So anyway, one of the stragegies I brought along was was city placement.  In Civ II the tech tree isn't broken up into ages, so you could target specific lines while totally ignoring others, getting things like hospitals much earlier in the game if you chose.  Therefore, the no-overlap pop placement was the thing to do.

AND... I kept doing it in Civ III. 

I was in a game week or so ago, and it hit me.  By the time I can get about city sive 12, the game is 80+% over.  I'm wasting tons of productive squares!

So, that is why I came to this site.  Actually, first time I've visited any Civ strategy site.  I wanted to see if this idea had merrit, and I found dome posts indicating it is indeed the way to go.

So, I played a game at Emperor, placing pops in ideal locations for low overlap, AND dropping a few pops in between those main pops as temp pops to maximize the use of close in terrain while waiting for hospital.

Plan was to not build many improvements in those pops since they were just going to be there for a part of the game.  But then I decided to build all the culture producing improvements, plus a few extras in those pops.  I could sell them when I plan to disband them....  Sure, the city may eventually be losing money, paying more for those culture improvements....  But, I can sell them back them.

Or, wait.  Much that happens in the game seems to be dependant on your total culture.  So, maybe I'll just keep those pops around cranking out cluture...

So, in that one game at Emperor using a close proximity city placement strategy, I did very well, keeping up with other nations tech gains much better than in past games. 

So, I swirtched to Demigod.

Playing Celts.  Started on a nice river with 2 wheats.  I did the ususal of crankning out 3 warriors, 2 to hold up happiness with martial law, then the 1 to explore a bit.  However, with the 2 wheats, before I could build the third, I needed to crank out my first settler.

Being Celts I start with the advancements for grainery and temple, so my typical starting tech move is to go for iron working to see where the iron is, then move toward Republic.  First to philospohy gets a free advancement, so at lower than emperor level I typically get rule of law before philosophy so that I can get Republic, a very costly advance, for free.  At emperor I can't get there first, at least not before I started the close in placement strategy.

This game, I decided to pass on iron working, since everytime I've played demigod in the past, the strategic resources are never close enough to my capital for me to really get control of them early.  I was unable to get philosophy first despite max effort to get there first.  Still, I was able to make swaps for code of laws and philo to complete much of the remaining lower areas of the tree. 

Backing up a bit, I was able to drop my first settler on a luxury, then picked up a second luxury with my 3rd (or maybe 4th city).  I built a temple between the 1st and 2nd settler, then grainery between 2nd and 3rd.  Repeating temple and grainery production for additional cities, and producing workers and settlers as population growth allowed.

I was WAY weak on military, and several times had to give into demands of gold and map from others....  So what. 

By careful micromanagement, good city placement, and use of graineries and other advancement, I managed to grow at a very good pace.  I noticed a 3rd luxury to my north in a swamp wedged between 2 Babylon pops.  I stuck a city on it and rushed a temple to push out on culture borders.  Babylon coverd my entire north on a wide pinsula I was on.  No one to my south. 

With 3 luxuries, I was able to let my cities get a bit larger pre-construction than my past attempts at demigod where I was unable to get better than 2 luxuries.

Eventually I completed philosphy.  As stated above, I was able to trade this and code of laws for much of the lower end of the tech tree.  I then researched Iron Working and found an iron deposit just outside my country in the control of Babylon.  I rushed a settler over then disbanded a bunch of warriors in the pop to get temple quickly.  I then learned literacy to get library and built one there in that pop as quickly as possible.

Getting construciton and literacy and currency, most of my efforts changed from pure settle creation, to improvements and getting larger than 6.  There was just a small fringe of shore to my south that other nations sent settlers to populate.  Portugual and England got there first by ship, but several other nations were mobving settlers through my territory...  then had to turn them around.

By this time I had gone ahead and researched Republic and switched to that govt.

Eventually, my effort to gain control of the iron from Babylon worked, and I produced a hand full of my special units, the Gailec Swordsman.  Unfortunatly, in demigod level, it is tough to not get slaughtered in a war that you start just to trigger your golden age. 

Then, fortune smiled down on me again.  Babylon declared war on Germany.  And, Germany still had a settler and a spearmen escort in my territory that he'd tried but failed to move through my area...  Wherever Germany is, he's the other side of Babylon, so I'm shielded.  I waited about two turns after their war started, then I declared war on Germany, used a gailec swordsman to kill his spearman, and poof, I'm in Golden Age.  Just as I finish ancient times and head into middle ages. 

This REALLY helped me crank out the libraries, colusiums, markets, etc.  Also allowed me to do get to University quickly.  By the end of the Golden Age I had quite a few universities.

Unfortunatly, Babylon must have had cathedrial way before me because he was able to push back cultutrily and regain the iron.  He then ended his war with Germany fairly quickly, leaving me to sweat.  As Germany rushed in with knights against my very limited number of swordsmen, I had to fend him off for about 2 turns... Then I was able to make piece.  I tossed a free luxury his way, and since I'd not taken any of his pops, he was right back to cautious from angry.

I got university fast enough and built one quickly and was able to push back on Babylon and retake the iron. 

Eventualy I got gunpowder, and sure enough, no saltpeter anywhere near me.  And, of course, no horses either.  Didn't even bother trying to get cav.  Skipped and went to industrail age and got steam power.

Sure enough no coal... But wait.  There is a deposit just off my borders to the south just inside an english controlled tile.  So, I rushed down a settler, then built a temple and library.  I was able to gain control of the coal, and linked all my cities, then started working inside out, improving all the squares around my least corupt cities first.

Then...  England culturally flipped my city by the coal!!  DANG!!!!  after gaining control of the coal, I got distracted and forgot to add cathedrial and university to keep pushing on him. 

Back to tech.  One of my tricks is to start on things that will take a long time, like palace or some other wonder long before I have an advancement that allows an improvement I know I will want quickly.  After steam, I learned industry and was able to quickly produce factories in my 2 highest industry cities.  Then I went back to working on the things I knew I wouldn't really build... and switched to hospital as soon as I got medicine and sanitation.  Then I sarted working on wonder and palace again.

Then, fortune shined down on me again....  Egypt declared war on Babylon, and brought the entire rest of the world into in on their side.  Babylon was destroyed, and I was able to shove a lot of settlers into the gaps between the pops, rush in improvements, and shove out my broders quite a bit.  Babylon was no more, and I had FIRM control of that iron that had been on our border.

After sanatation, I traded for nationalism and finally produced some riflemen.  Nice to have a unit that defends better than pikeman. 

An aside.  I've never been a huge user of spies.  But, I thought I better give it a try since this is demigod and I'm probably going to be unable to use warfare to grow.  So, I took time out from going straight up the tech tree to get espionage.  I then did a bit of cheating, save, try to use propaganda to flip the city that controls coal, fail, reload.  I didn't think this was so much "cheating" as testing and learning how espionage works within the game...

As I built hospitals and my main pops grew above 12, the temp pops produced workers to give up their tiles.  I traded for democracy, and switched to that.  Soon I had enough workers to make it worth a trade for coal...  So I rushed to put in railroads EVERYWHERE while the trade lasted.  Did pretty good at getting in railroads in the limited time of the 20 turn trade.

After espianoge, I headed for Scientific Method.  My capital was working on universal sufferage, and my second best was working on palace.  I was stockpiling shields big time with factory and hospital in both of these cities.  I even joined workers into the cities to crank up their size and max production.   

Then I had an ohno second....  Just as I was about to get Sicentific Method, portigul completed Universal Sufferage.  My capital had nothing to switch to.  All that pre-produciton toward ToE would be lost... Probably resulting in someone getting it before me.  Oh wait.  Fortune shined down on me again.  It was THE turn before the advancement.  And, you don't have to switch until the city's next production... AFTER I have the advancement.  Had sufferage been built 1 turn sooner, I was toast.. But, instead, I was golden.

So, I ran the turn, learned Scientific Method, switched production to ToE.  Cool.  Just enough time to learn Replacible Parts before completing ToE.

On THE turn I completed Replacable Parts, I completed ToE, learned atomic theory and electornics for free, then switched my second best city to Hoover Dam, which was just a couple turns away.

AND, just inside my border to the south... RUBBBER.  THE FIRST stratigic resource I hadn't had to launch a culture war to control.  So, I was able to buid infantry!  And, since I had factories and hospitals in a fairly large number of my pops, I was cranking out infantry pretty quickly.  2-3 per turn.  More like 4-5 per turn after I completed the Hoover Dam.  Also produced about 15-20 artilary.  Woot.  For the first time in the game, I actually had a decent chance of defending myself should I be attacked.

All my older units got dumped into those cities that I build in and around ex. Babylon territory to help rush production of temples, courthouses, libraries, cathedrials, etc.

After Egypt and England had taken out Babylon, they had ganged up on Germany and taken him out.  Protuigal and France, both the far side of Egypt from me were throwing cav at each others infantry.... 

I got refining.. and ... you guessed in, no Oil.  There is a deposit way in the south controlled by another of those English pops.  DANG ENGLISH!!!

AND, then fortune shines down on me YET again.  The two biggest boys on the street Egypt and England got into it.  Egypt attaked England!  I saw my oppertunity to pick up a lot of those ex. Babylon pops on my norther border that were heald by England... AND take his southern pops to gain permamnt control of the coal PLUS the oil!

Using massed artilary and infantry, I attacked.  AND, I brought Rome into on my side in a tech swap that included me getting military tradition(though I had no intenton of building cav.  I wanted the small wonders it allows).  He was the only nation not already at war and the only nation England would likely be able to bring into it on his side. 

I very carefully shepharded my elite units into safe victories, and soon had a leader, which I converted into an army, got an army victory, and quickly built military academy and military tradition.  About 6 turns short of when I'd have motorized tradition, I started seeing tanks appear on the battle field for portigul and spain, then soon Egypt. 

Back up...   Workers can hang out in enemy territory without the automatic withdrawl thing... which is how Iwas monitorng the protigual vs. spain war.

Anyway, I had to make a right of passage agreement with portigual to reach the last English pop to my south, BUT, I cleared him off my paninsula (giving me the coal and oil), took all his Babylonian holdings (including Babylon city which had Copernicus's Obsirvatory).  But wait.  There is half a dozen turns of my military agreement with Rome.  Citizens are getting war weary...  So, I cranked the luxuries up to 30% of my commerce and invaded England proper.

As I was on the door steps of London, I got tanks another leader, and built an army from my academy.  My first tank army arrived just in time for me to take London.  Egypt had already made peace with England, and my agreement with Rome was up.  So, I too made peace with England.

This is where the game now stands.  I'm the second largest nation based on land area (14% to Egypt's 24%) and #1 in population (24% to his 20%).  Egypt has flight, but not yet Electornics, so we're not that far off on tech.  I have yet to see him field an army, which I have 3 (one all inf, 2 tank) and producing another army every 5 turns.  Spain has rocketry as I've seen him field TOW crews.  Not sure if Portigual is there. 

Rome is mostly on a small island with a few pops on the mainland just south of England.  He's WAY behind on tech and still at war with England.  I'm at "gracious" relations with everyone except England (who of course, is WAY furious at me) having traded and donated luxuries with everyone at one time or another.  I've not broken a single deal with anyone.

If I don't end up winning, it certainly is the closest I've yet come on the Demigod level.

Celts are great fun for that kind of game...  try a fuedalism run at regent difficulty, and see if you can get over 50 cities by 10 ad...  My goal was always 100 but never got much past 65...  Whips and small cities!  If they are bigger than six population you have made a mistake...  hehehe...  your army can be HUGE!

The world ganged up on England and took him out.  Then I made mutual protection pacts with Rome and Portugal, and declared war on Egypt without attacking him.  The next turn he attacked me, and that made Rome and Portugal break their mutual protection pacts with Egypt and honor mine.  So, with EVERYONE at war with Egypt and the bulk of his forces way off fighting France, I destroyed him.

First turn of the war I took atleast 10 cities.  Maybe 12-15.  Pretty much all our border cities plus what he'd taken from England.  Then about 3-5 cities per turn once I had to slog it through his high culture areas.  Of course, come cities I had to take twice.

I finished off the core area of Egypt and was heading to his last few holdingds in French area.  I was sitting at 70% of world pop and 60% of area.  I figured I was 5-10 turns from domination victory.  Then Portugal completed the UN and called a vote.  Egyp voted for himself.  Portugal voted for himself.  France, Rome and myself voted for me.

Not only my first Demigod victory, my first diplomatic victory.