Cult of War

[Radiation Zero]

I tried this strategy, but when my stack of horsemen hit the nearest city, the whole thing fell apart on their spearmen.

I kept sending more troops to reinforce, but they got troops behind my borders and took out my roads. My Horsemen weren't doing very well at all against their spearmen, but their seem to do okay against mine.

I went from having a stronger military to a weaker and it looks like they want at least two cities for peace.

[alva]

Originally posted by Radiation Zero
I tried this strategy, but when my stack of horsemen hit the nearest city, the whole thing fell apart on their spearmen.

I kept sending more troops to reinforce, but they got troops behind my borders and took out my roads. My Horsemen weren't doing very well at all against their spearmen, but their seem to do okay against mine.

I went from having a stronger military to a weaker and it looks like they want at least two cities for peace.

i know what you mean this strategie doesn't work for me either
i guess having an overkill of units is the trick, but i'm never patient enough

[nato]

Well, I don't know what to say. It works great for me.

Radiation Zero, you really had about 15 veteran horsemen, and they couldn't take even ONE city? I'm stunned by this. AI cities usually have 2 or 3 spearmen in them. I just don't see how you could lose.

Capitals usually have extra troops in them, but I always take them fine as well.

I do keep my cities building more horsemen, to replace losses and increase the army, but 15 is enough to start.

alva848, did you build about 15 veteran horsemen or did you build less?

Not that there is anything magical about 15, its just that that is a very large force early on. For me it is overwhelming. I'm curious how it got beat back early in the game.

[jshelr]

I think it's clear that the early mounted offense is the strategy that is working best in the ancient era. My two daughters are 1/4 Iroquois. So, to show loyalty, and also to get the 3 attack rating, I choose to use that Civ to build the attacking force now that I'm married to the horse attack strategy. They are religious, making temples cheap for early culture as well. However, I play the larger maps and often pangea, causing it to be impossible to bash through everyone. There is no need. You can win practically every time if you can carve out an empire that can be cheaply defended on one side -- get your back to the sea. Then, build the best economy of all the civs. That is nearly always doable. And wait for modern armour to finish off the victory. If the map gods have placed you right in the middle of the pack, you're going to have to fight more, probably virtually eliminating half the civs personally. More challenging by far when that happens.