In this week's SPOTLIGHT GAME, I played a 1on1 with Montana. We played on a Secret Random Map with Random Civs, so I decided not to rush. I also, for some reason, decided to play with my head up my ass! I never scouted my opponent and I never made any military despite relatively quick classical aging by both of us. Instead, I opted to make use of Germany's neat ability to make early granaries, lumber mills, and smelters. Meanwhile, montana makes use of Britain's neat ability to make horse archers and cataphracts. With all the raiding, I get discombobulated [there's a good word], my econ goes to shit, and he border pushes me off of my resources. I manage to spoil his first attack and kill off a lot of troops, but make the fatal mistake of following him back to his forward town. Game over. (BTW, this marks my first real 1on1 loss.)

This game highlights the effectiveness of the combined Horse Archer and Heavy Cav raiding, particularly against stupid opponents. Montana performs textbook raiding to keep me off-kilter, gains an economic advantage, and then masses for an attack in the Medieval Age. Good game.

posted by Tim at 6:51 PM