Wot no IRON?

[bigFRANK]

I am playing a huge 30 civ game right now (As Babylon) and I have a problem, basically I have finished the ancient era and have only come across one source of iron that happens to be in Sumerian territory (don’t have a full map as yet but I cant go anywhere without fighting) they are territorially about as large as me and are packing superior military units (I can see swords, best I have are a few ancient cavalry (and a couple of stacks of horsemen)). Civ Assist says no one we know has iron to trade (infact trade routes still need building with many of the civs I know of) so as it stands right now if I research invention I am going to be stuck with longbows as my best offensive unit, no doubt Sumeria will be making a beeline for chivalry and then they will conquer the continent (including me there neighbors) with their knights.

Suggestions folks?

 

[Ex.plode]

I am playing a huge 30 civ game right now (As Babylon) and I have a problem, basically I have finished the ancient era and have only come across one source of iron that happens to be in Sumerian territory (don’t have a full map as yet but I cant go anywhere without fighting) they are territorially about as large as me and are packing superior military units (I can see swords, best I have are a few ancient cavalry (and a couple of stacks of horsemen)). Civ Assist says no one we know has iron to trade (infact trade routes still need building with many of the civs I know of) so as it stands right now if I research invention I am going to be stuck with longbows as my best offensive unit, no doubt Sumeria will be making a beeline for chivalry and then they will conquer the continent (including me there neighbors) with their knights.

Suggestions folks?

Same kinda deal happened to me but a little more extreme:

No iron, No saltpeter, and no coal.


I ragequit pretty hard, but I'd say you are going to have to invade Sumeria now, or wait untill you get gunpowder/cavalry. Since iron will become obsolete at that point

 

[Fiddlin Nero]

Are you landlocked by other civs? I've gone considerable distances to get a resource when war is not an option. Its pretty amazing how the AI will leave a resource right next to its borders and not build for cultural expansion. It can be pretty agonizing securing land routes to a harbor, then possibly having to wait for tech to allow sea or ocean routes. The distant trade route is incredibly vulnerable but may just last long enough to get a more secure source by means of war.

 

[Raliuven]

Catapults, horses and spears can go a long way. Use walls and terrain to protect cities with spears and bombard the heck out of any unit that comes knocking before hitting them with horses. Push out cultural boundaries so that knights need to rest one turn in your borders before attacking. Beeline for MT and hope you have salt! Of course this plan is very difficult depending on the level you are playing.

 

[RickFGS]

What Raliuven said plus, you have the babylonian bowmen (that´s even better then longbowmen if used on defensive), they are superb defenders when packed together, send them towords the enemy cultural land and carve a path towords their iron using settlers, workers and bowmen to build cities inside their territory, make roads and bowmen to defend against attacks, pack catapults and use fortresses/barricades on roads and keep pushing towords the iron, ignore everthing else, take the cities on the way if necessary, if not, bypass them, concentrate and focus on you goal. Fish for military leaders with your babylonian bowmen on the way.

In sum, fight the battles inside the enmy countyside, pillage and take what you can, and keep it on the defensive, let his Knights/MDI´s crash into your bowmens sitting on barricades, that will teach´em not to skip classes in the military academy.

 

[bigFRANK]

OK so here’s what happened in the couple of hours that I played over the weekend, Sumerian researched Chivalry and started building knights, I researched and bought my way to gun powder found that 1 tile from my border (in Roman territory there was Salt Peter), I sent a couple of settlers to the city that shared the border and popped towns either side of the Salt and built libraries to get some culture going in them, with muskets I was happy enough to hold the line against Sumeria and decided to go on a border push towards the iron about 20 turns later and I have military tradition and iron inside my borders and am furiously building (and rushing) cultural items in the desert towns that connect me to the iron. The link is tenuous (2 diagonal squares touching each other) and I am surprised that my relations with Sumeria remained so peaceful but I have iron, my horsemen are now Cavalry and before to long I should be the dominant power on this continent (unless someone I haven’t met yet is huge).