Understanding Power: An open discussion of immortal strategy

[Murky]

I tried a Immortal game as Augustus on a Pangea. I think that map type is not optimal because there's too many hills. The AI civs love to settle hills and with the Protective trait from Warlords can be near impossible to rush.

 

[voek]

With the new patch Immortal will be impossible? Blake's mod is great, now the AI actualy can place good city's! Next thing he will learn them to use the whip... byebye

 

[Jorunkun]

Some examples of situations which I can't seem to beat:

a) Starting alone on an island (archipelago) and can't make contact with suitable trading partners by galley (for example, being next to Japan is no use because they are too closed). The other AIs grow far too fast and by the time you meet them they are way ahead.

Been warming to island starts on Immortal lately. They guarantee you a sufficient number of cities (provided the island is big enough), save you military expenses and let you focus on efficient growth. My strategy on isolated island starts is to strictly beeline for the economic techs (maths, currency, col, cs) only, rather than go for optics - usually the other civs will find you before you get there anyway. If you manage your economy well and have some luck with trading, you will be competitive in the mid-game and can either launch an invasion or play for a diplo win.

b) Whenever Mansa Musa is in the game he always seems to win at this level, unless I start close enough to him to go to war directly and early.

He sure is a pain. However, because he trades with everyone ('s worst enemy), he is usualy well hated by at least some civs, which means you can get him caught up in wars with third parties. Also, he can be pillaged effectively and profitably.

 

[aelf]

Well, I was looking forward to moving on to Immortal and winning it by any means in the next Challenge and then gradually adding more interesting twists (like the three Emperor Challenges so far). But with the upcoming changes to the AI, I might play another Emperor Challenge or two. If by then someone has taken up a series on Immortal, I might then retire from the Challenges and maybe largely from Civ4 as well. There are only so many times you can play a game. I find my own games less and less focused. For me, what is really fun about the game right now is OCC and the Challenges. I don't have any interest in MP.