Civilization V- Might actually be good now. Stay tuned.

[Sheepherder]

So, what you are saying is that not only was it possible to ship food across long distances thousands of years ago but that it was actually done on a scale large enough to support a city of a million people?

I think that's what you said.

It was what I said.  The price was murderous, but several civilizations bore the cost of it for a time by plundering their neighbors.  My point was and always has been that it would make an unusable mechanic if it was historically accurate, because it was economic suicide.  What would be even worse would be nearly free shipment of food between cities, because then you'd see weird shit like border cities specialized entirely in shield production laid with no respect to their ability to feed themselves so that you're cranking out huge forces right at your frontlines, which would utterly fuck military balance.

[Wasted]

As prohibitive the cost may be to transport food half way across a continent it doesn't change the fact that you can't even transport food one city away.  The bread basket town should be able to supply food to your mining town only a few hexes away.

[Murgos]

It's a big difference between, "It couldn't be done, oh my immersion!" to, "Balancing it so as not to be abused."

[rk47]

Ahahah. I just died to Deity's Bismark Pikemen Horde. His unique pike is cheap hammer costs, making him so dominant in medieval age. I was barely coping with him until Washington bum rushed me with his Horsemen from behind.

[Murgos]

Suleman asks me to declare war with him on Washington.  I ask for 10 turns to get ready.

2 turns later Suleman enacts a 20 turn research treaty with Washington.   

If I declare war on Washington and Suleman jumps me the words 'scorched earth policy' aren't even going to come close to what I will do to him.

[rk47]

Those research pacts are probably worth every single gold to activate. But yeah LOL AI.
These random research pacts can give you a lowly tech - SO MAKE SURE U CLEAR THE LOW ONES FAST when you activate 20 turns pacts. Then hope you slingshot on a high tech. I remembered paying 250 gold and gotten Archery. Wheee-?

[Wasted]

I'm getting really pissed off at the moment at how often an enemy unit levels up just as I am about to kill it and insta heals the next turn to kill me.

[El Gallo]

Im a big ol' carebear in Civ games. I am the peaceful empire that always gets fucked by the giant stack o' doom because while I would have military units in my cities, the AI would inevitably have 345862375863452 units in one stack that would crush me once it felt the desire to do so. In this new way, I can tell when they're thinking of bothering me, and can shift accordingly BEFORE they actually start to bother me, instead of having a Civ that I had been happily trading with and stuff go killcrazy and crush me beneath its boot. Hell, even if I ignore the warning signs, as long as I have SOME units and a decent set of roads, I can usually fend my attacker off long enough to get my war machine into gear (although I'll probably lose a city or two if the AI REALLY wanted to kick my ass, Elizabeth totally zerged me one game with about a gazillion knights). I vastly prefer Civ V's combat. It doesn't make me want to knock over the board and start over rather than try to fight my way out of a crappy situation like the other ones did.

I was always a builder too.  But winning all the time isn't fun.  Without stacks to let AI civs focus their economic power into military power at one point, the game is a lot easier.

[rk47]

The only way to keep this game challenging for me is either Immortal or Deity level. Currently deep in mass warmongering as Alexander after wiping out Russia and Germany. I'm not in the lead yet even. So it's going to be pretty challenging without that 'insurmountable odds' feel of it.

[Trippy]

A city-state I was allied with gifted me a GDR which I then used to capture the city-state

[rk47]

LOL. I never even made it that far in tech. Going for Domination Victories most of the time. The Military AI lacks punch. I demo'ed to friend Modern Era combat and discovered the best way to win is mass Mech Infantry, and Cruise Missile to victory.

[Malakili]

Poor England has so many coastal cities...and I have the superior navy...  I am slowly whittling them down now, should finally have my Japan game wrapped up soon.

[Tannhauser]

Playing as England with the Great Lighthouse (+1 naval movement}.  My ships of the line (read battlestars) are coming online.  All of Hiawatha's cites are on the coast.  I've waited centuries for this.

[Maledict]

Playing as England with the Great Lighthouse (+1 naval movement}.  My ships of the line (read battlestars) are coming online.  All of Hiawatha's cites are on the coast.  I've waited centuries for this.

You will have fun. If they ever fix the AIs naval combat routines, Elizabeth is going to be an unholy terror to play against. Even on content maps sea control is incredibly powerful, and the English ability + Ships of the Line is just obscene. 9 movement, high strength, vast visibility and ultra cheap ships will absolutely dominate anything anywhere near the coast - and Ships of the Line last for a long time as well thanks to ironclads being useless.

[Surlyboi]

Every game I've won has been due to gunboat diplomacy. Have a decent navy and just bombard the shit out of cities from the sea. Get enough level-ups and you can do it out of range of retaliation.

I've taken a break from playing for a while because the game shits the bed on my current turn and I don't feel like starting another one just yet.

[Murgos]

I've been playing as England with the +1 move wonder as well.  It REALLY makes shipping troops with embarkation nice.

I actually want to start over and focus even more on naval techs earlier.

edit:  Meh, crash, load, play 2 turns, crash and repeat.

[Malakili]

Finally won my Japan game.  England was the last major threat on the map, but they were bogged down in wars with china and several city states, giving me the perfect opportunity to strike.  Elizabeth is a bit too over eager with her imperialistic goals by the look of it.

[rk47]

Funny little tidbits I found in game:

1. You can bee line for riflemen without even unlocking musketmen
2. You can go for mech. infantry without even unlocking, musketman, infantry or even tanks.

So with the above tech. gaps in mind, you can actually dominate if you are totally focused on certain units. I know I was surprised myself when Mech infantry was available before I could build a single tank. And no oil requirement = lol, hello domination!

[Malakili]

Funny little tidbits I found in game:

1. You can bee line for riflemen without even unlocking musketmen
2. You can go for mech. infantry without even unlocking, musketman, infantry or even tanks.

So with the above tech. gaps in mind, you can actually dominate if you are totally focused on certain units. I know I was surprised myself when Mech infantry was available before I could build a single tank. And no oil requirement = lol, hello domination!

Yeah, mechanized infantry is really good

[Cyrrex]

I've been playing as Germany, with a few cities scattered about the more fertile regions of Africa.  I have taken a "Africa is mine" approach, except for a couple harmless city-states, but have otherwise been trying to amass wonders and go the more cultural route.  Well, Japan has had other ideas.  Initially, I had to declare a brief war on them to remove two cities that had shown up on the continent.  Despite having far more gold and military resources than I had, I managed to push them out, and give him quite a spanking in the process.  At the early stages of the war, he was trying to blackmail peace out of me, demanding that I pay him tons of gold and give him horses and iron.  Eventually I got a peace that cost me nothing, likely because I smacked him pretty good.

Still, he is the clear superpower in the region.  I can't even venture far into the middle east nor europe, because he has borders everywhere.  I tried to make nice with him as the years go buy, offering him pacts, trade, anything I can to become friendly with me.  He isn't having it.  So I continue on my merry way, in the hopes that he'll leave me alone.  I notice that Caesar, whom I had so far allowed to have one city in the northwest corner of Africa (he is not powerful, so I was just waiting to eradicate him from Africa), he's gotten too big for his britches all of a sudden and sets up another city right next to mine on the northern coastline.  THAT WILL NOT FUCKING DO.  I take my small army, and snuff out the new city in a turn or two.  I notice that, at the same time, my old enemy appears to be moving troops around our huge shared borders.  Maybe he's just war-gaming, I tell myself, though I know that probably isn't true.  I attempt once again to somehow make nice with him, but I'm rebuffed.  Oh well, not much I can do at the moment.  I decide to continue the eradication of Caesar from Africa (he still has his original city remaining).  One turn in, I suffer a minor setback, but my knights will eventually get him. 

Problem is, Japan now has troops massed in virtually every hex on our shared border.  Oh shit.  I have a very small military, almost all of which is attacking Caesar.  I have 1000 gold.  Oh shit.  He's going to attack, I just know it.  Stop my attack on Caesar and start moving those units (knights) to the east.  Too late.  And way too little.  Japan declares war on me, and the zerg rush is on.  I manage to hold out a few turns, simply because my cities are positioned smartly and have pretty good defenses.  I actually put quite a hurt on him, which is all the more amazing because I think I only have 4 military units, and two triremes out in the Mediterranean.  But ultimately, I am fucked.  He captures back the two same cities I initially took from him.  His massive resources mean that, despite the fact that I probably killed him 3 to 1 or so, he still has a pretty big force on my soil now.   I ragequit.

I'll probably load this game later to see if he is going to continue this curb stomping, but I think I'm going to have to re-roll.  Next time, I'm going to farm gold like a motherfucker and build a giant military.

[rk47]

I think I have to put a warning to everyone:
You cannot fight Oda Nobunaga on equal grouds. The Bushido Code is just too strong when you fight units 1 v 1 . Ranged Units are your best bet. I saw a full health unit taking on a 2 health Japan same unit and almost died in the process. I played a Deity game where I had to abandon because I realize, Oda is impossible to beat in Deity. He truly is the hardest foe to beat because his unique ability require NO INTELLIGENCE TO USE AT ALL.

[Paelos]

I'm telling you, even with the Alexandar WTFEARLY stuff, Japan is still the most overpowered civ in the game.

[WayAbvPar]

Any news of a patch on the horizon? Haven't been able to bring myself to play for 10 days or so.

[Bunk]

I'm telling you, even with the Alexandar WTFEARLY stuff, Japan is still the most overpowered civ in the game.

In my current game, shortly after starting I noticed Japan sitting to my northwest. I immediately stopped all of my building production, switched to the cheapest units I could, and zerged him to oblivion. Japan scares me.

[Rishathra]

I've always played Civilization as peacefully as I could.  I never attacked other countries, even if they had the gall to drop 'colonies' in the middle of my pretty grid of cities, and only building a big enough military to discourage attackers, nothing more.  Is this still a possible playstyle in V, or is military conflict mandatory at this point?

[Malakili]

I've always played Civilization as peacefully as I could.  I never attacked other countries, even if they had the gall to drop 'colonies' in the middle of my pretty grid of cities, and only building a big enough military to discourage attackers, nothing more.  Is this still a possible playstyle in V, or is military conflict mandatory at this point?

I've just started a game with this idea in mind, so I'll let you know in a week or so (or sooner if it goes south). 

[Ingmar]

People will attack you so you will need your defenses in order. You can definitely play without being aggressive, but it is pretty rare to make it through a game without being at least defensive.

[Sjofn]

I've always played Civilization as peacefully as I could.  I never attacked other countries, even if they had the gall to drop 'colonies' in the middle of my pretty grid of cities, and only building a big enough military to discourage attackers, nothing more.  Is this still a possible playstyle in V, or is military conflict mandatory at this point?

That is basically exactly how I played Civ before Civ V. Now I mostly still play that way, but Prince and higher, you're going to want to have a decent military for defense purposes. Nothing huge and world crushy, but it seems best if you at least have enough of a military to take an opponent's city if they start fucking with you. You don't have to roll out and crush all before you before they come for you, but you need to be able to see the signs and learn what Civs are expansionist bastards and be prepared. On the upside, you can make your cities REALLY hard to take, which can buy you time if your army is a little lacking. If you are the leader in technology you usually have an edge there too. I have become a huge fan of giving city states helicopters and stuff and watching them mow down another Civ's musketmen or whatever.

[Big Gulp]

I have become a huge fan of giving city states helicopters and stuff and watching them mow down another Civ's musketmen or whatever.

Same here.  "Oh, absolutely, Ramses, we're best buds!  Why, I have no problem with you attacking my allied city-state.  Where did Kuala Lampur get all this mechanized infantry, you ask?  No idea."

[WayAbvPar]

I've always played Civilization as peacefully as I could.  I never attacked other countries, even if they had the gall to drop 'colonies' in the middle of my pretty grid of cities, and only building a big enough military to discourage attackers, nothing more.  Is this still a possible playstyle in V, or is military conflict mandatory at this point?

I recently tried to win with a Culture victory- never started a war ( I did FINISH two of them, if you get my drift), and kept my city count down to 5 + a puppet. Was still 6 or 7 policies away from Utopia when I won a space victory, so it is definitely possible to go the passive way.

[Paelos]

I won an entire game as India with one city in a complete culture victory. It was quite awesome but the economics got very dicey.

[rk47]

I absolutely cannot stand the AI's diplomacy in this game. Dude brought a lone settler, squeeeeezing barely past my cultural border gaps, then plopped a city in there, breaking 50% of my empire's trade route and brought my income into negative. And he had the balls to tell ME to stay off his land?! I can't see myself playing peaceful game at all. One friend who teamed with an AI - where they're stuck in permanent allied mode reported they're still as rude as ever to him, telling him to stay off his lands and refusing fair trade agreements while still maintaining this ...'alliance'.

 

[Lightstalker]

I've been playing "peacefully" in Huge Diety games recently (archipeligo really makes it a lot easier to pull off - expanding neighbors are sure warstarters).  It is possible but you'll have a hard time with other civs beating you to diplomatic or space victories.  On the huge maps your enemies can get out of hand if they roll their nearest neighbor early and get a few hundred turns of uninterrupted expansion and development.  Go to war early to ensure no one else settles on your island and make peace before they can effectively overwhelm you via embarkment.

The AI doesn't understand embarked military units and enemy ships moving into that hex being an auto-win for the ship (though barbs will do it to you all the time).  I held off waves of Infantry and Artillery with a galleon and a trireme - though Arabia did eventually build the UN and win diplomatically.  It would have otherwise been a fast and messy loss since I was still using Catapults and was going more or less directly for the cultural victory (Globalization - right across the top of the tech tree).

[Tannhauser]

Really enjoying the stories, keep 'em coming.

I had dismissed city-states as nothing but targets but that changed.  A Persian tank was solo destroying my Egyptian empire and Sidon gave me a free anti-tank gun. :)  That gun brewed up the tank and my advanced units started coming online.  Got me back in the game. 

[Koyasha]

As far as I can tell thus far, on all difficulties I've tried on, whether I've won or not, the correct strategy after analyzing everything seems to be: Make lots of gold.

Food?  Just pay off a bunch of Maritime city-states.  Production?  Just buy what you need as long as your gold income is high enough.  Science comes automatically just from having reasonably large populations, and if you stay friendly with as many nations as possible and always have research agreements going with as many as possible, you're basically buying the research.  So, gold is the first and last word for what you need in Civ 5, it seems to me.

So far, I'm not particularly liking most of the systems - Civ 4 had most things more interesting and detailed.  Diplomacy was a lot better - the removal of map trading and technology trading is highly disappointing to me, and the lack of detailed information almost everywhere is annoying.  Hopefully with some patches and expansions it'll get better, but at the moment the only part I really do like is the new combat system and such.  Even there it's irritating when units get into 'traffic jams' because they can't move through each other.

It's also much easier than Civ 4 in my experience.  On Prince in Civ 4, I rarely ever out-teched the AI civs so badly that I had aircraft and mechanized infantry while they were still fielding knights and pikemen, which seems to happen more often in this game.  And it's not like I'm out-teching the eras at a ridiculous pace either - when I launched my invasion force of mechanized infantry in my last game it was around 1970-ish, and yet the AI's were still fielding primarily pikemen or musketmen.  The most advanced of them was up to riflemen.  I think the only times I ever managed to out-tech the enemies that much in Civ 4 except on the easiest difficulties was when I specifically set out to ruin their economies or got them into lots of pointless fighting between each other.

Despite the complaints, it's enjoyable, but it feels more like Civ-lite to me.