Strategy for new players

[Wtiberon]

Here is some basic strategy for those who are new to the MP game:

Multiplayer is becoming increasingly popular as the patches become more stable. Another popular way of playing by joining a ladder which gives you a rank among other players. After playing hours of online I have developed a series of strategies to help you win a greater number of games .

First thing you have to consider is most games are played with a time limit. Usually about two and a half hours is the standard with three hours being the longest among most people. Knowing this you have to realize that you will not get much beyond Ancient Age if you pass it at all. So you have to throw out your single player strategy and conform to a strategy that gives you the best possible advantage in the shortest possible time.

What kind of game are you playing? The general setup for MP and ladder games are Pangea, Regent, Elimination, Tiny or small (depending on number of players) but these do change from group to group so understand how your strategy will work for each style of game. For example elimination games should be played different than a normal game.

Increased warfare... Especially in ladder games you will rarely spend the entire game at peace. Trust noone even if you are offered an alliance...especially if they offer you an alliance. If you are a peaceful builder you may have trouble playing online.

Who should I play with..? I would recommend playing with an civ with ancient age UU. Mainly because they give you the greatest chance of getting a golden age. Other than it is up to you and your style but I found that Egypt (for points) and Carthage (for elimination) are the best civs. Persia is second but if you find yourself without iron your S.O.L.

In the beginning... The start location can make or break your game but remember a bad location does not mean all is lost. Even if you start behind in points you can always recover given enough time. Develop an opening sequence of play that is the most efficient...DO NOT WASTE A TURN OF PRODUCTION This may seem obvious but if it takes 4 turns for your city to reach size 3 and 3 turns to build a settler you will have wasted a turn of production.

First turn.. Build your city immidiately do not waste time looking for a more suitable location if you do you will fall behind in points. Start locations can be overcome. After building your city and putting your worker to work quickly get to your science advisor and click on a tech you wish to research (I recommend Bronze working for elimination games and Ceremonial Burial for all others). Then as quick as you can get to your domestic advisor and move your research to 90 percent. This will give you a turn advantage in techs. I usually begin by building 3 warriors 2 of which I send as scout. Then I build a settler. I then build two more warriors (or spearman if I have bronzeworking) then another settler..Under no circumstances should you send a settler alone...you lose valuable points if he is killed or your city is destroyed by another player. Do not build improvements

Pack em tight Build your cities very close to one another only about three squares away if possible. Rarely will your city get beyond size 6 unless it is by a river...even then this style can support a few size 12 cities. This close building will help in defense of your empire (important in elimination games) and also in corruption. Make sure you have a good supply of workers going to help with infrastructure. Again you must be able to create the greatest amount of production in the shortest amount of time. Never spread your cities too far and never leave a city unprotected. Make sure you have at least one defender (spearman) and one attacker (archer, horseman, or swordsman). A popular tactic is for a player to move a spearman or 3 defense UU through your empire destroying roads, mines, and irrigation. If you don't have an attacker you may get caught with your pants down. Don't worry about barracks or temples until you have build the number of cities you are comfortable with. After which you may pop rush both the temple and barracks (granaries in towns by a river otherwise don't bother). Then concentrate on your military.

Techs only a few techs are vitally important in a MP game. Again you will often only play a short time and in ladder games other players will rarely trade techs with you unless you are playing teams or have an alliance. Even so as your army increases in size your ability to research will diminish so my advice is to pick 4 or 5 techs you absolutely need then forget about the rest. After researching your techs immidiatley switch all your resources into luxuries. Again this will help your score.

governments NEVER change your government...even if you decide you want the hanging gardens do not change over another government since you will waste valuable time in anarchy which could make or break your game. Even if your religious I've found that no other government can handle the large army your bound to posses as Despotism can. Plus the pop rush is second to none.

Bait and switch Elimination is a very popular mode of play since even someone who is far behind can win if they build a proper military. One tactic I like to use is very effective. Build two armies with stacks of swordsman (if possible) and another with horseman or archers (cheaper). Move up to one side of the player's empire with your cheaper military and draw his military to that side. Then sweep around with your swordsman to his most recent city on the other side and watch him squirm.

[FriedrichPsitalon]

Good work, Wtib, but if I may comment on a few things:

What kind of game are you playing? The general setup for MP and ladder games are Pangea, Regent, Elimination, Tiny or small (depending on number of players) but these do change from group to group so understand how your strategy will work for each style of game. For example elimination games should be played different than a normal game.

Says who? I've seen plenty of non-elim games, and I'd like to see more. Elimination is for people who don't know how to build, or don't know how to retake cities. Civ3PTW isn't particularly balanced for elim, either, but I won't go into that here. I would strongly reccomend new players AVOID the elimination environment at first.



Who should I play with..? I would recommend playing with an civ with ancient age UU. Mainly because they give you the greatest chance of getting a golden age. Other than it is up to you and your style but I found that Egypt (for points) and Carthage (for elimination) are the best civs. Persia is second but if you find yourself without iron your S.O.L.

This is *DEFINITELY* a matter of opinion. Many people feel that Iroquois are the best point-gainers (and I would agree) and the "best elimination" Civ depends on whether you are trying to weather the storm or eliminate; in which case I would argue Carthage's DEFENSIVE UU is not the way to go.

First turn.. Build your city immidiately do not waste time looking for a more suitable location if you do you will fall behind in points. Start locations can be overcome. After building your city and putting your worker to work quickly get to your science advisor and click on a tech you wish to research (I recommend Bronze working for elimination games and Ceremonial Burial for all others). Then as quick as you can get to your domestic advisor and move your research to 90 percent. This will give you a turn advantage in techs. I usually begin by building 3 warriors 2 of which I send as scout. Then I build a settler. I then build two more warriors (or spearman if I have bronzeworking) then another settler..Under no circumstances should you send a settler alone...you lose valuable points if he is killed or your city is destroyed by another player. Do not build improvements

There are some that feel building a granary immediately (if you are an EXP civ) is a good move. Settlers CAN be sent out alone if you have good, solid reason to believe it will be safe. (There are several examples of this.) In general, though, escorting your settlers into the unknown is a good idea.

Pack em tight Build your cities very close to one another only about three squares away if possible. Rarely will your city get beyond size 6 unless it is by a river...even then this style can support a few size 12 cities. This close building will help in defense of your empire (important in elimination games) and also in corruption. Make sure you have a good supply of workers going to help with infrastructure. Again you must be able to create the greatest amount of production in the shortest amount of time. Never spread your cities too far and never leave a city unprotected. Make sure you have at least one defender (spearman) and one attacker (archer, horseman, or swordsman). A popular tactic is for a player to move a spearman or 3 defense UU through your empire destroying roads, mines, and irrigation. If you don't have an attacker you may get caught with your pants down. Don't worry about barracks or temples until you have build the number of cities you are comfortable with. After which you may pop rush both the temple and barracks (granaries in towns by a river otherwise don't bother). Then concentrate on your military.

It is perfectly safe to leave a city buried in the center of your empire unprotected- in fact it's probably a good idea to save on maintenance. Make sure you can keep fast moving invaders out, though. Some feel that a barracks in your second town to disperse veteran defenders is a good idea; likewise, I would disagree with wasting time building a granary anywhere the population won't go down (read: Worker/Settler pump.)

governments NEVER change your government...even if you decide you want the hanging gardens do not change over another government since you will waste valuable time in anarchy which could make or break your game. Even if your religious I've found that no other government can handle the large army your bound to posses as Despotism can. Plus the pop rush is second to none.

I EMPHATICALLY disagree with this. A heavily roaded empire in Republic can effortlessly maintain an army well in excess of the size of a Despotic one- and produce more units at a higher speed to boot! While non-religious civs may have to take care in deciding whether to accept the anarchy, religious Civs should seriously consider Republic IF they have a large number of roads/rivers to benefit from the commerce.

Bait and switch Elimination is a very popular mode of play since even someone who is far behind can win if they build a proper military. One tactic I like to use is very effective. Build two armies with stacks of swordsman (if possible) and another with horseman or archers (cheaper). Move up to one side of the player's empire with your cheaper military and draw his military to that side. Then sweep around with your swordsman to his most recent city on the other side and watch him squirm.

This IS a good tactic. The best way to beat it is to make sure you have a "sentinel net" out early and placed well- units on hills and mountains that can watch several squares out for incoming armies.

Props to Wtib for his good work.

[Wtiberon]

This was an older article I wrote in CFC...Although some of my opinions have changed I left the article in its entirety.

Says who? I've seen plenty of non-elim games, and I'd like to see more. Elimination is for people who don't know how to build, or don't know how to retake cities. Civ3PTW isn't particularly balanced for elim, either, but I won't go into that here. I would strongly reccomend new players AVOID the elimination environment at first.

Although I very much agree with you the fact is the MAJORITY of all games are elimination...some players refuse to play any other way. Also if you read my passage more closely you notice it says that the settings change from group to group and to plan your strategy accordingly.

This is *DEFINITELY* a matter of opinion. Many people feel that Iroquois are the best point-gainers (and I would agree) and the "best elimination" Civ depends on whether you are trying to weather the storm or eliminate; in which case I would argue Carthage's DEFENSIVE UU is not the way to go

Iroquos are good if they recieve a free city other wise Egypt is far superior and I'll explain why: With the industrial ability of egypt you can build roads quickly to where you want to place each city...this reduces the time it takes for your settler to travel and you gain ealier points average. So in essence by the time Iroquois has placed a city Egypt could place two. Carthage I still believe is THE best to take on several players at once if you are leading in points...hands down. If I'm playing Carthage I make Great wall a priority and if I get this I'm unstoppable. I've had several games where 3 or 4 other civs invade with large armies and I'm able to repel them and send them home limping.

There are some that feel building a granary immediately (if you are an EXP civ) is a good move. Settlers CAN be sent out alone if you have good, solid reason to believe it will be safe. (There are several examples of this.) In general, though, escorting your settlers into the unknown is a good idea

Early graneries are good but I've started to move away from it since it has cost me a few early game losts. If you are on a larger map and you there are no civs around then graneries are fine...if you are playing on a smaller map with lots of players then I wouldn't recommend building it.

It is perfectly safe to leave a city buried in the center of your empire unprotected- in fact it's probably a good idea to save on maintenance. Make sure you can keep fast moving invaders out, though. Some feel that a barracks in your second town to disperse veteran defenders is a good idea; likewise, I would disagree with wasting time building a granary anywhere the population won't go down (read: Worker/Settler pump.)

Only if your empire is large enough...The average FFA games we play are with 6-8 players on tiny or small map so your empire does not get beyond more than two or three cities wide. Leaving a city undefended could spell disaster if a MW, jag, or Imp found his way in. I agree with not building a granery unless you plan on turning it into a settler factory or unit poprush factory.

I EMPHATICALLY disagree with this. A heavily roaded empire in Republic can effortlessly maintain an army well in excess of the size of a Despotic one- and produce more units at a higher speed to boot! While non-religious civs may have to take care in deciding whether to accept the anarchy, religious Civs should seriously consider Republic IF they have a large number of roads/rivers to benefit from the commerce.

Matter of opinion I suppose but I hate to give up my pop rushing ability and ability to create hapiness with garrisons. Not sure how units would be created faster though unless your in GA and gaining 3 shields on your mined bonus grassland.

Not to mention you have to deal with war weariness which can become a pain in the ass.

[donaldkipper]

apparently theres no war weariness in multiplayer, tho i havent tested this myself - i never used republic because of this, but it may be a possibility.

certainly i agree monarchy is no good with a large army, cause u can usually have only half the numebr of units before u start paying for them

[plattfuss]

In my view whether switching governments does make sense depends intirely on the length of the game and a bit as well on the amount of luxuries on your territory or you can trade (republic without luxuries may be possible but is very expensive and thus no real benefit). The longer the game the greater your disadvantage if you dont switch.

Unfortunately (or fortunately - as you like) the lenght of most ladder games (with no preset alliances) is in a region where you dont really know if researching monarchy and rep will pay off. Although I often find it does.

If you do manage to get there and to build the required infrastructure (market places might be a good idea) I would agree with fried that this type of government is superior (support larger armies or do other nice things with your spare money).

And the religious civs give you 2-6 turns more time to capitalise on this. One of the reasons why I like the Iroquois.

[JayHawk]

good post tib and fried

[Avogadro]

by all means move settler firstturn if it means getting river start, or if on river getting wheat or cow.