Damn! I'm getting my ass kicked on Easy

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Finally have a computer with a real graphics card, so I plucked this out of a bargain bin -- and, man, do I suck at it. What I liked about it when I picked it up was it looked like a way to balance military and economic play, kind of like Civ. But the AI seems programmed to just build tons of military, so even if I want to play a balanced game I can't. On a map like the Atlantic this is ok, because I can just keep to my corner, speed ahead in research, and attack with superior tech. But on a map like old world or others where there's no water barrier, the border skirmishes kick in early and there's nothing to but build and attack, build and attack.

Ok, what am I missing?

[flash9286]

If I remember correctly there is an option to change how the computer plays. Try setting that option to boom and that should help.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Okay, great, hadn't thought of that.

I'm also having trouble figuring out how big an army I need once it's time to go on the offensive. It seems like mine is never big enough! (said the bishop to the actress...) Even when I go in with overwhelming force and decimate an opponent, I'm so vulnerable by the end of it that I can barely fend off the advances of other civs, and certainly can't keep pushing on the offensive. Very annoying.

[flash9286]

Try using the infinite queue on your barracks and stables and set their rally points to the supply wagon or the general you are using for the offensive. That way you will have a constant supply of new troops for your attack. Also, make sure you are building the right troops to counter the enemies i.e. horsemen when they have a lot of archers.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Now that is a tactic I need. Thanks!

Next up, figuring out which civ best suits my playing style (Greeks, Chinese, and Bantu are in the lead on that one) and which wonders to go for.

Anyway, thanks again!

[flash9286]

No problem. Have fun.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Are you still up for a game?

[Alinestra Covelia]

More about the nations you mentioned:

Bantu are really good on a small map. They have a very strong early game raiding strategy, because their LI can run faster than most other infantry, which means you have to build mounted units (with an expensive stable) to counteract them effectively. The earlier you can force a conflict, the better, because you'll have a better border push at start and you'll have infantry that the enemy usually isn't able to counter without some serious economic hits.

Chinese are very versatile. The Large cities give you excellent border push, and the instant-pop for economic units means you can get your economy up and running much earlier than most people. You also don't have much to fear from an early game rush since your cities have more hit points, at least until Age 3 when your enemies get decent siege. By then you'll have Fire Lances which are an unusually versatile Light Infantry LI unit (they can kill Foot Archers FA just as well as all other LI, but they are also good against Heavy Infantry HI). What this means is that you can usually go for a combined force of LI/HC (heavy cavalry) early on and still be pretty confident of coming out on top of most battles. The LI/HC combination is especially important because it's economically synergistic. LI costs Food and Timber, and HC costs Wealth and Metal.

Wonderwise, my play style suggests the following:

If you're a turtler who's playing on a large map, Terra Cotta Army is a feasible wonder. It's by far the best potential return on investment of any Wonder, but it only works when you a) don't need an army right away, and b) actually have use of an army later on in the game. Used in conjunction with Statue of Liberty, it's very powerful.

For militaristic games, you may want Colossus (for a larger army), Colosseum (cheaper forts and towers), and Angkor Wat (cheaper units everywhere). Statue of Liberty is also excellent for this too, but again it's most useful only if you're willing to delay upgrading your units till very late... a huge risk. Versailles is also a good Wonder if you're having headaches Garrisoning your units to heal. (I'm a big Garrisoner so it's not a huge problem, and Garrisoning your units is much more effective than Versailles or Patriot healing.)

For economic games, most wonders have at least some benefit. The Porcelain Tower is extremely nice, as it quadruples merchant income in your territory, and even if your merchants get killed, it preserves your bonuses from the rare resource powers. This effectively shuts down resource raiding by the enemy. Kremlin is very useful for the across-the-board resource cap lift, and most of the other wonders will boost some resource or another.

Forbidden City is one of those wonders you shouldn't build except in rare circumstances. It's best built as you're about to lose your central cities (including your capital) because it builds reasonably quickly and is invisible to the enemy until you complete it. It comes with a significant Food and Timber income, which means your economy can bounce back from an assured drop in losing your central cities. Ideally, it should be geographically remote from your capital city and near a mountain so you can harvest Metal to rebuild your economy.

[yankeefreak127]

Alinestra Covelia, please do visit Rise of Nations Heaven We're looking for more knowledgeable people like yourself. Also, do register on the RoN Heaven Forum. We just came off a good month of posts in July with nearly 200 threads, replies, or posts made in only one out of the twelve boards.

So if you really like RoN as much as I do and want to keep this game alive, then do yourself a favor and visit Rise of Nations Heaven.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I'm already on there mate! Do a search for my name and you'll see a few posts up there.

These days I mostly just play. I do some modding, but that's been left to a friend of mine who's also on RON Heavengames.

It is really good news that more and more people appear to be returning to RON, as well. Game on!

[hassan_a1]

hahahahaha.... it happens some times with me also when i am thinking that other player can be easily be defeated :P but now i am experienced a lot even defeat the brutal enemy easily