Hehe TMIT, no isolation in this map. We can warrior rush on Monarch, but I don't expect to have 4 warriors knocking at their gates by the time AI only has 1 archer. And even then, 4 warriors vs 1 archer fortified isn't good odds without reloads.
BTW I assume we aren't talking about parking units at their cities, but taking them.
We aren't. Actually the prince and below variant of the warrior rush is: warriors x 5 ASAP then attack BEFORE they AI even gets a single archer. As you point out, that won't work monarch+, even though it is indeed possible to catch the AI with 1 archer in some of its cities if you time it right.
The monarch through possibly immortal variant looks more like a real/traditional rush: worker 1st, barracks, warriors. Having hills to mine or good hammer specials is a plus because you can get more warriors out quickly (1/turn on normal for quite a while). You hit with about 16-20 warriors ASAP, probably 2200-1800 BC (faster on epic, way faster on marathon).
Slider management is a must there. After getting the techs you need, turn the slider off. The warriors cost money directly and will burn you for unit supply too. If you don't bank enough gold, you'll strike en route and lose utterly
. If you have a reserve, you'll lose money at 0% but WILL lose warriors and improve GPT. City capture gold should help recoup some of your lost time if needed, but the real draw here is that you have a
reasonably fast rush that requires 0 resources.
16 warriors will tend to beat 3 or less archers, and then you can turn the new city into another factor immediately (AGG helps a lot for this).
Enemies of the monarch-immortal warrior rush:
1. Protective civs. Don't do it. Any PRO will screw you, but obviously if you want to lose on purpose rush sitting bull with warriors. Other than SB, if you want to warrior rush PRO civs, use inca.
2. Malinese, for the same reason as above. The extra first strike chance and 4 base str will murder you.
3. Hills: you can overcome them, but be sure to bring extra warriors, their impact is severe on this rush.
4. Taking the wrong promo. In some situations, combat is more effective than city raider (!). If you're going up against 120%+ total defensive bonuses, use combat I instead of CR I. If you're AGG, you'll either take cover or combat II probably. Given that archers have 50% implicit and the capitol will probably hand them another 40%, fortify + CG I brings you to 125% ----> take combat I if they have CG I or are on hills!). I've had test games where using CR I instead of combat I meant the difference between losing and winning (same RNG seed rolls and everything!).
5. If the enemy is too far. If you're not meeting them by like turn 5-8, they're probably too far (there are some exceptions with erratic scouting etc but as a rule).
6. Target has BFC copper and hooked it up. Probably only an immortal+ thing in this timeframe, but still bad. Horses aren't as bad...you'd rather see a chariot in the city than another archer...
Notice that numb nuts like shaka, monty, etc are perfectly fine targets for this, ironically. Their AGG bonus doesn't apply very much and they're still in the early expansion phase.
Not always viable as you can see but another good tool to have. Targets that are killed by this are usually gone by 1500-1200 BC. That gives you time to settle elsewhere, use leftovers to finish off the spawn bust, and delete warriors that are straining you too much. Use banked gold to unlock whatever tech helps you the most. You won't bankrupt too badly after you lose most of the warriors...after all you'll probably only have 2-4 cities.
Choking is completely different. You have to manage tech while holding 3-5 units in enemy territory, expanding before others can take your land, and still deal with barbs. It can be done but it is yet another skill set to practice.
to settler production (chopping included)
