Ecofarm
Deity
I have noticed a rather boring trend in warmongering, especially in MP. No matter what Civilization you are, early warmongering consists of 2 phases.
Phase 1 Luck
In the beginning the game is just like the beginning of real life: there are haves and have-nots. Whether you are in either category is decided by geography. Being born in the US, rather than in a 3rd world hell-hole, is a matter of luck (please excuse the omitting of karma, Hindi based people) - just like being born with a military resource (or not) is a matter of luck. If you are a have and your neighbor is a have-not, there existence is an unnecessary nuisance. If you are a have not, you can only pray that your neighbor is also a have not, or is so newbie that they fail to leverage this tremendous advantage. If your neighbor does, however, choose to exercise their god-given rights over your existence, you can only build archers and watch them use your BFC as a playground until construction.
If you are a have-not, but can work seafood (or someone declares on your RNG-appointed overlord), you may be able to bust out with catapults, but this is a sorry example of catapult use because it is probably not for the win, you lost long ago. This brings us to the second phase, which I call Cats for the win.
Phase 2 Cats ftw
Assuming that you are a have, your neighbor is a newbie, or you are playing SP, you may proceed to Phase 2. This phase is also the same for all Civs: 1st to cats wins. I think most people will agree - cats are overpowered. If you get construction before your neighbor, that civ is now a resource. A stack of cats protected slightly will crunch an even numbered and diverse combination of classic troops, whether in the field or at a city. The collateral is overwhelming.
As far as defending with catapults pre-chemistry (guilds?) goes, its simply not fair!
A stack of equivalent size decimates a diverse group of attackers: in home territory they move 2 on roads - invasion over; even archers can mop up the scraps. Once you have a stack of cats, you can continue to tech away without fear of being invaded until grenadiers (maybe knights) - except by an even larger stack of cats! If you have a couple of turns before the enemy gets to you, then you can whip a million of them before the enemy arrives just to make sure. Perhaps that cat-lady down the street is a civ player driven mad by this 
.
I have found that Hannibal is so efficient at exploiting this strategy (I use the term loosely), that I may stop playing him. Here is why:
Starting tech Mining (see Phase 1)
UU Nums - they kill any ancient/classic era troop Praets and spears? No problem with shock. Throw in a medic and a sentry, and they are a force to be reckoned with. You only need to fear elephants, and they aren't until Phase 2 realm.
Trait - Financial - allows quick research to construction (Phase 2).
Starting tech - Fishing - even faster research to construction because you can work 2-3 commerce water and build a boat right away.
Trait Charismatic - any barracks*catapult that withdraws [1 xp] can be promoted and hit again next turn. This limits the number of occasional siege rejections that result from failing to produce an overwhelming number of cats (silly n00b
).
How I would Nerf Cats:
1) Make them a 2 in the field, and a 4 vs. cities (like trebs, they will require significant protection). This also allows an archer unit to attack and kill them, which is realistic. Four guys with a big wooden machine are not going to survive four guys launching arrows at them, unless their slow firing catapult kills the entire archer (read: sniper) squad in one shot come on, thats not realistic (the archers would not be standing shoulder-to-shoulder). They might be able to hide behind the machine for awhile, but to kill the entire archer squad?
2) Force them to defend FIRST vs. archery units. I have often found that my city would be better defended if my archers lost fortification, but killed the enemy cats. This makes sense anyway, since archery units have range and should attack the most threatening element of a siege. Consider it moving to a more exposed position in order to get a shot at the cats and their scurrying crew. With heavy arrows, even the machine could be damaged by a thick deluge.
3) Reduce collateral damage.
4) Unlock the anti-siege promotion with combat 1 (or have no pre-requirements), for all units. Any unit could realistically concentrate attacks at a fixed point (why not ranged weapons??). The promotion name Charge would need to be changed though, since that is not the only way to concentrate fire on a fixed point. Heck, ranged weapons should have an easier time against a slow moving machine, compared to a fast moving horse, anyway! If it is because arrows cannot kill a machine, then how do horse archers (or swords, for that matter) do it? Do they hack away at the catapult until it breaks and there is nothing to hide behind? Come on, they kill the crew. Since when can you operate a catapult in total cover?
5) They should suffer collateral damage. Where the heck did this change come from anyway!? Who felt the need to buff cats!? Perhaps it was because having a stack of cats defending is almost total safety for the city because they wreak incoming forces. The way it is now, the attacking cats (at least one type of unit) can still attack after a cat defensive-strike.
In SP with high difficulty / standard + size map, the game can continue after construction - if there are enemies not close enough to destroy in Phase 2; but no MP Pangea / TBG / Inland Lake warmonger worth his salt ever encounters this, unless the map (and thus number of players and amount of playtime required!) is HUGE. Eight + people sticking around for 3-4 hours? Not likely.
With these 2 cents, I believe I have spent my allowance for the week (I must be up to a dollar fifty by now). Sorry for posting a lot, there is almost no-one to talk about the game with IRL.
Phase 1 Luck
In the beginning the game is just like the beginning of real life: there are haves and have-nots. Whether you are in either category is decided by geography. Being born in the US, rather than in a 3rd world hell-hole, is a matter of luck (please excuse the omitting of karma, Hindi based people) - just like being born with a military resource (or not) is a matter of luck. If you are a have and your neighbor is a have-not, there existence is an unnecessary nuisance. If you are a have not, you can only pray that your neighbor is also a have not, or is so newbie that they fail to leverage this tremendous advantage. If your neighbor does, however, choose to exercise their god-given rights over your existence, you can only build archers and watch them use your BFC as a playground until construction.
If you are a have-not, but can work seafood (or someone declares on your RNG-appointed overlord), you may be able to bust out with catapults, but this is a sorry example of catapult use because it is probably not for the win, you lost long ago. This brings us to the second phase, which I call Cats for the win.
Phase 2 Cats ftw
Assuming that you are a have, your neighbor is a newbie, or you are playing SP, you may proceed to Phase 2. This phase is also the same for all Civs: 1st to cats wins. I think most people will agree - cats are overpowered. If you get construction before your neighbor, that civ is now a resource. A stack of cats protected slightly will crunch an even numbered and diverse combination of classic troops, whether in the field or at a city. The collateral is overwhelming.
As far as defending with catapults pre-chemistry (guilds?) goes, its simply not fair!
A stack of equivalent size decimates a diverse group of attackers: in home territory they move 2 on roads - invasion over; even archers can mop up the scraps. Once you have a stack of cats, you can continue to tech away without fear of being invaded until grenadiers (maybe knights) - except by an even larger stack of cats! If you have a couple of turns before the enemy gets to you, then you can whip a million of them before the enemy arrives just to make sure. Perhaps that cat-lady down the street is a civ player driven mad by this .I have found that Hannibal is so efficient at exploiting this strategy (I use the term loosely), that I may stop playing him. Here is why:
Starting tech Mining (see Phase 1)
UU Nums - they kill any ancient/classic era troop Praets and spears? No problem with shock. Throw in a medic and a sentry, and they are a force to be reckoned with. You only need to fear elephants, and they aren't until Phase 2 realm.
Trait - Financial - allows quick research to construction (Phase 2).
Starting tech - Fishing - even faster research to construction because you can work 2-3 commerce water and build a boat right away.
Trait Charismatic - any barracks*catapult that withdraws [1 xp] can be promoted and hit again next turn. This limits the number of occasional siege rejections that result from failing to produce an overwhelming number of cats (silly n00b
).How I would Nerf Cats:
1) Make them a 2 in the field, and a 4 vs. cities (like trebs, they will require significant protection). This also allows an archer unit to attack and kill them, which is realistic. Four guys with a big wooden machine are not going to survive four guys launching arrows at them, unless their slow firing catapult kills the entire archer (read: sniper) squad in one shot come on, thats not realistic (the archers would not be standing shoulder-to-shoulder). They might be able to hide behind the machine for awhile, but to kill the entire archer squad?
2) Force them to defend FIRST vs. archery units. I have often found that my city would be better defended if my archers lost fortification, but killed the enemy cats. This makes sense anyway, since archery units have range and should attack the most threatening element of a siege. Consider it moving to a more exposed position in order to get a shot at the cats and their scurrying crew. With heavy arrows, even the machine could be damaged by a thick deluge.
3) Reduce collateral damage.
4) Unlock the anti-siege promotion with combat 1 (or have no pre-requirements), for all units. Any unit could realistically concentrate attacks at a fixed point (why not ranged weapons??). The promotion name Charge would need to be changed though, since that is not the only way to concentrate fire on a fixed point. Heck, ranged weapons should have an easier time against a slow moving machine, compared to a fast moving horse, anyway! If it is because arrows cannot kill a machine, then how do horse archers (or swords, for that matter) do it? Do they hack away at the catapult until it breaks and there is nothing to hide behind? Come on, they kill the crew. Since when can you operate a catapult in total cover?
5) They should suffer collateral damage. Where the heck did this change come from anyway!? Who felt the need to buff cats!? Perhaps it was because having a stack of cats defending is almost total safety for the city because they wreak incoming forces. The way it is now, the attacking cats (at least one type of unit) can still attack after a cat defensive-strike.
In SP with high difficulty / standard + size map, the game can continue after construction - if there are enemies not close enough to destroy in Phase 2; but no MP Pangea / TBG / Inland Lake warmonger worth his salt ever encounters this, unless the map (and thus number of players and amount of playtime required!) is HUGE. Eight + people sticking around for 3-4 hours? Not likely.
With these 2 cents, I believe I have spent my allowance for the week (I must be up to a dollar fifty by now). Sorry for posting a lot, there is almost no-one to talk about the game with IRL.
