User Guide

especially useful at sea, because having better units there makes it easier to sink
enemy ships that are often loaded with additional units.
If you are not prepared for war when an enemy appears on your frontier, it is
often best to meet demands for technology or tribute, at least temporarily, so that
you can move forces to the threatened area. Be wary of accepting large bribes to
enter a war that you are not prepared for.
Once you have established a strong economy and identified your major rivals, it
is often useful to stay at war with them until they are destroyed or ruined, or
peace is forced on you by your Senate. While at war, restrict the movement of
enemy ships carrying ground units, sinking all you can. In addition, wage
economic war by landing units to pillage irrigation and mines to slow enemy
growth and production.
It can be very difficult to capture cities that are well-defended behind City
Walls. Diplomats sent into the city on a sabotage mission may get lucky and
destroy the walls, making the attack easier. Also, Bomber and Artillery units
ignore City Walls. Battleships and Bombers are useful for destroying defenders
inside coastal cities that may thereafter be captured by invasion.
A Strong Economy: As your civilization matures and your cities grow, it
becomes increasingly more difficult to generate the money needed to maintain
improvements and the luxuries the larger populations demand to stay happy.
Large quantities of money for improvement maintenance and luxuries for
population happiness, as well as the scientific research that must continue, can be
generated by large amounts of trade, city improvements, and Specialists.
The best way to improve the strength of your economy is to increase trade by
establishing trade routes with large cities of other civilizations. Attempt to
establish the maximum three trade routes allowed for each of your larger (10+)
cities. It is nearly impossible to build a strong economy without extensive trade
routes. At the local level, you can put Ocean, Gem, or Gold Mine squares in
development on a city map to increase trade. This normally means, however, that
people are not at work elsewhere generating food and resources.
City improvements are useful for increasing tax revenues (Marketplaces and
Banks) and research (Libraries and Universities). Taxes may also be increased by
Taxmen. Science may be increased by Scientists.
Once your cities have been spread out and are reaching a size of 7 or higher,
consider switching to a Monarchy. This is most useful when you have irrigated
Grasslands and Rivers because these areas can now produce 3 food units per
square. This translates into faster growth and larger populations. This in turn
generally means more trade, reasonable technology advance, greater resource
production from mines, and more economic power. Although all units now
require resource support, it is still very possible to conduct military campaigns.
Communism is similar to Monarchy but may be more useful later when your
cities are larger. Because under Communism corruption stays at the same level
regardless of the distance of cities from your capital, this government is useful for
far-flung empires.
As your cities get larger, it is harder to keep them happy. Also, with the passage
of time, each advance takes longer to acquire. Switching to the Republic or
Democracy may be useful after your cities grow beyond 10 people because these
governments substantially increase trade. The increased trade converts into more
luxuries for making large populations happy, more taxes for maintaining city
improvements, and more technology research. Democracy eliminates corruption,
further increasing the benefits of trade.
The trade-off is that war is difficult to conduct as a Republic or Democracy
because each unit away from its home city creates one or two unhappy citizens.
This makes it very difficult to conduct large military campaigns. Democracy or
the Republic may not be a good choice if you are fighting or planning a major
war unless you can acquire the Women’s Suffrage Wonder.
War Versus Peace: Long and costly wars can significantly slow your growth, but
wars can also be very useful for hampering rivals, capturing cities, and devastating
enemy economies. Although war is often forced upon you, there will be many
opportunities to make war as you choose. When to go to war depends on your
strength, your enemy’s strength, the threat an enemy poses, the desire to contain
an enemy’s expansion, and where you stand in technology. Prepare for war as
much as you can before attacking, and attempt to achieve your goals quickly.
A technological advantage is quite useful in war, but only if you have built the
better units and brought them to bear. You may encounter rivals who have a lead
in technology but have built only a few units. Because they have concentrated on
advancing, they may not be prepared for war. Technological advantage is
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CIVILIZATION
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CIVILIZATION
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