Got my first leader, some advice please..

[Willem]

Re: Got my first leader, some advice please..

Originally posted by Feephi
I'm playing the Romans and have 14 cities. It's 130 AD, Regent, 14civs, huge map and I'm surrounded by strong Greeks, weak Aztecs, strong Russians, average Iroquois.. I'm first in Culture, in the middle of the pack in Power rankings. Should I: 1) Build an army of legionaries so that I can get the Heroic Epic later or should I: 2) build a Great Wonder -- which one? a) Great Library. 100 shields completed but other civs may be closer; b) Great Lighthouse. No one else has started yet; c) Great Wall. Other civs have been building this for a while. Forbidden Palace is not available yet.

Thanks for your help!

If you decide on a wonder, don't bother with Great Lighthouse or Great Wall. Both are rather useless IMO. You get the same benefit of the Lighthouse as soon as you discover Astronomy, and Great Wall only increases the defence strength of walls, which become obsolete as soon as the city gets over 6 population. So there's really only two options you have available, the Army or the Great Library. Myself, I would probably go with Great Library, but I tend to play rather peacefully any way.

And yes the benefits of the Great Library can be dubious, sometimes you won't get a single advance before it becomes obsolete. But it can also be very helpful if you're behind, in which case you might get a number of advances. It's kind of a 50/50 thing with that wonder.

[vmxa1]

I no longer use the army I make as a fighting unit. I just put in the best unit at the time (only one). I wait for a near dead unit to sent it against and win the battle, now you make the EPIC and put the army out graze. The biggest complaint is that you can not upgrade once in an army. What is worse than 3 riflemen that can not be mech or 3 horsmen or knights that can not be calv.

[Skanky Burns]

Actually, it depends on how you want to play the rest of the game. If you plan to be throwing your weight around a bit, then an army is a must. If you will be doing lots of fighting, then increased chances of more leaders is good.

Benefit of having an army:
The legions are well balanced, defend as well as a pikeman or Hoplite, and also attack as well as a standard swordsman. So an army built with them could be used both for offencive and defensive purposes. As a defensive army, its shelf-life is increased even further, as it takes quite a long time to remove its 12 or so hit-points.

OTOH, if you aren't gonna be fighting much, an increased chance of getting leaders will not get you any more leaders. Then again, most of the wonder's arent necessary.

Benefits of making a wonder:
You get the wonder, and more importantly prevent the enemy from getting a wonder. If you do decide to build a wonder, make sure its NOT in the city currently building a wonder - that would waste all 100 shields. Instead, start a wonder in some other city from scratch, and rush it. It will still be built in one turn. If you want the Great Library first, switch the other city to another wonder first, and then rush it from scratch.

[Harovan]

To add only vet units to the army is nice, but not necessary, as they continue to gain experience inside the army. Legions are fine. Put 3 in the army and you have a hardly to beat battle colossus for the ancient period. Attack a softened up unit first (i.e. make sure the army wins). Once it won a battle, it has made it's main goal. Don't worry if you lose it later. Armies are short-living unit groups anyway, because the units can't (yet?) been upgraded, when they are in the army. With the Military Academy you can later build armies at heart's content (as much as your # of cities allows).

[Hermann the Lombard]

Originally posted by Allemand
Building the Great Library is a good strategy if you're behind in tech, but otherwise not worth it.

Agreed. It expires too soon.

I was thinking of posting a similar question.

First of all, I would use the leader for *something* quickly, as you can't get a GL when you already have one (AFAIK). If there aren't any wonders or small wonders that you want, build the army and go for heroic epic, to help get more leaders later. As someone said in this thread "make sure your army wins." To that I would add: "review army construction rules *first* so you have the desired units to add (such as three vet legions, in the case of Rome).

I got two (so far) in my current game as Babylon. I used the first to build the Sistine, and the second to grab Sun Tzu. I didn't much want the Art of War (not that I mind having it), but I wouldn't have another Great Wonder for many, many turns, and I hope to generate another GL by then. I could have used the second one for the FP, and maybe I should have. I guess I'm hoping to use the FP as the center of a hypothetical New World empire, as per Vel.

I never considered using it for an army, and that might have been silly, as I was under heavy attack by the Persians at the time (heavy = 15 Immortals when I'm defending with swordsmen and spearmen). Three vet swordsmen to defend after my vet horse soften them up...

[Allemand]

Building the Great Library is a good strategy if you're behind in tech, but otherwise not worth it.

[Harovan]

1st option. Build an army with your first leader and let it win once (make sure it does). Build the Heroic epic and later the Military academy. The ancient wonders (including the GLib) aren't worth to be rushed with a leader.

If you get another leader in the game (or even a few), use him/them to rush crucial small or great wonders (Forbidden Palace, Sistine Chapel, Hoover Dam, UN or similar).

[SanPellegrino]

When I feel the game gets close, I would always take the great lib with a leader. making an army is more just for the fun of it

[Brundlefly]

I'm playing the Romans and have 14 cities. It's 130 AD, Regent, 14civs, huge map and I'm surrounded by strong Greeks, weak Aztecs, strong Russians, average Iroquois.. I'm first in Culture, in the middle of the pack in Power rankings. Should I: 1) Build an army of legionaries so that I can get the Heroic Epic later or should I: 2) build a Great Wonder -- which one? a) Great Library. 100 shields completed but other civs may be closer; b) Great Lighthouse. No one else has started yet; c) Great Wall. Other civs have been building this for a while. Forbidden Palace is not available yet.

Thanks for your help!