Hi, I've played through the AOM campaign, some random maps and downloaded scenarios. The problem is, I can only do it at the easiest level....which is really too easy. If I turn it up to moderate, then I get swamped with enemy units while I'm still concentrating on saving gold and food for advancing my culture. They seem to be able to generate the gold and food they need to advance (abreast of or even slightly ahead of me) and have enough left over to recruit a formidable military just a few minutes into the game. If I build up a decent military early on, then I don't have enough food and gold left over to advance as fast as the AIs are (the units all seem to take lots of food or gold or a combination of both. If I hoard my food and gold so that I can advance at the same rate as the AI, then they swamp my meager miltary and burn my settlement to the ground! If I recruit a lot of villagers early on to enhance food and gold gathering speed, I also have trouble because it takes a while for villagers to pay back their initial investment in food, and it delays my ability to advance and recruit military again. So, to make a long story short, how do you advance your culture AND build up a large military early in the game?
Roxy