30-12-2002 10:51									#31
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quote: Originally posted by Dominae peterfharris, I think you've nailed it: Bowmen are best when neighbors are very very close. My feelings that Bowmen should be good in MP stem from the fact that, in my mind, MP games are decided in early conflict. Given that many MP games are played on small maps due to time constraints (not to mention boredom avoidance), I do not think my impression is far off. Against the AI it is simply too difficult to rush with Bowmen on Monarch level and above because of all the unit bonuses; against a human player, Bowmen must be a dream (or a nightmare, depending on which side you're on). Anyone had any success with Bowmen in MP yet? Dominae

I played a tiny map 4 civ Monarch game (all 4 civs crowded on one island) and took out the Germans (two cities) with only bowmen then took three good Persian cities with only bowmen (Persia had plenty of spearmen and archers). I had swordsmen help take out the other two useless Persian cities. The Zulus only had one useless city having lost two cities to the Persians while I was fighting Germany so I called it a win and quit. My start location was at the very end of the island with two or three squares of grassland, one hill, the rest was sea and Berlin was 4 or 5 squares away in a very good location. That convinced me that bowmen were worth their weight in gold in the right situation (my only world conquest). You can rush the AI with bowmen at monarch if you are early enough, if they are close enough and if you build a barracks (the AI seems to build barracks too late to withstand the veteran bowmen and they seem to build too many warriors).

It seems that if you wait until you have built 4 cities (as many good players seem to) then it is perhaps too late for the bowman rush because swordsmen and horsies become available. With one city bowmen are a dream against the AI. (Never tried MP, probably never will)

EDIT
Dominae. On second thoughts I think you are generally correct in suggesting "it is too difficult to rush the AI with bowmen at monarch". The circumstances of my game were extremely unusual, the rush should not have worked in normal circumstances, my victim being so unusually close was almost certainly a decisive factor.