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Warlord
Local Time: 16:47
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 180
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Civ choice on Earth maps
Assuming correct starting positions, the discussions on civ choice for warmonger, builder, and hybrid strategies need to be revisited, as there are some additional adjacencies to the cultural links, and a couple of geographic issues.
For simplicity's sake, assume that all 15 civs are in the game.
I think the primary considerations are:
- Europe: Germany, Russia and France now have to contend with Greece and Rome.
I think Rome is really the issue, as the Legionnary is so powerful so early. That really hurts the northerners as civ choices for ANY strategy. Rome is the pick here.
- Middle East: This grouping is now Egypt, Persia, and Babylon, with India Russia, and Greece on the outskirts. Whew... this is probably the most complex interplay.
A human-played Egypt HAS to go after Persia right away, and can ignore the Impi threat as you'll have spearmen by the time they can really rush you. Can't take any chances, so you'll actively use the War Chariot... this will also take you to Babylon, but you'll have to leave Greece alone. Probably very successful, but not too many GLs, and an early GA. A good warmonger pick.
Persia is interesting... Babylon could be an early threat with aggr=1, but the AI tends to play it as builder. instead, you have to warrior rush Egypt in an immediate punishment / denial campaign. This is good, because then you can upgrade them all to Immortal (probably as vets now), and take out the Babylonians, maybe the Greeks, and outlying Russian cities. Although you'll be fighting slow-mover wars for a loooong time, it's not much of a problem as Egypt and Bablyon are so close. Strong; I just wish they were religious. A good hybrid pick.
Babylon, oh Babylon... DON'T use the bowman!!! The GA is way too early. The Indians are so peaceful, and Russia is too far away, so you can worry about them later. Warrior rush the Persians, as you need to beat them down before Immortals. Build temples and barracks in every city. Upgrade at the same time you get Horsemen, and then open a can of combined arms whupass on Egypt. Zulus are not a problem, as you have Horsemen by now. Oh, BTW, you know everybody except the New Worlders. Next: GA while building Knights. The dot-on-the forehead thing is a great targeting tool. Definitely the Middle East pick for hybrid.
- Africa: Has anybody read "Guns, Germs and Steel"? An isolated warrior nation does not go very far.
Zululand HAS to play builder, at least until Horsemen. Impis have to be very active saboteurs on Egypt, but preferably no fighting to delay the GA. The good news is that the Egyptians will probably be preoccupied. You'll miss out on early GLs, which is a pity since you're Militaristic. A weak builder pick, though, as you get no early discounts other than barracks, and you're slow at hacking away at all the jungle.
- Far East: The geography changes everything.
China just got better across the board. Japan is a non-issue, although you can see him a thus tech trade... he's almost a vassal state by nature. Dealing with India is like shooting cows in the river (sorry if I offend anyone, I am just joking)... you probably want a massive horse rush to take them out before the Babylonians get back from Persia (if they do), and to generate some GLs (I probably wouldn;t even bother making them vets). Russia will be dealing with whoever emerges dominant in Europe. You're able to take your time and build, if that's what you want, and don;t have to bother with any barracks. The UU makes sense now, as you'll be wheeling them around across the many long roads that your industrious workers have build throughout the massive boundaries of your empire. Those same workers will irrigate the Gobi desert in no time, and then chop down the whole of Siberia. The only ***** is that you don;t get any discounts on building, but by the time you get out of despotism you'll have money coming out of your ears. Wow. Wow. Wow. This might be unbalanced, frankly, except in that China is not Religious.
India. I have nothing positive to say about them at this time, so I won't say anything. I learned that in second grade.
Japan is now totally different in character. Strictly a builder strategy, with a possible late game military surge. That means no early GLs, which sucks. Even as a builder, too much time spend on the open seas, and you have to migrate south, with mucho piracy (read: corruption) until you build an FP or move your Palace, which will take forever. For builders, the one piece of good news is you never get attacked. You might also contact the North American gaijin first. Too bad, sayonara from me.
- The Americas: At first I thought "They are screwed on tech," gut then I realized how smart the design of tech costs was... the New Worlders will remain a little behind everybody else for the early game, but the cost of techs goes down as more people know them, so you come into contact maybe 1-3 behind. Not too bad. The big difference hear is I think for the Aztecs, who face pretty much the same situation as the Zulu. Gotta go builder, but its a weak pick. This BTW, is very positive for the Iroqouis, who no longer face that early threat, which gives time for all three strategies. Doesn't feel like there are enough people to fight with though, at least for me.
So who do I like? My style is hybrid, but leaning towards warmonger (say, 80-20; I build a lot, esp. happiness-related, but I'm constantly at war for GLs), with a preference for a lot of fighting, a fast-mover UU, and a late-Ancient or early-Industrial GA. Early relative strength matters a lot too. I typically place Monarch or Regent, on large maps.
Rome - B+
Egypt - A
Persia - B
Babylon - A
China - A-
Iroqouis - B-
R
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"Verily, thou art not paid for thy methods, but for thy results, by which meaneth thou shalt kill thine enemy by any means available before he killeth you." - Richard Marcinko
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. Well... I ordered a new one now 
, so next weekend will be great 
.
