The semi-FF is now expected, but still effective (if not OP).

Discovery:

14 Vill/Messenger age up (with 3 vills coming from 1st card). The fast age up will signal a rush, and help further the rouse.

Use your starting travois for a Longhouse. If you started with 200 wood have one vill chop 50 wood or seek out some wood treasures, the goal is to get to 250 wood and build a TP. If you started with 300 wood build a TP ASAP. These will help with the Fortress Shipment Spam.

Colonial:

Escort Aging Travois forward w/WC and build a WH preferably is the closet hunt group possible to enemy TC.

1st card in colonial is 6 Tom. This will be your raiding force, and also give the impression that this is a rush. Once in colonial cue up 2 more vills, and shift 3 to 5 onto Gold. The goal is to have a total of 400 gold by the time your next shipment (600 gold) arrives.

Your raiding party should have taken out a vill or two, once he starts to defend hightail it out of there and use this mini-army to get treasures (food and gold) to speed up your arrival in Fortress. The 2 best age up options are 4 Mantlet/1 Travois or 3 Travois. I've tried 4 Mantlet and found that to work well, either way place a Warhut forward for a drop off point.

During age up shift some vills to wood so you won't get housed, and a few more to gold (you'll need it for Prowlers and Renegade French.)

Fortress:

Hopefully your opponent has dug in to fight in colonial, and your aging has caught him by surprise.

Cue up some Forest Prowlers (and a vill) and ship 5 Mantlets; along with your WC and his newly improved from aging Eagle-Eye shot, any surviving Toms, and some collected Creeps you now have a pretty formidable army.

The next card is up to you, I personally like the 5 renegade French to clean up any UFKALI (Units-Formerly-Known-As-Light -Infantry) and scattering vills. 8 Prowlers or 4 Rams would also be good.

A strong point of a primarily shipment based army is it allows you to continue to build your eco, and also pump out some troops.

If you are playing an aggressive rush oriented Civilization Great House is a good 2nd or 3rd card (depending on how soon you expect a rush).

Another option is to age to colonial w/2 Travois (placed Defensively in around TC), and use The Messenger to age to Fort. Your time to Fortress will overall be quicker, but the later arrival to Colonial may tip off you intentions.

Required Cards:
3 vill
6 Tom
600 Gold

Suggested:
ATP
5 Mantlets
4 Mantlets
5 Renegade French
8 Prowlers
6 Prowlers
4 Rams
10 Aenna
11 Tom
Great House
Improved Buildings
New Ways (to research CIR)

A lvl 40 HC is needed for some of the cards, and lvl 50 is even better. The 25 card slots really help disguise this strat. It's also good to have room for a few colonial cards in case this all backfires and you have to hang in colonial.

(Really take advantage of the awesome Fortress cards the Iroquois get.)

-notes-

I've seen others use an 11 Tom initial attack, but I can't help but think that the 500f spent on the BB Toms slows you down too much. Sure the 6 Tom + WC army isn't much, but it is enough to keep your opponent on his heels, and out of your base.

Another thing I've found has been happening is after the initial raid and retreat my newly created forward Warhut is usually destroyed. I've come to view this as a blessing. Why? Well it keeps my enemy occupied for some serious time while I'm aging to Fortress (not like I paid for it), it also usually lasts long enough to have a shipment arriving and my age up travois as a Warhut next to my TC.

-notes-
Cleaned upped and modified 1/24/07 to make it more applicable to current state of the game.

[This message has been edited by donkee (edited 01-24-2007 @ 04:31 PM).]