D Pedro II
Chieftain
Hello everybody,
This is my very first thread, but I've been a longtime reader of this forum and the strategies discussed here helped to improve my gameplay quite a lot. I play BtS on Noble, with Large/Huge maps, Marathon speed, offline.
I open this discussion, because since Civ IV vanilla, I couldn't win a game trailing a warmonger way (although I always apreciated to build wonders, I am a warmonger at heart). Having a critic thought over my last games I'm afraid that the reasons may be the following:
a. inadequate execution of axe rush: I have read many ideas posted here defining the general guidelines to make a successful axe rush. The point is that by doing this on marathon I found that chop rush is not that quick, as it takes 9 turns to chop a forested tile. Further, the chop helps to rush 1 unit and a "half" most of the times, considering that you can only rush 90 H per tile maximum and these tiles are scarce. When slavery becomes available, it takes, depending on the city production, several turns to whip 1 population. My questions: does anybody get a large enough army to perform an axe rush on marathon, before the cultural defenses become too high? If you do, how do you get new units quickly, since whipping can not be used that often?
b. focusing on the wrong techs after the axe rush: after Bronze Working, I don't build andy wonders or get an religion at all, I rather procceed to Iron Working if necessary or go for Pottery to cottage my lands if I'm on warmonger mode. What do you do after Bronze Working?
c. bad management of economy: on my builder mode, in some past games, I tasted the power of a Cottage Spam. But I'm not quite sure about the best approch for the warmonger: should I cottage everything after the axe rush and forget about the specialists or should I try to farm the cities I keep to assign specialists ? If you use specialists, which kind do you focus on: scientists or merchants? I'm asking this because during Classical and Middle Ages my science slider goes deep on the red and I'm not quite sure about what to do to recover my economy in a way that will enable me to make more war, in other word, in a way that I may recover my research so that I can build units as updated as the AI. Does anybody out there was successful in using espionage to reach the the AI after the Middle Ages? Please tell us your secret!
I am quite aware that the answer to many of my questions is: it depends, because of the large spectrum of possibilities in BtS. But since I repeatedly experience similar problems, I supposed I might be committing a few errors. So I want an external opinion to improve my gameplay or choosing another approach.
I will post my last game with Ragnar. I am in the 1400s, I crushed the Celts with the axe rush, I also engaged wars with the other two AIs, but although as a warmonger, I'm not quite sure if I should have done it...yet! I also don't have longbows and I'm not even closer to make contact with the AIs on other continents. Please take part in the discussion and criticize my game to help me get over Noble at long last!
D Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil
"By watching the nullities prevail in such a way, by watching the dishonor prosper in such a way, by watching the injustice grow in such a way, by watching the power exaggerate in the hands of the evil ones, the man gets to lose heart from virtue, to laugh about the honor, to be ashamed of being honest" - Ruy Barbosa
This is my very first thread, but I've been a longtime reader of this forum and the strategies discussed here helped to improve my gameplay quite a lot. I play BtS on Noble, with Large/Huge maps, Marathon speed, offline.
I open this discussion, because since Civ IV vanilla, I couldn't win a game trailing a warmonger way (although I always apreciated to build wonders, I am a warmonger at heart). Having a critic thought over my last games I'm afraid that the reasons may be the following:
a. inadequate execution of axe rush: I have read many ideas posted here defining the general guidelines to make a successful axe rush. The point is that by doing this on marathon I found that chop rush is not that quick, as it takes 9 turns to chop a forested tile. Further, the chop helps to rush 1 unit and a "half" most of the times, considering that you can only rush 90 H per tile maximum and these tiles are scarce. When slavery becomes available, it takes, depending on the city production, several turns to whip 1 population. My questions: does anybody get a large enough army to perform an axe rush on marathon, before the cultural defenses become too high? If you do, how do you get new units quickly, since whipping can not be used that often?
b. focusing on the wrong techs after the axe rush: after Bronze Working, I don't build andy wonders or get an religion at all, I rather procceed to Iron Working if necessary or go for Pottery to cottage my lands if I'm on warmonger mode. What do you do after Bronze Working?
c. bad management of economy: on my builder mode, in some past games, I tasted the power of a Cottage Spam. But I'm not quite sure about the best approch for the warmonger: should I cottage everything after the axe rush and forget about the specialists or should I try to farm the cities I keep to assign specialists ? If you use specialists, which kind do you focus on: scientists or merchants? I'm asking this because during Classical and Middle Ages my science slider goes deep on the red and I'm not quite sure about what to do to recover my economy in a way that will enable me to make more war, in other word, in a way that I may recover my research so that I can build units as updated as the AI. Does anybody out there was successful in using espionage to reach the the AI after the Middle Ages? Please tell us your secret!
I am quite aware that the answer to many of my questions is: it depends, because of the large spectrum of possibilities in BtS. But since I repeatedly experience similar problems, I supposed I might be committing a few errors. So I want an external opinion to improve my gameplay or choosing another approach.
I will post my last game with Ragnar. I am in the 1400s, I crushed the Celts with the axe rush, I also engaged wars with the other two AIs, but although as a warmonger, I'm not quite sure if I should have done it...yet! I also don't have longbows and I'm not even closer to make contact with the AIs on other continents. Please take part in the discussion and criticize my game to help me get over Noble at long last!
D Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil
"By watching the nullities prevail in such a way, by watching the dishonor prosper in such a way, by watching the injustice grow in such a way, by watching the power exaggerate in the hands of the evil ones, the man gets to lose heart from virtue, to laugh about the honor, to be ashamed of being honest" - Ruy Barbosa