Can anyone win faster then Egypt?

[stesergio]

I have been trying a few games with Egypt and the victory time is amazing. About 25 minutes to win a wonder victory. Just barely entered the gunpowder age and game over. I mean 2 wonders per city and 25 % less cost and you get them one age earlier than anyone else. Three cities + 5 wonders = Victory!

I just finished my third game testing this. In this game there was only a brief resistance. As soon as the wonder timmer started, my opponent attacked with everything he had, he went after my least defended city which had two wonders (good AI). I had been stock piling free Terra Cotta infantry all game so I had a sizable army but he did manage to get by and take the city. But I had so many resources because age advancement is not crucial to winning with wonders. I started pumping out troops and retook the city and the wonders quickly. The wonder timmer started again and soon - Victory - 26 minutes. Would have been quicker if I had set up my defenses a little better.

It seems that the Egyptains can easily win very early in the game before anyone can mount too much of an offense. People will have to go after Egypt quickly in any game vs them!

I'd like to hear other people's thoughts / impressions on Egypt.

[Inverse Icarus]

i turn of wonder victory because of that fact, but if you play with skilled enemies, they wont let you get a third so easily

[MahoTsukai]

everyone gang on on eggies once they start a wonder. Plus between a harsh russia with its pain-in-the-ass attrition, spies and cav, and a sweet egypt cities with 2 wonders, guess whose gonna be raided ?

[stesergio]

yes but by the time you have spies and enough calvary to mount a raid, Egypt has already won. Thats the thing they can win VERY early in the game before you even get your military going or develop spies. At most they will only have to defend theor territory briefly in the last minutes before they win.

[GodSpawn]

AAMOI, at what difficulty level are you playing?

[albiedamned]

The thing with the wonder victory is that you have to age advance at least two times in order for enough wonders to be available to get 8 wonder points. And while wonders may be cheap for the Egyptians, age advances are not. Plus consider that to make these age advances you also have to research a whole bunch of library techs, which also are not cheap. So yes the Egyptian player can win fast, but they will have to devote almost all their resources to library research and wonder building. Leaving them very, very vulnerable. . .

[DarthVeda]

provided you're not in a free-for-all, I don't think anyone aside from the AI is going to just let you have a wonder victory.

[bhg_paul]

I think this is largly a matter of people being new to the game. Among experienced players Egypt is a known quantity. The secret is not waiting until they trip the timer to start worrying about them. Remember that every time you see a wonder go up you know that Egypt just spent a bag of resources on it instead of troops. Wait until he builds an expensive wonder back-to-back with an age upgrade then attack. His army should be understaffed. Also, attack him early. Wonders mean lots of civilians working in close quarters. Raiding units like horse archers LOOOOVVVEEE that.

[s_qwert63]

the only things that wonders are good for are their bonuses...
i turn that stuff off (in the demo atleast)

[stesergio]

Originally posted by bhg_paul
I think this is largly a matter of people being new to the game. Among experienced players Egypt is a known quantity. The secret is not waiting until they trip the timer to start worrying about them. Remember that every time you see a wonder go up you know that Egypt just spent a bag of resources on it instead of troops. Wait until he builds an expensive wonder back-to-back with an age upgrade then attack. His army should be understaffed. Also, attack him early. Wonders mean lots of civilians working in close quarters. Raiding units like horse archers LOOOOVVVEEE that.

See thats all I'm saying, any game vs Egypt you MUST go after them ASAP. As for troops, as I mentioned the key to this is getting the Terra Cotta Wonder, that will provide you with the bulk of your troops to defend the short amount of time until you win. Of course you will supplement this with barracks troops if you can but I would not say Egypt will be tottally defenseless even after spending most resources on wonders / advancements. I have never had trouble getting plenty of resources for wonders, advancements, buildings and some supplimental troops with the 7 farms and +2 wealth even with only 3 cities.

Also, remember Egpyt gets wonders an age early so there are more than enough to win without advancing more then one or two ages. And they are 25% cheaper.

Of course this has only been what I have seen in the demo vs 1 or 2 computer opponents on Moderate difficulty so I am sure Paul is right that more time spent with the full game vs real players will maybe bring new tactics to light.

Just to clarify, I was not intending to "bash" the game or yell about not being balanced or anything. I can't wait to get out of work today to go buy the full game. I just like discussing tactics and stuff.

[bhg_paul]

No worries. I didn't read your post as a bash. I'm always happy to share strat insights.

I don't think the "you have to attack Egypt" is a phenom unique to them. As with just about any game, allowing your opponent to execute his/her optimal strategy is often a tough road to follow. Allowing the Mongols to raid you down or allowing the Romans to invade you with hordes of uncountered heavy infantry are also examples of the same thing. The trick is to figure out how to disrupt the other guy's strat while sticking to your own.

[stesergio]

Very true. I just think Egypt's strategy can be completed much sooner then others. But enough of Egypt, I'm off to the store to buy the game and for my first game I can't wait to try out the Chinesse. I'm anxious to see how the "auto-citizen building" ability works!

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by stesergio
Very true. I just think Egypt's strategy can be completed much sooner then others. But enough of Egypt, I'm off to the store to buy the game and for my first game I can't wait to try out the Chinesse. I'm anxious to see how the "auto-citizen building" ability works!

very awesomely, if you got the food.

[stesergio]

Can you explain quickly how it works. If I have the food do the citizens just "create" themselves? What if I am saving up my food for an advancement or wonder or something and I don't want to spend it on citizens right now?

[bhg_paul]

No..."auto-citizen building" is misleading. It's just that the Chinese citizens have 0 wait time for production. The "if you have the food" refers to obviously if you aren't making citizens, you aren't using the ability.