FINALLY got a near 2000 BC finish. Finished 1970 BC, should have beat the 2k mark but lost a city to an enemy warrior that happened to be near it when I left it. Also could have shaved off one turn if I would have waited for my backup warrior before hitting a city with only a slim margin. Oh well, I am happy with 1970 bc. Hoping I can make top 5 with that.
Anyway, here are some points I think are important to this one:
Have to go wtih Huayna Capac since I don't think anything else could do it. MAYBE with hatty if you got lucky and had horses in your capital. Would actually try that but don't have the time.
You pretty much have to select your opponents. Leave out anyone with the creative or aggressive traits. The creative trait lets them gain more culture, which means their borders expand faster than everyone else, which in turn will mean 10% more defense. The aggressive traits keeps them from automatically having promos.
My choices were:
Elizabeth
Peter
Mao Zedong
Victoria
Washington
I left barbs on because without them you have to make almost 2x as many warriors to offset not getting early promotions.
I checked no city razing because I occassionally get lucky and sack a city while it is still at 1 pop and hasn't expanded.
I played on the team battlegrounds map - top vs bottom setting. This is the smallest map in actual tile x tile measurement which means less moving. The T v B setting lets you know to some extent where the enemy is. I also set climate to cold, this means more tundra and you can figure if you are at the top or bottom easier.
When I started I would found my first city and set city emphasis to production, no growth. If you have a plains hill, grassland wooded hill, or wooded plains in your city radius you can churn out a warrior every 10 turns.
You need to find out where you are on the map. Look for tundra or desert to see if are you are on the top or bottom of the map. You can also look for the tree change from evergreen to deciduous. Pop any huts in site with your warrior then send him either left or right. If you come to the edge of the map send him to the other side (top or bottom). Send your next warrior in the other direction.
Avoid bears, try and attack lions, if they are 2 spaces away, wait a turn instead of moving toward them, and just let wolves attack you. Once you get to 5 exp, avoid animals all together.
If I get lucky and get to 5 exp before a city expands I will hit it. If not I don't hit my first city until bronze working is almost done so I can get the worker. After sacking a city move your warrior(s) into it to heal. Then keep sending your warriors further away from your capital, don't go towards it ot get civs that are close to you, go for far away. Once you get bronze working chop rush a barracks and more warriors. Use those warriors to hit close civs and help back up anywhere else.
Thats about it. I think a major part is getting lucky and not letting your first couple of warriors die because they will be 20+ spaces away from your capital when they do, and you don't have the turns to retrace that.
You only really need 1 warrior with 5+ exp to take a city. Just hit and take out an archer, then let him heal. If he is below 1.6 take him outside the city to heal, 1.7+ leave him beside the city. Then just keep hitting. Sometimes it may take 3-4 kills to finish the city off if they keep popping archers, but it saves time not waiting on another warrior to sacrifice.
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