drkodos said:
To builds scouts that explore and subsequently get better results from huts would be two viable reasons why someone would want hunting early.
I've understood the only difference in popping huts with a scout/explorer is that you won't get angry villagers. As the chance for that is quite low, I don't mind popping the huts with a woodsman II warrior (which, considering the amount of woods and jungle in the early game, I find to be a good scout). And as the warrior doesn't need to worry so much about animals (and will spend less time healing should animals be abundant - scout probably dies of heart attack when a bear approaches), the warrior will end up with Woodsman II quite fast.
drkodos said:
I find them highly offensive.
I have indeed captured a city with just archers. But it's not the easiest way to capture a city, and capitols are right out unless you've churned out archers for the first millenium or so...
My level 3 Chinese archers (that's Drill I, Cover, and Combat I) died in troves when I tried to get the only source of copper (actually two of them) on the area I've explored and Rome still stood strong. Had I had more archers attacking... But alas, I didn't. A bit of bad luck and misestimated the number of archers I needed and I was pretty much done for, not recovering from the blunder anymore. Maybe I shouldn't have tried taking Rome with archers. Should've rather expanded fast, expeting to play defensive game until I get access to resources and tech that would allow me to take up offense. But I'm not sure if cats and archers together make for a good city attack stack either, as the city defenses will be stronger too at that point - especially if I'm the only one without strategic military resources. So maybe trebs with archers as stack defenders then? Or just play Atzecs so I always have jags as a surefire option
In any case, I do indeed go for archery sometimes. But it's not really a priority for me unless it's the only way. And yes, I will restart if I feel I'm not going to recover. Lately less than before, maybe some day not before the loss is declared by game.
Murky said:
f there is no rice or wheat around, why would you need agriculture instead of hunting?
Corn?
Depending on the starting techs and whether I go for BW first, I may know whether my second city will need agri.
The decision to go for AH via Hunting happens to me only if:
- I have livestock in capitol, no farmables, I don't start with agri or hunting, and I go worker first therefore needing worker (preferably food) tech as the first research.
- Or if I want to build camps, which means I have elephants, deer, or furries close by.
Then again, depending on the capitol fat cross I may want to farm floodplains and/or grassland, therefore necessitating AH via Agri still.
Still, even if I argue mainly against going for Archery early, sometimes it is warranted. I just find those cases to be rare compared to BW or Agri-AH before deciding on Archery. Starting with Hunting is a big step towards early archery for me though - that prerequisite tech is something I generally find less commonly needed early on that agri.
