Civ V Conquer Strategy?

[Cinnder]

I've realised I suck at trying to win a military victory in Civ V (Gods & Kings).  Tech, Diplomacy, or Culture I can do easily, but when I try to be a conqueror (even as Attila the Hun) I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do to win in the second half of the game.  Sure, I can conquer my own continent easily enough, but when I finally discover the New World, I find the time I have spent conquering my neighbours has allowed the people living on the other continent to outstrip me in science, so their cities are unconquerable with the forces at my command.  If I start to devote my resources to science, then I fall into a deficit on gold and/or happiness.

Maybe it comes from having played superheroes so long, but I find I'm much more successful being a nice guy in this game than a terror.  The weird thing is that all the discussions I see online say that a military victory is the most common one, which perhaps results in a paucity of advice, since it's assumed that war is the method most people already know.

Can anyone give me any ideas or point me to a good strategy guide online somewhere?

[Dr. Gemini]

I always put everything I can into founding new cities and Science!. I only conquer those that get in my way or piss me off, rather than try to take my entire starting continent, so I stay out of early wars. More cities usually means more production capability, more culture, and more science, so by the modern age I am usually the most advanced, or at least as advanced as anyone else. Then I can churn out units far faster than enemy empires. The difficult thing at that point is resisting my normal urge to simply sweep across the world, taking those nearest me first, and instead go after the most powerful Empires first so they don't achieve one of the other types of victories while you're taking them down.

You have to plan ahead with your policies as well, making sure to develop those that help you in war well before you commit to war. Further, don;t get caught up in capturing every city. You have to be very judicious about which you keep and raze the rest. Its far better to take a short-term hit to your empire's happiness by razing a city than a long-term one which is what happens when you keep a city.

Anyway, that's some of what works for me most of the time.

[Cinnder]

Hey Doc,

Thanks very much for the reply.  Finally managed to win a domination today with the Huns by quickly conquering my 3 neighbours, then finding Japan alone on a small continent within pre-Astronomy reach, so he was easy to take out.  Didn't build any new cities, but concentrated on perfecting the ones I hadn't razed and put lots into science.  I found the New World before they found me, just in time to see Russia conquer Carthage, saving me some time there.  Figured I would go for Austria first, since they were weaker, but when Catherine attacked the Austrian capital I decided it was the perfect time to take Moscow, while all their troops were busy far away on the Austrian border.  After taking several Russian cities including Moscow, Catherine sued for peace, and I quickly moved my forces in for the kill on Austria.

However, I think this strategy worked only due to the Huns' early-game military advantages and a lucky map.  I'll definitely try your strategy next time!

[Eoraptor]

I pay Civ 4 instead of five, but I concur... concentrate on getting so far ahead scientifically that you're able to crunch your enemies knights beneath the treads of your modern armor. why? because with tech comes city improvements, and many city improvements also increase your production speed. that means that you can quickly rebuild a military force after a campaign. or build up a stack of reinforcements when you hit one of those pesky cities that just won't fall.