Strategy Thread - for quick strategy questions and answers

[NobleHelium]

Good points, RefSteel.

[Catwalk]

Question for sandbox experts: How systematic are you in your approach? Do you map out your options or play more intuitively and compare results?

[Ceiliazul]

I generally do several straight-thru, broad strategy changes, with no notes. Macro before Micro, after all. Then I start running my chosen macro with more attention to detail. I've done excel in the past... never again. Notepad is good enough for me.

As for directly comparing, I generally snap a screenshot of the demoscreen at my chosen cutoff point. The total beakers learned, and differences in worker/warrior counts matter too.

[zanth]

Is there any guide on trade routes?
I found this one http://civilization.wikia.com/wiki/Trade...%28Civ4%29 is it actual for BtS?
"for foreign To city, +3% per turn (up to a max of 150%) since the last war between civs owning To and From" and from what turn does this counts? From turn of meating or from turn 0?

[spacetyrantxenu]

I think it's from when the two civs first make contact but I haven't researched to be sure. I suppose you could check in game against a rival city trade route (hover over the trade route) and see what percentage modifier is listed for sustained peace. If you just met someone after, say T50 and you already have a maxed peace modifier, that would indicate turns of peace from the start of the game. If you know what turn you met someone, do the math and get to the expected peace modifier for the current turn (as long as it's under 50 turns from when you met them), that would confirm it is from the turn you first made contact. Or probably researching it further would give a more concise answer.

[NobleHelium]

From the start of game.

[zanth]

How does landing between ships work?

[novice]

How does landing between ships work?

Loading a unit onto a boat consumes all the movement points of that unit. However, a unit with 0 movement points can still load onto a boat.

This means that you can chain boats together, by loading units onto a boat, moving that boat onto an unmoved boat, load all the units onto the unmoved boat, and move the unmoved boat to the next boat in your chain. However a unit can't disembark/attack amphibiously on the same turn that it was loaded, since it has no movement points. Still, it can load onto a boat and get ship-chained around the world on one turn, and then disembark or attack on the next.

You can also load units that have used all their movement points onto a boat in a city or coastal fort.

[zanth]

tnx

[WilliamLP]

Also unloading with the unload command for the boat in a city does not consume movement points (though walking off consumes all). So it's an important tactic to be aware of that you can move a boat, unload units and then move them in that same turn. So, e.g. with one boat, 2 axes, and roads I can move the axes 2 moves onto the boat then move the boat, then next turn I can move the boat, unload the axes, then move them again for an impressive 8 tiles traveled in 2 turns. (Or up to infinity with more than one boat involved arranged into a caravan).