| Avalon
Hill |
This page provides information about Civilization and Advanced Civilization by Avalon Hill. If you are unfamiliar with the board game, Derek mcKay has written an overview of Civilization and its many expansions for those unfamiliar with the game. Advanced Civilization is (IMHO) the best board game in existance. For those unfamiliar with it, it is for 3-8 players (I wouldn't try it with less than 5,and 7 or 8 is optimum) that takes from 6-10 hours to play.
Civilization costs around $30, and Advanced Civilization is an add-on set that costs an additional $30. I would highly recommend the Advanced version, but there are some people who prefer the original version. You should be able to find both versions at your local gaming store (who should be able order it if they don't have it in stock). You can also order it direct from Avalon Hill. Their phone numer is 1-410-254-9200.
In England, Civilization is produced H P Gibson and Sons Ltd, London, under licence from Hartland Trefoil Ltd, Northampton, England. I've heard that it is much nicer than AH's Civilization, but there is no Advanced Civilization version, and it is not compatiable with AH's version. This version is cheapter and has much nicer pieces, but overall most people who've seen it recommend the Avalon Hill version. As mentioned, Gibson licences the game from Trefoil, the original producer of Civilization. This game has the extra trade cards, but no Western Expansion Map or Advanced version.
I have also been told that the French version has a much bigger board and looks much nicer than the original. But, like the English version, it is not compatable with AH's versions. It can be found by contacting Jeux Descartes, 52, rue des ecoles, 75005 PARIS, FRANCE. Their telephone number is 1 43 26 79 83.
There is also a German version of Civilization. It is equivilant to normal Civ, comes boxed and costs around $60 (in Austria). There is no expansion like Advanced Civilization, but for $30 There is a boxed western expansion map (it might also include the extra trading cards).
The game takes place in the Mediterranean, with the board streaching from North Africa and lower England on one side, to the Middle East. Avalon Hill has given permission to distribute a copy of the map online. You can view it as a 191 K GIF or as a 106 K JPEG.
People ask for strategy tips a lot, so I'll give my quick blurb on some points I think are worth noting.
Know the math. Always play for big sets of commodities. Never buy Military without Metalworking. Never buy Literacy without Drama & Poetry. Maximize your credits. Allan Bell has created a great spreadsheat of card values (Excel 4.0 for Macintosh or comma seperated text) that will calculate your discounts for you.
Don't worry about calamities. In a recent computer game, I got Superstition (which required me to reduce two cities) and Civil War. I went from 8 cities to 2. In two turns, I was back at 8. If you play it right, any calamity can be overcome without to much of a loss.
Don't pray to the AST. Almost everyone gets stopped sometime, especially in the computer game. Don't sacrifice game position for a delay that your going to end up taking at some point. Stalling on the AST is great if you only stop when you plan to stop.
This is all the information I've found about the civ board games. If you have any ideas on how to improve this page, or things that should be added, please let me know.
