Once again I have hit a stall point in my AOE/ROR days. So I am revisitting some lesser played civs, namely the Persians in this post. I found it weird that their hunting bonus does not apply to fish. I must admit still I have pulled off some nice bronze and tool times with these guys, but beyond an initial rush you are doomed to lethargic resource gathering. The lack of the wheel is a big enough problem. Clearly this is a technology everyone should have. Whether or not chariots should be available is another story. Take phoenician for example, clearly they just dominate is every way over Persia except for possibly rushing. I find also that the balance of gold civs, to wood civs is heavily warped. If you look at the dominance of wood civs I think you will find 80% or more (a guess) playing these wood civs. Its basically a blank check giving the abundance of wood. The superiority of gold units with the except of seige weapons is all matched to a lesser scale by wood. The scythe chariot upgrade is rediculous. Try playing macedonian against phoenican and egypt (this happened to me in random) Hmmm I seemed to strayed from my persian topic here. Back to the point. I think this civ has some potenetial, but the lack in range (wood upgrades, lack of wheel, & dependancy on gold is a rough one to overcome) I must admit those elephants are sure nice though, but I mean realistically what else do they got, cav? It cost less gold for the elephant I think, and archery range units?? You got to be kidding with an 8 range max your triemes get pummeled by what is it 13 range war galleys buy hittite and everyone else's higher max. The lack of basically all market upgrades destroys any hopes of a successful economy. Despite all my griping I am liking this civ, I'm not sure why though. In conclusion I was curious as to whether anyone has had any success and using which strategies did you have success with? I enjoy a small tool rush success often, and even a quick bronze rush but the dependancy on gold slows down my iron which is already hurting because of my slacker workers who refuse to accept the fact that the wheel might be a good idea for them to learn. Any ideas?