I played Alexander properly for the first time yesterday and it was a stampede!
i am very much not typically a warmonger, and have to start out with a mantra "must kill early, do not go into standard make-nice and do the usual stuff" mode when i want to practice conquering. that being said, in warlords i can pound the AI as cyrus. i had to enact a "no playing cyrus in bash-heads mode" rule since he just makes it too easy, even for me. and immortals, OMG, too many advantages, they even get defensive bonuses. and they're pretty, which of course matters! shaka's impis love to dance, that's a big point in their favor.
ragnar on archi map is another that i finish off so early it's insane, given my lack of skill at the whole thing. double plus good, isabella was my neighbor, reachable by galley with the OB we had for a time, so i moved my axes to her island but outside her borders, then conquered the double holy/triple seafood city she'd made for me. all before anybody else had met us, so no "you declared war on our friend" penalties. that map was just ideal in so many ways.
i have this hangup about not wanting to play certain leaders since i like them as neighbors/allies/buddies. alex is one. he is my bestest pal, and if i'm him, he's not around to be my attack dog, which makes me sad. but his traits are good ones and i really ought to try him one of these days. maybe for my first unrestricted leaders game, since it's his traits i like, not his UB.
oh how i have always wanted a "random leaders but excluding X, Y, Z, and Cathy from the list" *giggle*. some are doable by cheating, i pick a different russian and cathy can't show up. but i just want that as an option for the days i'm reallllllllllly not in the mood to deal with her or monty or whoever.
), Take Germany out once I hit swords, and then a fairly long fight with Rome compared to my tech+. The capital was guarded by 7 preas (2promos) and a spear, so I waasnt able tot ake it before cats and maces.
