Microprose Civilization II Historical Scenarios and Maps

Home	Maps	Tips	Links	397-198 B.C. Roman War
1100-1519 Aztec & Inca Wars	1700-21 The Great Northern War	1832-1906 The Great Game	1895-1919 The Spanish American War	1899 The Boer War
1914 The Great War	Dec 1941-Jan 1961 The Second World War	Feb 1962 - Alternate History: Civil War in the Reich	Jan 1968 The Vietnam War	1979 The Cold War

Civ School

• Start by building a Colony with a 'Settler' unit. Use the 'b' for build command. They can also build roads: 'r', mines: 'm', and farms: 'i'. Choose a site with a good shield/food balance so there is enough food to grow the city and forests and mines to build things. You can trade population growth for shields. Generally it is a bad idea to build in the centre of four resource squares as gold and ore mines don't get used. Just build a level 1 city next to them to exploit them immediately.
• Don't build a road to a Colony site you want. Go there straight away and claim it before another power does and use another 'Settler' to make the road or build on it the city.
• Every Colony built will mean no barbarian uprisings within 3 squares in every direction even if there is a goodie hut there.
• Set the research level to 60%, the highest for 'despotism' type of government at menu 'Kingdom' --> Tax Rate. Try to get 'Horseback Riding' first. Then build two 'Horsemen' units to explore the territory near your Colony. You can sometimes follow the coastline to find fish and whale. If they are a square away it is not usually good to build by them as there will be too many ocean squares. A trireme can discover them but this may be too late as another Civilization may have built there. Locate the nearest settlement site and colonize it using a 'Settler' built in one of your cities.
• Leave a 'Horsemen' unit in a proposed Colony site and build it into the Colony when founded: 'Support from this City'. This will stop an enermy unit from walking into the city, and also another unit to be built as there are less to support.
• Next go for 'Alphabet' --> 'Code of Laws' + 'Ceremonial Burial' to get 'Monarchy'. This type of Government increases Shield and Food production on improvement terrain squares and allows 70% Tax or Science. 'Monarchy' keeps 3 citizens happy with 3 military units, 'Communism' doubles this to 6 with 3 units. It supports 3 units for free. Any more cost 1 shield each. Units like the 'Explorer' and 'Galleon', A:D:M 0:1:1 all squares as roads, A:D:M 0:2:4 carry 4 units, have 0 attack capability so don't keep citizens content when unhappy but can move outside cities and forts in 'Republic' and 'Democracy' without causing 1 or 2 unrest respectively. Food goes up from 2 to 3 in 'i'rrigated land, and 2 to 3 in 'm'ined hills.
• Next go for 'Bronze Working' giving you a good defensive unit the 'Phalanx': 2 Defence : 1 Attack : 1 Movement. Then go for 'Currency' --> 'Trade' with 'Code of Laws' already developed. This give you a 'Caravan' a very important unit that give either 50 shields for a Wonder of the World at a go or makes money by going in another city especially if it commodity is desired. This trade value appears at the bottom of the screen. Trading between your own cites can pay if they are about 8 or above. This has the added advantage of depriving your enemies of trades for Research, making you the first to develop critical advantages, particularly Wonders of the World and superior Military Units. Trading between Continents adds 50% to it value.
• 'Currency' and 'Masonry' --> 'Construction' + 'Iron Working' --> 'Bridge Building'. It is a good idea to research this early so you can build bridges in river squares using 'Settlers' making an additional unit of trade. Use the 'r' for road command. If key Wonders are required delay it a little.
• I would recommend the 'Collosus' wonder in your biggest city, usually your Capital. This generate +1 trade per road square with no corruption as this city has the Palace. The 'Great Library' is also good as you get techs. when any two powers develop them. Building them with require quite a few caravans. The 'Hanging Gardens' is not much good as it goes obsolete to soon, wait for 'Shakespeares Theatre' as this lasts for ever. 'King Richards Crusade' works well with 'Shakespeares Theatre' and a high food city as you get 1 extra shield per every square including new ones.
• Try and get a 'Marketplace' built in the 'Collosus' city as sone as possible to increase trade revenue by +50%. Other cities should also have 'Marketplaces' built early especially if they have a trade route. 70% tax pays well and makes money to subvert cities from the 'Marketplace' without swelling the enemies treasury. Improvements can be built faster by trading population growth for shields i.e. move workers from irrigated grassland squares to mined hills. This works particularly well for 'Graneries' (double growth rate in food bin), 'Marketplaces', and 'Courthouses' in corrupt cities (along way from the Capital). All these improvements cost 1 gold piece to maintain but with 'Adam Smiths Trading Company' Wonder they become free.
• The 'Pyramids' are not as useful as most people think as the 'Granery' available with the 'Pottery' tech. It can be built doubling population growth in the city screens food bin. 'Adam Smiths' wonder can be built to pay their '1' gold piece upkeep.
• Next go for 'Mapmaking' for the 'Trireme' ship unit A:D:M = 1:0:3 to explore the near by coastlines. Two are generally required to go both ways. This gives 'Seafaring' with 'Pottery' which give the very useful 'Explorer' unit and a 'Harbour' unit. Try and have one or two land based 'Explorers', a one each in two ships. A 'Explorer' unit has the added advantage of being able to land in a 'Village' / Goodie Hut and retreat to the ship, and has less chance of upsetting the natives and making 'Barbarian' units which can be very dangerous especially to 'Settlers', land improvements. 'Explorers' also ignore zones of control allowing them to go past enemy lines. 'Diplomats' are can be expelled when nearer a enermy city than your own. But two together can't be. Or one and a military unit, but this can be expelled when within an enermies city radius.
• 'NONE' 'Settlers; can appear at Goodie Huts. If a lone way from your territory it can be a good idea to found them into a city at a well selected spot, rather than have them as Slaves not claiming food and shields for support. The city they found might then grow and produce more settlers. The more Colonies you build the less are open to other Civilizations thus weakening them. They might go on to build 'Diplomats' to subvert / bribe cities near by or Warships to invade close coastal cities.
• 'Incite a Revolt' costs halve the price of 'Subverting' a City but leaves the Temple, Colloseum, and Cathedral intact. It can damage Diplomatic Relations by reducing Reputation if not a War.
• It is not always a good idea to exchange maps as the other power or ally will send settlers to colonize the land you have discovered.
• Sea power can knock out other Civilizations coastal Capitals before they get 'Gunpowder'. Go for 'Navigation' --> Physics. And then either 'Magnetism' or 'Invention' --> 'Steam Engine'. 'Steam Engine' is better as it is A:D:M = 4:4:4. M for Movement Points on the high seas. It also has armour class 2, like 'Musketeers' making it stronger still. The 'Lighthouse' wonder goes obsolete with 'Magnetism' meaning only 'Ironclads' have Veteran status: +50% Attack & Defence. If a Capitol goes down it is alot cheaper to subvert that Civilizations remaining cities. The cost it dependent of the powers treasury, distance from it's Palace and City size. 'Explorer' units can occupy a 'downed' city if no other unit is available, or build a defensive unit to occupy it and put it in a ship.
• It is usually a good idea to send in a 'Diplomat' to gauge the enemies defences. Even if they have 'Gunpowder' they may not yet have built any 'Musketeers'. Sometimes a Capital doesn't have a City Wall early on in the game. A 'Diplomat' can gauge the defences. 2 Veteran 'Crusaders' can capture the Capitol if it only has 1 unit defending it, without destroying the City.
• Go for 'University' + 'Gunpowder' --> 'Metallurgy' giving a 'Cannon': A:D:M = 8:1:1. Get about 4 or 6 cities building them very preferably with 'Sun Zhu's War Academy' or a 'Barracks' each to make +50% attack = 12. Set the tax rate to 70% to make money to either subvert cities or buy out 'Cannons' in on turn. The A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) usually develops 'Gunpowder' so you can trade for it or get it from the 'Great Library'. 'Barracks' allow units to be fully repaired in 1 complete turn.
• When building new Colonies you can make a ship in a Colony with 2 'Musketeers' and a 'Dragoon' for example, and build the 'Settler' or 'Engineer' next. Put one 'Musketeer' to 'sleep' and move it with the 'Settler'. Then order a new 'Musketeer' in the old Colony. A new Colony can now be built and garrisoned.
• 'Industrialization' + 'Electricity' --> 'Steel' which allows a 'Cruiser': A:D:M = 6:6:5. This can outgun 'Frigates', 'Ironclads': and 'Destroyers'.
• 'Engineers' are requires to make a fort. 2 can make one in one turn next to the target cites. Go for 'University' + 'Medicine' --> 'Chemistry' + 'Gunpowder' --> 'Explosives' to get them. Hopefully you will have developed a good roads network to get all you units they. Two 'Musketteers' should defend about 8 'Cannon'. Buy out also works for 'Artillery Pieces' with 'Steel' + 'Tactics' --> 'Machine Tools'.
• It is a good idea frontier of forts around cities close to enmemy lines. They can be built up to 3 squares from the city without causing disorder in 'Republic' and 'Democracy'. 1 and 2 unhappy Citizens respectively. Generally the best time to build them is when you have 'Riflemen' - A:D:M = 5:4:1, prerequite: 'Metallurgy' + 'Democracy' --> 'Conscription'. 'Alpine Troops' defend better at 5 and can move over rough terrain. Try and build a stack of troops in a fort which can be moved along roads and railroads to the forts as needed. The frontier will stop enemy troops (numerous later in the game) from stealing any of you city map squares with their food, shields, and trade.
• Forts can be built by 'Settlers' and 'Engineers'. Defence bonus: Jungle, Swamp: +50%; Hill: +100%; Mountain: +200%; Fort: x2 extra; City Walls: x3 extra. Coastal Fortress: x2 extra, check city with diplomat before sending in warships as this improvement can destroy ships. Note: single units in forts and the open ground can be subverted by a diplomat or spy when the powers government is not 'Democratic'.
• Note: building a city in empty terrain stops the possibility of a barbarian uprising within 3 squares, all directions. They can be quite servere later in the game.
• The 'Communism' advance decreases happiness by 1 per 'Cathedral', 'Theology' adds one, but allows 'Espionage' with 'Democracy' usually developed by another power. The resulting 'Spy' unit subverts enemy cities a two thirds the cost and can found free embassies and investigate cities for 1/3 MP out of 3. It is faster and can spot units and territory two squares away.
• Any power with the 'Communism' advance gets a few 'Partisans' if there city is taken. The 'Guerilla Warfare' advance allows a lot more 'Partisans'.
• It is a good idea to have a stack of 'Diplomats' or 'Spies' in your Capital, say 4 to 6. So if for example a city goes into disorder you have a unit that can go there immediately. Cities in disorder cost halve as much to subvert.
• 'Communism' allows a 80% tax government with +50% veteran spies which subvert cities at a even cheaper rate. If you choose this government you may become stuck in it. A 'Republic' or 'Democracy' government generates +1 trade per road square making more money to subvert a city, and the 'Spy' may then become a 'Veteran'. Destroy 'Courthouse' makes the city 50% cheaper to subvert. 'Democracies' can not be subverted. 'Subvert' costs twice as much as 'Incite a revolt' but leaves the 'Temple' , 'Colosseum' and 'Cathederal' in place. It can also be used against an Ally.
• The 'Courthouse' makes one extra Citizen happy in a 'Democracy'.
• 'Electronics' adds 1 happy to a 'Colosseum' making is 3 to 4 happy, requires 'Electricity' + 'The Corporation' = 'Electronics'.
• The 'Cure for Cancer' makes 1 citizen happy in every city, requires 'Medicine' + 'The Corporation' = 'Genetic Engineering'.
• Set Luxury at 30% for 'Communism', and 30-40% for 'Republic' or 'Democracy' to get 'We love the King' day. +1 trade for 'Communism' when the majority of citizens are happy; +1 population for the 'Republic' and 'Democracy' while food is available. 'Marketplace', 'Bank', and 'Stockexchange' + 3 trade routes make this possible.
• Don't be afraid to sneak attack another power. This will damage your reputation but could mean you could knock the power out if you capture it's Capital and subvert the remaining cities at a cheap price. 'The Eiffel Tower' Wonder halves the damage to your reputation immediately, and is supposed to make it better over a long time later. Powers may be allied so an attack on one will trigger a war with the other. Subverting cities keeps the peace as you have not destroyed any of their units. If you power is Supreme you can 'Demand Tribute' or 'Insist Troops Withdraw' to start a War with a 'Icy' relations power, and usually 'Receptive' as well.
• Pollution is caused first by 'Industrialisation' with adds a 1% chance of a polluted square per every 'Shield' over 20. Next 'Automobile' causes a 1% increase per population unit. 'Superhighways' increases automobile pollution. The 'Mass Production' tech. increases shield pollution further but provides the 'Mass Transit' improvement that removes all population pollution.
• 'Hydro Plants' and the 'Hoover Dam' increase 'Factory' output by a further 50% and reduce 'Shield' pollution by 50%. 'Nuclear Plants' increase 'Factory' production by 50% with no decrease in pollution. The 'Recycling' tech. reduces pollution by one per city, and provides the 'Recycling Center' which decreases 'Shield' pollution by 2/3.
• The 'Solar Plant' improvement removes all shield pollution. Available with the 'Environmentalism' advance. Note: it arrives near the end of the game so is of limited use if you have all the other pollution improvements installed. However it also decreases the effect of one polluted square per plant so global warming can be averted. This happens for example in 'alt_ww79.scn' when too many 'Nuclear Missiles have been fired. Pollution on squares can be cleaned up by typing 'P' with a 'Settler' or 'Engineer' on a polluted square.
• The 'Plastics' advance increases pollution.
• The 'Flight' advance allows the production of 'Fighters'. 'Radio' allows the construction of 'Airports' which make veteran (+50% attack and defence) 'Fighters' and +50% trade with another city that has an 'Airport'. Build 'Fighters' continually in two cities with 'Factories' to make sure you have enough airpower to defend against other powers.

22th April 2010.
E-mail: David Ledgard - Webmaster.

Customize World

• Size of World: Small or Normal. Big make too many colonies which slows the game down with unit movements. You could also try the in between size of 45x65. This allows more colonies for each power which makes the game more challenging without having too many empty spaces for the A.I. to take which forces you to colonize them.
• Land Mass: Normal. Small makes you colonies have too many sea squares. Don't be afraid to build in the interior as this makes for bigger cities with the right grassland food squares.
• Land Form. Don't choose 'Archipelago' as this makes too many sea squares making for smaller colonies. 'Continents' usually make too many hills and mountains, and note enough farmland.
• Climate: Normal. 'Desert' makes for small cities, and 'Jungle' takes too land to clear with 'Settlers' or 'Engineers'. Any more than 5 'Jungle' or 'Swamp' squares in a city radius won't get cleared in time as it takes too long.
• Temperature: Temperate.
• Age: 4 or 5 billion years. 5 billion years makes for fewer hills and mountains. But in conjunction with 'Continents' makes for mountain chains that can be 'forts' built on them.

Note: When the number of Cities in your Empire gets too many 1 extra Unhappy Citizen in added. The number is in 'rules.txt' at 'c:/mps/civ2'. I always play at King level as every one is Equal and you don't get too fast a Tech. advance from the other players and 2 extra Happy Citizens. Civilizations Food Bins fill up faster at higher levels making for a faster population growth rate.

Civilization II Scenario Installation

Note drive 'Local Disk (c:)' can be found at 'Start' Button --> My Computer.
Create folder and cut and paste using right click button on mouse.

Maps

European Map

The above map is a cut down version of Microprose's much used Europe map. Suitable for scenarios like the Roman Empire, Napoleonic Wars, WW1 and WW2. I have deleted America, most of the Atlantic, Siberia and Persia. This prevents scenarios becoming too slow later in the game due to excessive cities and units beings built, and opposing units not coming into contact with each other due to distance and lack of roads. Russia now won't be overly strong.

Norway/Sweden is now effectively an Island giving a +50% intercontinental trade bonus so you don't have to rely on Britain for trade so can attack it instead. This should also mean Scandinavia can be occupied easier by the computer and units won't be crawling across the rough terrain between Sweden and Finland.

Small alterations have been made to allow Hamburg to be built as a port in a more realistic location and the Oder river has been added to mark Germanies present day eastern boarder. The 'Americans' start in Vienna so can be used to simulate the Austro-Hungarian empire, likewise the 'Japanese' start in Constantinople/Istanbul to simulate the Byzantium or Ottoman empire's.

Download europe_s (Version 1.1) Map (3Kbytes)
To use put in the c:/mps/civ2 directory and select 'start on premade world' when running Civ.
WinZip File

Southern African Map by David Ledgard

Download SouthAfr Map (2Kbytes)
To use put in the c:/mps/civ2 directory and select 'start on premade world' when running Civ.
WinZip File

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