Early Pushover Strategy (Caesar´s favorite)

I would like to introduce a strategy for developing as quickly as possible a powerful offensive force, capable of overwhelming your immediate neighbours before the end of the classical era. With it, I have been able to reliably dominate the early game in levels up to Monarch (standard setup – will not work on islands or very small/crowded maps).

Out of all civs, the Romans with their 8 ST Praetorians are best suited for an early pushover, but I would assume that any civ with either mining as their starting tech or an early offensive UU or the aggressive trait stands a good chance of succeeding with it.

In brief, early pushover extends the rapid expansion worker/settler start (using forest chops) with a rush for iron working and other military technology. It aims for the swift establishment of a small core of two or three cities with access to iron (ideally with copper and horses) to mass-produce subsequent waves of barracks-trained axe- and swordsmen/praetorians, followed by horse archers and/or catapults as the game progresses.

Conducted at maximum speed and efficiency, your forces will be opposed by nothing stronger than archers. I have been able to thus overwhelm up to three of my nearest neighbors and take their capitals before shifting down to a more conventional playing style as the classical era draws to a close.

Note that the success of the early pushover relies on an exclusive focus on swift military production and conquest. It bypasses any tech not required to build military units, forfeits religion and neglects all early infrastructure with the exception of mines and roads. In effect, you are relying on the growing momentum of your conquest to seize an empire instead of building one.

In my next post, I will describe an example game with the Romans in more detail. For experienced civ-players, here´s the skinny:

Research Order
(Mining, if necessary), Bronze Working, Iron Working, The Wheel, Hunting, Archery, Animal Husbandry, Horseback Riding. Then Masonry & Construction for extended conquest with catapults or Pottery, Writing & Alphabet once you run out of steam.

Build Queue (Rome example)
Rome: Worker, Settler, (Warrior if necessary), Worker, (Settler if suitable), Barracks, Praetorians, mix of Axemen/Praetorians, Horse archers when available
Antium: (Worker or Settler), Barracks, mix of Axemen/Praetorians, Horse archers when available

Cumae: Barracks, mix of Axemen/Praetorians, Horse archers when available

Feedback most welcome.

Well, this sounds like a really great Stratagy. But im wondering, wouldn't you tank your economy really quickly, because of the support costs involved in taking city after city???
I don't know, I have only had the chance for 1 game of Civ 4 --------- Stupid Work, Cutting into my Civ time

What's the hammer requirement for Axemen? Unless it's 30 or less, just build all Praetorians, because at 8 strength they'll still be more effective in melee than the Axemen at 7.5 strength (5 base strength + 50% melee bonus).

You should not have any unit support problems. But your city maintenence will be awful if you keep every city you conquer.

Avoiding all religious/economic techs is a bit extreme, unless you are planning on a classical era conquest victory. You definitely want to get a holy city on your continent, and you can't always rely on your opponents to establish one.

Sounds powerful, but when I built a small empire (8 cities), the city maintenance was so high it forced me to drop research to 40%. (on noble)

I'd also like to hear how you supported the empire you conquered.

Not sure at what level this will start to be a losing proposition, but should work on Noble.

Sounds like theorycraft. Lets see that example game on non-chieftain.

I just finished a game on Prince difficulty. I started with Alexander, and I rushed for phalanx. I actually like Alexander alot b/c Phalanx will be usefull for a great part of the game, since (unlike spearmen), they will always have a higher chance to win vs cavalry units. Also since most of the middle game is horse archers/cavalry/elephants, a phalanx can hold toe to toe with all these units. Later on they were my city garrisons. I just gave them the +25% vs archery and took out Inca and China before the middle ages were done (I think). Might try again with Rome to see how they do on the higher dificulty. Actually as a side note, I kept using phalanxes all the way to the time I hit gunpowder (though I did upgrade some of them to pikes), but by this time I was rolling with 10-15 knights and 10-15 catapults. Only problem is that I was down at 50% research for a good part of the game. If I didn't keep a constant offensive, I was roasted on research. It took up to the 1600s before I got up to 60-70% research. After that I never raised it above, since I was using the money to upgrade units. I'd put up a save game but I'm not sure where to upload it.

~Demon

Tried it on emperor. It worked ok, Axemen turned out to be a problem. There's really no counter to them and they are effective against Praetorians. Still, I managed to become the leader in all areas except research. Once my initial expansion was over, I got in huge money problems. It took me a while to recover, but when I did I was in a great place. Problem was that I didn't catch up technologically in time and the blasted Napoleon attacked me with his knights. I decided to take a break, there might be a way to halt his offensive and turn the tide, but I doubt it. There's just too much catching up to be done.

I will try an Immortal rush next game though. Part of my problem might be that getting to Iron Working takes too long in my modded game (I increase research cost by 25% each era and Iron Working is in the Classical era).

Keep in mind that if your empire is twice the size of your opponents', 50% research for you is the equivalent of 100% for them. The only problem is building up your cities to match theirs, which will take some time, but can be done.

Well, I restarted as far back as I could in that game and made things a bit differently. Things went a bit better that time and I didn't get declared on until I could build tanks. Which is kinda a problem for Capac who declared since he's storming me with knights and riflemen. Still, it doesn't take that many knights to kill a tank and he had an aweful lot of 'em. He managed to take two cities before I turned the tide and I've decided to go for domination victory instead of space race that was my initial plan. This strategy does indeed work.

Remember that a prepared defense will usually defeat an offensive engine, as long as they are equal and aren't screwed by starting out in desert or something. Fortunately, people like religion, techs, and workers so I'm going to have to assume the preperation against your total war is very low. Also, watch out for logistics and alliances. Having to split an army or allowing an enemy to freely counter-attack are big issues. And obviously, having to cover a lot of land dulls the offense. Finally, because you are dedicating your entire civilization into war you may fall behind in other fields (like posted above).

Those are some downsides, but the upside is that this offensive total war engine will be, well, awesome if it works. Plus offense is always fun to play =)

i recently played as Cyrus,and since i was bored with peaceful building, and only warring in the late game, i decided i should test the immortals. in civ3 the immortal were the best for domination early on, and since they have changed dramatically since the last civ, i was unaware of a working srategy. well what do u know, these immoratals can be very effective!!
i had only two cities when i deided to war with the chinese. i had only 7 immortals, and my capital was pumpin them out every two turns. this was reletively early,and the chinese only had 2 cities, albeit grown ones.
the chinese were destroyed in 7 turns after my initial attack, if i had build more immortals, they would have been destryed sooner. this is why i like the new fighting system. since the immortals get 50% bonus against archers, and better retreat than charriots, they are can be very effective early one. so i guess the immotals are still fearsome more or less. just dont dont wait till your foe has the spearmen, becuase then the strategy changes.

Sorry for the long radio silence - I played half a dozen games of the early pushover with Rome on Monarch yesterday to try variations of the initial build queue. Will publish a detailed account within the next two hours.

On the whole, I learned that, for all its beauty, the strategy is a bit of a gambit and it can fail. In the early game, it´s mostly for one of these three reasons:

1. No source of iron nearby
The most obvious risk, but one worth taking. For one thing, it only happened in one out of the six games I tried - as opposed to two games where I had iron in Rome´s radius. For another, researching Bronze Working early is helpful even for a non-militaristic strategy because you can use the chops for anything. Worst case, you´ll have missed out on early religion and will be behind some 24 turns on research, but knowing you will not have access to iron you can better adjust your strategy for the mid-game.

2. Not enough land and neighbors to conquer
This happens more often on Continents setting than on Pangaea. The problem in a nutshell is that your monstrous army needs to amortise its cost through conquest. In one (Pangaea, incidentally) game, I found myself on a peninsula, smashed through my only neighbour, the French, but found that I couldn´t sustain the attack over a distance of more than 25 squares to the civs on the far side of their empire. Guess the trick is to be thorough in your initial warrior-sweep around Rome to see whether there is enough terrain around you for an early pushover in at least two (better three) directions.

3. Not enough forest available
The early pushover build queue for Rome works if you have five forest tiles or more. However, your conquest will be at risk if your second and third city (whose location should be determined by their proximity to iron and horses) do not have some four forest tiles each available - any delay to further barracks and praetorian is dangerous.

Lastly, some of you have mentioned the risk of your empire falling too far behind on tech and economic infrastructure to catch up in the middle game. My experience is that this is not a problem on Prince or below.

A lot depends on stopping your conquest and switching gears at the right time though. I usually try to take out two or three capitals first and then see how I can turn this into a secure core territory. Sometimes it makes sense to leave some of your enemies´ cities standing, to serve as a buffer-zone between you and the civs on the far side of their territory. Also, it helps to beline for Alphabet and tech-trading once your conquest draws to a halt.

On Monarch, I find the early pushover about as reliable as other strategies I´ve tried ... but then I don´t have that much experience with games played through to the end yet. I would argue that the early pushover reliably wins you "the right to play" on Monarch, whereas my builder-attempts often left me at the mercy of my more aggressive neighbours.

Gufnork said:

Tried it on emperor. It worked ok, Axemen turned out to be a problem. There's really no counter to them and they are effective against Praetorians.

Click to expand...

Blimey - you are playing on Emperor? Hats off then, i have yet to try it.

Agree that Axemen can be a bit of a problem, especially when the AI uses them to counterattack. Your best bet would be a small force of Axemen specialised not for city-assault but combat 1-2-3, no?

Here´s the step-by-step for an early pushover game on Monarch, Pangeae Map, with the Romans. Note that I have changed the initial build queue from my original proposal; I will discuss why in a little bit and would appreciate your thoughts on this, or indeed any of the below.

Starting requirements
Early pushover works best on settings that start you surrounded by some three immediate neighbours and sufficient landmass to conquer. Note that if you are playing on the Continents setting, this strategy carries a risk, as you may find yourself on an island or peninsula, all fired up with nowhere to go.

All civs can attempt an early pushover, but those with Mining (shorter path to Bronze and Iron Working), the aggressive trait (cheaper barracks, extra promotions) and/or a strong early unique unit will have a starting advantage. I prefer the Romans who start with Mining and build the 8 ST Praetorians instead of swordsmen, making them almost invincible in the very early game.

As for your starting location, make sure you have at least five forest tiles within the logging radius of your city, as you will be doing lots of it. Note that the logging radius is three tiles in every direction from your city, meaning you can clear forest one tile outside your city´s work radius and still benefit from it.

It also helps to have access to tiles that yield 3 food or special boni unimproved, and some tiles that deliver 3 or more hammers with mines for later in the game.

Primary Objectives
Research iron working and to get the tile that has this ressource inside the radius of one of your cities. This is a must-have: If you do not find any iron or fail to connect the tile before someone else (unwittingly) does, you will need to abort the strategy.

Secondary objectives for the first stage are to conduct the broadest possible circular sweep of the land surrounding your city while retaining at least one unit to protect your workers and first settlers when they move out of your cultural boundaries.

With this in mind, found your first city, build a worker and begin researching bronze working at 100%. Typically, you will have completed the research when the worker is built as you will take 16 turns to build the worker and some 12 to 15 turns for the research. (If your worker completes before you research bronze working, you might want to consider first building barracks for the duration of this delta and then switching, so as not to waste worker turns.)

While you build and research, move your warrior (or scout) five to six tiles away from your captial, using hills and forests for cover whenever possible. Then move him at this distance around your city in a broad, circular sweep. Keep in mind that your cultural expansion in 3800 will reveal a three tile radius around your capital and pop any goodie huts in the immediate vicinity, so don´t waste any warrior turns on either.

If you manage to get any promotions for your warrior, use them to buy woodsman 1 and 2 skills for +1 movement rate and better cover against animals (cf. Sullla´s walkthrough). It is essential that you do not lose this unit – if you do, you will uncover less territory, which will diminish your chances at finding an iron tile.

By the time you discover bronze working, around 3400 BC; you should have uncovered at least 50% of your 6-tile-surroundings and met at least two other civs. You will also learn that you missed out on Buddhism and Hinduism. Console yourself by taking note of founds/converts to it (if you hear about it); there´s no better target for your first conquest than a nearby holy city.

If you find you are surrounded by coastline, stuck in a vast jungle or desert and/or you don´t meet anyone, you might want to consider aborting the early pushover in favor of the “Worker first, then Settler” strategy (cf. Alexfrog) while still possible.

In my Rome game, I met three civilisations (Asoka, Isabella and Huana Capac) by 3400 and found myself in an average location with too much jungle and not enough forest for my tastes.

(Sorry, can´t upload any pictures for lack of a share ...)

(deleted - double posting)

Next, begin to research iron working, This should take some 20 to 23 turns, depending on which tiles you work after your city expands. And expand it will, as we will be building barracks after the worker completes. This is a deviation from my original proposal (and the Alexfrog strategy), which would have you build a settler immediately after your worker. Here´s why:

A) I wanted to grow the capital to size two, so it can work any 2 or 3 gold tiles to shorten the time to research iron working by as much as possible (every turn counts),

B) have a production slot open in case you lose your first warrior or need another one to cover your nonmilitary units while outside your cultural radius, and most importantly

C) delay the production of the settler until iron working is discovered.

The latter is crucial, as in a worst-case scenario, you have neither iron nor horses within your capital´s radius and need to found two cities to get to them. Getting a settler before knowing iron working means you won´t know where to send him.

There may ultimately be more upside to the classic Alexfrog start (worker, settler, worker, settler) insofar as it gets you more cities earlier on, but it means leaving key elements of the pushover strategy (ressources and warrior coverage) to chance. Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Anyway, my proposal is: Build barracks, using your worker to chop the nearby forest. This should give you a barracks in eight turns, which will also allow your capital to grow to size two in the meantime … provided you have two 3 food tiles in your capitals radius, like Rome in my example game.

After the barracks are complete, you again have a choice: Chance it and go for an early settler, or spend some 4 turns on producing a warrior to be on the safe side. I prefer building the warrior, especially if your first one is dead or far off exploring, or if there´s lots of animals about (and no other civs keeping them in check). I guess the second warrior would also provide you with a modicum of protection in case an AI or a multiplayer opponent tried to hassle you with an early warrior … although this has never happened in any of my games so far.

In my Rome game, after I built the warrior, I built another worker, then the settler and kept logging away all the time. I also met three other civilisations, discovered the borders of two of their capitals and also watched Judaism be snatched by Asoka, my immediate neighbour. But just you wait ...

In 2480, 39 turns into the game, my Romans discovered iron working. Luckily, there was a source of iron right inside Rome´s radius. To test the strategy though, I sent my first settler (which completed two turns after the discovery of iron) to a second source I discovered some eight tiles south of Rome, on the doorstep of Asokas India. This delayed my initial assault considerably, but still worked in the long run; demonstrating that the an early pushover is feasible even under unfortunate circumstances.