I always see people talking about chopping to speed up the production of wonders. Very rarely do I see people speeding up the production of units with chopping.
It occurred to me that with a little worker help, you can generate a massive army early in the game.
The Lumberjack Rush:
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Assumptions: Your initial city has at least 4 forests around it. You'll also need either copper or horses in
your initial city ring (you could build a second city for it, but it'll slow this strategy way down). Also, the smaller the map, the easier this is going to be, like any rush.
1) Select an aggressive leader. This is useful for the extra promotion, but the real advantage for this strategy is the half cost barracks.
2) Turn 1 build queue: Worker, barracks.
3) Research queue: Mining (if you don't have it already), then Bronzeworking.
4) Scout for your nearest neighbor.
4) At bronzeworking, switch to slavery.
5) Once the worker is complete, chop once and that should complete your barracks (only 30 production for aggressive leaders...).
5) Now pick an offensive unit. If you got quechas, you're ready to go. Otherwise, if you can get copper, go for axemen, if no copper, get husbandry and look for horses for chariots. Favor chariots for larger maps. Connect up the resource.
6) Churn those units out by chopping... Cut all the trees down. You'll get a unit per chop on average.
7) Finally, finish up with a population rush.
If you've got 4 trees around your capital, you now have 4-5 offensive units (+10%, plus city raider or cover) ready to terrorize your neighbor. Even if you can't take their city (which you probably will be able to do, you should be able to pillage it to nothingness).
Typical defense:
- 2 archers
= 50 hammers (rarely chopped... ~10 - 25 turns)
This path:
- Barracks
- 3 axemen
= 135 hammers (chopped in 4 turns)
It occurred to me that with a little worker help, you can generate a massive army early in the game.
The Lumberjack Rush:
----------------------------
Assumptions: Your initial city has at least 4 forests around it. You'll also need either copper or horses in
your initial city ring (you could build a second city for it, but it'll slow this strategy way down). Also, the smaller the map, the easier this is going to be, like any rush.
1) Select an aggressive leader. This is useful for the extra promotion, but the real advantage for this strategy is the half cost barracks.
2) Turn 1 build queue: Worker, barracks.
3) Research queue: Mining (if you don't have it already), then Bronzeworking.
4) Scout for your nearest neighbor.
4) At bronzeworking, switch to slavery.
5) Once the worker is complete, chop once and that should complete your barracks (only 30 production for aggressive leaders...).
5) Now pick an offensive unit. If you got quechas, you're ready to go. Otherwise, if you can get copper, go for axemen, if no copper, get husbandry and look for horses for chariots. Favor chariots for larger maps. Connect up the resource.
6) Churn those units out by chopping... Cut all the trees down. You'll get a unit per chop on average.
7) Finally, finish up with a population rush.
If you've got 4 trees around your capital, you now have 4-5 offensive units (+10%, plus city raider or cover) ready to terrorize your neighbor. Even if you can't take their city (which you probably will be able to do, you should be able to pillage it to nothingness).
Typical defense:
- 2 archers
= 50 hammers (rarely chopped... ~10 - 25 turns)
This path:
- Barracks
- 3 axemen
= 135 hammers (chopped in 4 turns)
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