1 Town Start - Anybody Playing?

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1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/13/2011 5:47:33 PM

Zaratoughda

Posts: 714
Joined: 11/15/2008
From: NE Pa, USA
Status: offline

Anybody playing '1 Town Start' besides me?

I usually go with a setup that gives 3 towns besides my own. If I go with more than this I usually kick the AI's butt.

With this, you gotta find your own towns as soon as possible so you are not just stuck with your home capital.

If I go with a 'large' map and 'normal' world type, and 'wild land', along with 'shroud' and 'map loop', and 5 players, there are 15 towns outside my capital and that means 3 of each people.

Anybody?

Zaratoughda

Post #: 1

RE: 1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/14/2011 5:20:35 AM

Jeffrey H.

Posts: 3154
Joined: 4/13/2007
From: San Diego, Ca.
Status: offline

I'm playing it. I've been playing the largest maps with the most ai's. Trouble is that the generation sequence always puts the first regime on the bottom left corner. Usually there is a land mass in the center of the map which has the most cities within easy reach.

I can't beat the ai under these circumstances. I thought the '1 city at start' option would make it more difficult for the ai but even then it's winning.

Next up is to make my own regime one in the center of the list.

_____________________________

History began July 4th, 1776. Anything before that was a mistake.

Ron Swanson

(in reply to Zaratoughda)

Post #: 2

RE: 1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/14/2011 11:08:28 PM

Zaratoughda

Posts: 714
Joined: 11/15/2008
From: NE Pa, USA
Status: offline

The thing about '1 Town Start', is the AI does NOT use it's trains to explore.

You start with 60 rifle and 6 trains and, assuming you got some railroads, you can create units with a train and at least 3 rifle and send them down the railroad.

Again, the AI does not do this and is thus at a big disadvantage. So, I always start last to try to compensate the AI for this. One thing about going last though, is the AI tends to declare war on whomever is going last. I first thought this was because I was a human player but I played a game where I was not last and the AI, all seemed to declare war on the last player who was an AI. So, this is probably a problem in the code.

Have been thinking of generating a ptmaster where the trains are not given.

There have been times where I get really bad starting positions (usually seems to be with the Chinese, Turks or Japanese), where I run into one or more AI before I can even get resource. In theses cases I throw in the towel and start a new game.

Another problem is having to fight too many AI at the same time. I can easily handle 1 and typically I can handle 2 at the same time, but 3 or more, especially early or when I do not have the resource, is too much.

I usually need to improve two RAW resource early to build my armies of armored cars and medium tanks, and more later on, but, the biggest need is oil, usually need to get all oil I got up to L3.

(in reply to Jeffrey H.)

Post #: 3

RE: 1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/15/2011 1:17:40 AM

Jeffrey H.

Posts: 3154
Joined: 4/13/2007
From: San Diego, Ca.
Status: offline

I usually start without roads in the hopes that I would have another advantage vs. the AI hordes. For me it boils down to how many AI cities I am at war with, (actively). If the ratio isn't in the right range, I simply can't overcome the integral effect of time.

No amount of experience and techs can overcome huge numerical disadvatages. The AI seems to lack nothing, not supply, nor ore, not oil. Whereas I have to balance everything.

Ore is important early and oil is the most important later in the game. I always level up the oil wells, only sometimes the ore mines.

But yeah, there are some issues with the sequencing of the regimes, there is some hardcoded issues in there it seems.

Not sure what could be done to improve things, I haven't been having that much fun really. I keep wishing the AI was "better" or different in some way and I really wish it didn't get so many freebies.

_____________________________

History began July 4th, 1776. Anything before that was a mistake.

Ron Swanson

(in reply to Zaratoughda)

Post #: 4

RE: 1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/15/2011 10:03:30 PM

Zaratoughda

Posts: 714
Joined: 11/15/2008
From: NE Pa, USA
Status: offline

Another thing I do that gives me a HUGE advantage over the AI, is on the first turn, assuming my capital city is a port, I build 4 cargoships and keep enough of a force from my initial forces, that I can populate them (usually with a train and 3 rifle, and then two more units of 3 rifle) and I sent these off on turn 2. They cannot land on turn 2 but starting with turn 3, I can drop the units off and them immediately pick them up. I thus go along the coast of unoccupied territory and land LOTS of places.

Then comes autoexplore starting in turn 4 and, that makes a huge difference. I sometimes get whole continents that the AI is nowhere's near to.

However, there ARE limits to this as if I do not get a city that is my own people then I can't really build a force to defend these areas, and if an AI has a land route to such an area it ultimately overruns it, again assuming I do not find a city with my own people.

I tried playing with auto-explore turned off, but that tends to slow the game down considerably, and it probably hurts the AI more than it helps it. Would be best if autoexplore only occured relative to hexes that have, say, 50% supply but, that is something that is beyond the rulevars (that I can think of off hand).

I have played with no railroads also and, with this you can't use your trains initially and that really slows down your exploration but, it hurts the AI more than it hurts you. Usually the AI will take a while before it starts building railroads.

But, it does make the game interesting.

(in reply to Jeffrey H.)

Post #: 5

RE: 1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/16/2011 7:34:01 PM

Jeffrey H.

Posts: 3154
Joined: 4/13/2007
From: San Diego, Ca.
Status: offline

Makes me think of posting a PBEM with map size and enemy AI maxed out, all Humans allied. AI's set ot AI-. The Humans would start at opposite corners and have to fight to the center to aid each other. What do you think ?

_____________________________

History began July 4th, 1776. Anything before that was a mistake.

Ron Swanson

(in reply to Zaratoughda)

Post #: 6

RE: 1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/17/2011 5:29:02 AM

Zaratoughda

Posts: 714
Joined: 11/15/2008
From: NE Pa, USA
Status: offline

That's an idea but me personaly I do not have time for PBEM right now.

I tried playing with 'no raildoads' again and, it is interesting as the game moves slower but, this presents a challange that the AI has a problem dealing with. Seems to screw up the AI's logistics.

One thing I like about the ATG AI, is when I come at it with my armies of armored cars and, if the game moves on, medium tanks, it tends to build AT guns. These are DEADLY against armored vehicles. Usually have to take them out with divebombers.

(in reply to Jeffrey H.)

Post #: 7

RE: 1 Town Start - Anybody Playing? - 11/18/2011 8:08:36 PM

Jeffrey H.

Posts: 3154
Joined: 4/13/2007
From: San Diego, Ca.
Status: offline

Yes, it's much better at using AT guns and AA guns and they are much more effective. It tends to speed ahead of any human in the research tree and fields TD's and HT's earlier than a human can.

Seems a little weak on the aircraft side. I can usually get a t least local air superioty for a period of time, but since aircraft have a voracious appetite for fuel, I usually cannot sustain heavy air operations.

I'm going to take some time tonight and troll for a game as described above, I'll post it in the opponents wanted section, we'll see what we can turn up.

_____________________________

History began July 4th, 1776. Anything before that was a mistake.

Ron Swanson

(in reply to Zaratoughda)

Post #: 8