Tweet
I know a lot of people on this board were predicting that Scandanavian berserkers were going to be a seriously dominant force, but I have to confess I didn't grasp just how dominant, in certain game situations ...
until my current game.
I decided to play the Vikings in a suitable environment: archipelago world, standard size, raging barbs, 8 AI civs. Found myself sharing a fair-sized island with the Germans. Over the ancient age, a more-or-less standard strategy: an early pruning war trimmed Bismark well down, followed by a second round that kicked him off the continent.
Meanwhile, the larger world came slowly into view: the AI's were dispersed on islands, for the most part, but connected by shallow sea lanes. No opportunities for any outrageous brokering via suicide galleys, then.
Several early setbacks shaped the course of the game. Rome beat me to the Great Lighthouse (which I had prioritized, wanting to play a very maritime/oceanic terror kind of game). And the Arabs beat me out to the Great Library -- by one turn!!!
That second event was a danger signal: Abu shared a good-sized island with the Iroquois, and by the early middle ages managed to seize the entire landmass. The other AI civs, meanwhile, seemed to be locked in local struggles, unable to achieve critical mass in terms of tech or power. Centuries passed before anyone built harbors but me, and apart from Arabia, the opportunities for tech trading were minimal because the other AI civs were so poor. Soon I too was trailing the Arabs badly in tech. I burrowed in, built up my continent, erected a Forbidden Palace, entered monarchy.
Finally I reached invention and started preparing some berserkers for oceanic sorties. I knew I had to hurt Abu badly, to check his growth and let the other AI civs climb back into the game. My berserkers grimly boarded a modest fleet of three galleys and sailed off for the Arabian coast.
Oh my! So long as these guys stay in their ships, nothing can touch them. They will take out a fortified musket more often than not, and their ability to sail unscathed beyond what the AI considers "front line" cities means they easily reach large cities defended by two or three units. I razed a string of cities along the Arabian coast, with minimal losses.
And of course, the first berserker victory triggered a golden age, so I was pumping these guys out.
(The GA is nicely timed, by the way, coming at a point in most games in which you will have both a palace core and an FP core -- so you can in effect build guns and butter simultaneously. I initiated a round of bank and university construction, and meanwhile shipped out dozens of berserkers.)
until my current game.
I decided to play the Vikings in a suitable environment: archipelago world, standard size, raging barbs, 8 AI civs. Found myself sharing a fair-sized island with the Germans. Over the ancient age, a more-or-less standard strategy: an early pruning war trimmed Bismark well down, followed by a second round that kicked him off the continent.
Meanwhile, the larger world came slowly into view: the AI's were dispersed on islands, for the most part, but connected by shallow sea lanes. No opportunities for any outrageous brokering via suicide galleys, then.
Several early setbacks shaped the course of the game. Rome beat me to the Great Lighthouse (which I had prioritized, wanting to play a very maritime/oceanic terror kind of game). And the Arabs beat me out to the Great Library -- by one turn!!!
That second event was a danger signal: Abu shared a good-sized island with the Iroquois, and by the early middle ages managed to seize the entire landmass. The other AI civs, meanwhile, seemed to be locked in local struggles, unable to achieve critical mass in terms of tech or power. Centuries passed before anyone built harbors but me, and apart from Arabia, the opportunities for tech trading were minimal because the other AI civs were so poor. Soon I too was trailing the Arabs badly in tech. I burrowed in, built up my continent, erected a Forbidden Palace, entered monarchy.
Finally I reached invention and started preparing some berserkers for oceanic sorties. I knew I had to hurt Abu badly, to check his growth and let the other AI civs climb back into the game. My berserkers grimly boarded a modest fleet of three galleys and sailed off for the Arabian coast.
Oh my! So long as these guys stay in their ships, nothing can touch them. They will take out a fortified musket more often than not, and their ability to sail unscathed beyond what the AI considers "front line" cities means they easily reach large cities defended by two or three units. I razed a string of cities along the Arabian coast, with minimal losses.
And of course, the first berserker victory triggered a golden age, so I was pumping these guys out.
(The GA is nicely timed, by the way, coming at a point in most games in which you will have both a palace core and an FP core -- so you can in effect build guns and butter simultaneously. I initiated a round of bank and university construction, and meanwhile shipped out dozens of berserkers.)
) I wasn't trying to work up a leader necessarily, just punish the strongest AI civ. Still, it hurt to see Lief fall before I had a chance to load him onto a galley and sail him home. 
)!
)
Comment