The purpose of this group is the formulation of effective overall strategies in order to at least survive, and preferably dominate, in the the harsh environment of an Emperor level game. I call on all habitual players of Monarch level games or higher to join this group and help guide our new nation to victory. All other citizens are of course welcome to join too! :)

Founder / Chaiman: Eklektikos

Members:

Eklektikos
Disorganizer
Chiefpaco
Grey Fox
Eyrei
Cyc
BCLG100
Shaitan
Falcon02
Civgeneral
Furry Spatula
Agammemnus
AlmightyJosh
Chieftess
Zarn
Bill_in_PDX
Ipris
Stuck_As_a_Mac
Interjectiv

As founder of the Fanatikan Order (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30266) which is a militaristic organization, i of course have to join this committee.

I'll join. However, I have lost my only 2 Emporer games in 1.29. I'm starting to rethink this difficulty level...

I'll join. Havn't played a game with 1.29 yet though...

One thing we should note is our starting techs, Warrior Code and Bronze working. This will allow us to build archers and spearmen from turn 0. However, these units will take twice as long to build as warriors, so we should of course get a few warriors out exploring.

Our starting number of content citizens is 1, so a Military Police should come in handy, as soon as we can spare one. We may even want to take a close look at the luxury slider to keep people working so our cities may expand.

The AI will start with many units, I think about 8. This will make them very tough to knock out super early. I'd suggest we build a good sized force before attempting an assault.

Of course, we are scientific and militaristic. I think we should take as many advantages out of this as possible. We can build libraries to further our culture and I think we should be fighting quite often to take advantage of our militaristic advantage.

We may be hard pressed to keep up with research. I have found it very difficult in Emporer in 1.29 to do so. Also, the AI's can go through the tree quite quickly, leaving us behind. This also makes wonder building difficult. Many times have I been forced to waste shields because I've been beaten to wonders. It should take close consideration on what we should do here.

I'll join. I also have not played a game with 1.29 yet. Maybe I will download it today. It looks like a useful thing for someone to post in this thread is a summary of the changes made for 1.29.

I can get that, Eyrei. I'll post and edit here. I suggest (for anyone/everyone) trying a 1.29 game just to see if anything is different. Maybe try a small game with accelerated production so you can play more quickly.

Gameplay Changes:

* Added Fortify All and Wake All right-click menu commands.

* Added "Always Renegotiate Deals" prefs which forces a renegotiation of every non-peace treaty deal every 20 turns.

* Changed Military Advisor to evaluate armies based on relative strengths of units as opposed to number of units.

* Commercial trait is moved from 12.5% increase of optimal # of cities to 25% increase.

* Research rate has been re-worked. Here is an excerpt from a Firaxis chat:
[SorenJohnson_Firaxis] another changeg I should mention is that tech cost is now constant across difficulty levels, so Deity so no longer be (quite) the tech race it has been.
[BigFurryMonster] Was the human tech cost higher at Deity then?
[SorenJohnson_Firaxis] that's right... the human cost is increased instead of the AI cost being decreased
[SorenJohnson_Firaxis] let me rephrase. In 1.21 and earlier, a tech cost the AI 6 and the human 10 under Deity. With 1.29, techs cost the AI 10 and the human ~15 under Deity.

can i join even if it is a bit militristic the sausage traders guild is behind it hey how about you work on the militristic side of the campaign and well work on the other side/sides :)

@chiefpaco - question. when would be an appropriate time to start a settler for you? After the first two warriors? 2 warriors and a spearman? Or after one warrior?

Sign me up BTW.

or how bout spearmen settler
how many turns are gonna be in the first t/c?

It seems a bit early to go into too much detail.

Here is how I like to start, in the general case:
Settle in the opening spot, or maybe move 1 or 2 squares, especially if I can settle on a river or get off a desert. There's no time to waste.

I like to get my 1st settler made ASAP. Plunk him down on the best food spot to generate more settlers and workers. So, I would go 2 warriors and then settler. After that, it really depends. Usually another warrior or 2 follows (to compensate for a lost one or play military police or protect the new city). However, sometimes a spearman or Granary can be beneficial. Then as many settlers as my town can afford.

I would welcome the opportunity to join this group.

I agree with cp, 2 warriors and a settler is the start build.

While we can build archers and spearmen in the beginning, I usually pump out warriors for a bit just to get explorers on the move and military police in place. Pehaps a spear/archer depending on the barb situation.

Our negative side is that temples are full cost, and while libraries are cheaper, we will need to research techs to get there. My biggest question with the Germans is always go for Iron Working or Alphabet-Writing-Lit for the GL and libraries?

On Emp level, I'd normally go the alpha route since iron working can be dealt for, or hopefully found in a hut, and it is unlikely I will be going military in the early BC's against superior forces.

My initial thoughts are along the lines of building two warriors - the first to explore and the second to act as garrison - then a settler, and then 4 or 5 archers with a view to taking down a nearby rival capital early on. Nothing like getting a few free techs, some workers and some extra gold nice and early. :)

Count me in (please). I normaly play on Regent and normaly win (about 9 times out of 10) and have only tried Emperor once (I got frustrated that my military units couldn't win battles even though they were better.

Where is the citizen regestry and when was this thread opened?

Sign me up!

Originally posted by Eklektikos
My initial thoughts are along the lines of building two warriors - the first to explore and the second to act as garrison - then a settler, and then 4 or 5 archers with a view to taking down a nearby rival capital early on. Nothing like getting a few free techs, some workers and some extra gold nice and early. :)
Absolutely. To paraphrase the great Chicagoans, "Make war early and often". A constant assault mentality is a requirement on this difficulty level.

My normal start build is 2 warriors (1 MP and the other local survey, eventually returning to be the 2nd MP) then 5 or more offensives (warriors if that's all that's available, preferably bowmen). This assault force does local recon until the entire force is ready then moves en mass against the nearest foreign power. Once the assault force is gone, the capital builds a settler and then defensive units.

The assault force can take 2 cities. After this, sue for peace plus technology, plus money. If it's very lucky it can take out a civ.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The only time we should be at peace is when we are building up assault forces between wars.

I do not put a penny into tech research (slider at 0). There is no way to keep up with the AI and it is far cheaper to extort or purchase techs. On this difficulty level there is no margin for hubris. Use the math, take the cash. Research is for the AI and not for us (until we are WAY ahead).

No need to Build Spearmen early on in emperor. 2 Warriors, then Settler. Then the same procedure, until you have built atleast 5 Settlers or so in the Capital.

Originally posted by Phoenix
Where is the citizen regestry and when was this thread opened?
The citizen registry is in the Main Forum (http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=78).

Thanks Shaitan.

Grey Fox thanks for the info that might be why i keep falling a bit behind in emporer

I'm in, I normally don't play games on Emporer, but I'll give my two cents whenever I feel I have something to offer and have the time to post it.

Originally posted by Grey Fox
No need to Build Spearmen early on in emperor. 2 Warriors, then Settler. Then the same procedure, until you have built atleast 5 Settlers or so in the Capital.
I find myself overwhelmed if I try to settle out in a traditional manner. I only make a single settler in the capital and then turn the capital into military supremacy headquarters. Other native cities get settled from city 2. Most of my cities end up being captures though until around the end of ancient times.

EDIT: Holy smokes. This is post 3000. I spend way too much time here! :lol:

my new citizen group the travelers club (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30315) may be something for you guys, it isnt as militaristic but it is for expanding.

Originally posted by Shaitan

I find myself overwhelmed if I try to settle out in a traditional manner. I only make a single settler in the capital and then turn the capital into military supremacy headquarters. Other native cities get settled from city 2. Most of my cities end up being captures though until around the end of ancient times.

EDIT: Holy smokes. This is post 3000. I spend way too much time here! :lol:

I'll have to try that. My usual aim is to settle settle settle. But this could work too since it usually takes me too long to establish a strong army.

Check out the top posters. A lot of demogame participants... heehee

Eklektikos, I woild like to join :). I usualy play above Monarch level. (With Barbarians roming all over the place :D )

Originally posted by Shaitan

I find myself overwhelmed if I try to settle out in a traditional manner. I only make a single settler in the capital and then turn the capital into military supremacy headquarters. Other native cities get settled from city 2. Most of my cities end up being captures though until around the end of ancient times.


I just tried that using Japan on Emporer, based on yours and Eklektikos' suggestion. 2 warriors, settler, then 5 archers and a spearman (I researched Warrior Code immediately). The 5-archer+1spearmen squad took 2 cities for me and the re-enforcements took another city. I only ran out of steam when I tried to take their capital - it was well defended. So, I made peace (acquiring as many techs as possible), regrouped with another 5-archer+1spearmen group and took the capital 5 or 10 turns later.

Thanks for a good strategy tip! I usually waited for horsemen to attack. Unfortunately, by the time I assembled my horsemen army, the AI most often were very close to pikemen.

Glad it's working for you, chief. I just had a similar experience in a German startup. Only difference was I skipped the settler this time. Warrior x2 then bowmen x6. Blitzed Babylons' 4 cities and sued for peace (either the "restart AI civ" flag isn't working or they had a settler out in the boonies already).

I think we need to stress an early agressive stance very strongly.

Originally posted by chiefpaco


I'll have to try that. My usual aim is to settle settle settle. But this could work too since it usually takes me too long to establish a strong army.

Check out the top posters. A lot of demogame participants... heehee

Hey, I'm working my way up there. ;)

I guess I'll join, as long as it's expasion and defensive measures. :)

I forgot a simple request, Shaitan. Can you not use the cliche, "Lather, rinse, repeat"? I think I've seen it enough times on these forums to last me a liftetime :) :lol: You, of 3000 posts should know what I am saying.

(If it is your first offense, I'll let you off the hook. If you invented the phrase, I'll also let that go, but I would have to kill you... ) [phaser]

(If I keep using cliches, tell me!)

I will endeavor to limit my use of cliches. ;)

Sign me up 'leki!

I'm not qualified to join, but you bet your speartips that I'll be an avid reader.

As an aside, i just started a game using the new demo game starting conditions. For a starting position I got a small, tundra-covered island. Things could get very interesting.

I would like to join. I have had quite a bit of experience in Monarch, Emperor, and Deity levels.

(1) I favor leaving our core cities undefended once we have the surrounding cities well positioned to ward off attack. I don't see the point. Even if the enemy does get through, they can't get by fast enough.

I also favor, as an addition to (1), moving out defenders ever outward.

Thirdly I also recognize that an early war could net us much in the long run, but only if we have a reasonable chance to win a city and NOT destroy it. (vet swordsmen only, not vet archers..) Also this option must of course be weighed against further possibilities of expansion and appeasement of our future provinces. (AI land).

Relative newcomer here....

In a replay if GOTM7, I got Russia in a tizzy by my tight build strategy that Rain taught me, and Russia declared war on me. :) 8 warriors couldn't even take a city... and the lone spearman went around pillaging my roads... :crazyeyes

Sign Me up, i have played at Monarch, so i feel i may have some usefull input.

I beleive that after we get about 5 other cities up, we must start on the Pyramids right away, while it is not a militaristic improvement, it will help us get a nice boost in increasing the size of our newly founded cities. The sooner the city become larger, the more units we can pump out of it.

Originally posted by Danke
I'm not qualified to join, but you bet your speartips that I'll be an avid reader.

As an aside, i just started a game using the new demo game starting conditions. For a starting position I got a small, tundra-covered island. Things could get very interesting.
Danke, if you're planning on playing out that game you might find this thread (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53686) helpful :)

Originally posted by Eklektikos

Danke, if you're planning on playing out that game you might find this thread (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53686) helpful :)

Eklektikos, thanks for the tip. Fascinating!

Fascinating, maybe, but definately massachistic

I ask to join.

Yes, I asked earlier too, and apparently Eklektikos hates me ;-)

I would like to ask the group as a whole to endorse Grey Fox for president. He is one of the most skilled players I have personally gamed with and has prior experience as a demogame president. I feel that his knowledge of the game and skill at playing will be critical in the opening stages of an Emperor level game.

Thanks for that Shaitan.

And to get another strategy out, the Horse Rush strategy. It all depends on not getting HorsebackRiding too early.

This strategy can even be combined with the Archer strategy. All though it requires more cities.

First we research 'the Wheel'. At the same time we build some cities, and prepare 1 or 2 of them with barracks. Then we hook up a horse. Now this is the part were it could fail the most, if there is no horse nearby, this strategy is somewhat of a failure. Anyway, if there is a horse nearby we should have barracks in some cities, and we start training chariots, plus we save some money for their upgrades. When we have enough chariots, it could be 10, 15, 20 or even 30, depending on the Map size, and closeness to our enemy. We get Horseback Riding, upgrade the chariots, and head for our enemy. Depending on how many horsemen we have, we try to take as many cities as fast as we can. (And we try to skip the "Hill" cities, because they can be real traps, and should be saved for later.) And then we sue for peace getting all techs, money etc our enemy has...

Just another nickel in the well.

Grey Fox's "Horse Rush" strategy can also be performed using swordsmen, although once again there's the inherent risk of not being able to find any iron nearby. The advantage of this versus the horse variant is that warriors cost half as much to build as chariots and there's very little that can stand against a stack of 6+ swordsmen, regardless of terrain. The disadvantage is that the upgrade is correspondingly more expensive, and the strength advantage is potentially reduced by the slower movement of the swordsman. However it should be noted that if the tax rate is kept high (90% or 100%) it's possible to raise a larger force in less time than it would take with the horsemen.

Either the horse-rush or the sword-rush would, I think, provide us with an excellent start if combined with an archer-rush and some rapid early expansion (REX) as suggested above by GF

The problem with swordmen though, is their speed (or rather lack of) and lack of further upgrade path. Otherwise, it's a good alternative to the Horse-Rush, depending on Resources I say.

If you want you can vote on me for the President post!

Vote on Grey Fox! (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=458382#post458382)

I'll Join.
I play on Monarch almost solely. I have played Civ2/3 for i guess 8 or so years so have some experience. I generally play pretty conservative though so i may be a nice counter balance around here. i would say 85% of my games the opponent will attack me before i will. My fundamental strategy is a balance of military power and a solid core of structures. Anyway i hope i can help out. :cool:

im in, but the strat im proposing if i get sci leader is an alpha/writ/lit strat 2 grab the gl and reap its benifits

I'll join up. I like the idea of this.

As the Aztec war is entering its final stages, I would like to suggest that we do not wipe them out until much, much later in the game. Instead I believe we should beat them down to 1 city, and use it as a Great Leader farm.

This involves keeping a small stack of units (at least 2 elite offensive units and a veteran defender) near to their city and constantly maintaining a state of war with them. As long as our stack is considered a threat, they will keep sending out units to attack it as soon as they build them, giving our elites a steady stream of fairly weak cannon fodder to munch on - thus upping the chances of Great Leaders being generated on a reasonably regular basis.

interesting stradegy, however what about the techs we could gain?

I'm not sure this is such a good Idea, could just waste our resrouces.

We can follow Eyrei's suggestion and try to get them to declare war on us again, or simply wait 20 turns to start using this technique. A couple of swordsmen and a spearman or two seems like a worthwhile investment even if it only gets us one or two extra Great Leaders.

I think this is a good idea if we remain a monarchy for much of the game. For obvious reasons, it becomes an impossibility if we choose republic or democracy.

I don't think it's really gonna work well, but... I've been wrong before.

In my experience it can work, however, it usually only works until another nearby neighbor, such as Japan, sees how weak the one city civ is, and takes em out.

I'll join but out of all the deity level games i've played I can only win the ones with four ai and thats by diplomatic means

I will join you. Together we will ensure our domination.

I will join you. Together we will ensure our domination.

im in

i may be a relative newcomer at the forums (not really new, i just rarely post), but im not a civ newb. i remember the days of civ1

I'll join. I play on Emperor level but have never tried Deity. About the Swordsmen-rush: The horseman-rush is considerably better unless the map is filled with mountains and hills.

My strategy: Be a religious&Militiristic civ, expand expand expand in Ancient and early medieval, then act as world police to ensure order so that your trade will prosper. Usually use the horsemen to conquer.

Homie... this was posted WAY back at the start of the game. We're almost at the end of the middle ages, and our civ is militaristic, scientific... :) (We chose it at the end of the last game in August)

I'd like to join.:)

Shot! I'd have loved to join as well!