Recent content by babar

2 for me. First was when I was playing my first OCC on Deity. I was stuck between Shaka and Nappy so I wasn't completely ignoring defensive concerns like I usually do. When the inevitable happened, I barely fended off a slightly feeble attack from Nappy, and then Shaka's really huge...

Your reason for swords being crap is not very good at all (eg. War Chariots get destroyed by spears, and also comparing swords to UUs is unfair). I do agree in the sense that IW is not something to beeline for a devastating early rush (Rome excepted), but as part of a stack Swords are very...

Boudica is without doubt my favourite partner in the 2 vs 3 AW games I've been playing a lot of recently. Ragnar, Shaka, Napoleon, Churchill, Mehmed and others have all let me down terribly.

I'm sure I couldn't do it with 6 either. OCC is easier though, as long as you have a good enough start and none of the AIs win before roughly 1900. I haven't done one for quite a while, and I only did 2 or 3 on Deity, but I think I remember how I used to do it... Pick Ramesses, Gandhi, Huayna...

I don't know what an qualifies as an HOF start, but yeah, you need a really good start (stone is huge of course). You don't need anything else actually, and it requires little thought once you have your method, so it is pretty quick in real time. I got my first Deity win with an OCC, it took...

@Megalurker While I agree with your points for the most part, there are some things that help an SE keep up in the late game. Settled GPs, captured towns, and State Property for example. If I'm worried about being short on cottages I always remember you can win a Deity space race with no...

Yeah I've put this change into my game permanently. I like it, although the more viable civic options you have, the better Spiritual becomes. I also increased Free Religion research bonus slightly and made some small improvements to Environmentalism I can't remember. It's quite easy and fairly...

Surprisingly difficult one for me actually... 1) Oromos. I like free promotions. 2) Musketeers. Less fun, perhaps more practical. They used to be underrated here I think. 3) Janissaries. Fun too, with a Gunpowder beeline. But they only seem to be useful for about one war, if you're playing at...

With an SE you still want to have a fully cottaged, Bureaucracy capital if possible. This city may provide about half your research, so some prefer not to call it an "SE". While what Kossin said basically works, I think there are other considerations for city specialisation. For example, if...

Trebuchets are what's worth rushing for. In a large stack with a backbone of pikes, crossbows and trebuchets, landsknechts add nothing, at least in my experience. They're like Phalanxes in a stack that already has spears in it. To reduce longbows and crossbows to just "bows" is perhaps...

I've tried this twice (IMM), won comfortably, and they never did anything. They don't attack cities obviously, since you have trebs. They are worse than maces at attacking a lot of things in the open field. Stack defence is not a great reason to rush for a tech, but even as defenders they are...

Ballista Elephants are actually over-powered in Always War games. I assumed they were terrible for years, but got a huge surprise when I tried them in AW on a recommendation. No one who has given them a go in AW could ever vote for them in a "worst of" poll! Panzer's the worst. Not only is it...

@ Imp. Knoedel. I like your ideas but they're too complicated in terms of rebalancing and/or programming for me. Awesome, Kid R :goodjob:. Thanks anyway Ghpstage, I should have been clearer what my problem was.

Unlike 1st, 2nd is a matter of personal preference. I really don't think I can argue it objectively, but it's Gandhi for me because of my favourite trait combo and a top tier UU. I guess I would rank them: Huayna > Gandhi > Mansa and Ramesses > Liz and Darius

As far as I know the two civ leaders most famous for espionage were Stalin and Genghis, and they are both AGG (although I don't know why Stalin is). Also I would like to vote again for not encouraging poisoned water and randomly destroyed buildings and improvements. Anything food related would...