ratrangerm
Prince
OK, so twice I attempted to play a game with Peter with all AI opponents having the Aggressive trait. Both were standard map on Prince, the first a Continents map, the second a Fractal map.
The first game, I didn't put the production city in a good location, it stagnated and I couldn't get military produced. The second attempted to do a specialist economy (which plays to Peter's strengths), but between resources not being in the best spots and missing out on city sites because of the decision to go for Pyramids very early, my slow start ended up very costly when one of the opponents decided it was time for an early rush.
Consequently, I've had to think about how to make the challenge work. Some things I thought of that may help:
* Regardless of what type of economy I choose to run, one of my initial three cities must at least start out as a production city and stay that way until an army can be built. Since Aggressive AI civs will often build lots of units, it's important to have an army to match it, and it's also important to get it going as soon as possible.
* Having a Barracks in more than one city would be good, even if it's just one city concentrating on military units. Since Aggressive civs gets the free Combat I promotion, it's important to have promotions for new units yourself. Even fighting barbs doesn't compensate, because the Aggressive AI civ can put out an Axeman without a Barracks, it's Combat I, then likely gets a promotion fighting barbs.
* If running a specialist economy, a city that is doing production can easily switch to being a city with scientist specialists later on by simply building a Library and going from there. Both are set up with lots of farms, so little work needs to be done to make the switch. That means the only city founded in the early game that goes to scientists right away is your super science city. When looking at others, if one can be a production city to get the army cranked out, do so, then switch later.
* Building the Pyramids immediately shouldn't be done at the expense of grabbing land early. Under normal circumstances, it could work, but with every AI opponent Aggressive, you need to get that land claimed quickly. This doesn't mean the capital just builds Settler after Settler... one idea could be to go like this...
- Capital builds Settler for City No. 2.
- Capital builds Settler for City No. 3, City No. 2 builds Settler for City No. 4.
- City No. 2 builds Settler for City No. 5.
That's not an exact build, mind you (obviously, Workers and units need to be built), but it would allow for getting more land under control before going to Pyramids.
And, of course, building Pyramids should only come if there's Stone readily available.
* Early diplomacy can be tough, so you have to have units to respond. Early in the game, it's mostly "who do I trade with and who do I not," then figuring out what your early tech trades may or may not be, and figuring out if you should pay tribute or hang tough. Also worth noting is Aggressive AI civs tend to be immediately pleased with each other, with only religion dividing them, and that usually applies only to zealots or those who found a religion. It's only later on that the diplomacy card really comes into play, but early on, you need to basically build your army and let them know "if you come after me, I can respond, so think twice."
* Having appropriate resources will help. If Copper, Horses and/or Iron aren't available in locations where it makes sense to build a city, fold your hand then and start over. You won't intimidate Aggressive AI civs with Warriors or Archers.
Anything else I may have missed? I'd like to hear from others before I take this on again. I think there have been some good ideas from the past two challenges, it's just a matter of adjusting gameplay to compensate for the fact that everybody opposing me is Aggressive.
The first game, I didn't put the production city in a good location, it stagnated and I couldn't get military produced. The second attempted to do a specialist economy (which plays to Peter's strengths), but between resources not being in the best spots and missing out on city sites because of the decision to go for Pyramids very early, my slow start ended up very costly when one of the opponents decided it was time for an early rush.
Consequently, I've had to think about how to make the challenge work. Some things I thought of that may help:
* Regardless of what type of economy I choose to run, one of my initial three cities must at least start out as a production city and stay that way until an army can be built. Since Aggressive AI civs will often build lots of units, it's important to have an army to match it, and it's also important to get it going as soon as possible.
* Having a Barracks in more than one city would be good, even if it's just one city concentrating on military units. Since Aggressive civs gets the free Combat I promotion, it's important to have promotions for new units yourself. Even fighting barbs doesn't compensate, because the Aggressive AI civ can put out an Axeman without a Barracks, it's Combat I, then likely gets a promotion fighting barbs.
* If running a specialist economy, a city that is doing production can easily switch to being a city with scientist specialists later on by simply building a Library and going from there. Both are set up with lots of farms, so little work needs to be done to make the switch. That means the only city founded in the early game that goes to scientists right away is your super science city. When looking at others, if one can be a production city to get the army cranked out, do so, then switch later.
* Building the Pyramids immediately shouldn't be done at the expense of grabbing land early. Under normal circumstances, it could work, but with every AI opponent Aggressive, you need to get that land claimed quickly. This doesn't mean the capital just builds Settler after Settler... one idea could be to go like this...
- Capital builds Settler for City No. 2.
- Capital builds Settler for City No. 3, City No. 2 builds Settler for City No. 4.
- City No. 2 builds Settler for City No. 5.
That's not an exact build, mind you (obviously, Workers and units need to be built), but it would allow for getting more land under control before going to Pyramids.
And, of course, building Pyramids should only come if there's Stone readily available.
* Early diplomacy can be tough, so you have to have units to respond. Early in the game, it's mostly "who do I trade with and who do I not," then figuring out what your early tech trades may or may not be, and figuring out if you should pay tribute or hang tough. Also worth noting is Aggressive AI civs tend to be immediately pleased with each other, with only religion dividing them, and that usually applies only to zealots or those who found a religion. It's only later on that the diplomacy card really comes into play, but early on, you need to basically build your army and let them know "if you come after me, I can respond, so think twice."
* Having appropriate resources will help. If Copper, Horses and/or Iron aren't available in locations where it makes sense to build a city, fold your hand then and start over. You won't intimidate Aggressive AI civs with Warriors or Archers.
Anything else I may have missed? I'd like to hear from others before I take this on again. I think there have been some good ideas from the past two challenges, it's just a matter of adjusting gameplay to compensate for the fact that everybody opposing me is Aggressive.
Napoleon. I'm the tech leader. I'm the second in points (1005 points), the first civ has 1008 points. I'm building two wonders now: The Great Lighthouse and the Great Library. The coastal city is not good for production anyway. When the city is big enough, I'll wimp a forge then run an Engineer. If I get the wonder great, if I don't get, I'll keep the money for me and maybe a Great Engineer 
. The Great Library will cost me some maces but it will help me with research and stay as tech leader. 
