Actually I think hermes is better on water, you can go classical later with an edge in econ, and easily outproduce your opponent. And fishing may give you food for minos - but that presupposes youŽll win the water. If you donŽt, youŽll have lots of wood for centaurs if you go hermes.. And c. are better units either way.
"But my opponent builds during cf, too!!"
True, but as numbers increase, armies become more equal. If you both have two docks producing, and he has a 3 ship advantage, cf will benefit you enourmously. 4v1 ships is a massacre, 16v13 is a battle. Restoration is ok, too, but when battling on water you should always focus fire, so very few ships will actually be damaged.
You may be a newb, but you have keen eyes - AthenaŽs techs are better late game. But a small advantage early on builds up to an even greater advantage in the end.
For Zeus, Athena is a gamble that might pay off. For Poseidon, Hermes is part of the mass hippikons upgrades, so they should always go H.
[This message has been edited by Johnny_Deppig (edited 04-18-2004 @ 03:36 PM).]