I suck at war (Emperor level)

[Forbiddentwo]

Another thing: sometimes I've pulled off the Archer rush only to find that the terrain has utterly borked me (usually forests and hills blocking line of sight).

I dunno, it seems like there are so many ways to build yourself into a corner and not even know it until it's far too late.

 

[Forbiddentwo]

Oh, another thing: Is it ever viable to go straight for construction after archery because you know that walls are going up soon, or is it always a huge mistake to not beeline currency -> apprenticeship?

 

[greygamer]

Another thing: sometimes I've pulled off the Archer rush only to find that the terrain has utterly borked me (usually forests and hills blocking line of sight).

I dunno, it seems like there are so many ways to build yourself into a corner and not even know it until it's far too late.

Archers still work at range 1 and take no damage when they attack. Don't forget to have reserve archers behind them when you need to shuffle them.

Oh, another thing: Is it ever viable to go straight for construction after archery because you know that walls are going up soon, or is it always a huge mistake to not beeline currency -> apprenticeship?

I don't beeline those techs (especially apprenticeship) until they are needed.
Currency puts you in the classical era so it can wait until you need swordsmen/horsemen. Conscription means your archers cost no maintenance.
Apprenticeship can likewise wait as massed archers can still breach walls in reasonable time and are very cheap. If you are in the Medieval era you'll want Crossbows/Knights which is when you want that production boost. The only reason you might want to rush apprenticeship is for Catapults. Being in the Medieval era brings much heavier warmonger penalties so it depends on what is more important to you.

 

[Forbiddentwo]

Hmm, I captured two enemy cities that had holy sites and founded a religion there but it won't let me build temples there, and my religion hasn't spread from them to my other cities >_<.

 

[greygamer]

Hmm, I captured two enemy cities that had holy sites and founded a religion there but it won't let me build temples there, and my religion hasn't spread from them to my other cities >_<.

Do you have Theology, before that you can only build shrines/missionaries. Religion spread can be quite slow, my understanding is missionaries convert population with no belief quickly.

 

[Sisler]

As an aside, I got pretty far with Scythia (yes, I gave in to the temptation to use easy mode) and my armies of helicopters were pretty formidable but they also did amazingly little damage to enemy cities . I was imagining them firing hellfire rockets instead of using that little piddly machinegun. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything.

I just finished a game with Scythia (King, not Emperor tho ) and that was my first Domination win. Loved it and will try it in Emperor next. I even had my second city taken by Roosevelt before I was able to start producing my Horses But once I started, you get 2 units for the price of one and a combination of normal Horseman and unique Saka mounted archer did the trick. I really enjoyed that civ

 

[Forster]

I've built battering rams, but they don't seem to do anything. I've tried warriors and archers as the escort unit. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Forbiddentwo]

I've built battering rams, but they don't seem to do anything. I've tried warriors and archers as the escort unit. What am I doing wrong?

They allow your melee units to do full damage to adjacent enemy walls (normally there is some damage reduction if walls are present). Siege towers let you bypass walls altogether but on the flipside not taking down the walls means they'll be plinking at you the whole time. Catapults and the like just outright smash the walls but seem to do a disappointingly small amount of damage to cities without walls (not sure about vs units, anyone care to chime in?).

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Also, is it viable in Emperor and above to go on a war footing, but instead of taking out one or two enemy civs, just position your armies so that you can poach their settlers? Or is it just plain better to wipe out enemies... in which case maybe I should wait until they've produced a settler so I can get that in the process (but that would mean everyone else has made a settler too...)...?

 

[x2Madda]

Normally it is better to wipe the AI rather than poach settlers due to the bonuses AI get. The goal is to win the game so the less AI you have wasting your time, the better.

 

[Forbiddentwo]

Are the Aztecs just inferior to Sumeria on Emperor difficulty? It seems like they just can't get much mileage out of their UU. The lack of mobility really hurts, and you end up with a pretty small number of workers.

Generally around the time I'd be attacking my second civ with Sumeria I've just taken my first city (and gotten 2-3 workers in the process) as the Aztecs, if only due to lack of mobility (and occasional shuffling around to get my UU to land the final blow).

The lack of mobility also means that I end up with bigger problems when barbarians start spawning in inconvenient places, and I end up with less accomplished over more turns with my economy in the red...

Any suggestions on adjustments to make to my game to accommodate the differences?

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Maybe in this case it WOULD be better to just poach from multiple enemies- say, by making multiple Eagle Warriors and killing stray warriors/capturing workers from City States early on, or ganking settlers (since I'd be getting workers out of the deal as well)?

If nothing else, killing a city state warrior right near the beginning of a game can net me a worker and allow me to make another slinger a bit early.

 

[ShinigamiKenji]

Normally it is better to wipe the AI rather than poach settlers due to the bonuses AI get. The goal is to win the game so the less AI you have wasting your time, the better.

Also, you free your army to go after your next neighbour (which will probably have more cities than the Settlers you might ever capture).

Are the Aztecs just inferior to Sumeria on Emperor difficulty? It seems like they just can't get much mileage out of their UU. The lack of mobility really hurts, and you end up with a pretty small number of workers.

Generally around the time I'd be attacking my second civ with Sumeria I've just taken my first city (and gotten 2-3 workers in the process) as the Aztecs, if only due to lack of mobility (and occasional shuffling around to get my UU to land the final blow).

The lack of mobility also means that I end up with bigger problems when barbarians start spawning in inconvenient places, and I end up with less accomplished over more turns with my economy in the red...

Any suggestions on adjustments to make to my game to accommodate the differences?

---

Maybe in this case it WOULD be better to just poach from multiple enemies- say, by making multiple Eagle Warriors and killing stray warriors/capturing workers from City States early on, or ganking settlers (since I'd be getting workers out of the deal as well)?

If nothing else, killing a city state warrior right near the beginning of a game can net me a worker and allow me to make another slinger a bit early.

I've not played the Aztecs yet, but in terms of UUs, it's hard to compete with donkey-carts. Even Saka Horse Archers aren't so good if you take out the double units.

 

[Forbiddentwo]

Is the AI in multiplayer any different in single player? I'd swear that in multiplayer they get walls ridiculously fast- sometimes before my war carts can even take their first city. In single player I've yet to have that ever happen.

 

[x2Madda]

Is the AI in multiplayer any different in single player? I'd swear that in multiplayer they get walls ridiculously fast- sometimes before my war carts can even take their first city. In single player I've yet to have that ever happen.

Let me explain because this is really annoying (to me).
The AI gets the same bonuses in multiplayer as it does in single player HOWEVER most online games are set to 'online speed' which I believe is double speed.
AI bonuses are also time released (as far as i can tell, someone who can scour the data will be able to give facts rather than my observations) OR they just get stuff for free at certain intervals. Either way at x2 speed they get things at an incredible pace.

This certainly helps when it comes to keeping up with human players since the AI is dumb, but its quite game breaking too. People will intentionally quit a game and then rejoin to snag AI bonuses.

 

[ShinigamiKenji]

This certainly helps when it comes to keeping up with human players since the AI is dumb, but its quite game breaking too. People will intentionally quit a game and then rejoin to snag AI bonuses.

Really? IMO, once you leave a game by your own choice, you shouldn't be able to rejoin. Either that, or having at least one turn of "anarchy" (you can't produce anything, tech anything, or order anything)

 

[x2Madda]

Really? IMO, once you leave a game by your own choice, you shouldn't be able to rejoin. Either that, or having at least one turn of "anarchy" (you can't produce anything, tech anything, or order anything)

The thing is, like any online game, how do you sort the genuine disconnects from people gaming the system?
Its sad really but I don't know what Firaxis could have done otherwise.