Your first 5 advances?

[War4ever]

MY olde...... if my land is plush i will do that route as you have a good chance for phil first..... otherwise i got horse, ceremonial, COL, alpha, monarchy, then bronze

[Sonderermittler]

1. horsebackriding
2. alphabet
3. law code
4.-?. got no influence anymore. mostly I find the following techs under goody huts. or I get a useful tech trade offer from another civ.

[arii]

Depends on the settings. With 2*mvt:
horse
alph
col
cer bur
monarchy(If I haven't pick anything else from a hutt)
With 1 * mvt:
alph
col
bronze
cer bur
monarchy

[MyOlde]

So you horseback riding fans are using them to reveal the map and get to the goody huts as soon as you can?

[DaveV]

MyOlde - horsemen are useful for exploring, but also for picking off barbarians. At deity, the barbs have a 150% attack factor, so your poor little fortified phalanx doesn't stand a chance against a chariot. Since your cities will spot barbs two squares away, you can use your horses to pick off barbs before they can attack. Incidentally, I'm convinced that barb archers have a defense of 1 at deity/raging, so don't hesitate to attack them, too.

Edit: I failed to use this strategy properly in my current game, and lost 2 cities to barbarians!
[This message has been edited by DaveV (edited February 17, 2000).]

[War4ever]

ah if only horseback let you build a wonder of the world *sigh*.... but alas it doesn't but the movement and attack factor i now believe outweighs the defensive and wonder building ability of Bronze Working. However, there have been many times when i get the advanced tribe or nomads and wish i had taken bronze so that the capital could start a wonder earlier...... if you must have HG then take bronze otherwise i say go with the horse... especially if the terrain is flat as after all, realestate is the most important thing in a small MP map .....

[VetLegion]

DaveV,

War4ever, I completely agree. A good player who knows that mountains are harder to cross than plains (unlike me in days of civ1) can discover huge amount of map with horses.

I am currently trying a game in which I will not open a single hut before monarchy.
I never could resist them, but as someone said, flexibility is key

[Scouse Gits]

Dave V
Interested in your comments about Barbs.
Playing "Hot Seat" in MP, (Deity/Raging Hordes) Barb Archers seem to fail against fortified Warriors, when only two or three cities are built.
Is the 150% attack factor in play from the early part of the game?
-----------
SG (2)

[War4ever]

VETLEGION.... yes i used to go the way of the phalanx which is still a good way to go.... but sometimes if the terrain looks right i go the way of the horse..... neither is better, just different, and difference is good.... i played civ1 the other day..... man o man it was slow..... but still enjoyable but i like civ2 better now

[Empress]

I always go for horseback first mainly to search for goody huts AND to scout out the enemy to possibly gain an advantage.

[Steve Clark]

Graag: Your sarcasm is really dripping, you didn't get enough sleep?

If you study that list, you will see what it does NOT include: Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, Oracle, King Richards and the sea wonders (as far as the early wonders). There have been numerous discussion on these, but my only point was (in response to HG) that those 8 wonders are, IMVHO, are the key to winning (unless you're on an island).

[Scouse Gits]

Hey War4,
Have I misunderstood you or have you just made an error?

quote: if you must have HG then take bronze otherwise i say go with the horse

I must have the Hanging Gardens, but I need Pottery for this!

------------------
____________
Scouse Git[1]

"CARTAGO DELENDA EST" - Cato the Censor

[DaveV]

SG2 - I suspect that at least one player, and possible all players, are treated as an AI during the barbs' turn in hotseat, so the barbs may actually have a penalty on attack (I've noticed that the AIs seem to have much more success against the barbs than I do). If you stand around in a (deity level) single-player game and wait for the barbs to attack, they'll hammer you.

[Scouse Gits]

Dave V - Thanks - I see the difference now.
The Barbs are much more active in "Hot Seat"
- perhaps three times more, so the extra "AI" defence is a compensating factor.

In an ordinary game, I echo your advice about killing Barb Archers - found that out the hard way!
-----------
SG (2)

[Ming]

Only those sciences that lead to Monarchy...
If one isn't offered, then writing, bronze, pottery, or horse... In that order, but modified depending on the game situation.

Getting out of despotism is key... after that, it depends on my situation