Everyone, even the best players, suffer setbacks during their civ game. The best of the best will generally stick it out and turn the upset into gain. Mere mortals such as myself will generally bail out of any game where we don't achieve what some around here call "UP": Ultimate Power.
The question of this thread is, how severe a setback do you have to suffer in order to quit? How do you know how severe a setback is? What is the best way to turn losing a city into an advantage?
I wanted to bring in some screenshots, but for some reason, I can't seem to capture them, so I'll describe my initial example instead (please, offer any examples you can think of). Playing as the Russians on a huge world with 16 civs, I started in fertile land on a continent with all the European powers. Thankfully, most were far away from me, except the Germans, who I out-REXed utterly. My civ came along nicely, dominating in culture if a bit out-classed militarily. I build two cities, Astrakhan and Tblisi, on the "other side" of Germany, which was to the West of my "homeland". These came along nicely too, until the Germans sent a HUGE group of veteran archers straight towards Astrakhan.
They razed the city, and for a second, I thought about quitting. After all, I had NO offensive units, aside from one archer. But I had put too much into the game. So I began cranking out horsemen (all regulars) and built a wall in Tblisi. I urged MAs against the Germans, and surprisingly, they took the bait. Their archers could easily have taken Tbilsi and several of my "core" cities, but the AI couldn't get their act together, and through prolonged assaults by regular horsemen and, eventually, veteran knights, I wiped Germany out.
Had I succumbed to my initial despair, it would have been back to the drawing board. But I stuck it out, and now I'm on top of the world.
So, my first question to all of you experts is: how do you know your behind is grass? And how do you know you can make a comeback?
I know the question is a little vague, but hopefully this will stoke some interesting conversation.
The question of this thread is, how severe a setback do you have to suffer in order to quit? How do you know how severe a setback is? What is the best way to turn losing a city into an advantage?
I wanted to bring in some screenshots, but for some reason, I can't seem to capture them, so I'll describe my initial example instead (please, offer any examples you can think of). Playing as the Russians on a huge world with 16 civs, I started in fertile land on a continent with all the European powers. Thankfully, most were far away from me, except the Germans, who I out-REXed utterly. My civ came along nicely, dominating in culture if a bit out-classed militarily. I build two cities, Astrakhan and Tblisi, on the "other side" of Germany, which was to the West of my "homeland". These came along nicely too, until the Germans sent a HUGE group of veteran archers straight towards Astrakhan.
They razed the city, and for a second, I thought about quitting. After all, I had NO offensive units, aside from one archer. But I had put too much into the game. So I began cranking out horsemen (all regulars) and built a wall in Tblisi. I urged MAs against the Germans, and surprisingly, they took the bait. Their archers could easily have taken Tbilsi and several of my "core" cities, but the AI couldn't get their act together, and through prolonged assaults by regular horsemen and, eventually, veteran knights, I wiped Germany out.
Had I succumbed to my initial despair, it would have been back to the drawing board. But I stuck it out, and now I'm on top of the world.
So, my first question to all of you experts is: how do you know your behind is grass? And how do you know you can make a comeback?
I know the question is a little vague, but hopefully this will stoke some interesting conversation.
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