German game

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Verrucosus

I am uncertain about your advice for using a leader. With just three elite units and the Russian campaign probably not lasting that much longer, I'll be lucky to get a single leader. If I use him to rush Sun Tzu, I will not be able to build the Heroic Epic or rush the Forbidden Palace before starting another war. That's not much of problem if the next war is just around the corner which is the case if I follow your suggestion to attack England when I get knights. That's not too far off because I'm just two techs away from Chivalry. Am I really ready to take on Elizabeth that soon? The English have been pounding the Russians for centuries now and an impressive number of swordsmen and archers to show for it. My expeditionary force has arrived just in time to take the spoils, but it is relatively small and - unless I get the Forbidden Palace, I have no effective production centres in the North. (I can see the virtue in waiting, of course, because it would be much more effective to build it in central England after conquering, say, London. The problem is getting there without a proper base at England's front door.)

I did not mean you had to attack them the moment you get knights, it will require some more work. Actually have no idea what the status of England is to make a choice, only that you need knight to do anything offensively at this point or lots of MDI/Trebs.

As to a leader, that is why I said 2 elites or even 3 is not likely to get you a leader. If it did I would prefer the Sun Tzu to a FP or HE.

I do not need HE, you are Germany correct? They are militaristic and hence already have the same odds as others would with the HE. Your Empire is not that large at this juncture and the FP is probably best place out in the middle of the other guys old lands and that is not available right now anyway.

You could have 50 towns on this land, getting a free barracks as soon as they are build will make life much easier and save a lot of money. More than the FP will give you.

Of course barracks are not as useful as they are in C3C, but they still are useful, especially for free.

[Verrucosus]

Ahh, I see. Again lots of good tips for me to keep in mind when I continue my game tomorrow. You are almost at the point where I left off yesterday. If I don't manage to win from my save, I think I'll play the game again following your footsteps.

I know Emperor is supposed to be for those who feel the need to be humbled, but that need has been more than satisfied by now and I think it's time to wrestle at least one victory from that level.

[vmxa1]

Nay, Sid is the level to humble one, but the fun in any game, for me, is to pull out of a deep hole. If you manage to pull it off, it seems more enjoyable.

Emperor is soon be a piece of cake to you.

[Verrucosus]

Well, a piece of cake it's not yet, but I did manage to win.

When I continued playing I felt I was not well enough set up to attack the English. I took over the remaining Russian cities, but Elizabeth managed to squeeze in two towns of her own. I used a leader that I got when conquering the last Russian town to rush the Forbidden Palace in Moscow to fight corruption in the conquered territory.

I caught up with Alexander in technological terms in the late Middle Ages when all those libraries and universities were in place and my cities had reached their maximum sizes. After that I had a slight tech lead that I was able to improve by getting Atomic Theory and Electronics through the Theory of Evolution. That wonder also triggered my Golden Age and I was moving very quickly through the last few industrial techs while Panzers kept rolling out of my factories. All this while, Alexander had been busy eliminating the Romans and taking a number of Egyptian cities. He was a military giant, but he had switched to Communism, so he did not keep up with me technologically.

I was wondering whether I should try to attack him with large numbers of my Panzers, but I was on such excellent terms with the Chinese, Egyptians and Japanese, whom I had supplied with military techs to slow the Greeks down (as suggested by vmxa1), that I decided to go for a diplomatic victory instead. The U.N. was constructed in 1710 AD and I won the very first election. It would have been interesting to find out whether I could have beaten Alexander on the battlefield or even in the space race.

Thanks again to all who have taken the time and care to post. If any of you keep playing this game, please share your experience. I have a lot to learn here and the next starting position will probably be less generous.