europe is good for warlike players who want are good at fighting and not
so good at economy/happiness.
“Conflicts in Civilization”: Scenarios
A good collection of scenarios with new
units and music.
“Fantastic Worlds”
I don’t know yet, I’m having problems
with it. Sounds good though.
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