Hi Mitchum,
I was so impressed with your success, I decided to try to replay and try to replicate it.
Thanks! Let me provide a few additional details to see if you can improve your finish date even more.
After a few replays (and figuring out not to go for any useless techs like the religious path) I have managed to get close and eliminate Tokugawa by 475 BC.
It sounds like you're on the right track here. You're only two turns behind me at this point. What's important to keep in mind is that you should already be planning your next war before the current one is over.
I really find it hard not to go for the quick and easy Budhism though!
Going after Buddhism is fine. However, if it's fast conquest you're after, you are going to have to learn to pass on the early religions. You have more important things to do...
I'm trying to figure out how to get faster now. Maybe it's first concentrate on teching to Construction as fast as possible? ... even delaying Bronze-Working till Construction is done???
I don't think delaying Bronze Working is a good idea for two reasons. First, a successful unit for early rushes is the axeman, regardless of which leader you're playing. You need to find Copper and hook it up as soon as possible. If you don't have easy access to Copper, I often times research Iron Working to find Iron instead. Sure, you can use horses for a chariot and/or horse archer rush instead, but personally, I prefer to use axes and swords (plus I rarely research Horseback Riding or Archery since they are both dead-end techs).
Second, you need to use Slavery to help whip out an army, which is much faster than building one the slow way. If you're not comfortable using the whip, there are a ton of articles in the strategy section that can help you with this.
Its been a while since I played this game, but by reading my autolog, my tech path was Agriculture (to farm the corn) -> Mining -> Bronze Working (T19) -> Hunting (to camp the elephants) -> Animal Husbandry (to pasture the sheep) -> Iron Working (to find Iron) -> Sailing (T47) -> Pottery -> Meditation -> Priesthood -> Writing -> Code of Laws -> Civil Service (from Oracle on T75 1000 BC) -> Masonry -> Mathematics -> Construction (T89 650 BC) -> Monarchy -> Currency -> Alphabet (Archery, Polytheism and Monotheism through trade although I didnt really need any of these). At this point, I set research to 0%.
I started researching again later in the game once I had a lot of gold set aside. My tech path then went Metal Casting -> Literature -> Drama -> Machinery. The game was over by this point; I did this to start increasing my score rather than to learn techs that I actually need. I never built a single forge or a maceman. I thought that I upgraded a few axemen to macemen late in the game, but I never saw a battle using a maceman in my autolog. Looking back, I probably should have stopped research right after Construction. I had a ton of gold through conquest and 0% science slider, so I dont think the extra trade routes from Currency actually helped. Also, I had a lot of happiness resources through conquest, so I could have done without Monarchy (and Heredity Rule).
I settled in place and my build order in Madrid was: worker -> 2 work boats -> settler (T36) -> warrior -> 2 work boats -> settler (T51) -> galley (T52 - whipped) -> worker -> granary -> barracks -> units as soon as Iron was hooked up. I settled my second city NW of the ivory and my third city on an island in the north to claim Iron. My first two work boats were used to improve the two clam resources near Madrid. I also sent two early workboats exploring, one east and one west, to locate all of the AI and to circumnavigate the globe.
Typically, if I'm going for an early rush, I do NOT build a barracks. However, in this game, I didn't have Copper or Iron hooked up yet, so I had time to build one. Also, if you get lucky and have Copper in your capital's BFC, you can even skip building a granary or any settlers. The sooner you can start your conquest the better.
Once I had Iron hooked up, I built a stack of swords and axes and declared war on Tokugawa (T79 and T93), Huayna Capac (T97 and T109) and Victoria (T101). Once I learned Construction on T89, I stared adding catapults and elephants into the mix. I then continued my conquest by declaring on Cyrus (T111), Monty (T119), Washington (T128) and Saladin (T131). For most of the game, I was at war with two to four AI at the same time.
If I don't have enough units to continue the war or if I've just captured a city and my units need time to heal, I'll sign a Cease Fire (not a Peace Treaty, which lasts for 10 turns) to give myself a few turns to get ready for the next phase of the war. You'll notice that in this game I stopped my wars with both Tokugawa and HC.
For me, the keys to this game were:
- Hook up metal as soon as possible so that I could get my war effort underway.
- Explore with workboats to find out where everyone was and to circumnavigate the globe (the +1 movement of galleys was useful on this map).
- Use galley chains to transport units around the globe. With so many little islands, I opted to chain from island to island with units walking across land for a turn or two. I wrote a post for the last SGOTM detailing how a galley chain works. If you're unsure how to do it, I will find that post and provide a link to it for you.
If you have any more questions, just ask. I still have saves from 600 BC, 75 BC, 200 AD and 600 AD, so I may be able to provide more details about this game if you need them.
BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if two or more people have a better conquest date than I did. Hopefully they can help enlighten both of us!
