Hey, just beat ridiculous setting (with 10 enemy AI also all set to ridiculous) on a medium map by turn 93. I have attached the file and will summarize how I did it in an effort to help guide Stardock towards better game balance and improved AI. (I have done it the other ways too, slow and epic turn400 buildsprees, quest paths, etc)
If I can do it, im sure many others can also and even better - the game needs to toughen up.
I didn't start out the game with this plan, I wanted to build after rushing my first opponent, each city I took was such a pushover that I kept going till I had the whole worldl. In retrospect I think with the right planning it can all be done in 60 turns, maybe even as low as 50.
http://www.filesavr.com/xGm01x3F
My overall strategy revolved around heroes (as empire even, but it doesn't have to be)
My leader had all the military traits and with worgs/archery defeated the first two opponents by turn 40 or so. The natural strength of the leader (and with some mage buffs) is hard for the AI to counter early - other AI's also give you gold to declare war - I think I got about 1200 to declare war on my two immediate neighbors back when I was making around 5 gold a turn - if you do it right, you can get quite the boost in gold right before your first few conquests enough to buy the gear you need.
After that I focused on magic to get +movement +str amulets, and the crazy good magic armor. Then teched towards that +40 hammer. I also infused about 5 characters i collected along the way with mana and made them mage archers. Eventually a 2nd character evolved into a fighter with some movement as well for cleanup work. The basic strategy was to rush to cities at speeds that increased from 6 movement to eventually 25 and use the gold to strengthen the main character. The mages had bows/mana/spells. I used them to buff my hero, summon fodder troops, and lightning bolt enemy casters. They were only relevent in about 10% of battles (the tough ones) the rest of the time they just tagged along and regenerated mana. Movement past 25 (or even 20) seemed redundant, you loose your moves after taking over a city and rarely did I ever travel more than 10-15 distance between taking over cities. The goal is to take over a city with your main stack every 2 turns.
90% of the battles were pushover ressistance.
also towards the end as the main stack went for the capitals, the spare wizards were strong enough to go on side runs (minor gangs and minor cities) eventually to teleport back to the main party.
Towards turn 80-93 the game became a little difficult as the last bastions of AI empires finally started getting strong. Fortunately by then I had dozens of shards to boost my magic attacks to the 100's level. (area attack for 5, or long range for 2-3 mana) 5 wizards with 10 mana and you can devestate any army the AI can muster pre turn 100. I conserved mana for these tough battles as the overall rush happens so quick you barely get a chance to heal/recharge.
-----------------------------------
Was this fun? yes, it was an interesting challenge, certainly more fun than sitting back and building up when you know you can conquer everything sooner. of course I wouldn't want to replay it this way, the AI need to be better prepared for early attacks. Also heros need more health - or at least some kind of "survive the battle" mechanic (if you win, they come back with 1hp, etc). Every now and then there was a fluke and my defense 40 leader got 1 shot killed by a 25 attack unit.
This is of course a result of balance issues / too random die mechanics that have been discussed to death in the suggestions forum.
Final thoughts:
Game needs more balance, better AI, less crashes. I really did enjoy it and look forward to when it matures into what could be really amazing.
Edit: I gave up developing the original cities after turn 40 or so, I just let them sit idle doing whatever they wanted. The gold from conquest and the advancements of conquered cities were more than enough to fuel the madness (by then city development seemed like a timesink)
