Change in Strategy at Epic Speed ?

[Luven]

So I would say I am pretty consistent in winning at Deity, either going for NC with 2-4 Cities if everything looks save or going for Construction and taking out my nearest Opponent with CB's.

After that I grow as much as possible while going for Education. Pretty much standard.

I started a game on Epic speed recently and I loved it. It just feels way more fun to actually be able to use a Unit for some turns.

But then, I wasy playing as Shaka, I found myself on the Edge of a Pangaea with Assyria blocking off the rest of the Continent.

His Army was HUGE. I went for 3 city NC before Construction. Even if I beelined Construction I doubt I would have been able to defend, i would have needed 8+ CB's to cover all of the flat land we were in...

Is EPIC speed harder than standard ? Do you change your strategies when playing EPIC ?

 

[I_pity_the_fool]

IIRC the build times for epic speed vary depending on what you're constructing. I vaguely recall buildings and wonders taking 3x as long and units only 2x.

Can't guarantee this is true. Haven't been able to confirm it anywhere else.

 

[JeSuisNapoleon]

Longer game times allow you to enjoy your units longer, without needing to upgrade them for a while. This makes Domination a little easier IMHO, because you can usualy out-think the AI with military moves. Since the number of turns it takes to destroy an enemy unit is the same, its possible to wipe out the AI "faster" because the build times on the units is longer. you could kill their whole standing army before they can hard build a lot more (in theory).

Larger maps make Domination more difficult, because your units are still slow, and there are long distances to cover. This is the trade-off. I believe other things scale up with larger maps as well: more AI in the game, potentially more cities per AI.

I actualy find that The Honor tree becomes more viable / valuable in Large maps, because there are usually more barbs the hunt down, and the culture bonus pays off pretty good. I doubt this translates to deity, since the AI gets a little more agro and builds huge armies.

 

[alexkhane]

Slower speed makes warfare easier. Never underestimate how poor the AI is at combat. I've never seen the AI gets neither logistics nor range upgrades, and even worse the AI cannot handle moving and firing (if your units end their turn 3 hexes away from an AI ranged unit, it will never get hit). Furthermore, the rush purchase formula favors slower speeds, which is another area the AI is poor at. Combined with the higher production times, the AI will not be able to reinforce lost units as well at slower speeds.

A military situation that may seem insurmountable in standard speed can become easily manageable in slower speeds. Pump out a few archers/save up gold while teching Construction, and even if you can only manage 5-6 CBs, give warfare a try and you might be surprised as how well you do.

 

[BenitoChavez]

Slower speeds makes domination easier but on the flip side if you have to defend against a warmonger it can be harder. For example if somebody DoWs you and you don't have a big enough military you can be overwhelmed because you can't produce units fast enough in your cities. So to counterbalance that you need a large enough army at all times to act as a deterrent, which sucks gold out of your economy.