VetMichael
Chieftain
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2008
- Messages
- 11
I was initially worried about the requirements for "Power never takes a Backward Step" ach; not being able to settle another city is a serious handicap! But on the way to unlocking the "So that we may live in peace" ach, I unlocked the "Power" ach as well. Here's what I learned through about half a dozen try-and-fail maps:
1) Blitzkreig scenario is a must; not only do your units move faster, you produce stuff faster, and famous people pop up more often, but you have three cities to start and each has a warrior in them for an instant army off the bat. Be careful, though, your enemies are usually closer than you think, so be sure to replace them ASAP.
2) use the Arabs; IMO they are better than the Zulus, Aztecs, or Germans and here's why: Fundamentalism at the start. Fund gives your warrior army double strength off the bat (3 x 1 = 3 + 3 [+1/unit on attack] = 6 attack, equivalent to a Horseman Army of the opponents. Add "veteran" and the 6 jumps to 9, add infiltration and the 9 jumps to 15, add a general and...well, you get the picture! Not bad for a warrior army you can make by the ton early in the game - all but a well-entrenched archer army in the capital city of your opponents will have a hard time defending against these guys so don't forget other techs as well.
3) target your techs for war: In the winning game, I researched Bronze working, Horseback riding, Mathematics, Feudalism, Navigation, and Democracy (with the ancillary techs along the way). I purposefully did NOT research iron working because I wanted to field armies of catapults early in the game; compared to Legions, catapults win hands down; same defense, but much stronger offense. I eventually wound up getting iron working from my first conquest anyway, so there was no real problem in the long run.
4) aim for capitals whenever possible: take the capitals and fortify the living heck out of them; archers are fast and cheap, especially in capitals since they tend to be the biggest producers on most early game maps. If you feel like it, you can mop up the rest of the civ's cities (usually there's only two others anyway) at your leisure.
5) do not settle a great person: use their talents ASAP to discover hard-to-research techs instantly, build wonders (Samurai Castle, Colosseum, and Leonardo's Workshop), give yourself cash infusions (for hurry production or, to a lesser extent, roads), add population to every city (boost production), and so on. The only exception is if David or Agamemnon appears; settle them in a major production city and crank out awesome units from the get-go.
6) do NOT use a settler - ever! Remember, we're shooting for two difficult birds with this game and settling a new city ruins the "Power..." ach; instead have it join your best production city for a modest production boost. Besides, if you're doing it all right, you're cranking out military units and have already taken at least one enemy city by the time you reach the free settler at 100 gold.
7) Scout around: find the wonders scattered across the globe, especially Confucius' School, Knights Templar, and Atlantis; these boosts of great people, units, and techs are a god send! Also good are the seven cities of gold and the clay army; take the sphinx to prevent other civs from getting Fund easily, if you're so inclined.
8) Abandon a bad map: if one or more of your cities is on an island, restart - the production you put into a galley to transport could produce an entire army of warriors. If you are on an isolated island that requires a galleon to get off, restart - by the time you get off the island, everyone's ready for you. In other words, if your aim is to get both achs (or even just one), then you will need to be able to reach your sister cities to make armies quickly and to be able to reach your enemies when the time comes.
When all was said and done, I conquered the Egyptians, Chinese, Aztecs, and Americans by 450 AD and got both the "Power" and "So that" achs. Hope this helps and I would love to see other people's comments.
1) Blitzkreig scenario is a must; not only do your units move faster, you produce stuff faster, and famous people pop up more often, but you have three cities to start and each has a warrior in them for an instant army off the bat. Be careful, though, your enemies are usually closer than you think, so be sure to replace them ASAP.
2) use the Arabs; IMO they are better than the Zulus, Aztecs, or Germans and here's why: Fundamentalism at the start. Fund gives your warrior army double strength off the bat (3 x 1 = 3 + 3 [+1/unit on attack] = 6 attack, equivalent to a Horseman Army of the opponents. Add "veteran" and the 6 jumps to 9, add infiltration and the 9 jumps to 15, add a general and...well, you get the picture! Not bad for a warrior army you can make by the ton early in the game - all but a well-entrenched archer army in the capital city of your opponents will have a hard time defending against these guys so don't forget other techs as well.
3) target your techs for war: In the winning game, I researched Bronze working, Horseback riding, Mathematics, Feudalism, Navigation, and Democracy (with the ancillary techs along the way). I purposefully did NOT research iron working because I wanted to field armies of catapults early in the game; compared to Legions, catapults win hands down; same defense, but much stronger offense. I eventually wound up getting iron working from my first conquest anyway, so there was no real problem in the long run.
4) aim for capitals whenever possible: take the capitals and fortify the living heck out of them; archers are fast and cheap, especially in capitals since they tend to be the biggest producers on most early game maps. If you feel like it, you can mop up the rest of the civ's cities (usually there's only two others anyway) at your leisure.
5) do not settle a great person: use their talents ASAP to discover hard-to-research techs instantly, build wonders (Samurai Castle, Colosseum, and Leonardo's Workshop), give yourself cash infusions (for hurry production or, to a lesser extent, roads), add population to every city (boost production), and so on. The only exception is if David or Agamemnon appears; settle them in a major production city and crank out awesome units from the get-go.
6) do NOT use a settler - ever! Remember, we're shooting for two difficult birds with this game and settling a new city ruins the "Power..." ach; instead have it join your best production city for a modest production boost. Besides, if you're doing it all right, you're cranking out military units and have already taken at least one enemy city by the time you reach the free settler at 100 gold.
7) Scout around: find the wonders scattered across the globe, especially Confucius' School, Knights Templar, and Atlantis; these boosts of great people, units, and techs are a god send! Also good are the seven cities of gold and the clay army; take the sphinx to prevent other civs from getting Fund easily, if you're so inclined.
8) Abandon a bad map: if one or more of your cities is on an island, restart - the production you put into a galley to transport could produce an entire army of warriors. If you are on an isolated island that requires a galleon to get off, restart - by the time you get off the island, everyone's ready for you. In other words, if your aim is to get both achs (or even just one), then you will need to be able to reach your sister cities to make armies quickly and to be able to reach your enemies when the time comes.
When all was said and done, I conquered the Egyptians, Chinese, Aztecs, and Americans by 450 AD and got both the "Power" and "So that" achs. Hope this helps and I would love to see other people's comments.
.
