City spam is a dead end; Only two alternatives?

[Qwack]

A human player can almost REX as fast as the computer as this demostration shows without your economy collapsing, you just have to play your cards right.

Yes, absolutely right. On emperor or below, you can actually REX faster than AI's. On immortal its about equal speed. Deity is simply Deity, you cannot match up with AI bonuses on deity, so this strategy is probably not viable on that level.

Just to clarify, the reasons why REX is more effective in BTS

1. in BTS, AI builds more units, so founding your own cities has become more important than in warlords or vanilla.
2. Alphabet is now a prereq of Currency, so you can skip math entirely until later on if you use this strategy. This means getting to CoL that much quicker.
3. AI's now tech much slower, so it is almost impossible to fall behind in Tech.

Best leaders for REX in my opinion?
1. Catherine
2. Zara Yaqob
3. Willem Van Oranje (Emphasize cottages)
4. Pericles (Emphasize specialists)
5. All other creative leaders are pretty much tied after that

 

[Ankh]

On emperor or below, you can actually REX faster than AI's. On immortal its about equal speed. Deity is simply Deity, you cannot match up with AI bonuses on deity, so this strategy is probably not viable on that level.

I think the AI expands and grows his early empire better then some players gives it credit for. I can't build so many cities but the AI can, the computer must be cheating!! which obviously isn't the case because the player can spam plenty of cities as well without going broke if he wants. You just have to know how to play it.

To bad this is all the AI does well, now if it only had an advanced combat algorithm for serious warfare and an advanced map algorithm for isolated/crowded starts as well. So it could do something more nasty then just spamming cities and attacking randomly with sheer numbers.

 

[Elrohir]

In the long run, the city spam strategy is a dud in this game. Agree or disagree?

Pre Code of Laws, I agree. After CoL, I disagree, especially if you have Currency as well. With enough cottages and Courthouses, permanent expansion, peaceful and military, is quite viable.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

So Axident, You recommend Gilgamesh because Creative pops borders and Protective enhances defense?

What about Julius Ceaser with the Zulu? Imperialistic to build settlers quicker, Organized for faster courthouses, the Ikhanda to reduce upkeep early. Should I be looking at a different Imperialistic leader however? Will I need someone better suited to skirmish to keep what I settle or clear away the poorly placed cities the AI plunk down?

 

[axident]

So Axident, You recommend Gilgamesh because Creative pops borders and Protective enhances defense?

What about Julius Ceaser with the Zulu? Imperialistic to build settlers quicker, Organized for faster courthouses, the Ikhanda to reduce upkeep early. Should I be looking at a different Imperialistic leader however? Will I need someone better suited to skirmish to keep what I settle or clear away the poorly placed cities the AI plunk down?

I think someone mentioned using Gilga + Rathaus (using unrestricted leaders) because you can build 4 rathaus and forbidden after that? That might be mistaken. And it might be better to use an Org leader + Rathaus for the exact reason you said--cheaper Rathauses.

I don't know about mixing and matching Roman/Zulu, sounds like it could work in theory.

Also try Financial leaders. Org, Fin + Cre, is kickass.. don't worry about Stonehenge, have perfect city placement every time with Ethiopia or Netherlands.

I am currently playing only my 2nd Immortal game ever and have successfully REX'd as Willem. I was panicky for a long time, checking to see if people's hands were full, but they kept staying empty. Only later did I realize why I was keeping up in the power ratings--most of the iron and copper in our neck of the woods was in the hands of just 3 factions: me, one of my neighbors, and a barb city on a hill (next to iron). The AI would occassionally send over mounted units and archers, but those kept dying and the barbs are now promoted. Inca finally got some elephants together and may be going for the city, but I'm already massing some trebs and miscellaneous infantry to take that city and keep my neighbors metal-deprived for a while longer.

 

[Gnarfflinger]

Boudica doesn't fare too bad for REX strats. I think she calls it urban renewal though...