Warmonger question

[mimi]

Ok... I started a new game with the Iroquois with the full intention of just kicking everyone's butt off my continent... then off the rest of the continents; it was to be my first conquest game.

I started out well... eliminated Babys and Egypt and was working on Rome when, well, I got side tracked by building cathedrals, and courthouses, oh, and my cities felt better with libraries in them... then once I realized half my cities were constructing universities I realized my intention of conquering instead of building had gone by the wayside.

Now for those warmongers out there. Do you really just build the essentials then go attack? Or do you also build infrastructure beyond barracks (ie, is my game redeemable as a conquest game if I build universities)?

Guess what I'm asking is what does a warmonger really do? And what year do warmongers usually "unite" the world? (Regent/Monarch levels)

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by mimi
Ok... I started a new game with the Iroquois with the full intention of just kicking everyone's butt off my continent... then off the rest of the continents; it was to be my first conquest game.
Guess what I'm asking is what does a warmonger really do? And what year do warmongers usually "unite" the world? (Regent/Monarch levels)

You just have to "do it." Build barracks. Build units. Stack 'em. Pile 'em up real high, and attack. (Don't forget to honorably cancel any peace treaties first!)

[DrSpike]

It also depends on how many civs there are on your continent, and how far away the other continents are. It is quite acceptable to build a bit if you need to get to say navigation after clearing your continent. Till then just build units, extort tech, buy tech. The timing of the initial attack depends on your civ and difficulty level.

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by DrSpike
It also depends on how many civs there are on your continent, and how far away the other continents are. It is quite acceptable to build a bit if you need to get to say navigation after clearing your continent. Till then just build units, extort tech, buy tech. The timing of the initial attack depends on your civ and difficulty level.

Oops! I didn't mean to shortchange mimi on her questions. Yes, of course, the timing of the actual attack depends on many, many factors. But if I read the post correctly, it is the same problem I have -- I keep delaying hoping to finish one more project (as soon as I finish my spaceships, they'll feel the wrath of my mounted warriors!). It's the perfectionist response.

[rpodos]

Being a warmonger does not necessarily mean going for a conquest victory.

As in real life, the military is a tool of the overall society or civ.

I use warfare to:
- Tune up troops.
- Create GLs.
- Deny / punish.
- Expand / extort.

What this gives me is control... which I then further extend via vassal states, gifts, alliances, trading, etc.

Also, once I win my first campaign or two, I build pretty much everything I can... you have to to continue to be a warmonger. Barracks if I don;t get Sun Tzu, all of the happiness modifiers (religious and marketplaces) to deal with war-weariness, science to keep my troops on the cutting edge and to have the right techs for the GWs and SWs I want, and harbors and such if appropriate.

Then you can go for any kind of win you want, except for diplo. I usually don't bother... when I achieve the strength to win ANY way that I want, I consider the game to have been won.

I usually achieve this around the time I build all of my beloved TANKS, so I don't deal with late-game tedium or communist meltdown. Definitely a major flaw in the game, but I enjoy it anyway.

R

[Dominae]

If I'm going for an early rush, I'll build military units almost exclusively (the rest being Settlers and the occasional Worker). Once my I have a good-sized force, I allow my cities to switch production to Temples, etc. but still keep a couple of high-producing cities on military units just in case reinforcements are needed. This all depends on what a "good-sized" force is. I usually ask myself these questions: Who am I attacking? What are my goals? How good are their defenses? This usually gives me a pretty good idea of how big an army to build.

An exception to this rule is if I'm on a Pangea map and it's toward the end of the Industrial Age. If I decide to achieve a Domination victory, I'll usually only produce military units (Tanks, Infantry, Bombers) until I win. At that stage in the game, most of your city improvements have been built and you can support an army of almost any size, regardless of government. Such a single-minded strategy usually steamrolls the AI.


Dominae

[pchang]

On Monarch I have conquered the world right around 0AD. You have to make a concerted effort to:
1) Stay in despotism
2) Build temples, barrack, and units only.
3) Crush, kill, destroy. The only infrastructure you care about is roads.
4) Do not try and build up captured cities.
5) Build no Wonders, but by all means capture some.

[Inverse Icarus]

as apolytons self-proclaimed king of all warmongers, i honestly build a bare minimum of culture improvements (religious civs temples, science civs libraries), just so that i dont get culture flipped, and so i can have big borders. after i have that down i buid swarms of horsemen.

[DrSpike]

Of course there is little skill in just churning troops............How do any warmongers out there deal with, say, starting on a smallish continent? You'll need some science to get you to navigation, since your ability to capture techs is diminshed. Even if you can research/capture these techs it isn't easy to conquer the well-developed civs on other continents (no doubt they have traded their way to technological superiority). If you don't dominate the map before they get infantry you need tanks - that's a lot of science required. Not as clear cut as some might say.

[Inverse Icarus]

the skilled warmonger can adapt to anything. if you are on a small continent with another civ, you befriend them and buy techs off them. then when you have amassed your swarms, you charge them and take their cities. they'll have some improvements and a lot of other stuff done for you. i just wish libraries / temples weren't mysteriously destroyed.

if, god forbid, you start alone on an extremely small continent, your warmonger strategy has to be delayed. there's simply nothing you can do about it. you have to play as a militaristic builder until you can get the great library, or if your lucky until you find some island you can reach with trimeres. your main island will also come in handy, becuase it will probably have some basic improvement / wonders that will aide in your conquests or provide an economic core to support your mighty armies.