Defending vs. stronger neighbor early attacks

[ywl]

Originally posted by GavinWheeler:
I suppose I hope that I am sneaky enough to come up with a strategy to deal with the neighbour over those ten turns!

Given a little preparation, it becomes a battle of wits. If conflict is too early in the game, you have no funky spells researched and no slinky items forged, so it is too much a question of who has the best national troops and gold supply.

It happens... a lot . It's not unusual for an early war to start by turn 10 to 15. Some players are famous for their early rush and aggressive expansion . And yes, that'll be a match of national troops and gold supply. That's why scales are regarded as very important among the players I met.

Altenatively, you could just make sure that you have an early killer strategy to be an deterrent, such as an Blue Dragon with "Breath of Winter". Most nations can have pretender/national troop combo to afford one or two.

It's just a part of the game. An MP game is not a static research-for-the-killer-magic type of competition. You need to consider survival in the beginning, the midgame and the endgame, plus a big dose of diplomacy throw in.