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00:00:00 – 00:13:36
The video, led by Chaos Mall, offers strategies for efficient empire expansion in "Age of Wonders 4" to avoid lagging behind AI opponents. The key strategy is the liberal placement of outposts, which are inexpensive and generate resources, contrasting with more resource-intensive city-building in games like "Civilization." The speaker emphasizes the importance of strategic outpost placement, especially near gold mines, to offset costs and maintain financial stability. Recruiting a second hero early, even at the cost of a gold tax, is recommended due to its long-term benefits. The video also highlights essential skills and perks like "expanded governance" and "military engineering" to enhance city capacity and reduce outpost costs. Starting early with outposts provides a strong foundation for expansion, and viewers are encouraged to share their strategies and engage with the content for more insights on the game.
00:00:00
In this part of the video, Chaos Mall discusses strategies for expanding your empire efficiently in the game “Age of Wonders 4” to avoid lagging behind the AI. He points out that players often struggle around round 20 or 30 due to inefficient expansion. The key actions include understanding where and when to build outposts and cities. He uses a prepared map to illustrate the situation: his main city is surrounded by AI constructs, but he has successfully established multiple outposts and another city by round 24. He emphasizes the importance of shifting away from the mindset typical in other 4X games like Civilization, where city-building is resource-intensive and time-consuming. In “Age of Wonders 4,” quicker and more strategic expansion is crucial.
00:03:00
In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses the differences between building outposts in “Civilization” games versus “Age of Wonders 4.” In Civilization games, building a settler is resource-intensive, requiring strategic planning for city placement. Conversely, in Age of Wonders 4, outposts are inexpensive, easy to establish, and can even generate money. The key tactic in Age of Wonders 4 is to build outposts liberally, regardless of their initial strategic placement, to secure land and resources. The speaker also advises recruiting a second hero early, even though it exceeds the hero limit and incurs a 30 gold per round tax, because the benefits outweigh the costs. They highlight that accumulating gold in the early game is relatively easy through annexing territories and finding resources. Additionally, if playing as Barbarians, their scouts can build Trailblazer posts, which are similar to outposts but cost more.
00:06:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses strategic placement and management of outposts in a game. They emphasize that outposts do not count toward the city limit, making them a useful expansion tool. The speaker advises placing outposts next to gold mines to offset their cost, as building outposts can initially be expensive with a 50 gold setup cost and 10 gold per turn maintenance. By cleaning out and utilizing nearby gold mines, players can make outposts financially sustainable. They also note that outposts can be destroyed later if they become unnecessary, offering flexibility in gameplay.
00:09:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses strategies for utilizing gold mines when expanding your territory. They highlight placing outposts near gold mines to potentially generate income rather than incurring costs. The segment moves on to empire development, emphasizing the importance of the “expanded governance” skill to increase city capacity, which is repeatable as long as you have enough Imperium. The speaker then recommends the “military engineering” perk, which reduces the outpost cost and construction time and provides a palisade wall, though this benefit is only for the initial build. They assure viewers that even if they aren’t focusing on the materium affinity, it’s relatively easy to accumulate enough points to benefit from this perk. However, the ongoing cost of maintaining outposts cannot be reduced, making the perk a valuable but not essential advantage.
00:12:00
In this segment, the speaker emphasizes the importance of placing outposts in the game. They argue that it’s a wiser decision to put down outposts rather than avoiding it, especially near gold mines, as it provides financial stability and ensures expansion. Clearing out gold mines with your army also contributes to building a strong foundation for your empire. The speaker notes that many players struggle by Round 30 with minimal cities, highlighting the advantage of starting early with outposts that can later be transformed into cities. They invite viewers to share their own strategies for expanding empires in the comments and remind them to like and subscribe for more content on Age of Wonders.