I was bored at work today so I wrote this guide. We seem to have a few new members at the moment which is a really good thing. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew all the techniques. I know that despite being a Civ2 player for more than ten years before I started here I was ignorant of a few of these methods and had to learn! Sorry it is only in English.
PBEM TIPS:
Trade is vital in most multiplayer games. Not only do you get a cash payoff and extra trade arrows in the city that sent the trade, you also get a science beaker boost that corresponds to the cash payoff. It is possible to get a technology per turn if you deliver a few high payoff trade deliveries. For example in Imperialism 1870 two to three trade deliveries at 2000 gold per turn (usually for demanded goods) will fill up the science research bar and you will get a new tech the following turn.
Obviously the payoff is better if the city you are delivering the trade goods too demands them. Some large cities will give a good payoff even if they don't demand the goods. Good examples would New York or London, especially if you are trading with them from another continent and from a long distance. If a city has the Colossus wonder it will have a higher number of trade arrows and will be a better destination. Before starting a new scenario I usually take a quick look at the whole map and make a note of the cities with high trade arrow production.
Start mass producing trade units and sea transports as soon as possible and try and ship them to high trade cities as soon as you can. Disband units if you have to, you will soon make more than enough money to replace them once a steady flow of trade is established. You may want to starve your population to make citizens into tax collectors to get more cash to build traders. Sell off any un-necessary city improvements to get cash. You can always rebuild them later on.
The Superhighways improvement (or whatever it is called in the scenario) will greatly increase your trade payoffs. Try to build them as soon as possible. Obviously Republics and Democracies will produce more trade, but you can also boost your trade arrow output in cities that are celebrating "We love the Ruler" day when operating under a Monarchy, Communism or Fundamentalism. Any celebrating city will produce trade arrows as if it is a Republic. When you are ready to send a trade unit into its destination city it is well worth maximizing the trade arrows in its home city, if only temporarily.
If you are trading extensively you may want to alter the tax/science/luxury rate to maximize taxes and luxuries to help your cities celebrate whilst reducing your science to 0%. This is OK as you can get your advances through trade payoffs. If you have your science rate set to 0% make sure you have one science specialist in one of your cities. The small amount of science beakers they produce will be enough to tip the scales and give the new technology on the following turn.
In most scenarios you will need to trade extensively to keep up with the other Civs. Protecting your trade routes will be essential. A blockade cutting trade can be even more effective than open warfare as it slows science research and denies cash which will be needed to rush build units!
As well as the science benefits of trading there is the issue of production. Even if your cities have poor shield outputs you can keep up in production by spending your trade revenues on units. The way to make the most of your money is to use what's called the 'Incremental rush building' technique. For example, you have decided to build a Battleship which costs a 160 shields. Don't rush build it outright! Instead pick the cheapest unit available. Pay for it then change to the next cheapest unit. Each 10 shield row will cost 25 gold. Two rows will cost 60 gold and so on. Keep repeating this process until you get to the Battleship and you will find you have spent a fraction of the gold you would have if you had brought it outright. This technique will be even more efficient if you start with some shields in the production box. Starting with none will make it much more expensive to build the first unit unless it only costs 10 shields. Obviously this technique is not as cost effective as just letting the box fill up naturally, but it is much quicker. Very few cities will have enough shield output to produce a new unit every turn, but by trading and rush building with the revenue even the smallest, weakest city can!
Controlling a city with a large trade arrow output may not seem particularly beneficial at first glance. Once it has sent out its three traders it will only be able to produce new ones once in a while. The other Civs will be reaping the benefits of sending their traders to your city while you get nothing. However there are ways to exploit its trade potential:
Number one would be to charge a toll, say 20%, for every caravan that another Civ sends to the city. If it has a large payoff you will get a good cut of the profits (EG 2000 gold payoff at 20% = 400 gold toll). It will still be worthwhile for the other Civs to send traders as in addition to the 80% cash they keep they will also get the trade beakers. If the cash payout is 2000 gold the beakers will fill between a third and a half of the science progress bar!
Number two is the influence you will gain from controlling such a desirable trade destination. Other nations will be careful not to offend you and risk having their trade embargoed. This can give you a huge amount of diplomatic leverage. Don't push either advantage too far though as there will always be other markets to send trade to and you could end up isolated.