What is my tactic? I guess that assumes that I use only one, or only one god. If someone were to use a single tactic regardless of the opponent, they would lose any game where the conditions didn't favor their tactic.
So anyway, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'll detail my tactic for the last 10 games or so (thats generally what I do, focus on one god until I get sick of him/her). I've been playing as Thor, who is my favorite Norse god.
The start depends on what map I am playing, but I always send my first 2 dwarves and ox cart to gold. Starting ulf builds Dock (if water) then house, then scouts. I que up 1 villie, 1 cart, then 2 or 3 more villies (2 on water maps, to save 50 food for cart to food). I send these to wood if its a water map, or food if not. At this point, on water maps I send 1 dwarf, 1 cart, 1 dwarf to food. On land, I add another 2 dwarves to food. Then I add 2 to 3 more dwarves on gold, then que up alternating dwarves and villies. I send the additional dwarves to food, and the villies to either food or wood. So basically in water maps, I try to advance with 5 to 8 on wood (all villies, no dwarves), 4 to 5 dwarves on gold, and as many dwarves on food as I can get before being able to advance (usually about 6-8). On land maps (which I prefer), I have 3 to 6 villies on wood, 5 dwarves on gold, and an assortment of villies and dwarves on food (between 8 and 10 total, usually). Of course during all of this I need a temple, in which case I either bring my scouting one home to build it when I can, or if I can afford to, I build a second ulf to do so. And of course I get HD and pig-sticker if hunting is plentiful, and its a land map.
After hitting the advance button, I assess how much resources I have (particularly food). My first priority is AQing Hersir for building later. I only get 2 or 3 if I don't expect to see myth units early, but against Kronos or Loki (and to a lesser extent, Zeus) I go for 5 to 8. After thats done, I get what eco upgrades I can afford, making sure to leave enough wood for atleast one barracks as soon as I advance. Oh yeah and build 1 to 3 more houses with my ulf, and if I have two, I scout with the other. When the first is done with houses, he scouts too.
After hitting Classic, I have already AQ'd dwarves to gold. I immediately build as many Rax's as I can afford, usually 1 or 2 to start with (more later as wood allows). I often build them within my main base, just to make sure I wont lose the first ones I get (death for norse). I then AQ raiding cavalry from my Rax's. If I went Freyja, I send my Valk to scout as well, then come back to group up with my RC.
When needed, I build more houses with ulfs or Hersir, and an Armory when I am close to advancing (or if its heavy classic fighting, for upgrades). I change the TC from dwarves to villies either when I have enough dwaves on gold (10 to 15) or when I'm running out of gold. The new villies go to wood at first (for TA's and maybe farms if needed), then join the hunting party or gather herdables grouped near TC. After I have raided with a decent sized army of RC (usually medium upgraded by the time I raid the second time, sometime with TH if my food/favor levels are good) I change to TA's, as they will counter the infantry the enemy is likely to be building now that he's seen RC.
Once wood income is good enough to compensate AQ TA's, or after I reach pop limit, I build more TC's with my infantry while raiding with RC (usually less effective by now since they'll have infantry, but it keeps them busy and away from attacking my TC's before they go up). Once I have gotten my two additional TC's, I go for theirs if they havent already, or back up my RC with TA's if they have taken their TC. I then go for Heroic with about 12 to 20 on food, 12 to 20 on gold, and 10 to 15 on wood. On water I will occasionally go FH (making small army) for Siege ships, but not often.
After reaching Heroic (through Bragi if I need anti-cav, or Skadi if I need anti-inf), I take my ulf/Hersir/TA army and spam hillforts near any gold mines I can. I first build them to defend a couple gold mines I'd like to gather from or are currently gathering (and have atleast 3000 gold left), then I build them near mines the enemy is likely to want soon. I then produce rams from these, and occasionally Huskarl if the enemy is relying on mass archers. When possible, I distract the enemy with my RC army (which if I did well, is still my largest army) with raids while sneaking in some rams to their base. If this is not viable (their army is within their base) then I build up for an all-out attack, using units to best destroy theirs (always mixed with rams for the real base damage). Sometimes this means sending my RC on a suicide raid to free up pop space for other units, if they went heavy on anti-cav units (which is likely, especially if they haven't seen my TA army yet).
From here, if needed, I'll go Mythic age (almost always through Baldr). On water games, I upgrade my siege ships so they can actually outrange buildings, then I do what damage I can with them. I usually go for Baldr's RC upgrade, which is fantastic if they are making many archers or TA. I upgrade everything I can, and, well, try to kill them off. From here the games are often either already won or lost due to earlier events. Ragnarok is very useful for stalemate type situations, or for last-ditch efforts (although it is unlikely to win the game for you in that case). If it comes to it, I ragnarok while using my regular infantry army to mass hillforts, towers and walls wherever I want to put my titan gate and/or wonder. With Rag heroes, I build Titan gate, then wonder. As long as I get these up before the enemy, my situation is good. Hopefully I saved FW (if I went for Bragi) for the actual Ragnarok attack.
So anyway, thats it. Pretty simple isn't it? and very short and concise.
[This message has been edited by Mune84 (edited 02-20-2007 @ 05:42 PM).]