I don't feel they unbalence the game though....I just played my first Monarch game and won the space race in a real nail biter finish...beat my next best score by 1500...very very pleased with myself 
This one started with Iron and Immortals early, but I was behind in tech and expansion...Japan made one too many demands and I swept them from the continent. Behold, I was the largest area and number#1 in score overall, but I was way behind in tech, and in building city improvements. The only Wonder I was able to complete was Art of War. I was getting so desperate as the war went on and on, well past the golden age, and I hadn't yet finished conquest of the continent..(ya gotta get the whole thing)
Japan would of had his samuri out any moment, and they're quite lethal to immortals.
After this I had to spend most of the time trying to catch up on producing improvements...Russia, India and Babylon got all the wonders...right on through to UN, SETI, and Manhatten....I was the last to get cavalry on board, and was so far behind I was sure I would lose this game. My army was not large enough for Domination, never mind Conquest.
When the next big war started....(too late for lightning war...) I had to fight Mech Infantry, Tanks, and Planes, with insufficient cavalry, a couple of tanks and only a few arty, no settlers....
Immortals and pikemen held the lines and occupied conquered cities I would have prefered to flatten...cities flipped...
Immortals attacked the lone cavalry, riflemen, spearmen, archers, swordsman...as it went. Immortals captured workers...
and cities...
Sun TZU...use the enemy supplies..Their arty enhanced my own ....enabled me to aquire most of the uranium as Russia and India went Communist. I smoked 'em both and captured most of the crucial Wonders. War weariness was just brutal....population in rapid decline....citizens rioting in the streets. I worked the tech/happiness sliders hard every turn.
Once again the war was too long...and Babylon built the UN and stayed Democracy...only my gracious allies prevented Diplomatic Defeat right there. I was forced to keep those allied relations gracious after the war (very expensive) untill the end of the game just to prevent a reoccurance of the vote. Babylon had nukes now. Racing science I was at -400 gpt and milking my neighbours for every thin nickle. I disbanded troops, I went wealth in almost every city, I sold off improvements....not a drop of pollution survived an entire turn.
Babylon made demands...I told him to get stuffed. He moved large numbers of troops near the border and they danced back and forth every turn.
Babylon wouldn't vote UN again, so he made a dash for space, I was the only other player who could also make a dash for space and the only way I beat him was by maxing out shields and adding workers and settlers to top up the populatons....On the last turn of my final space component he built all components but the party lounge... I thought I was screwed for sure because he got that tech (and all the techs) before I did. I thought for sure he would nuke me, there was not one more turn to spare in this game.
By the end of the game there was less than 6 immortals in the entire inventory...as compared to about 35 or 45 pikemen and at least 80 cavalry, 40+ tanks, 20+ armour, 100+ mech infantry....
I could not disband the immortals....I never disband the immortals.
The best part was the warrior with the hammer and seeing the ball go all the way to the top....said Xerxes the outragously fantastic or something along those lines...
[dance]
I slept for a day and a half....
My point is...just because they chop 'em down in style, victory was by no means assured at any point in that game. Xerxes enjoys cheap science (good), fast workers (also good), Immortals (friggen great!!!) but he has long anarchy (sucks), expensive culture improvements (hence slower city growth which also sucks and keeps the treasury tight most of the time...which also sucks even more). Chinese riders upgrade to cavalry while immortals upgrade to immortals. Once an Immortal, Always an Immortal.
I look out the window and see dawn is coming up again. Summers over again and it got cold in here...I hadn't noticed.
This game has Ruined my Life.
This one started with Iron and Immortals early, but I was behind in tech and expansion...Japan made one too many demands and I swept them from the continent. Behold, I was the largest area and number#1 in score overall, but I was way behind in tech, and in building city improvements. The only Wonder I was able to complete was Art of War. I was getting so desperate as the war went on and on, well past the golden age, and I hadn't yet finished conquest of the continent..(ya gotta get the whole thing)
Japan would of had his samuri out any moment, and they're quite lethal to immortals.
After this I had to spend most of the time trying to catch up on producing improvements...Russia, India and Babylon got all the wonders...right on through to UN, SETI, and Manhatten....I was the last to get cavalry on board, and was so far behind I was sure I would lose this game. My army was not large enough for Domination, never mind Conquest.
When the next big war started....(too late for lightning war...) I had to fight Mech Infantry, Tanks, and Planes, with insufficient cavalry, a couple of tanks and only a few arty, no settlers....
Immortals and pikemen held the lines and occupied conquered cities I would have prefered to flatten...cities flipped...
Immortals attacked the lone cavalry, riflemen, spearmen, archers, swordsman...as it went. Immortals captured workers...
and cities...
Sun TZU...use the enemy supplies..Their arty enhanced my own ....enabled me to aquire most of the uranium as Russia and India went Communist. I smoked 'em both and captured most of the crucial Wonders. War weariness was just brutal....population in rapid decline....citizens rioting in the streets. I worked the tech/happiness sliders hard every turn.
Once again the war was too long...and Babylon built the UN and stayed Democracy...only my gracious allies prevented Diplomatic Defeat right there. I was forced to keep those allied relations gracious after the war (very expensive) untill the end of the game just to prevent a reoccurance of the vote. Babylon had nukes now. Racing science I was at -400 gpt and milking my neighbours for every thin nickle. I disbanded troops, I went wealth in almost every city, I sold off improvements....not a drop of pollution survived an entire turn.
Babylon made demands...I told him to get stuffed. He moved large numbers of troops near the border and they danced back and forth every turn.
Babylon wouldn't vote UN again, so he made a dash for space, I was the only other player who could also make a dash for space and the only way I beat him was by maxing out shields and adding workers and settlers to top up the populatons....On the last turn of my final space component he built all components but the party lounge... I thought I was screwed for sure because he got that tech (and all the techs) before I did. I thought for sure he would nuke me, there was not one more turn to spare in this game.
By the end of the game there was less than 6 immortals in the entire inventory...as compared to about 35 or 45 pikemen and at least 80 cavalry, 40+ tanks, 20+ armour, 100+ mech infantry....
I could not disband the immortals....I never disband the immortals.
The best part was the warrior with the hammer and seeing the ball go all the way to the top....said Xerxes the outragously fantastic or something along those lines...
[dance]
I slept for a day and a half....
My point is...just because they chop 'em down in style, victory was by no means assured at any point in that game. Xerxes enjoys cheap science (good), fast workers (also good), Immortals (friggen great!!!) but he has long anarchy (sucks), expensive culture improvements (hence slower city growth which also sucks and keeps the treasury tight most of the time...which also sucks even more). Chinese riders upgrade to cavalry while immortals upgrade to immortals. Once an Immortal, Always an Immortal.
I look out the window and see dawn is coming up again. Summers over again and it got cold in here...I hadn't noticed.
This game has Ruined my Life.
