posted 03-30-99 08:39 PM
ET (US)
1 / 5
It seems we may be at opposites. I feel I am a competent fighter, but sometimes my early games down right sucks. ;-) I think the most effective attack is a attack from many different units. Camels and cavalry work great with chariot archers behind them because it makes you think what to go for. If you go for the cavalry, then the chariot archers will eat you up. If you go for the chariot archers the cavalry will get you. That, to me, seems to be very effective. Another thing to keep in mind is your civ and the opponents civ. If possible, you definintly want to use your strong point, ie Hittite Heavy Cats, Phoe Armored Dumbos, etc., but you must also keep in mind what your opponent is attacking with. I watched one of my friends play two weeks ago in a 3v3 and he was Phoenician and one of the enemies was Hittites. They were both Iron, and my friend kept building dumbo after dumbo, and the hittite guy never lost any ground. Eventually, after about an hour and a half, he ran out of gold, and started building chariots, what he probably should have done in the first place. Dumbos are just to slow to reach cats w/ballista. Chariots are fast enough and cheap enough where you can have lots and even though some may die before getting to the cats, the majority would get there and wreck havoc on the cats. It is a good idea to scout the enemy b4 you send in your army. Send in a lone chariot archer or scout just to see what he has, and adjust your attack from there.
posted 03-31-99 04:23 AM
ET (US)
3 / 5
Hi all,
I think the openings have been well covered and that widely available knowledge and the queueing features means that it is often much harder to determine who the great players are earlier in the game. The late game monster battle or "deathmatch phase" comes with experience. This makes the middle part of the game, as you rightly point out, the ripest area for development.
One basic point I would make it don't stop expanding your economy. Keep building peons looking for new resources just as you have been so successfully up to now. A good players economy grows exponentially until it hits the population ceiling or at least 70-80% of it. What to do at the same time depends on the circumstances and the civ. If you have Shang, phoenecian, Minoan then the pressure is on. You have to make your advantage count and you have to do it quickly. Is there a threat , do you need to secure your economy? Do whatever that takes then attack, you have to hurt your opponent before he reaches his dominant timeframe. Do your teammates need help? It is very rarely the right tactic to sacrifice a teammate or his land simply to buy yourself a little time.
If you have a strong iron civ, particularly Hittite or Roman or Sumerian, then build whatever is required to defend safely till iron or assist at short notice (I regard iron jumps as too risky) and then go for that iron. But make sure your economy is strong enough to provide you with all the upgrades and enough units to actually have an impact when you do iron.