Tech Patterning for Warrior Rushing

[biohazard72]

Right now I'm horrible at Warrior rushing. I'm too slow finding a Worker steal opportunity, and wiping AI armies without huge losses is tough for me too. Any tips there are appreciated too.

But that's not what this is about. I'm wondering about tech pattern - should I be grabbing luxury techs or beelining for Iron Working? Iron Working is soooo expensive early game, but provides an early upgrade path for Warriors if I want to continue warmongering.

I was thinking luxury techs => Construction => Bronze Working => Iron Working => The Wheel => Mathematics would be a good route, using the early growth that luxuries provide to get more cities on the ground fast, and using Construction to hurry second wave expansion. Then use Swordsmen and Catapults defensively or to wipe out the capital of the AI rushed.

Thoughts?

 

[bonafide11]

I just figure it's better to rush with horse archers than warriors and swordsmen, at least until the patch comes out.

 

[MykC]

It really helps if one or both of your luxury are gold
->Writing
... Luxury that you need so you can sell to AI
Iron Working

Capital:
Warrior
Warrior
Warrior
Worker
Warrior/Monument/Library/Settler

You'll probably rush buy your the library if you can. In most cases you don't rush buy the settler.
I've been going with the honor policy to start off. And if I'm lucky I'll have a general out at around T40 or so.
I wouldn't steal a worker from a City State.
You can try and steal a worker from your target AI.
I wait until they settle their first expansion city and steal the worker from that city.
Harass and capture the expansion city.
They will probably offer you a peace treat. If your ready to move onto the capital turn it down.
Otherwise take it. You'll be ready for the capital once you can upgrade to Swordsmen.

Your first settler you'll start building between size 3-5. The settler should hold off settling until you know where the iron is. You will generally want to just settle on the iron eliminate the time needed to send a worker up and work the tile.

Depending on the difficulty... you need to know that even if you have 4-5 warriors vs a single city. You have to be careful an patient. Defend and let them attack into you. Heal up to full before attacking.

When taking a city you want 4 warriors to attack on the same turn.

The capital will require you to have swordsmen to take. Otherwise you'll probably fail.

 

[Slowpoke]

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm guessing straight up rushing to iron working is your best bet, then go back for luxuries/construction then get writing, and then longswords. Catapults really are not necessary when longswords are so easy to get.

 

[MykC]

I think you go writing first because you want the ability to trade open borders for 50G. Also it make getting to Iron Working less painful if not faster cause once you start the settler you put what guys you can in the library.

Not 100% sure but its worked out that way for me. But I've only done immortal.

 

[Razzlesnaff]

All good suggestions. Like MykC said, it really really helps when your luxury resources are gold/silver/gems. As you can just head straight to Iron Working.

You don't need to pick up Writing that early though. In my experience the AI is fairly persistent about heading towards Writing fairly early and will come to you requesting Open Borders.

 

[LordTC]

I think you should avoid the worker in the build order and rely on stealing one or more instead, which is usually quite easy to do.

You don't need to pick up writing all that early unless you're Babylon and want to put down an academy. You aren't building libraries all that soon anyways.

Typically its more worthwhile to beeline ahead to steel than to backfill catapults.. although you do need to get construction to stay happy in many build orders.

 

[Martin Alvito]

There are a few options:

1) Push Construction if you intend to ICS after the Warrior rush. This enables you to hook up Gold, Silver, Gems and Marble. If that's what you're looking at in your immediate area, and you'll have some room after wasting the initial opponent, it's the way to go. Grabbing early Construction means that you can have your new cities work Colosseums immediately, saving you a number of turns later on.

2) Go straight for Iron Working. If you have another nearby neighbor in the direction of the civ you Warrior rush and you plan to play a puppet game, this is usually a good idea. This permits you to continue the offensive without delay, which can enable you to roll two civs very quickly.

3) (Babylon only) Go straight to Writing and plop down an Academy, preferably on a 3F tile. You can then go for Iron Working and finish at about the same time you normally would by directly beelining. This is particularly helpful if you have a bunch of Calendar luxuries; you can scoop that up with minimal delay before heading up to Iron.

It's possible to take a capital with Warriors, but you have to roll it before Walls go up. Turn 35 is more or less the deadline on Deity.

Workers should be stolen from your first opponent. My usual build order is Warrior x4 -> Settler.

In any event, the patch should eliminate the ability to Warrior rush if city base strengths are buffed sufficiently. You'll then need Swords to take cities.

 

[Venereus]

What about slingshotting Iron Working with the GS Babylon gets with Writing?

 

[juckie]

What about slingshotting Iron Working with the GS Babylon gets with Writing?

Making an academy with the early GS is worth way more than slingshotting an early tech.
IW is 150 beakers, an academy produces 5. That's just 30 turns to pay itself.

 

[Martin Alvito]

What about slingshotting Iron Working with the GS Babylon gets with Writing?

You slingshot Steel with it and go hit someone with Longswords. Meanwhile, you make two Great Scientists (26 turns in the capital), and pop Physics and Gunpowder with them. Then you open Scientific Revolution, take Metallurgy and Rifling, and dominate.

Alternately, if you're heavy on Calendar resources then it can make sense to build the Academy in order to feed the conquest machine with Happiness.

 

[MykC]

Making an academy with the early GS is worth way more than slings shotting an early tech.
IW is 150 beakers, an academy produces 5. That's just 30 turns to pay itself.

I agree here 100% here. It not only will earn you at minimum 1000 beakers (200 turns) it allows you to clear the lower techs quicker as well. To be honest, I will make as many academy's as I have good land to put them on, which are animal tiles like cattle (preferably).