Civ III Guide for a Warmonger By Roman Grigoriev Table of Contents I. Intro II. Creating the Right World III. Overview of the Civs IV. Strategies V. Diplomacy VI. Miscellaneous thoughts and tips VII. Contributors VIII. Legal Stuff IX. Contact Info I. Intro Finally, FINALLY another Civ game is here. Civ III combines many elements from both previous Civs, and provides a nice challenge at high levels. Emperor and Deity are really the only levels worth playing on, and this guide covers the military aspect of the game on Emperor and Deity. II. Creating the right World Large, Pangaea, 60% Ocean, Hot, Humid, 5 billion years old. That's the best possible setup for somebody who wants to win using brute force. Why Large -- Large world allows for 12 civs, and the more civs you have, the more fun the game will be. The only reason why I don't choose a Huge world with 16 civs is because Huge games take forever to finish. Won a huge game once, and it was just too long to be any fun. Why Pangaea -- This is self-explanatory, really: you can get to your opponents without crossing oceans, which is very important, especially if you're going for a Despotic conquest. Other implications of a Pangaea: lightning-fast scientific progress (civs exchange knowledge with each other from the very start), well-developed trade network (with roads connecting you to all civs via your neighbors), no stagnating civs (isolationism is a fatal mistake in Civ III, and Pangaea ensures that it doesn't happen), requires shrewd diplomatic decisions (unlike most people think, Pangaea is actually the most diplomatic map out there: whenever you get threatened, you HAVE to take it seriously, because your foe CAN get to you, unlike the Archipelago map, where you can be at war with everybody, yet see no actual combat). The rest of the settings are there to provide for a rich, lush world that is worth conquering. III. Civ Overview Contrary to the popular belief, you do not have to have the militaristic attribute to be a successful warmonger. In fact, some of the best civs for taking over the world aren't militaristic. Here I'll present every civ from a warmonger's point of view and will try to point out its strengths and weaknesses. I will mention only those unique units, that deserve to be mentioned or play particularly well in a specific strategy. The Chinese: This is easily the absolutely best civ choice for a dedicated warmonger. It is always nice to be Industrious, Militaristic is also a big plus, and there's of course the Rider. The speed rating of 3 is huge. I mean really... HUGE. That's what makes Cavalry so nice, it's not their attack rating, but their speed. Warmonger Rating: A Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The Egyptians: The best non-militaristic warmonger civ out there. I cannot overemphasize the importance and convenience of the Religious attribute: you can rush temples and cathedrals for a very low cost, which is imperative for a Despotic conquest. Despotic conquest is what brings me to the second strength of Egypt: the Chariot. No, they are not military powerhouses, but they are dirt-cheap. I mean, you can't get any cheaper with a fast offensive unit. Whip your people to death to produce temples and crank out chariots, and the world will be yours. Warmonger Rating: A- Preferable Age for conquest: Ancient Preferable Government for conquest: Despotism The Aztecs: These guys are the reason why I'm not fond of Expansionistic civs, since Aztecs get the main benefit of that trait from the get-go in the form of the Jaguar Warrior. Not much to say here: Aztecs are one of the most versatile civs in warmonger's arsenal. Perfect civ attributes, and a perfect scout, who can also double as an early attacker/defender (something that the REAL scout can't do). In short: expand hard, trade hard, fight hard. Excellent civ. Warmonger Rating: A Preferable Age for conquest: any Age Preferable Government for conquest: switch between the peacetime and wartime government. The Japanese: Same as Aztecs basically, but without the nice scout in the early game. Otherwise, just as versatile, and just as powerful. Also, the Spearmen and Pikemen are supposed to have a bonus against mounted units. I doubt that it has been implemented, but if it has been (or will be with a future patch), that'll be a plus for the Samurai. Warmonger Rating: A- Preferable Age for conquest: any Age Preferable Government for conquest: switch between the peacetime and wartime governments. The Romans: These guys are the kings of republican conquest. Get a decent government, a decent cash flow, then explode outward crushing everything in the path of your Knights/Cavalry/Armor. Warmonger Rating: A Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The Indians: Pay no attention to the fact that Ghandi is usually the nicest guy around, Indians are a very good choice for a warmonger. Having both the Religious and Commercial attributes makes them very versatile and able to wage a war at any Age. Plus the Elephant is probably the single coolest looking Middle Age unit (if that counts for anything). Warmonger Rating: A- Preferable Age for conquest: any Age Preferable Government for conquest: switch between the peacetime and wartime governments. The Iroquois: Having wasted a trait on Expansionism, they seem like a weaker version of the Egyptians, with a very important saving grace however: the Mounted Warrior. Their attack rating of 3 gives them an ENORMOUS advantage in the early game. Considering that they are also a Religious civ, it is a no-brainer to see when they will really shine. However, if you want more versatility, stick with the Aztecs. Warmonger Rating: B+ Preferable Age for conquest: Ancient Preferable Government for conquest: Despotism The Germans: Definitely a military-oriented civ. As a warmonger, you have to strike early, and they are pretty good at it. While Scientific isn't the best attribute for a warmonger, it'll definitely help you strike out just a tad earlier. Germans really shine when they get their Panzers, but that does not mean that you should hold your conquest until then. Warmonger Rating: B+ Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The Babylonians: Although these guys are the best for a cultural victory, it doesn't mean they can't fight. I played a game of conquest using Babylon, from the Middle Ages on, and did quite well. In fact, since I was #1 in culture, my cities hardly ever reverted back to their original owners (until the Modern Ages anyway). Warmonger Rating: B+ Preferable Age for conquest: any Age Preferable Government for conquest: switch between the peacetime and wartime governments. The French: A very versatile civ overall, thus pretty good at conquering the world. Not excellent at it, just good. The third best choice for a republican conquest after Romans and Indians. Warmonger rating: B+ Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The Persians: A nice, solid civ. Nothing particularly noteworthy about its military capability, but it is not a bad pick for a warmonger. I know that many people like the Persian Immortals, which really puzzles me: sure, they have a good attack rating, but they are foot soldiers, meaning that they are painfully slow, unable to keep up with a fast paced military campaign. Warmonger Rating: B Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The Zulus: The weakest amongst all Militaristic civs, Zulus have little in terms of advantages to sustain them after the Ancient Ages. Victory using Zulus will not come easy, unless you do it the despotic way. I would not recommend taking this civ, unless you're looking for a challenge. Warmonger Rating: B- Preferable Age for conquest: Ancient Preferable Government for conquest: Despotism The Greeks: This is a Sim-City civ. They got the best defensive pre-gunpowder unit, and no special attributes that will help this civ in waging a total war. With Greeks, I'd go for a space race, or a cultural victory, as conquest is not exactly their forte. You CAN use them for conquest, but there are other civs that are much, much better at it. Warmonger Rating: B- Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The Americans: Nothing notable to write here. Honest Abe would roll over in his grave if he found out what a bad card Yanks got dealt in Civ III. Don't get me wrong, this is not a BAD civ, but once again, there are FAR better civs to conquer the world with. Having said that, I must note that F-15 is a neat unit, if you've discovered Smart Weapons. Overall, this is not an optimal civ for a warmonger by any stretch. Warmonger Rating: B- Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The Russians: To put it bluntly, this is a loser civ. It hurts me to say this, but it's true. Let the computer brandish its Cossacks while you pick a civ that will better suit your needs. Once again, don't pick this civ, unless you enjoy pain. Warmonger Rating: C+ Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic The English: Another loser, akin to the Russians. Warmonger Rating: C+ Preferable Age for conquest: Early Middle and on Preferable Government for conquest: Republic IV. Strategies Civ III is alot like turn-based Age of Empires: as you advance from Era to Era, you get better units, better production potential, and more diverse combat capabilities. Also, like in the Age of Empires, it is all about maintaining the right balance between your economic and military potential. 1. Ancient Age: Despotic Conquest This is a do-or-die strategy, that is very deadly, but also quite risky. If you're able to eliminate everybody before they get a technological lead, you'll be fine, but if you let somebody hide in a corner and develop, while you're fighting, chances are, you'll get crushed by a technologically superior force. Several things are absolutely essential to successfully execute this strategy: a) Lots of cities You'll need many, many cities to successfully fight under Despotism. However, chances are that you won't have much land to work with. Therefore, build your cities just a couple of squares apart and don't worry about the overlapping city radii: your cities will never grow big enough for that to become a problem. Keep building cities, until your immediate frontiers have closed. Only irrigate the non-grassland squares, or the ones that contain special resources pertaining to food. A good network of roads, on the other hand, is essential. b) Basic Tech This strategy doesn't require any tech allocation whatsoever, since all the techs that you need can be traded for, bought, or extorted from your neighbors. Specifically, you'll need: Ceremonial Burial, Pottery, The Wheel, Masonry, Bronze Working, Horseback Riding. That's it. If you get something extra, that's fine, but it is not essential. c) Basic Urban Layout Every city should have the following: a Barracks (Militarism really helps), a Temple (nice to be Religious), a Granary (get Pyramids if you can), a Warrior (for riot suppression), and a Spearman (for defense and riot suppression). Once you have these basics, start cranking out Horsemen/War Chariots/Mounted Warriors, using your population to rush their construction. I recommend keeping your cities around size 5 or 6, depending on how many luxury resources you managed to grab. Don't be afraid to raise you luxury rates if needed, just be sure to keep an overall positive cash flow. Now the best part: Go to WAR!. Start with your neighbors. This is where mounted units really shine: they are perfect for fast-paced campaigns and will allow you to take a city every 2-3 turns. Upon taking a city, stay there until the Resistance has been quelled, rush a barracks, a defensive unit, then move on to the next target until the entire civ is obliterated. Cycle, rinse, repeat until all other civs are dead. One thing you can't do, is stop. Your scraggly little cities are unfit for development, you have no research, no culture, and no economy worth mentioning. You cannot stop no matter what, therefore keep fighting, and keep looking for more enemies. A few comments: if executed correctly, this is a surefire way to victory. The Pyramids is the only wonder I would bother to build, but only if I get an early leader. Other leaders should go for armies and a Heroic Epic (the sooner, the better). 2. Middle Ages: The Republican Conquest This is a much more flexible strategy that requires large, healthy cities with a solid infrastructure and well-developed countryside. Republic is the government of choice here, due to various reasons: a) Monarchy is weak Yep, that's right, Monarchy is even weaker than Despotism. In Despotism you're broke and unproductive, but that doesn't matter, since you can whip your citizens to speed up your production. With Monarchy, you're slightly more productive, just as broke as in Despotism, and are unable to whip your population. If that's not enough of a problem, the cost of Medieval combat units is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than that of Ancient units, making pop-rush a self-defeating strategy anyway: you'll lose too many people and generate too much unrest for what you get in return. Thus, Republic with its excellent monetary revenue is the best choice here, as you can buy your military units just a couple of turns after you started building them; as for the maintenance costs, they are laughably low for a Republic with a healthy economy. b) War weariness is not a problem. Many people dread waging war under representative governments, because they dread the war weariness. While I agree, that waging wars under Democracy is an exercise in futility, Republic is a whole different story. Before I proceed any further, I would like to explain how war weariness works. First of all, it isn't based on how long the war takes, but rather it is based on the intensity of that war. Wars become intensive with the arrival of Tanks and Mech Infantry, but in the Middle Ages, the intensity is rather low. Every military engagement has a chance of inducing war weariness. Furthermore, every war has its own war weariness record, independent of all other wars. Example: say, you've been waging a long-drawn war against the French, and your people are getting tired of it. Then, all of a sudden, Persia has decided to expand its territory at your expense and declared war on you. So, you have now two wars going, but that by itself won't increase your war weariness. In fact, if you make peace with the French while still maintaining the war vs. Persia, your war weariness will disappear completely, since all of it was induced by the war with France. Finally, Marketplaces, Temples, and Luxury spending will go a looooong way in ensuring total loyalty of your citizens. I had non-stop wars under republican government, lasting close to 100 turns, and never did I have to raise my Luxury rate above 30%. Of course, if you have Bach's Cathedral or Sistine Chapel, things will be even easier. For Religious civs, if war weariness is getting out of hand at the most inappropriate moment (just as the war is drawing to a close), switch to Monarchy for a few turns, finish the job, the revert back to the Republic. Anyway, once you've got your economy working smoothly, start cranking out Knights with the occasional Pikeman to garrison newly captured cities. Start beating on your neighbors and expand from there. Accept peace only if it comes with a hefty bribe, and never break your word. Let the 20 turns of peace run out, then go back to beating your foe into the ground. As the Middle Ages progress, the Knight/Pikeman combo will be replaced by the Cavalry/Musketman combo, but nothing will drastically change, except that with Cavalry you'll be able to capture cities significantly faster. Once leaders start pouring in, make sure to grab as many happiness wonders as you can. As for Sun-Tzu Art of war, only get it if your civ is NON-militaristic. That wonder isn't of any importance for a militaristic civ due to the civ bonuses. Since most of your enemies will be well-developed, complete conquest of the world by the end of the Middle Ages will be unlikely. Your goal here is to establish yourself as a dominant civ and get ready for the final push in the Industrial and Modern Ages. 3. Industrial Age: Tiger's Leap The early Industrial Age is a perfect time to have a lull in wars, allowing yourself to concentrate on Industrializing your empire. Bring military unit production down to a trickle, just to maintain your warring army, and concentrate on building railroads, factories, etc. Amongst the Industrial Age wonders you need (at the very least) Universal Suffrage. If you get it, you're doing fine, if you also get Hoover Dam, you're doing VERY well. By the mid Industrial Age, you should have about twice the production as before, and should be able to crank out Cavalry at a good rate without the need to buy it. The Modern Age also revolutionizes Diplomacy, and for short time shifts the military advantage towards the defender. Does this mean that you should stop producing Cavalry and wait until the first tank rolls out? No, ooooh no. It is true that Cavalry has a tough time beating Infantry, thus you need to augment your Cavalry divisions with Artillery (and a some infantry to escort the artillery). I have found that units defending cities that just came under intense Artillery barrage usually lose at disproportionately high rates. A solid attacking army should have 10 - 12 Cavalry units, about a dozen Artillery units and a few Infantrymen to guard the Artillery. This army can take practically ANY city guarded by Infantry with ZERO casualties. Once again, the key in using Artillery is numbers: one won't do much,but a dozen will bring the city to its knees. Armies are also a good way to minimize your casualties. I usually build a couple of all-cavalry armies, which I use to crack the defenses of particularly well-fortified enemy cities (with the help from Artillery of course). Industrial Age is also a good time to raise a few cities to strengthen your workforce at home in its upcoming battle with pollution. Don't underestimate the problem of pollution, you'll need LOTS of workers to keep it in check, especially if you're playing a non-industrious civ, and captives will do just fine. Ideally, you would find a relatively backward civ and completely raze it into extinction. Sooner or later, the Tank will make its first appearance. That means, it is time to stop the production of any new Cavalry units. Keep the ones you have (Cavalry is still important), but don't produce any more of them (Germans are the exception here: use the Cavalry to speed up the production of those lovely Panzers, and don't stop). Since the first Tanks are slower than Cavalry, expect your military campaigns to slow down considerably, especially vs. other civs with Tanks. You will have casualties, heavy casualties at that, so Artillery is still important in making things easier for The Tanks. Keep your overall Artillery count around two dozen. Another important job for artillery is to make big cities smaller. If you take a size 25 city, chances are, you'll lose it in a few turns to cultural reversion (which is the most frustrating aspect of Civ II imho), but if you bring it's population down to 10 or 11 using Artillery, you'll stand a very good chance of keeping the city. With Tanks and Artillery pounding on enemy cities, The role of Cavalry shifts from a primary attacker, to a guerilla fighter. Cavalry should be used to finish off badly damaged enemy Tanks and Infantry, usually producing leaders as a result. If your civ is militaristic, you'll literally get more leaders than you can use of Great Wonders, so use em to create lots of armies, small wonders, and whatever else. Since you (apparently) can only have one leader at a time, don't hold on to them. Air power arrives at about the same time as Tanks, and it is important to invest into it. Build about a dozen Fighters, and use those to maintain air superiority along the frontlines. Never, NEVER build a bomber, they get shot down too easily, and has a lifespan of a gnat. 4. Modern Age: The Final Push Modern Age is where you get the niftiest, most destructive offensive units, as well as most powerful defensive units. Upon reaching the Modern Age, your primary objective is ... research. Shift all those funds usually allocated towards the treasury, into research, and get to Synthetic Fibers ASAP. I mean it, you have to get there first before anyone else. If that means losing money, do so, if that means borrowing, do so, get that tech by whatever means, and do it FAST. In the meantime, keep cranking out more Tanks. Once the research is conducted, and your tanks have been upgraded, take a good look at the map. Assess the situation. Can you take over the rest of the world with your current production potential? Can you take ON the rest of the world and come out victorious? Finally, are there any other civs just as strong as you, or close to you in strength? If you feel confident about your abilities, switch to Communism, and simply exterminate the rest of the world(and I DO mean 'exterminate', not 'take over'). Burn their cities, pillage their countryside, staring with the biggest civ out there. If you feel you need to expand a bit more, stay with the Republic, until you've absorbed enough cities to boost your production potential sufficiently. The downside is that by now, some of your rivals will also have Modern Armor, therefore you'll need to make sure that you not only have Modern Armor, but you have more than your enemies do. At any rate, once your final war has begun, research Stealth to augment your invading Armor with Stealth Bombers. A few words on Stealth bombers: they are hideously expensive, they are only effective in large numbers (20+), BUT they can reduce a metropolis with complete infrastructure to a barren little village in a single turn (considering that you have the numbers), and they are almost completely invulnerable. You will lose an occasional Stealth Bomber to a Jet Fighter, but those losses will be few and far between, making this aircraft one of the best investments. With the arrival of Smart Weapons these guys become downright obscene in their power. Build em, use em, and you'll fall in love with them. Guaranteed. As for Great Wonders of the Modern Age, they are optional. Longevity is good though, since you will be in Communism, and Longevity will allow you to recover more rapidly from pop rushes. As for the other wonders, they won't make enough of a difference to justify their building cost (unless you got a leader twiddling his thumbs). V. Diplomacy Diplomacy is of paramount importance in Civ III, especially on large worlds with many opponents. Fighting everyone simultaneously is usually a rather suicidal idea, thus making diplomatic affairs a must for any warmonger. Furthermore, diplomacy and trade go hand in hand, and trade is a very important aspect of the game. The most important thing to have for successful diplomacy is money. Money buys you friends, treaties, alliances, tech, and strategic resources. In fact, I advocate completely neglecting your own research and advancing technologically strictly via trade. If you're wondering about how to do so without going broke, I will answer that it is doable, and quite easily. Suppose, you've just bought Refining from the Germans for an outrageous price of $1200 + 200 per turn. Crippling even for a healthy economy. What do you do now? Turn around and sell it to EVERYBODY. You won't get as much money from any single buyer, but you are almost guaranteed to come out ahead as a result. So, now you have the tech, AND you have more money than you started with. It's a win-win situation, no matter how you look at it. In diplomacy, it is also very important not to act impulsively. Example: I get a demand from the Japanese for my World Map and 50 gps. Japan is roughly equal in power to me, and I will probably end up victorious if a war breaks out, BUT... but, the Japanese just bought a tech from me and are dishing out $150 per turn AND are buying several of my luxury resources. Will I risk a war? Nope, it is absolutely against my interests, even if we never get to actual fighting. Computer opponents just LOOOVE to threaten you when they owe you money (since wars erase any debts), don't get suckered into a war with them. Another time when I give in to the enemy's demands is when the biggest kid on the block comes knocking at my door demanding tribute. You know they can crush you, you know they mean business, so unless you have a good coalition already, (i.e. Mutual Protection Pacts with several influential neighbors, I won't recommend risking the war. In all other cases, the civ in question is either bluffing, or deserves to be eliminated. Mutual Protection Pacts, bring me to another point in diplomacy: bypassing them. Suppose, you're itching to fight the Americans, but they happen to have a Mutual Protection Pact with the Indians, who happen to be your good friends and trading partners, and you can't wait for that pact to expire. What do you do? First of all, sign a Mutual Protection Pact with the Indians. Second, if Americans happen to have a military unit in your territory, position a lonely worker right by it. Now go ahead and declare war. Do NOT undertake any offensive action, wait for the next turn. Since Indians have Pacts with both you and the Americans, they will be forced to choose sides, and will side with whoever comes under attack first. Since you didn't ATTACK (you just declared war), you're giving the Americans a chance to screw up and fight two enemies instead of one. Since we all know who computer opponents love hunting down defenseless workers, the very next turn America will have two wars upon it. In order to be a successful diplomat you must maintain your good name. Never break any treaties or sneak attack anyone. Maintain your good standing, since having a bad reputation also increases your chances of getting nuked. In short, you can be as aggressive as you want (it's okay to raze a city every once in a while), but as long as you abide by your word, you'll be regarded as "mean" instead of a "liar and a cheat." First turn of war is usually the most important turn in a war, especially when you're taking on a powerful enemy. You have to make sure that others will be either neutral or on your side. If you're, say, #5 on the power graph, and you're taking on somebody who's #1 on the power graph, you WILL need friends. Strong friends. Preferably bordering on your enemy. Do whatever you have to do in order to buy a Military Alliance/Mutual Protection Pact with them during the first turn of war. If you don't, chances are that your enemy will bring them to his side (computer opponents LOVE siding with the likely winner). This way you can fight enemies that are far stronger than yourself and win. Sure, your allies will take some of the cities for themselves, but the important thing is that you've crippled/ destroyed the #1 civ in the game. On the other hand, I hand fought blitzkriegs that only lasted one turn. That's right, one turn. That usually requires an extensive border with the enemy in question, as well as lots of offensive units with speed rating of 3. Invade from every direction, take over as many cities as you can, and make your opponent dread you. If 40% of his cities are gone in one turn, Caesar will give a very serious thought to peace. Sometimes, they'll offer peace right away without counter-attacking, usually however, you'll have to endure one counter-attack, but they will be available for negotiations as son as it is over. Resource denial is another important diplomatic tool. Suppose you have an advanced enemy with Modern Armor, while you still have rusty ole tanks. Things aren't looking good. Then you notice that your foe has no oil deposits on his territory and has a trade agreement with a nation that is awash in oil. Chances are, they are importing their oil. Do everything you can to break off that agreement, and the tide of war will turn. Sure, you lose 3 tanks for every one of his Modern Armor units, so what? You can REPLACE you tanks, he can't replace his Modern Armor. In short, diplomacy is a very powerful tool in warmonger's arsenal, that should be used and mastered, and by no means neglected. VI. Miscellaneous thoughts and tips 1. Nukes To use or not to use, that is the question. Personally, I don't like them because of all that mess. I mean, nuking others is okay, but getting nuked in return is no fun. Once again, the biggest mistake one can make is send one lonely nuke to devastate the capital of a hated enemy. What does that mean? That means that next turn you'll be getting a wave of nukes as a payback. In order to prevent that, you must use those nukes in large numbers: one nuke won't help much, but if you send out a dozen to their biggest cities (which probably house THEIR nuclear silos), you will not only cripple their economy, but also avoid retaliation by destroying their nukes before they take off in your direction. 2. Pillaging Oh yes. If you can't beat them, pillage the hell out of their countryside, and capture as many workers as you can. Pay special attention to their strategic resources, and make sure to destroy any roads leading to them. The best pillaging Army will consist of a few Infantrymen (for Defense), a couple of Cavalrymen (to capture enemy workers), and as many Artillery units as you can spare. Bomb their cities, destroy their railroads in a slow-moving wall of desolation (especially since Artillery has a range of 2). Make Sherman proud. 3. Navy I didn't pay much attention to this branch of the military mainly because on Pangaea you can get away with being a dedicated landlubber. On other map settings however, the importance of Navy grows tremendously, especially if you have to wage a transcontinental war. I never build much of a Navy in the Ancient Age (except for maybe a couple of Triremes for exploration), my Medieval Navy usually consists of 3-4 Frigates that I use to escort an Armada of Galleons (4-5 Galleons) plus a few Privateers depending on how much havoc they are wreaking (usually not much). Conquests of sea ports are the only military maneuvers where I actually prefer foot soldiers to mounted soldiers. My port siege army usually consists of 4-5 Musketmen, 6-8 Longbowmen, and 8-10 Cannons. Cannons Soften up the city (since Frigates are TERRIBLE at bombardment) Longbowmen TAKE the city, Musketmen GUARD the city. Quite simple really, and effective as long as you keep the combined arms approach. Land such army on a rough terrain (preferably a hill or a mountain, and the city will eventually fall. In the Industrial Age I'm always tempted to make Ironclads, but I never do so. It is far better to wait for the Battleship and make those. As for combating a Navy without a Navy of your own, yes it is doable with Artillery: Bombard the enemy ship from the coast, and the computer WILL pull it back to its ports to heal up. Repeat as often as needed. This way I can reduce the number of city squares lost to bombardment down to almost nil. VII. Contributors None so far. VIII. Legal Stuff I have no problems with posting this guide anywhere as long as two conditions are met: 1. No money is charged for this guide 2. The contents of this guide are not changed in any way without my explicit written permission. This guide is copyrighted by Roman Grigoriev. IX. Contact Info Liked this guide? Hated it? I can be reach at rvgrigoriev@mdeintl.com for questions, comments, etc.