ALC Game 11 Pre-Game Show: Playing as Hannibal

[ratrangerm]

Something to mention on the Liberalism -> Economics idea: I've used that several times in Noble games. It might be tougher to pull off at Monarch, but the strategy I usually go for runs like this:

Education takes priority in researching. Philosophy is lower priority, because you can get through a Meditation/Code of Laws combo and Nationalism is the only other knowledge that comes through Philosophy, and based on Hannibal's strengths, Nationalism may not be as high a priority to you, unless you are intent on getting Taj Mahal for the Golden Age.

Assuming TM isn't a Wonder you'll pursue, you can head to Education, get Philosophy in trade (or lightbulb it from a GS if that's possible) and then backtrack through Guilds to Banking, leading to Economics and thus allowing you to go to Liberalism and pick up Economics as your free tech.

I should add that I imagine you will be going for Civil Service? Even if you aren't going to be constantly at war, farms spreading irrigation is very useful to have.

 

[Sisiutil]

I usually lightbulb Philosophy with my first Great Scientist, especially to give me a leg up on the Liberalism race, and founding Taoism is a side benefit. I've also noticed that once Taoism is founded, the AI becomes very reluctant to research Philosophy on its own--which is another advantage for the Liberalism race. It highly values the tech for trading, though, so I may be able to get Guilds in exchange for it, since the AI is fond of that tech.

KMadCandy, I forgot to respond to your discovery that I am a recovering buildaholic. Actually, that still comes out--go look at the mid-game and late game of any ALC and you'll usually see me going wonder-crazy; the Hatty and Alexander games particularly come to mind in that regard. Being an early warmonger means I forgo most of the early game wonders, so I guess I over-compensate for that later on.

 

[futurehermit]

I wouldn't regenerate. Why? Charismatic + Financial doesn't require coast. His UU doesn't require coast. Only his UB does and that only comes online at compass so it's not like you're going to build it before 1AD anyways...

Sure it sucks if you have fishing and you end up inland (which is why i HATE playing leaders that start with fishing--it's dirt cheap if you need it you can research it). However, it IS on the way to pottery. The problem, however, is that you will probably need ag-anhusb anyways thus negating that bonus. I mean are you really going to research wheel-pottery before ag/anhusb if you have a farmable and/or herdable in your capital bfc?

I guess these are details we can debate however when we actually see the start...

 

[Jet]

I don't know how successful the elephants were militarily, but I wish he had them too. I mean, come on. He could have had one that you can build without Ivory. They were an African variety that was smaller than the Asian kind. Then when you met him he'd always have elephants. That would be cool.

Charismatic only needs 8XP for level 4, so you can get CRIII Macemen with two Military Instructors and one war Civic. Likewise it's easier to get the level 4 unit for Heroic Epic. It might be worth exploiting the barbs more carefully than usual.

Numidian Cavalry might be good if you want AI to invade you. Or even if you don't, you could emphasize them as a reserve and take advantage of smaller than usual garrisons, living dangerously. GGs attached to Numidian Cavalry can be fun, with get very high withdrawal leading to high XP and exotic promotions like Commando or Blitz. But that might be better for offline games. (Hmm...) I don't know if they're worth making a big deal of. Horseback Riding is easy to trade for. Just using more horse archers than usual might be a good enough way to use them.

 

[shadow2k]

I don't know how successful the elephants were militarily, but I wish he had them too. I mean, come on. He could have had one that you can build without Ivory. They were an African variety that was smaller than the Asian kind. Then when you met him he'd always have elephants. That would be cool.

Well, in the very thing that he is most famous for (crossing the Alps into Italy), most of his 40 Elephants died. Some say that only one survived, the one he rode on...so maybe it was more of a mascot than a unit that could turn the tide of war. He had many thousands of Cavs that survived, so it may be more fit to actually be the UU. Even if it's not as cool.

Didn't India have WE's as their UU in C3 that required no resources? I don't think anyone ever complained about that.

 

[KMadCandy]

I may regenerate the map here just to ensure that we can utilize Hannibal's traits. I don't usually do that with the ALCs--okay, a couple of times, I'm not saying when --but I'm sure it's not uncommon for players to do so. I don't and won't "peek" in world builder, though, to ensure the rest of the map is copacetic.

that's exactly what i meant. don't peek around to see the whole thing, spoils the fun of discovery. but if there's no signs at all that you're near a coast, i'd vote for regenerating.

and a UU war elephant ... come on guys! don't you remember War Effelunts from civ3? oops i see shadow2k got that covered while i was typing my post. i've had a fondness for india ever since. those Jumbos were soooooo cute and the sound of them was crazy fun. i liked them more than the ellies in civ4. and i <3 fast workers in civ4. i haven't been playing india lately, trying to get more of a feel for the actual cost of anarchy (sometimes ouch when changing more than 1 on epic!), but a lot of my early civ4 games i was gandhi.

KMadCandy, I forgot to respond to your discovery that I am a recovering buildaholic. Actually, that still comes out--go look at the mid-game and late game of any ALC and you'll usually see me going wonder-crazy; the Hatty and Alexander games particularly come to mind in that regard. Being an early warmonger means I forgo most of the early game wonders, so I guess I over-compensate for that later on.

yeah, you're an odd duck. errrrrrrr, snake-head spirit thingy . i'm totally with you on how tedious it gets to MM units in modern wars. but your combo of going wonder-crazy at a certain point but also not liking to MM cities in great detail is interesting. hubby goes to the civilopedia to read about the leaders and point out errors (as if i'd know...i'd never heard of brennus or some others until civ4!) while i go through tweaking my cities to perfection before i hit enter. life got better the day i discovered civlerts for the warnings about when a city has grown so that i can go to just those cities to see if they're behaving.

and quoting you from another thread... "Hmmm, it seems KMadCandy isn't the only one who can ramble on at length..." i am contagious! ps you (and everyone except monty and toku and alex, oh and izzy) can call me KMad.

 

[aelf]

I can't help thinking that Carthage's UU should have been a beefed-up War Elephant--maybe 2 moves per turn? I seem to recall it was Hannibal's elephants that kept giving Romans the willies.

Don't know about giving the Romans the willies, but Hannibal's elephants were pretty much white. Most didn't survive the crossing of the Alps. It was his Numidian Cavalry that made him unstoppable. When Scipio Africanus used them back on him in Africa, he was trashed. Of course, he was a great general nonetheless.

Moral of the story: I'd like to see the Numidians in action

 

[noob95]

Don't know about giving the Romans the willies, but Hannibal's elephants were pretty much white. Most didn't survive the crossing of the Alps. It was his Numidian Cavalry that made him unstoppable. When Scipio Africanus used them back on him in Africa, he was trashed. Of course, he was a great general nonetheless.

Moral of the story: I'd like to see the Numidians in action

Just so you know, this is my first message and i'm a new player. But i
think the correct term is "Jacked Up" but.... thats my opinion

Also, any tips for newcomers like me(my username says it all)would be greatly apperatied!!(i can't spell)

 

[curtadams]

It was Hannibal's Numidian Cavalry that won the famous Battle of Cannae, renowned as the first known battle with a successful enveloping tactic and the worst defeat the Roman Republic ever experienced. That battle is the reason Hannibal is the only Carthaginian people know about (it's telling he's the leader for Carthage, since he never actually *was* leader of Carthage - every other Civ4 leader I can think of offhand really was the leader for their country) So Numidian Cavalry really is the right choice for the UU.

 

[Sisiutil]

The game thread is now underway HERE. Go to it, gang!