(P)REVIEWS - Civilization IV: Warlords Review by Solver
New Trait Ratings (Page 2)
Imperialistic – this is a rather interesting trait as well. It gives you
a rather interesting ability to shoot yourself in the foot. +50% Settler
production sounds pretty good, and it is. Note that it doesn’t mean you build
Settlers in half as many turns as non-Imperialistic civs. It’s actually about
one third faster. In the early game this means that you will be able to expand
a little bit faster, getting your second and third city in place sooner.
Sometimes, this will make you lucky enough to grab a spot before an enemy
would. But, of course, there’s a little drawback - you found cities earlier, you pay maintenance earlier. Get
too excited about faster Settler production, and you will build more cities
than you can afford at that point in time, which in Civ4 is a sure way to each
an all-out economic crisis.
+100% Great General emergence means that you gain twice as many Great
General points from all battles. It means that you’ll be getting your first
General (Normal speed assumed) after 15 victorious
battles at most, though more likely 10 or even less. Of course, the usefulness
of this is tied directly to the usefulness of Great Generals themselves. Given
that Generals are a nice boost to your military situation, overall, this bonus
results in a better military. A couple of extra Military Academies for more
units produced, or a couple more Military Instructors for a better trained army
is pretty good.
I also see this as a good builder bonus. Builders will typically fight
few battles - hence, they also tend to have fewer Great Generals. An
Imperialistic builder is much more likely to get a second General, even from
fighting just defensive wars, and even a third General isn’t entirely out of
the question. Then again, most Imperialistic leaders (with the exception of Victoria) make damn good warmongers. Don’t
underestimate the ability of going on a Praetorian-induced rampage as Julius
Caesar, bringing in numerous Great Generals as you do that.
Protective – I think this is a trait which has the potential to cause a
lot of debate. As the name would indicate, it’s a rather useful trait for defence.
The AI, however, has always had issues at this specific part of the game,
mounting a strong offensive vs. cities (although admittedly, there have been
improvements in Warlords). Hence, the boosted city defence is going to be
useful in some games, but not all. Builders are probably going to benefit more,
as they are more likely to be attacked on their own turf. In multiplayer, it’s
going to be a nice boost for city defenders, as attacks in online games tend to
be more brutal.
However, the part of the Protective bonus that gives Drill I is
noteworthy. Drill I, for archery units, is a considerable bonus. It immediately
opens up the possibility of further promotions along the same line, allowing
you to have Drill II or even Drill III units upon production. Also, Drill I now
gives access to the unit-type-specific promotions: Shock and Cover. That means
you can promote a Protective Archer, with its free Drill I, immediately to
Shock.
In single player games, you’re going to notice that Protective civilizations
are a bit of a pain to attack early on. The AI doesn’t hesitate to build
Barracks, so it will have City Garrison II promoted Archers soon, with Drill I
at that. As you’d expect, these cities are slightly harder to attack. [ ... Previous Page | Next Page ... ]
