Favorite units/upgrades and other musings

[snoopy369]

First Strikes:
1. Subtract Defender.FirstStrikes() from Attacker.FirstStrikes()
2. If positive, attacker gets the difference in First Strikes; if negative, Defender; or zero, none.
3. Each First Strike means one free hit at the % chance of a normal attack, but whereas normally it's
80% A hit, 20% D hit (for example)
now it's
0% A hit, 20% D hit
That's all.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by DirtyMartini
I don't know how many times I've tried a chariot/immortal/war chariot rush without success. By the time I find horses, hook them up, and build a stack the AI has acquired enough cultural defense that archers can stand up to them. Sure, I can take border cities and pillage, but the point of a rush that early is to take a capital site, not just beat up your neighbors.

chariots and their cousins

Sounds like you need to be taught how to chariotrush

1. "Stack" is the wrong word here. Two or three is enough to start with.
2. One chariot loses to an archer. Two chariots might beat an archer. Three chariots will beat an archer.
3. If >1 archer, then pillage and go into resource denial mode (force him to stick to his city) until you get 3-4 more chariots (enough to beat whatever's there).

More than likely you aren't doing it early enough; that's usually the problem. Typically the chariot rush path goes something like:
worker-settler-worker-chariotxxxxx (with workers chopping and you poprushing for chariots)
and
chariotxxxxx in second city (again chop/poprush)

This will generally beat one civ pretty easily (and sometimes two if they're close enough).

[Hauptman]

If you all want first strikes, Use samurai!

The conquistador was ruined. Used to be an excelent unit until BtS.

Ive done an imortal rush once, Was comical at least.

Quecha rush on multiplayer was hillarios as well.

[snoopy369]

Why do you consider Conquistador ruined?

[DirtyMartini]

Originally posted by snoopy369


Sounds like you need to be taught how to chariotrush

That's what I was fishing for actually.

Conquistadors are ruined because they depend on a tech no one researches and replace a unit no one builds.

[Supr49er]

Originally posted by Hauptman
... The conquistador was ruined...

What was ruined?

[Seedle]

Originally posted by Hauptman
If you all want first strikes, Use samurai!
Ive done an imortal rush once, Was comical at least.

I had a drill4 woodsman3 samurai one game. 7-10 first strikes. It was fun.

As far as chariot-and-its-cousins rushes, they are very effective when done properly militarily, but I find they tend to be ineffective developmentally. For a chariot rush, you have to execute as fast as possible, so you don't have time to build much, if any, infrastructure, which means the added maintenance is really hard to deal with. Also, the AI hasn't had time to do anything with its cities either, so they may be nicely located, but they don't produce anything.
I'm a much bigger fan of Praetorian "rushes" where you have time to build 2-3 cities and a few cottages and generally get your empire in gear before you go to war. If you beeline Iron working, you can still usually find an enemy without axemen by the time you have a Praetorian force, get some promotions, and once you have some City Raider 3 Praets, even axemen aren't really scary. Anyway, with Praetorians, your core cities are founded and able to keep your economy afloat, and the cities you capture already have improvements and can actually make stuff. Praet "rush">"chariot" rush, IMO.

[Yosho]

(nods) Yeah, even when I'm not the romans I still like doing swords rushes like that.

I've had some luck with using the egyptian UU chariot rush, but it's a touch and go thing; if his capital turns out to be on a hill, you usually can't take it, in my experence. Then again, even just a little "mini-rush" where you take his second city, pillage his capital, and grab his worker, and then make peace, can be worth it.

[Brutus66]

My preferred unit is - surprise - the redcoat.

I typically make it a priority to tech to Alphabet before the AI, and then make damn sure I am first to gunpowder.

I build up a good number of musketmen on the border with my intended victim while researching Rifling, and then upgrade them to redcoats on the turn after Rifling is complete. After that, it's a steady decline for the AI. It takes them some time to finally get riflemen, and even then they can't stand up to my (by then combat veteran) hordes.

By the time most civs can deploy riflemen and grenadiers, I have usually made a huge land grab and am aiming for infantry.

As long as I get to gunpowder first, I can create an unstoppable juggernaut.