11 Wildly Popular Strategies To Avoid

[Meatbuster]

Thread title is OK, but I don't want this thread to turn into a discussion about the thread title so...

As for the Kremlin, it's great, but only indispensable if it's part of your gameplan for the map you were playing on. To be specific, if you were doing the cottage spam and PLANNING to buy hordes of armies using the Kremlin ONLY then it will hurt a lot if an someone builds the Kremlin ahead of you. Then you will have to fall back to your backup plan OR buy 1/2 the armies you could've bought if you had the Kremlin. But if you were cottage spamming anyway, you should still be in the tech lead and be able to do something to remedy the lack of Kremlin.

In general, if a wonder is part of "A Strategy", or "Your Strategy", there should always be a backup plan if the wonder race is lost.

 

[Crimso]

ndthsmdy: Wow, this article has really taken a turn in the last addition. It seems you've caved to public pressure; not only have you lost your bite, but you're barely arguing anymore! I didn't agree with everything you said in your first post, but at least it made me think about (and change) my strategy as I move into the higher levels. Now you're flimsy, agreeable, and a waste of time.

This has gone from one of the best "editorial" articles (that is, not dealing with graphs and charts) on this forum, to being a wet noodle.

 

[hollebeek]

1) The Incas

You correctly note that for early conquests, the Romans are superior.
However, the fact that the Quecha is not an uber-conqueror does not
make it useless. In fact, I generally view it as a DEFENSIVE unit.

The correct usage of the Quecha, I think, is to allow you to skip both
Hunting and Archery for a long time, letting you concentrate on other
more important technologies. Mysticism makes founding a religion
practical even at Emperor; a religion + Financial + shrine makes HC a fairly
good commerce leader even at high levels.

 

[GenericKen]

How do Quechas fare against an axeman rush?

 

[hollebeek]

How do Quechas fare against an axeman rush?

As well as anything else. Do you think researching two additional
technologies to get archers is any better? Whether you succumb to
an axeman rush or not has more to do with whether you're able to get
a good industrial base up quickly, or not. And that's easier to do if you
can fend off barbarians with quechas instead of having to research Archery.

Face it, if you can skip hunting and archery, it is more likely that other
players will be worrying about YOUR axeman rush, instead of you worrying
about theirs.

 

[GenericKen]

Well, archers do get that big city defense. Good point about your own axe rush, though.

 

[MDenizen]

I'm surprised that this addictive strategy was left out:

Choosing JC, research Iron Working asap, start creating Praetorians and dominate, dominate, dominate! I have tried this strategy several times on Noble with incredible success. I'm not sure how limiting this strategy is on higher levels though. The biggest weakness I've found to this is that without Iron, this strategy simply doesn't work.

 

[hollebeek]

I'm surprised that this addictive strategy was left out:

Choosing JC, research Iron Working asap, start creating Praetorians and dominate, dominate, dominate! I have tried this strategy several times on Noble with incredible success. I'm not sure how limiting this strategy is on higher levels though. The biggest weakness I've found to this is that without Iron, this strategy simply doesn't work.

It's fairly effective, even on Emperor. The Praetorian is simply that good.

 

[ndthsmdy]

ndthsmdy: Wow, this article has really taken a turn in the last addition. It seems you've caved to public pressure; not only have you lost your bite, but you're barely arguing anymore! I didn't agree with everything you said in your first post, but at least it made me think about (and change) my strategy as I move into the higher levels. Now you're flimsy, agreeable, and a waste of time.

This has gone from one of the best "editorial" articles (that is, not dealing with graphs and charts) on this forum, to being a wet noodle.

Well, maybe so. I would prefer to be integrative and incorporate good points that others have made to make the article better, but it gets harder to communicate the bite when I do that.

I don't think it's a matter of caving though--I just don't take anybody's (mine or somebody else's) opinions about this game that seriously. Ultimately, the vast majority doesn't understand this game yet and I'm in that category. I just have enough experience at Monarch and have read enough posts that I was pretty sure there were some people who were going to get their butts handed to them when they jumped up.

People are still dissecting their strategies though, and almost everyone who's tried to defend the uber-importance of one of these addictions has gotten several equally (if not more) valid counterarguments in reply. So I don't think this is a waste of time.

 

[coconuts]

I'm surprised that this addictive strategy was left out:

Choosing JC, research Iron Working asap, start creating Praetorians and dominate, dominate, dominate! I have tried this strategy several times on Noble with incredible success. I'm not sure how limiting this strategy is on higher levels though. The biggest weakness I've found to this is that without Iron, this strategy simply doesn't work.

If you look at the Hall of Fame, that's what I understand Billator does to win on Immortal and Deity...

 

[Darkness]

I think choosing your leader should be part of your strategy.

What if I pick "Random"? Does that mean I will not have a strategy for that game?

 

[DrunkenSettler]

IMO the Oracle is vital to a win on Monarch level. You simply cannot afford to fall too far behind on the tech tree. I research writing while building it. I choose code of laws as my free tech. I now have 2 established religions (Gandhi). I build monastaries in every city for the research boost. This always closes the the tech gap. I can trade code of laws for several lesser techs as well.

 

[BubbaYeti]

Originally Posted by Zombie69
I think choosing your leader should be part of your strategy.


What if I pick "Random"? Does that mean I will not have a strategy for that game?
__________________

I think it is a fun challenge to pick "random", then adopt the best strategy based on the assigned leader, your starting position, and surrounding terrain. It forces me to try to master a number of different strategies and win by a variety of means.

 

[A_Mere_Icon]

I think it is a fun challenge to pick "random", then adopt the best strategy based on the assigned leader, your starting position, and surrounding terrain. It forces me to try to master a number of different strategies and win by a variety of means.

I agree Bubba....I try to pick Random for all the settings available in Custom Game; however, I wish there was a random option for map type as well (IE: Continents, Great Plains, etc...).

 

[Bezhukov]

I play regularly on Emperor/Immortal difficulty and I have to say from reading the SG articles that lots of people could benefit from reading ndthsmdy's article. Especially the religion-founding part. WAY overrated. Founding a religion on Immortal can get you killed.

State Property depends on the map, but I still say its in for a tweak in the next patch, if for no other reason than its historical inaccuracy (ask the tens of millions who starved in the collectivization purges how much food workshops should produce!)

 

[Sadan01]

...however, I wish there was a random option for map type as well (IE: Continents, Great Plains, etc...).

There is, but you need a mod to give you an option. Look in this thread

 

[goraemon]

IMO the Oracle is vital to a win on Monarch level.

I can assure you it's not. Just research other, better techs instead of going through the religious techs that you otherwise don't need/can trade for, and you'll find that the extra tech you get with Oracle won't put you that much ahead.

 

[Crimso]

IMO the Oracle is vital to a win on Monarch level.

Wonder addiction is already a huge problem on these forums, we don't need you spreading it. Treating any wonder as "vital" to your victory handicaps you as a player. On Monarch out-teching the AI just takes two or three cottages in each city (yes, without Financial). The hammers are much better spent taking a few cities from the AI and giving yourself more room to expand.

ndthsmdy: Thank you for the polite reply. Let me remind you, that the title of the article is "11 Wildly Popular Strategies To Aviod". If you are going to change gears in such a way, perhaps you should rename it "11 Wildly Popular Strategies To Aviod, Unless, Um, Well Maybe They Work in Some Situations But Not All of Them, Uh, Well Actually, Yeah, You're Right They're Great Strategies."

 

[slimpikuns]

This is a pretty good article ndtsmitty. Ijust graduated from noble to prince... and the mainstay strategies i used on noble simply do not always work like they did on noble. All the strategies you have listed will almost always work on noble. But on higher levels like you said they do not. What is the only strategy that will always work?
The ability to adapt to roadblocks that the ai is sure to throw your way.
When a player learns to adapt to any situation then he is sure to come out ahead. And you are right, to focus on one or two strategies every game is bound to come back and bite you. What happens when you dont get oracle and the ai beats you to it? Do you whine and restart? NO way man... you ADAPT reconfigure and kick the tar outta the little Bast@!#$ that beat you to it, or what have you. If you can't adapt to situations then go back to playing noble and winning all the time.
Once again... good article

 

[abbamouse]

I'm curious about State Property. I find that even when I expect State Property to be useless (ie FP and Versailles at opposite ends of the empire and Courthouses in every city) it still works wonders when I switch. I can set research high or I can set it low and rake in tons of cash to rush build the latest and greatest units for an offensive (demand a tech for peace and the rush practically pays for itself). Of course, this requires universal suffrage....