damn cavalry!!

[Worthingtons]

Some people like Cavalry, other say they are overpowered, It seems Me and the English built exclusively Cavalry for our Military.

Result - I slaughter the English Frontier, They Slaughter Me back... and so on...

There is now a 'No mans land' Zone that for the past century or two hasnt moved and about 200 units have been lost for each side

I need some tactics... and My Armies arent working either!

[TinCow]

I use cavalry a lot, but for me, they are mid-medieval age units. I beeline for cavalry and usually get them a long time before we go to the industrial age. As far as I can tell, this is key. Cavalry are just as dominant as tanks are later when they are going up against pikemen and musketmen. If you wait to use your cavalry until riflemen are around, you've lost your advantage. Cavalry are one of those 'use em or lose em' units. They have a very narrow time frame in which they are useful, if you can increase that time frame, you'll have a big advantage. Don't worry about the other techs you'll have missed while getting cavalry, because the AI will give them all to you to stop pounding on them with all your cavalry.

[whosurdaddy]

Actually, I find that i need to use cavalry for as long as my enemies use them, regardless of what defensive infantry units are out there. This is because the only good defense against marauding cavalry units galloping through your empire tearing up roads and improvements, capturing workers, attacking weakened units, and generally reaking havoc is to use your own cavalry to hunt them down and anhilate them. I also like using cavalry defensively because i can strike quickly with them, then retreat back to the safety of a city before the turn is over.

[TinCow]

That's true, but what you're describing is a defensive war. Offensive war basically takes a vacation the moment the Industrial age starts and doesn't start again until the very end of the Industrial age. One of my overall most important objectives is to have a secure empire by the end of the Medieval age. If I do, then I can use this period of relative territorial security to build up my cities and turn them from the small, poor cities of old into the massive super cities on rail networks of the modern age. If you're not sufficiently large by this period of time though, everyone else will experience the city boom to a much more effective extent and you'll get left in the dust. Getting cavalry early and using them aggressively in the Medieval age goes a long way towards securing your continent/island.

[Worthingtons]

Hell this war is driving me mad, I am gradually being drove BACK by the English and Americans, and i dont know how much longer i can hold out. A Check of the Histogram shows i'm a good 300 points ahead of the pack but it seems not in Military Terms..

The Americans wont even talk to me so i'm buggered there....

and that elusive 9th leader doesnt seem to want to come either

[TinCow]

If you're just concerned with holding them, put all your cavalry production into infantry and make a solid wall. It's fun to watch 6 attack cavalry throw themselves at your 10 defense fortified infantry.

[Worthingtons]

I only wish I had infantry.. it's Riflemen at the moment

[Jaybe]

Unfortified infantry are NOT invincible! They just take 2-4 attacking units to take them out, and if the enemy has the units, it gets done. Once even had ONE Immortal take one of my infantry out all by itself.

Aside: Don't mind me, I just had to abort a sea-borne invasion of Persia. 5-6 transports loaded with infantry, tanks and artillery wasn't enough for a whole country's worth of immortals, cavalry and knights -- he had LOCAL superiority! I'll do better next time -- I Hope!

[Bautou]

I don't know anything about the geography of your game but here's some general patterns that I'd follow in your situation:

1.If there are some other civs that border on your enemies' territory, do whatever it takes to get them to declare war on your enemies. If you don't have anything to trade with them at the moment, temporarily set your science rate down to zero or 10% and rake in gold for a few turns to use to buy some allies. Even if the other civs don't directly border with your enemies, it may still be a good idea to get as many allies as possible to distract your enemies.

2.If 1 is impossible, bring your workers just behind the front line and start having them build funnel fortresses. The AI usually avoids attacking fortresses so you can use them to funnel their troops into a smaller, more defensible area (like a mountain range).

3.If 2 is impossible, try to send some troops around to the rear of the enemy civ. They don't have to be great troops, warriors or even workers will suffice. If you can put enough of these behind enemy lines, the AI troops at the front will often turn around to and march right across the length of its territory to get those units, allowing you some temporary relief on the front.

4.If 3 doesn't buy you much time or is impossible, set your tax rate has high as you can and rush unit after unit after unit after unit (assuming you're in monarchy or above). -Or- set your science rate as high as possible and pray that you get to infantry in time. Considering peace should also be an option by now, even if you have to pay for it with a city.

5. If you're desperate and the AI won't talk to you, leave your least valuable border city undefended and let the AI capture it. You can also build a few new cities along the front and let the AI capture them. They'll probably offer peace shortly thereafter.

6.If all else fails, move all available troops into one large stack and stage a last ditch offensive into enemy territory. Hopefully, you'll manage to capture a city or two before the AI does serious damage to your own empire, and cause it to seriously consider peace with you.

7.If you're at this point, then the only thing that'll probably help you is save-game editor.

[Worthingtons]

Thanks for your advise, I managed to fight a defensive war with the Riflemen i had, and now I've industrialised before the rest and have an advantage, the problem now is this

I'm a good 300 Points in the lead
Biggest pop,Tech lead,most money BY FAR,average-strong Military, Moderate Culture,Best Production......

Basically I'm in a nice posistion, but my turns are taking 10 minutes a time, and I dont know how I'm going to get a victory as Military Conquest will take forever.... I only expect to live another 60 years or so.. , Domination seems a hard one, I own about 1/5-1/4 of the globe, but i need 2/3 , Culture is unlikely, and if i do get it by the 100000 point thing, it will be in the 2000's, and Demo and Space are switched off....

I really want to win this game... but it's sooooooo tedious.. oh well.

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by Rothy
...
Basically I'm in a nice position, but my turns are taking 10 minutes a time, and I dont know how I'm going to get a victory as Military Conquest will take forever.... I only expect to live another 60 years or so.. , Domination seems a hard one, I own about 1/5-1/4 of the globe, but i need 2/3 , Culture is unlikely, and if i do get it by the 100000 point thing, it will be in the 2000's, and Demo and Space are switched off....

I really want to win this game... but it's sooooooo tedious.. oh well.

Ooohhh, the impatience of some people these days.

Sorry, but [RANT MODE ON]
I suppose you wanted to finish the game this week. I get the impression that a lot of players are in for a 'quick' game. They want to fill up their Hall of Fame with all sorts of wonderful ever-increasing scores, perhaps.

Well, now you're in the thick of it aren't you? It may take some real work! Go ahead, immerse yourself into the game, as if the responsibility for the Roman Empire was yours.
[RANT MODE OFF]

Hey look, it's just that my perspective is different from yours, Rothy. I play the huge map, and with all victory setting on. My shortest game (my first), took 3 weeks on a standard map, and now they may easily take 6 weeks or so. And I'm playing a couple of hours a day on 2 or 3 weekdays, 6-12 hours on both Saturday and Sunday! I've been playing this way since 10/30/01, and I'm on my fourth game!

The late industrial and modern ages during peacetime CAN be a real drag. Nothing to do but clean up pollution and End Turn. But it's just part of the path, and may lead up to a real exciting (or traumatic) end as you claw your way to victory (or defeat). It's like a mystery novel in that you just don't know how it's going to turn out.

Your post inspires me to come up with a poll: How long does your game take (with map size). Perhaps I'll do that in a few days, unless someone else want to beat me to it.