Post by AKC_pico on Apr 11, 2007 23:14:39 GMT -5
PART 1 - STARTING OFF RIGHT:
First of all, when the game starts, max out your villager queue! By that, I mean to tell your Town Center to start pumping out as many villagers as it can. You can do this more quickly by pressing the "H" key to select your Town Center and pressing "C" tons of times until the game tells you that you've maxed out this building's queue. Now quickly give orders to the rest of your units. Make one of your three villagers chop the nearest wood, another begin slaughtering your sheep or gathering berries, and the third build several houses to support your population. Some civilizations (like the Chinese) start with extra villagers and others (like the Huns) don't need houses. Adapt your playing style accordingly. Once you have everyone doing something, send your scout out to clear some of the Fog of War. Then just begin advancing through the ages.
NOTE: All screenshots open in their own window for your convenience.
PART 2 - GATHERING RESOURCES:
In this screenshot you can see me (The Mighty Tiax) causing a massive deforestation in the Black Forest map. Note that I actually have more score than my brother (_R__Y__A__N_) but my sister's (she's Bobeyo... don't ask about the name... just don't ask...) score is weighing me down in the list... Remember: your two most important resources at the beginning are food and wood. Gather as much of these as possible, and advance through the ages quickly. Don't forget to fish the sea dry of fish if you're on a water-based map. Then, once you're in the Imperial Age, the real fun begins... No, I'm not a rusher, and I usually wa
it at least until the Imperial Age to attack anyone.
Here I am as the Mighty Tiax again (Tiax is a character in Baldur's Gate, my favorite RPG game, who wants to take over the world) farming the land. Note that the only reason I'm so far down in the scores is because I'm allied with my sister (Bobeyo) and she's not as good at the game as my brother (Ryan) and I. Farms are your only replenish-able food supply (unless you use those fishing trap things) so farm like crazy, and be sure to max out your farm queue at your Mill! If you can't even queue anything at your Mill and don't know what I'm talking about, download the latest patch for the game. I think it added the Rebuild Farm Queue...
Here I am as $4B3R-$(0RP10N, trading with my brother Ryan. Once you've mined out all the gold on the map, trading is the only way to get the stuff. Relics provide only an EXTREMELY slow trickle of gold. Trust me, trading is your friend. We were playing on that game mode where you start out with a ton of resources in the Imperial Age here. That's why I haven't mined all the gold. In this game, every single AI player was allied against my brother, my sister, and me. You see who won, don't you? Look at the map and the scores! By the way, if you have an AI ally, the only thing you need from them is their Market (or Docks in a sea map) so that you can continue trading with them for gold. Protect those buildings at all cost, even if you let the rest of the idiot's city get wiped out. He's useless anyway.
PART 3 - ATTACKING THE ENEMY:
This screenshot shows my favorite tactic. I am playing as Sabre-Scorpion. I used "sabre" instead of "saber" to get that authentic old-style feeling as the Britons. My brother in this game is RYAN, and my little sister is Nick Wolfe (again, don't ask). Anyway, I just love to use Longbowmen and Trebuchets to attack the enemy. This is because Longbowmen and Trebuchets have such an extremely long range that they can take out enemies miles away. The Longbowmen can take out whatever pitiful packets of resistance your forces encounter before they can even get close enough to hurt you, and the Trebuchets can take down buildings with ease. Best of all, both units can fire at a castle without taking flak from its own defensive archers. Hah! You might want to bring some cavalry along with you, however, since Longbowmen aren't that great at taking out enemy siege units like catapults and enemy trebuchets.
The only other thing I can say is: work together! In this game you can see me (Saber-Scorpion), my brother (RYAN) and my sister (BOBEYO) as allies. We are about to go around the lake to take out the enemy. NOTE: the only reason that my brother has such huge walls on the map and I have none is because I was playing as the Goths and they can't build stone walls. Anyway, you must remember to work with your allies if they are not AI. If they are AI, they are extremely hard to work with. See my section about trading and my section about stealing relics for more information.
This screenshot is from the same game as the one above it. Here, RYAN and I are building a siege camp farther up the edge of the lake (check the map) from which to attack the enemy. It is a good idea always to bring along a few villagers on an attack so that they can build buildings from which to spawn your armies. It is much more effective to construct an army right at the enemy's gates than bringing a fresh army across land or sea every time you attack.
In this screenshot, Ernak the Hun and I are teamed up AGAINST my brother and sister (RYAN and BOBEYO). This is the most important lesson I can teach you. No matter what civilization you are or what units are your favorites, USE TREBUCHETS like crazy!!! They are the ultimate equalizer. Castles are not an obstacle to a good army of trebuchets. Just remember to defend them at all times.
PART 4 - THE STUPIDITY OF AI:
AI means "Artificial Intelligence". I use the term when referring to the computer-controlled players in a game. They are extremely dumb. This section explains just how dumb they are. Note that in all of these games, we were playing on HARDEST difficulty.
The AI is very stupid in that it always attacks early in the game. They advance SUPER quickly and then start attacking right off. Make sure you're prepared for their attacks. As long as you can hold them back, you won't have much trouble later on when the sort of thing shown in the next screenshot happens...
See all the villagers standing idly about in this screenshot (which is also from the game where Ernak the Hun and I are teamed up against my brother and sister)? If you wait until long after the Imperial Age to attack, you'll find that the AI has "gone stupid." They will have all their villagers standing about in idle mode. No trade carts will be flowing. Their pitiful "armies" will consist of scout cavalry, skirmishers, and spearmen, often not even upgraded. Do you know why? These are the only army units that cost no gold. The AI has run out of gold. When they do that, they're too stupid to trade for more. So you can OWN THEM.
Okay, so sometimes the AI can be a little bit smart. In this game, my brother RYAN and I were trying to play a free-for-all game with the teams unlocked so that we could switch diplomacies for fun. Unfortunately, on Hardest mode with the latest patch, the AI will always team up against the players. So they all teamed up against the two of us. When this happens, you really don't stand a chance. You can't beat SIX idiots on rampage when there are only TWO of you.
Oh, yes, and here's another thing: the AI just LOVES ships. In this game, my brother and sister and I got our butts owned by the AI, since they were all teamed up against us. We've only ever defeated them that way ONE time. If you have any sea on your map, you'd better be prepared to move your city far back from the shore. Because the ocean will be swarming with enemy ships and TONS of cannon galleons. These things are tough to kill from the land and can take down buildings with ease. So you can either be very dedicated and try to build your own navy (it's hard - you must have a sizeable defense for your docks at all times, because the AI will try to destroy them as soon as it sees them) or you can simply avoid the water altogether.
Remember Ernak the Hun, my AI ally in the game against Ryan and Maegan (my sister's real name is Maegan, not Bobeyo)? Well, here I am stealing a relic from Ernak. Ernak is on an island by himself, so he has Gone Stupid really early in the game. The AI Goes Stupid really fast on an Islands map. Anyway, since he's Gone Stupid, Ernak is really no more use to me anyway. So I brought over an Onager and started using the Attack Ground feature near his Monastery. The Attack Ground power is the only way you can attack your own ally. Once the Monastery was damaged enough, Ernak's relic dropped out and my Monk snatched it and took it home. Easier done than said! Hah!
PART 5 - THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS:
Once you've finished a game, you'll learn that the end justifies the means. No matter what sneaky, underhanded, cowardly tactics you've used, you'll get to look at happiness-inducing screens like these:
This is from the game where Ryan and Maegan (BOBEYO) and I were allied against the AI. You know, the one where we made our way around the lake building siege camps? Well, you can see what happened! The red bars are me, the blue ones are Ryan, and the green ones are Maegan.
And of course I was not beat on that Islands game even when I was working with the utter stupidity of my AI ally, Ernak the Hun. By defending only his Docks (for trading) and not worrying about the rest of his town getting destroyed, and by stealing his relics, I used him to my advantage and won the day! You can see that I beat my sister (green bars - BOBEYO) early, and then at the end of the game I beat RYAN (blue bar). It is good to be the king!
This was given to me by a friend. No brothers or family members involved in this were from the the person who post this.
First of all, when the game starts, max out your villager queue! By that, I mean to tell your Town Center to start pumping out as many villagers as it can. You can do this more quickly by pressing the "H" key to select your Town Center and pressing "C" tons of times until the game tells you that you've maxed out this building's queue. Now quickly give orders to the rest of your units. Make one of your three villagers chop the nearest wood, another begin slaughtering your sheep or gathering berries, and the third build several houses to support your population. Some civilizations (like the Chinese) start with extra villagers and others (like the Huns) don't need houses. Adapt your playing style accordingly. Once you have everyone doing something, send your scout out to clear some of the Fog of War. Then just begin advancing through the ages.
NOTE: All screenshots open in their own window for your convenience.
PART 2 - GATHERING RESOURCES:
In this screenshot you can see me (The Mighty Tiax) causing a massive deforestation in the Black Forest map. Note that I actually have more score than my brother (_R__Y__A__N_) but my sister's (she's Bobeyo... don't ask about the name... just don't ask...) score is weighing me down in the list... Remember: your two most important resources at the beginning are food and wood. Gather as much of these as possible, and advance through the ages quickly. Don't forget to fish the sea dry of fish if you're on a water-based map. Then, once you're in the Imperial Age, the real fun begins... No, I'm not a rusher, and I usually wa
it at least until the Imperial Age to attack anyone.
Here I am as the Mighty Tiax again (Tiax is a character in Baldur's Gate, my favorite RPG game, who wants to take over the world) farming the land. Note that the only reason I'm so far down in the scores is because I'm allied with my sister (Bobeyo) and she's not as good at the game as my brother (Ryan) and I. Farms are your only replenish-able food supply (unless you use those fishing trap things) so farm like crazy, and be sure to max out your farm queue at your Mill! If you can't even queue anything at your Mill and don't know what I'm talking about, download the latest patch for the game. I think it added the Rebuild Farm Queue...
Here I am as $4B3R-$(0RP10N, trading with my brother Ryan. Once you've mined out all the gold on the map, trading is the only way to get the stuff. Relics provide only an EXTREMELY slow trickle of gold. Trust me, trading is your friend. We were playing on that game mode where you start out with a ton of resources in the Imperial Age here. That's why I haven't mined all the gold. In this game, every single AI player was allied against my brother, my sister, and me. You see who won, don't you? Look at the map and the scores! By the way, if you have an AI ally, the only thing you need from them is their Market (or Docks in a sea map) so that you can continue trading with them for gold. Protect those buildings at all cost, even if you let the rest of the idiot's city get wiped out. He's useless anyway.
PART 3 - ATTACKING THE ENEMY:
This screenshot shows my favorite tactic. I am playing as Sabre-Scorpion. I used "sabre" instead of "saber" to get that authentic old-style feeling as the Britons. My brother in this game is RYAN, and my little sister is Nick Wolfe (again, don't ask). Anyway, I just love to use Longbowmen and Trebuchets to attack the enemy. This is because Longbowmen and Trebuchets have such an extremely long range that they can take out enemies miles away. The Longbowmen can take out whatever pitiful packets of resistance your forces encounter before they can even get close enough to hurt you, and the Trebuchets can take down buildings with ease. Best of all, both units can fire at a castle without taking flak from its own defensive archers. Hah! You might want to bring some cavalry along with you, however, since Longbowmen aren't that great at taking out enemy siege units like catapults and enemy trebuchets.
The only other thing I can say is: work together! In this game you can see me (Saber-Scorpion), my brother (RYAN) and my sister (BOBEYO) as allies. We are about to go around the lake to take out the enemy. NOTE: the only reason that my brother has such huge walls on the map and I have none is because I was playing as the Goths and they can't build stone walls. Anyway, you must remember to work with your allies if they are not AI. If they are AI, they are extremely hard to work with. See my section about trading and my section about stealing relics for more information.
This screenshot is from the same game as the one above it. Here, RYAN and I are building a siege camp farther up the edge of the lake (check the map) from which to attack the enemy. It is a good idea always to bring along a few villagers on an attack so that they can build buildings from which to spawn your armies. It is much more effective to construct an army right at the enemy's gates than bringing a fresh army across land or sea every time you attack.
In this screenshot, Ernak the Hun and I are teamed up AGAINST my brother and sister (RYAN and BOBEYO). This is the most important lesson I can teach you. No matter what civilization you are or what units are your favorites, USE TREBUCHETS like crazy!!! They are the ultimate equalizer. Castles are not an obstacle to a good army of trebuchets. Just remember to defend them at all times.
PART 4 - THE STUPIDITY OF AI:
AI means "Artificial Intelligence". I use the term when referring to the computer-controlled players in a game. They are extremely dumb. This section explains just how dumb they are. Note that in all of these games, we were playing on HARDEST difficulty.
The AI is very stupid in that it always attacks early in the game. They advance SUPER quickly and then start attacking right off. Make sure you're prepared for their attacks. As long as you can hold them back, you won't have much trouble later on when the sort of thing shown in the next screenshot happens...
See all the villagers standing idly about in this screenshot (which is also from the game where Ernak the Hun and I are teamed up against my brother and sister)? If you wait until long after the Imperial Age to attack, you'll find that the AI has "gone stupid." They will have all their villagers standing about in idle mode. No trade carts will be flowing. Their pitiful "armies" will consist of scout cavalry, skirmishers, and spearmen, often not even upgraded. Do you know why? These are the only army units that cost no gold. The AI has run out of gold. When they do that, they're too stupid to trade for more. So you can OWN THEM.
Okay, so sometimes the AI can be a little bit smart. In this game, my brother RYAN and I were trying to play a free-for-all game with the teams unlocked so that we could switch diplomacies for fun. Unfortunately, on Hardest mode with the latest patch, the AI will always team up against the players. So they all teamed up against the two of us. When this happens, you really don't stand a chance. You can't beat SIX idiots on rampage when there are only TWO of you.
Oh, yes, and here's another thing: the AI just LOVES ships. In this game, my brother and sister and I got our butts owned by the AI, since they were all teamed up against us. We've only ever defeated them that way ONE time. If you have any sea on your map, you'd better be prepared to move your city far back from the shore. Because the ocean will be swarming with enemy ships and TONS of cannon galleons. These things are tough to kill from the land and can take down buildings with ease. So you can either be very dedicated and try to build your own navy (it's hard - you must have a sizeable defense for your docks at all times, because the AI will try to destroy them as soon as it sees them) or you can simply avoid the water altogether.
Remember Ernak the Hun, my AI ally in the game against Ryan and Maegan (my sister's real name is Maegan, not Bobeyo)? Well, here I am stealing a relic from Ernak. Ernak is on an island by himself, so he has Gone Stupid really early in the game. The AI Goes Stupid really fast on an Islands map. Anyway, since he's Gone Stupid, Ernak is really no more use to me anyway. So I brought over an Onager and started using the Attack Ground feature near his Monastery. The Attack Ground power is the only way you can attack your own ally. Once the Monastery was damaged enough, Ernak's relic dropped out and my Monk snatched it and took it home. Easier done than said! Hah!
PART 5 - THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS:
Once you've finished a game, you'll learn that the end justifies the means. No matter what sneaky, underhanded, cowardly tactics you've used, you'll get to look at happiness-inducing screens like these:
This is from the game where Ryan and Maegan (BOBEYO) and I were allied against the AI. You know, the one where we made our way around the lake building siege camps? Well, you can see what happened! The red bars are me, the blue ones are Ryan, and the green ones are Maegan.
And of course I was not beat on that Islands game even when I was working with the utter stupidity of my AI ally, Ernak the Hun. By defending only his Docks (for trading) and not worrying about the rest of his town getting destroyed, and by stealing his relics, I used him to my advantage and won the day! You can see that I beat my sister (green bars - BOBEYO) early, and then at the end of the game I beat RYAN (blue bar). It is good to be the king!
This was given to me by a friend. No brothers or family members involved in this were from the the person who post this.