{"id":3955,"date":"1990-01-31T12:00:00","date_gmt":"1990-01-31T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/1990\/01\/31\/civilizing-influences\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T17:28:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:28:47","slug":"civilizing-influences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/1990\/01\/31\/civilizing-influences\/","title":{"rendered":"CIVILIZING INFLUENCES"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

(This article was originally published in “Games
\nInternational”, issue #12 (January 1990) and is reproduced here with the permission
\nof Brian Walker, the former editor of GI)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Strategy Seminar<\/span><\/h3>\n

Steve Jones<\/b> dons his toga and provides a comprehensive guide to the great
\ngame of aspiring cultures.<\/i><\/p>\n

CIVILIZING INFLUENCES<\/h1>\n

In purely abstract game terms, Civilization<\/b> is a steeplechase race game; I
\nshall elaborate upon this theme as the article develops. Looked at in this light, the
\ngame may seem quite ordinary. What elevates it to a classic is a combination of two
\nthings: the subject matter (or the ‘chrome’ aspect of the game), and the
\nwonderfully balanced and rich structure of the rules. The latter moulds the game into one
\nwith elevated player interaction in ways which are complex, subtle and shifting, and yet
\nare always under the players’ collective control. In my opinion, Civilization<\/b>
\nis quite simply the best multi-player board game ever invented.<\/p>\n

The subject matter of the game is an attractive and evocative one. It concerns the
\ngrowth and development of the ancient civilisations around the shores of the
\nMediterranean Sea, and in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Each player starts off in control of a nomadic Stone Age tribe which then proceeds to
\ndevelop a highly advanced classical civilisation over the course of millennia. The object
\nof the game could not be simpler: it is to gain a state of overall advancement, involving
\ncultural, economic and political factors, faster than anyone else. Although this makes
\nthe game into a race, it is vitally important to realise that it is one conducted on
\nseveral different levels.<\/p>\n

It is also important to realise that it is a game which megalomaniacs always lose. War
\nis available as an instrument of policy, but the game is so structured as to make it into
\na blunt and relatively inefficient one. The more efficient means available to combat your
\nopponents are, to a greater or lesser extent, subtle, hidden, indirect, sophisticated,
\nand ‘civilised’.<\/p>\n

THE KNOWN WORLD<\/h3>\n

The game consists of a map board,\"\" an Archaeological Succession Table (AST),
\neleven sets of trade cards, sixteen sets of civilization cards and seven sets (nine in
\nthe Avalon Hill version) of faction counters. The map board consists of three leaves
\n(West, Central and East) depicting a region stretching from Sardinia in the west to the
\nhead of the Persian Gulf in the east, and from the upper Nile Valley in the south to the
\nsouthern Ukraine in the north. Hartland have recently released an expansion kit
\ncontaining a fourth leaf (WXB) which extends the map westwards to take in Iberia.<\/p>\n

The map is divided into land and sea zones in much the same way as Diplomacy<\/b>
\nand Risk<\/b>. The sea zones are subdivided into two types: coastal and open. The land
\nzones each have a population carrying capacity indicated by a number. Some of the land
\nzones also contain natural city sites. The map features, in addition, four flood plains
\nand three volcanoes; there is a fifth flood plain on the WXB extension leaf.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The faction counters each consist of fifty six tokens, nine cities and four ships. One
\ntoken is used as a marker on the AST, and the remainder may be used to represent either
\npopulation on the board or money in the player’s treasury. Depending upon the number
\nof players in the game, the players are limited to a specific number of tokens each. This
\nlast is a deliberate design feature in the game. The main problem that the players
\ncontinually face is one of limited resources. The subdivision of the each player’s
\nfinite number of tokens among population on the board, money in his\/her treasury, and
\nhis\/her stock (tokens currently not in play) is a brilliant design mechanism for creating
\nthis shortage.<\/p>\n

During the course of the game, there is a constant flow of tokens between a
\nplayer’s stock on one hand, and the board and his\/her treasury on the other.
\nFurthermore, this flow is more or less under the player’s control. Nevertheless,
\nplayers will find themselves facing problems, and occasionally windfalls, depending upon
\nwhere their tokens are currently located. There are many subtle aspects to the management
\nof the token flow, and players should acquaint themselves with these.<\/p>\n

COMMODITIES<\/h3>\n

There are seventy four trade cards in the game.\"\" Of these, sixty six represent
\neleven commodities which have values from one to nine. The remaining eight cards
\nrepresent calamities (more commonly known as disasters), and these all have value zero.
\nThe commodity cards are initially stacked, face downwards, in nine decks, each deck
\ncorresponding to the value of the commodities in it, and the calamity card of the
\nappropriate type is placed at the bottom of each deck except the first.<\/p>\n

The eleven commodities are Ochre, Hides, Papyrus, Iron, Salt, Grain, Cloth, Bronze,
\nSpice, Gems and Gold; the first two have value one, the second two have value two, and
\nthe remaining seven have the values ranging from three to nine in order. When more than
\none card of a given commodity is held the net value of the collection is greatly
\nincreased. The formula for finding the total value of several cards of the same commodity
\nis to multiply the square of the number of cards held by the commodity value; for
\nexample, five grain are worth (5×5) x 4 = 100.<\/p>\n

During the course of the game, each player takes the top card from each trade deck for
\neach city he\/she has, and uses these to construct packages for trade with the other
\nplayers. Through trade, the aim is to increase the net value of the commodities held in
\nhand, and to use these to purchase civilization cards. The trade system is one of barter
\ninvolving trade cards alone. Any number of trade deals may be made between the players,
\ntwo at a time. In each trade deal, each player must offer at least three trade cards,
\ncorrectly quote the total value of the package and correctly give the commodity of one of
\nthem; outside of these restrictions, anything can be said about the package. This last is
\nimportant because trading does carry risks: some of the disaster cards can be passed on
\nin a trade deal.<\/p>\n

DISASTERS<\/h3>\n

The eight disasters are Volcano\/Earthquake, Famine, Civil War, Flood, Epidemic, Civil
\nDisorder, Iconoclasm & Heresy, and Piracy. The first four are so-called red-backed
\ndisasters and affect the players who pick them up. The last four, on the other hand, are
\nso-called black-backed disasters and can be passed on to another player through a trade
\ndeal; the disaster then affects that player!<\/p>\n

As the names suggest, it does not help your aspiring civilisation to be affected by
\none of these disasters. Players will find it essential to acquaint themselves with the
\neffects of the disasters, how to lessen their effect, how to direct them at their
\nopponents, and how to reduce the chances of receiving one. In practice, it is impossible
\nto avoid disasters completely. This is because an individual disaster does not affect
\nonly the player who received the card; that player may also, depending upon the exact
\nnature of the disaster, ‘distribute’ its effects among the other players! This is
\njust another one of the wonderful balancing mechanisms in the game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If trade cards constitute the major currency in Civilization, civilization cards must
\nbe considered to be the raison d’etre<\/i> of the game, and the focus of all
\nactions. There are seventy two civilization cards representing sixteen different aspects
\nof civilisation. They are divided into four colour groups representing broad areas of
\nhuman knowledge\/endeavour. Most cards are members of only one group, but some are members
\nof two. The groups are Arts (blue), Crafts (orange), Sciences (green) and Civics (red).
\nThe sixteen card types are Mysticism, Cloth Making, Pottery, Drama & Poetry, Music,
\nArchitecture, Astronomy, Metalworking, Agriculture, Coinage, Literacy, Engineering,
\nMedicine, Law, Democracy, and Philosophy. They each have a value of between 30 and 240;
\nthe purchase price is equal to the card value but, in practice, it may be decreased by
\ncards already held.<\/p>\n

Each type also has an effect on play, usually by modifying some aspect of the normal
\nrules. They are obtainable by exchanging trade cards and treasury of at least the same
\nvalue. They can be relatively costly, and there may be a shortage of the various types
\ndepending upon the number of players in the game. If the latter is the case, you will
\nfind yourself competing with your opponents for a very limited resource, particularly so
\nin the case of the more expensive cards. This has a considerable effect upon long term
\nstrategy, of which more anon.<\/p>\n

RACE TRACK<\/h3>\n

The AST is the race track of the steeplechase alluded to earlier on. It is essentially
\na non-linear timeline consisting \"\"of fifteen time steps, plus start and finish
\npositions, and covering the period from 8000 BC to 250 BC. The non-linear nature of the
\ntimeline is evident from the fact that the first time step covers a period of three
\nthousand years while the last step covers less than one hundred years. The timeline is
\nfurther subdivided into nine independent tracks, each associated with a starting area on
\nthe map board and named after the various ancient civilisations and\/or regions. These
\nare, in the order ‘down’ the table: Africa, Italy, Illyria, Thrace, Crete, Asia,
\nAssyria, Babylon and Egypt.<\/p>\n

The WXB map leaf adds an extra track for Iberia and a modified African track which is
\nonly used if the WXB leaf is in \"\"play; in addition, Italy is not used when the WXB
\nleaf is in play. Each track is divided into five numbered epochs identified as New Stone
\nAge, Early Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, and Late Iron Age. Furthermore,
\nthe epochs are not of the same length on the different tracks; this can have an enormous
\neffect on the choice of strategy of the different countries.<\/p>\n

At the end of every turn, the AST tokens are usually moved forward one step; therefore
\nthe game is at least 16 turns long. However, entry to a new epoch requires the fulfilment
\nof a minimum condition which depends upon the new epoch. The second epoch requires two
\ncities, the third requires civilization cards representing three groups, the fourth
\nrequires seven civilization cards, and the fifth requires civilization cards totalling at
\nleast 1000 points. Once in the fifth epoch, the player needs a stated value on the AST to
\nmove forward; this time the value of treasury and trade cards may be included in the
\ntotal. In addition, in any epoch except the first, the token is moved backwards if a
\nplayer has no cities! It should now be clear why the game can be likened to a
\nsteeplechase. Nearly every decision which a player makes during the course of a game
\nshould be geared towards keeping that token moving on the AST. One of the things which
\nmake the game into a classic is the fact that some of your actions can also be directed
\nto affect the movement of your opponents’ tokens along the AST.<\/p>\n

ORDER OF PLAY<\/h3>\n

Each game turn is subdivided into thirteen separate phases. These are Taxation and
\nRevolts, Population Expansion, Census, Ship Construction, Movement, Conflict, City
\nBuilding, Trade Card Acquisition, Trade, Civilization Card Acquisition, Calamity
\nResolution, Excess Trade Card Surrender, and AST Movement. In many of these phases, the
\norder of play will often change from turn to turn, and it is vital to become thoroughly
\nfamiliar with all the ramifications of this. This variable order of play is a
\nself-balancing mechanism that has been deliberately built into the game’s structure.
\nIt is well worth briefly discussing the eight cases in each game turn where an order of
\nplay is important.<\/p>\n

Taxation<\/h4>\n

In the Taxation phase, any players who have insufficient tokens in their stocks to pay
\nthe taxation on their cities will lose to a revolt those cities which cannot pay. The
\ncities in revolt go over to the player with the most tokens in his\/her stock after taxes
\nhave been paid. The order in which revolts occur is in AST order, and if two players both
\nhave the same maximum number of tokens in their stocks, the recipient is decided in AST
\norder.<\/p>\n

Thus revolts generally occur to empires which have grown too big in some
\nuncontrollable manner, and the recipient of cities in revolt is invariably the smallest
\nempire on the board. However, it should be noted that revolts are, by and large, fairly
\nrare, and usually result from player incompetence. The one exception is that a revolt can
\nbe engineered if the player concerned was nominated in a civil war in the previous rum,
\nand this resulted in him\/her having too many cities and too few tokens in stock!<\/p>\n

Ship construction<\/h4>\n

In the Ship Construction phase, players should build and\/or maintain ships in AST
\norder. In practice, players tend to do this simultaneously as the rule is not explicit,
\nbut is implied by Rule [62] on page 16 of the rule book. However, players further down
\nthe AST are perfectly within their rights to insist upon strict AST order being observed.
\nThere are occasions when a player’s decision of whether or not to build or maintain
\nships will critically depend upon what other players have decided. If those players are
\nhigher up the AST, just watch what they do and make your decision accordingly.<\/p>\n

Movement<\/h4>\n

In the Movement phase, movement is sequential in the order of the largest to the
\nsmallest populations, with ties being resolved in AST order. Since combat occurs more or
\nless simultaneously, it is a disadvantage (except in the early turns) to move first, and
\nthe player moving last can possess an enormous strategic advantage. This is probably the
\nsingle most important balancing mechanism in the game. In practice, it makes it virtually
\nimpossible to eliminate players, and gives small empires a defensive edge over their
\nlarger neighbours.<\/p>\n

Conflict<\/h4>\n

In the Conflict phase, the order of play is only important if a token shortage is
\npossible. Then, a player under attack may insist upon resolving first all conflicts
\ninvolving only tokens, before dealing with those involving tokens attacking cities.<\/p>\n

This is particularly important because conflicts between tokens and cities require the
\ndefending cities to convert into at least six tokens; if there are insufficient tokens in
\nthe player’s treasury, the city will surrender. \"\"The rule governing the surrender
\nof cities implies that the best time to attack another player’s cities is when he\/she
\nhas few or no tokens in his\/her stock, and then, the attack should be a limited one
\ndirected only at cities.<\/p>\n

City building<\/h4>\n

In the City Building phase, play is in AST order. As with ship construction, city
\nbuilding is not simultaneous, and a player is perfectly entitled to insist upon players
\nhigher up the AST making their decisions first, as to whether to build any more cities.
\nThe reasons for insisting on this are subtle.<\/p>\n

First, it should be pointed out that the rules do not compel a player to build a city
\nif the conditions for city construction are satisfied; the players have a choice as to
\nwhether or not to add to their city numbers. The reason for the players having this
\nchoice is to enable them to manipulate the order of play in the Trade Card Acquisition
\nphase so as, on the one hand, to maximise the number of trade cards they acquire, and on
\nthe other, to avoid disasters. Only the very best players will be constantly aware of
\nthis stratagem during the hurly-burly of play.<\/p>\n

Trade card acquisition<\/h4>\n

In the Trade Card Acquisition phase, \"\"the order of play is from the smallest to the
\nlargest (in terms of cities), with ties being resolved (yes, you guessed it) in AST
\norder. This is yet another of the wonderful subtleties of the game. It is deliberately
\ndesigned to ensure that the largest empires pick up their trade cards last and, in so
\ndoing, increases the chances that they will end up getting fewer cards than their smaller
\nneighbours.<\/p>\n

There is no point in having more cities than anyone else if this results in you
\ngaining fewer trade cards than anyone else simply because the trade decks were depleted
\nprior to your turn to pick up! The good players will be aware of this, and will carefully
\nadjust the size of their empires according to what the other players are doing.<\/p>\n

When it comes time to exchange trade cards for civilization cards, the order of play
\nis in reverse AST order. This is the only instance in the game where this occurs. All
\nthings being equal, the players at the bottom of the AST normally have a higher chance of
\nfinding some of the trade card decks depleted when they pick up their cards. To offset
\nthis, they are given the first opportunity to purchase the relatively rare civilization
\ncards.<\/p>\n

Calamity resolution<\/h4>\n

In the Calamity Resolution phase, the order of play goes in ascending order of the
\ndisaster number. This can be important for players affected by more than one disaster,
\nsince it can mitigate the effect of the later disasters. For instance, if a player has
\npicked up both the Famine and Flood cards, he could lose tokens on his\/her flood plain to
\nthe famine and end up avoiding the flood completely.<\/p>\n

STRATEGY<\/h3>\n

Now that you have some idea of how the game is played, and how its many components
\ninteract with each other, how do you develop a winning \"\"strategy? One aspect of this game is that there is no one, single winning strategy.
\nThere is, however, a winning approach to how the game should be played, which consists of
\nsix maxims.<\/p>\n

The first maxim is to achieve the maximum population growth in the first five or six
\nturns without affecting your progress on the AST. This involves delaying building your
\nfirst cities as long as possible, and spreading out to occupy as much territory as is
\npossible without becoming involved in fruitless border disputes. If you delay building
\nyour first city until the fifth turn, you can have six cities by the sixth turn. In
\ncontrast, building two cities in the fourth turn leaves you so short of population that
\nyou will have only three cities in the sixth turn; this will leave you short of trade
\ncards in the early trading sessions.<\/p>\n

The second maxim is to aim to have a medium number of cities throughout most of the
\nsecond to the fifth epochs; the ideal number is six or seven, depending upon
\ncircumstances. Sticking to this should, on average, maximise the number of trade cards
\npicked up every turn. It should also make it easier to manipulate your place in the order
\nof play so as to avoid the worse disasters.<\/p>\n

The third maxim is to maintain a healthy distribution \"\"of
\nyour tokens between the stock, treasury and map, and to avoid where possible having too
\nmany tokens in one of these three locations. This should ensure that you are in the best
\nposition to avoid the problems associated with over-population and inflation. There are
\nfour ways of controlling your token distribution: deliberately killing off population on
\nthe board by over-stacking, maintaining four ships on the board, partly paying for
\ncivilization cards with treasury tokens, and purchasing the Coinage card as soon as
\npractically possible.<\/p>\n

The fourth maxim is to offer mutually profitable trade deals wherever possible. It is
\nnot a good idea to squeeze the last drop out of a trade deal. It is also good policy to
\nbe truthful about your trade packages (except, of course, when you are attempting to pass
\non a disaster card). If you follow this maxim consistently, players will tend to want to
\ndeal with you in the future because they will know they are going to get a square
\ndeal.<\/p>\n

The fifth maxim concerns the ideal policy on how to distribute disasters should you be
\nunfortunate enough to get landed with one. In the early stages up until the end of the
\nBronze Age, the best policy is to distribute disasters evenly amongst the other players.
\nEven so, there are occasions when somebody will be particularly deserving of the maximum
\npermissible dose, and that is perfectly acceptable should it occur. However, later on,
\nfrom about the start of the Iron Age onwards, disasters should be directed exclusively at
\nthe leaders wherever possible in an attempt to slow down, or even stop, their progress on
\nthe AST.<\/p>\n

The sixth, and final, maxim is to maintain a low profile on the map, and a high one in
\nthe trading sessions. In particular, don’t make unnecessary waves such as launching
\nunprovoked attacks on your neighbours. If you have to attack somebody, make sure it is
\nfor a good reason, and immediately apologise, explaining your reasons for the attack.
\nAnd, above all, maintain a flexible approach in your actions at all times.<\/p>\n

CALAMITIES<\/h3>\n

Following on from the general considerations discussed above, I shall continue the
\ndiscussion of game strategy by considering the eight disasters and the ten starting
\npositions, and finish up with some observations about trading and the best mixes of
\ncivilization cards to aim for.<\/p>\n

As observed earlier in this article, the disasters are subdivided into two blocks,
\n\"\"those which affect the player who picked the card up, and those which affect the
\nplayer to whom the card was passed in a trade deal. The former consists of
\nVolcano\/Earthquake, Famine, Civil War and Flood, while the latter consists of Epidemic,
\nCivil Disorder, Iconoclasm & Heresy and Piracy. Before we discuss each of them in
\nturn, an important point should be made concerning the black-backed disasters in general.
\nIf you pick one up, and decide to pass it on to another player in a trade deal, the
\nvictim should be chosen carefully. By the time these cards turn up, it should be fairly
\nobvious who is doing well and who is doing badly. Under no circumstances should one be
\npassed on to the players who are doing relatively badly. These disaster cards are potent
\nweapons to be aimed only at the leaders. They are the most active traders in the game,
\nand they always want valuable cards. As soon as it becomes obvious during a trade session
\nwhat commodity one of the leaders is after, make up a trade package consisting of that
\ncommodity and the disaster card and offer it him. And you should make sure the disaster
\nis well disguised, throwing in another relatively high value commodity if necessary.<\/p>\n

Volcano\/Earthquake is the least damaging of all the disasters. \"\"There are only three volcano sites on the map: Vesuvius and Etna in Italy, and
\nSantorini in the Aegean Sea. If any of your tokens or cities are on one of these volcano
\nsites, the volcano erupts and all units are lost. If you do not occupy a volcano site,
\none of your cities is struck by an earthquake and is reduced instead; this involves
\nreplacing the city with a number of tokens equal to the carrying capacity of the
\narea.<\/p>\n

The best means of mitigating the effect of this disaster depends upon whether you have
\na volcano or an earthquake. If it is a volcano, place population tokens only in the
\nvolcano sites. Although all the volcano sites are natural city locations, it is not a
\ngood idea to set up a city in one of them because it relatively difficult to rebuild it.
\nIf, on the other hand, it is an earthquake, it is best to choose a city located in a high
\npopulation carrying capacity area since this makes it easier to rebuild. The only
\nexception to this is if you have a city on a 3-site, and reduction will lead to a token
\nshortage in your stock and taxation problems in the next turn. If you have a city located
\nadjacent to another player’s city, you have the option of reducing that player’s
\ncity as well; whether you do so will depend upon the game position at that time, and it
\nis best to follow a flexible policy on this. You might even be able to force some favour
\nout of that player in exchange for not doing it!<\/p>\n

Famine is a mixed disaster. \"\"Although it forces you to lose nine units (cities
\ncounting as five units equivalent), you can force other players to lose up to twenty
\nunits, with a maximum of eleven from any one player. For this reason, it is one of the
\n‘best’ of the game-balancing disasters. The effect of the disaster can be
\nmitigated if you possess Pottery and at least one grain; in this case, for every grain
\ncard held, you reduce the number of units lost by four. This is obviously the perfect
\ndefence against famine, but it does have the double drawback that Pottery is one of the
\ncheapest civilization cards available and it ties up grain cards which might be better
\nused either in obtaining better trade deals or in purchasing another civilization
\ncard.<\/p>\n

Civil War is one of the most potentially crippling of the disasters. \"\"If
\nyou have picked it up, you choose a nominee from among the other players. You and your
\nnominee then divide your civilisation into two parts; you choose one, and your nominee
\ngets the other! Usually, one of the parts must contain thirty five units (with cities
\nagain counting as five units equivalent), provided you do not hold Philosophy and\/or
\nDemocracy. If you hold Philosophy, your nominee must be the player with the least number
\nof tokens in his\/her stock, (this might be you!) and fifteen units secede to the nominee.
\nIf you hold Democracy (and not Philosophy), one of the two parts must contain forty five
\nunits.<\/p>\n

The one certain way to avoid the effects of Civil War is to keep your civilisation to
\nthirty five units or less (or forty five if you hold Democracy). Another method is to
\nmaintain a mental count of the number of grain cards in the grain deck, and thereby know
\nwhen the Civil War card will turn up. Then, by manipulating the number of cities you own,
\nit is possible to avoid picking the card up.<\/p>\n

If, despite all your efforts, you do pick up Civil War,\"\"
\nthere are two ways to mitigate its effect. If you have a very big civilisation, choose as
\nyour nominee a player with an equally big civilisation. Careful calculation may ensure
\nthat the nominee will lose most of the seceding units by revolt because of token and city
\nshortage, and you might get them back provided you have the most tokens in your
\nstock.<\/p>\n

The second way is to choose as your nominee the player with the weakest position and
\nmake him an offer. This will usually involve the nominee choosing those units whose loss
\nis least damaging to your overall position. Whatever way, Civil War is always vicious; do
\neverything you can to avoid it.<\/p>\n

Flood is the last of the red-backed disasters, and the easiest to absorb. If you have
\nno flood plain in your civilisation, the only damage is missing out on picking up a
\nvaluable cloth card. If you do have a flood plain, the best policy is to keep it lightly
\npopulated, avoid building cities in it unless the site is elevated above the plain, and
\nget Engineering as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

If you have been counting the cloth cards, and suspect that you will pick up
\nflood,\"\" it might be worthwhile moving some tokens into someone else’s flood
\nplain; that player’s units will be affected by the disaster as well!<\/p>\n

Epidemic is the first of the black-backed disasters. The recipient loses sixteen
\nunits, and these losses must be taken with no area being completely depopulated; thus, a
\ncity is replaced by one token and counts as a loss of four. The recipient may then spread
\nthe epidemic among the other players, forcing them to lose up to twenty five units, with
\nno more than ten from any one player. However, the player who passed on the Epidemic card
\nis immune to this spread of the epidemic; the lack of side-effects makes this disaster a
\ngood one to pass on. The effect of an epidemic can be mitigated to some effect if you
\nhold Medicine. Should the card be traded to you, you can at least affect your rivals for
\nthe lead. Consequently, the Epidemic is probably the least terrifying of the tradable
\ndisasters.<\/p>\n

\"\"The effect of the Civil Disorder disaster increases with the civilisation
\nsize. Provided the recipient has more than four cities, and does not hold Law or
\nDemocracy, the excess are reduced. If the recipient holds Law, only cities in excess of
\nfive are reduced, and if he\/she holds Democracy, cities in excess of six are reduced.
\nCivil Disorder is a good card to trade to one of the leaders for two reasons. The first
\nis that the leaders usually have a large number of cities, and this disaster can chop
\nthem down in size considerably. The second is that the recipient is the only player to
\nsuffer, and the player who traded it suffers no side-effects apart from the victim’s
\nwrath.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Iconoclasm & Heresy is a terrible disaster, particularly for players who do not
\nhold Law or Philosophy. In this case, the recipient loses four cities by reduction.
\nUnlike Civil Disorder, he\/she may also order the reduction of two cities owned by the
\nother players, including the player who traded the card! If the recipient holds Law, only
\nthree cities are reduced, and if he\/she holds Philosophy, only two cities are reduced.
\nSimilar decreases apply to the recipient’s counterattack. However, the one to watch
\nout for is the combination of Civil Disorder with Iconoclasm & Heresy. This can be a
\nkiller for anyone without Law: the former reduces the recipient to four cities, and the
\nlatter knocks these out! This, in turn, forces the recipient backwards on the AST; this
\ncombination should be exclusively aimed at the leader if at all possible.<\/p>\n

Piracy is potentially the worse disaster of all. The recipient loses one coastal city
\nfor every ship owned by the player who traded the card. Consequently, the recipient could
\nlose up to four cities. If this should happen, the effect is worse than Iconoclasm &
\nHeresy since, in that case, the cities are only reduced, whereas piracy removes the city
\ncompletely, and leaves nothing behind. An obvious motto comes immediately to mind: be
\nwary of ‘Greeks bearing gifts’ – especially in ships!<\/p>\n

STARTING POSITIONS<\/h3>\n

The ten starting positions are not all equal; the ones with better \"\"potential usually have a combination of excellent terrain to expand into and a
\nrelatively easy track on the AST. I shall now consider them in AST order.<\/p>\n

Africa<\/h4>\n

Africa has one of the easiest tracks on the AST, as well as a low end-game target
\ntotal of 1200 points. Its position at the head of the AST also makes it relatively easy
\nto avoid disasters, but is a disadvantage when purchasing civilization cards. This
\nimplies that you must look ahead when planning what to purchase.<\/p>\n

The AST advantages are offset by Africa’s poor lebensraum, and this is made more
\ncritical by the location of the natural city sites in the best population areas. Africa
\nshould therefore build at least one of the famous ‘desert’ cities (twelve tokens
\nconverted into a city in one of its 1-areas), claim as much of north Africa as possible,
\nand should be prepared to go to war over Sicily. Agriculture is an essential acquisition
\ngiven the lack of breathing room. These problems are reduced by the WXB leaf, and this
\nhas been offset by the larger end-game target of 1300 points.<\/p>\n

Iberia<\/h4>\n

Iberia has a relatively easy track on the AST, and a low end- game target of 1200
\npoints. This is offset by a lack of natural city sites, one of which is in a flood plain.
\nAlthough Italy is not in play when the WXB leaf is used, most of the Italian peninsula
\nwill have been claimed by the time you get there. Build a couple of ‘desert’
\ncities in Iberia, and try to get Agriculture.<\/p>\n

Italy<\/h4>\n

Italy is one of the blue chip starting positions, possessing an easy track on the AST,
\nplenty of natural city sites, and a medium end-game target of 1300 points. Aim to occupy
\nall of the Italian peninsula, and the Balkan coast as far south as Corfu. It really is
\ntoo easy playing Italy and the other players should be aware of it.<\/p>\n

Illyria<\/h4>\n

Illyria is a very difficult starting position. (‘What should I do in
\nIllyria?’) This is because its two neighbours Italy and Thrace have easier AST tracks
\nand consequently tend to be chosen first. If this happens there is nowhere to expand
\ninto, and the position should not be chosen. However, if the WXB leaf is in use, Illyria
\neffectively takes up Italy’s position in the standard game. Its slightly more
\ndifficult AST track and maximum end-game target of 1400 points balances this part of the
\nmap out nicely. You can now have a viable game with it.<\/p>\n

Thrace<\/h4>\n

Thrace has an AST track of about the same degree of difficulty as Italy’s.
\nHowever, it suffers from a lack of natural city sites, and the Danube Delta flood plain.
\nConsequently, it should insist upon a frontier with Italy located as far west \"\"as
\npossible, and a frontier with Asia\/Assyria as far east in southern Ukraine as possible.
\nIt would also be an advantage to acquire Agriculture.<\/p>\n

Crete<\/h4>\n

Crete’s central starting location is a relatively difficult one, offset partly by
\nits low end-game target of 1200. Although there is no shortage of city sites in Greece
\nand Asia Minor, there is a lack of breathing space. This is accentuated by the necessity
\nto build ships to get off the island of Crete in the early stages. Once these ships have
\nbeen built, Crete always moves last in the race to occupy as much land as possible before
\nthe first bout of city building. Consequently, you should concentrate upon creating a
\nconstantly mobile population, and the acquisition of both Agriculture and Astronomy are
\nessential.<\/p>\n

Asia<\/h4>\n

Asia has a relatively difficult AST track, which is not helped by the high end-game
\ntarget of 1400. It also tends to be crowded out by Assyria. Consequently, it is advisable
\nto choose Asia only if Babylon has not been chosen; in this case, Asia and Assyria have
\nplenty of room to expand into. If Assyria and Babylon have already been chosen, avoid
\nAsia like the plague.<\/p>\n

Assyria<\/h4>\n

Assyria is another blue chip starting position to rank along side Italy. However, its
\nslightly harder AST track and higher end-game target of 1400 make it more of a challenge
\nto play. You should aim to expand into Asia Minor and to the Med coast at Antioch,
\nworking out sensible frontiers with Crete and Babylon. If Asia is in play in place of
\nBabylon, it is probably best to let Asia have Asia Minor, and take over the normal Baby
\nIonian position yourself. However, allowing Asia through into the Babylonian position is
\nequally viable.<\/p>\n

Babylon<\/h4>\n

Babylon has an excellent area to expand into on the map, despite the huge Euphrates
\nflood plain. However, its AST track is extremely difficult because of the early first
\nbarrier. Against good players, the best policy is probably to go for maximum city
\nexpansion in the early stage and take a deliberate stop for one turn at the first
\nbarrier. You will then have to attempt to ensure that all the other players make at least
\none stop later in the game. If Egypt is also in the game, and follows the same policy, it
\nis advisable to cooperate closely with him\/her on this. Apart from this, it is advisable
\nto avoid building more than one low lying city on the flood plain unless it is absolutely
\nnecessary.<\/p>\n

Egypt<\/h4>\n

Egypt has a similar problem to Babylon, and should follow a similar policy. It is
\nessential to expand into Palestine and claim as many of the city sites there as possible.
\nIt is also advisable to agree to a sensible frontier with Africa and thereby avoid
\ntrouble on that side. And whatever you do, avoid building cities in the Nile Delta if at
\nall possible.<\/p>\n

TRADING<\/h3>\n

In the trading sessions, your primary aim should be to build up a set of trade cards
\nwith a value as large as possible. This generally means concentrating on one commodity at
\na time, and trying to corner the market in that commodity. The best commodities to
\nconcentrate upon are Salt, Grain, Cloth, Bronze and Spice. The first four commodities
\ntend to be used as short change to fill up a trade package, but if you manage to make up
\na full set they complement your hand very nicely. Although Gems and Gold can make up
\nsubstantial sets, there are not many of them, and the number of players with eight or
\nnine cities is usually low. Even if you do not have nine cities, it is useful to convert
\neighteen tokens in your treasury whenever possible. It gains you a useful card to trade
\nwith players who do have nine cities, and helps relieve your inflation problems. It is
\nalso a good idea to offer trade packages of four or more cards every now and then; this
\nmay make it easier to conceal a disaster card in the deal if that opportunity arises.<\/p>\n

CARDS<\/h3>\n

There is no ideal set of civilization cards to collect. \"\"If
\nsomebody maintained that such a set existed, the maximum limit of eleven cards per player
\nwould make things very tight in the five, six and seven player games. However, some
\ngeneral guidelines can be given. Any winning set must contain at least two of the three
\ncivic cards Law, Philosophy and Democracy, and preferably all three. The easiest way to
\nacquire Law is to pick up Literacy and Architecture first; together, they knock forty
\npoints off the price of Law. Philosophy can purchase very cheaply if you also acquire
\nMusic and the five science cards: Mysticism, Astronomy, Coinage, Medicine, and
\nEngineering; this reduces the price of Philosophy to seventy. The purchase price of
\nDemocracy can be reduced to one hundred and ten with the additional purchase of the four
\ncraft cards Pottery, Cloth Making, Metal Working and Agriculture.<\/p>\n

The order in which you purchase your cards should be partly decided by two criteria.
\nThe first is to buy them in the sequence which makes the entire set you aim to collect as
\ncheap as possible. The second criterion should be based on whether the purchase advances
\nyou past all barriers on the AST in the shortest number of turns. The problem here is
\nthat getting past one barrier ‘easily’ may create problems at the next barrier.
\nThe most critical example of this dilemma is evidenced by a decision to purchase lots of
\ncheap cards in order to obtain the seven cards required to pass the third barrier; this
\nmay make it extremely difficult to acquire an additional four cards with the values
\nrequired to push your net total to the one thousand points required to pass the fourth
\nbarrier. However, it is sometimes not possible to stick to these criteria. This is
\nusually caused by buying pressure on specific cards.<\/p>\n

The trickiest decision to be made is usually connected with the order in which the
\ncards belonging to a particular colour group are bought. The natural order is to buy from
\ncheapest to dearest, largely because this makes it easier to pass the early barriers.
\nHowever, it can be advantageous to buy some of the expensive ones first in order to
\ncreate a shortage in them. This is a particularly important consideration in the five,
\nsix and seven player games.<\/p>\n

The mix of civilization cards to aim for is also critically determined by the number
\nof players in the game. If the number is four or less, there is no card shortage, and it
\nis generally best to aim for the high value cards unless this causes problems during the
\napproaches to the barriers on the AST. With larger numbers of players, it is worthwhile
\ngoing for some of the cheaper cards if only to ease your passage along the AST. However,
\nyou must make sure, firstly, that you pick up a substantial proportion of the highest
\nvalue cards, and secondly, that your main rivals miss out on more of them.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, Civilization<\/b> is an excellent multi-player game for those who
\nlike long games which require considerable thought, concentration and decision making. As
\na final point, I’ll leave you with a recommendation not to use the Avalon Hill
\nexpansion set. The additional trade cards mean that the disasters are less frequent, and
\nthis upsets the entire play balance of the game.<\/p>\n

Civilization<\/b> is a game for two to seven players; designed by Francis Tresham
\nand originally published by Hartland Trefoil; it is now also marketed under licence by
\nAvalon Hill and Gibsons Games. Players should be aware of which set they are playing
\nwith: there are slight differences, principally in the sequence of play, between the
\nHartland rules and the Avalon Hill rules.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  (This article was originally published in “Games International”, issue #12 (January 1990) and is reproduced here with the permission of Brian Walker, the former editor of GI) Strategy Seminar Steve Jones dons his toga and provides a comprehensive guide to the great game of aspiring cultures. CIVILIZING INFLUENCES In purely abstract game terms, Civilization … CIVILIZING INFLUENCES<\/span> weiterlesen →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[966],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artikel"],"views":6,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}