posted 14 November 2003 01:38 PM EDT (US)
A forumer inspired me to try this strat again. However Odin’s jarls aren’t that uber anymore(but still good), hillforts are more expensive, the strat is still viable, because you get a strong free myth units( in classical: a valkyrie or an einherjar and in heroic: a frost giant or a mountain giant).
When can you use fast heroic? Build orders Casual build Two starting vills+ ox to hunt(research hunting dogs) During classical: Same build as above only when you reach heroic, two vills from food and two vills from gold to wood(so you will have 8 on wood) to have a good income of wood to produce constant huskies. Anatolia build 2 starting Vills+ ox on wood During classical Minor gods In classical: Heimdall: GP: undermine: destroy asap a tower or a wall and do great damage to castles and tcs. GP: forest fire: burns down a forest and damage buildings and units which stand next to the forest. In heroic: Njord: GP: walking woods: convert 8 trees to living trees which have much hp and good attack Skadi: GP: frost: freeze your opponent army for 1 min, but give them 99% armor. What to do? Follow the build and when you are advancing to heroic, build a longhouse and some houses(1-2) because your pop will be full soon. Then make some soldiers(ulfs or ta’s depending which resources you have, but remember you need 250 wood and 250 gold to build a hillfort). When you reach Heroic, you should have around six builders so you can build you fort in 30 seconds. You have two myth units, a good gp(woods or frost) too. With these things you will be able to build your fort and kill some units of your opponent which is always good. In the meanwhile produce addition units from your longhouse. A CONSTANT FLOW OF VILLS IS NEEDED TO SUPPORT YOUR FH, HILLFORT UNITS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE SO YOU NEED A GOOD ECO. Do your eco upgrades when you have resources to spare or have enough army (pick axe first and hand axe second). Produce first from your hillfort some jarls so you can kill easily their myth units. But don’t forget to produce also units from your longhouses(build addition ones when you have wood so you will have quick army). Use your ravens to scout the map to find extra hunt and goldmines(so you can make a little party to raid with FH vs other civs Vs zeus: It can work pretty well vs him, but don’t forget he has access to bolt and ceasefire which can disturb your fh. Your advantage is that his troops are trained slow. Vs Poseidon: Just like zeus, pos can have troubles vs the fast heroic, because his troops are trained slow. Take of ceasefire and add additional ta’s to kill those annoying militias. Vs Hades: Both jarls and huskarls counter his main unit and his troops are trained slow. Take care of pestilence because you can lose your game with it. Vs Ra: Works very good vs Ra fh, because you have an offensive gp and stronger units. Huskarls are very effective because they counter camels and chariots pop cost effectly. Vs Isis: If she does fh you’re dead, but even if she doesn’t fh, it is very very hard to win because you can’t cast ww close to her base.(monument blocking). Vs set: risky, because he has a free army of animals so you have some troubles to pull fh vs him. Vs Norse: I can assure you that you will be dead if you do a fh vs them. So don’t do it, unless you are going to give a free win. Vs Kronos: Very useless vs. him(deconstruct, valor, cheap myth units, turma’s). Vs oranos: Very hard to do because he has access to prometheus, shockwave. Huskarls might be a good option vs. him(follow huskarl build ) Vs Gaia: Huskarls are the best solution vs. her and she isn’t that hard if you compare it with oranos and kronos. Benjamin
You need good hunt maps(because Odin has a hunt bonus). At least two packs of hunt is needed to do a fast heroic under 8 mins(more hunt is better so you can hunt whole the time without wasting wood on farms 
). So tundra, marsh, watering holes and Anatolia you can easily pull a fh under 8 mins. Alfeim and Ghost lake have sometimes good conditions to do a good fh. I don’t recommend other maps to do fh on with odin.
5 next vills to food
2 vills+ ox to gold
1 vill to tree near tc
1 dwarf to gold
2 vill to wood
1 dwarf to gold
1 vill + ox to wood
1 dwarf to gold
1 vill to gold
1 dwarf to gold
1 vill to gold
make also a second ulfsark, between this build.
- 2 vills from gold to food
- Make a hersir
- Make an armory
- 1 dwarf to gold
1 vill to gold.
Huskarl build
vill to wood(build with your ulf a dock on the left side)
4 vills to sheep
2 dwarves to gold
then all vills to wood and sometime a dwarf to gold until 4.10-4.30 when you must click in.
Try to build 10-12 fishing ships in archaic and classical.
Build a hersir
Research hunting dogs
Build an additional ox-cart
4 vills from wood to food
all vills/dwarves you make from you tc to gold
Build an armory
Build a longhouse.
Myth unit: Einherjar: 175 gold 15 favor. Myth unit with good armor and a good special which increase the attack of all friendly units.
Techs:
Safeguard: 300 wood 10 favor: Doubles hp of walls and towers and lower the cost of towers.
Artic wind: 200 wood 10 favor: increase hp of longboats by 10%.
He provides you a strong myth unit, good gp and decent techs. Einerjhars are good because they have an awesome special which works too on the ww. The gp will help to take down a tc( vs ra use it on his migdol).
Freya:
Myth unit: valkyrie: 200 food 18 fav: a fast myth unit which is be able to heal friendly units.
Techs: thundering hoves: 300 food 10 fav. Give cavalry and valkyries 10% hp/speed.
Aurora borealis: 200 gold 10 fav: +50% attack/ +33 healing rate.
Awesome myth unit, weak gp, and a decent tech. Freya is for a fast heroic much weaker because she doesn’t have a real good gp to help you. I mostly pick her vs eggies.
Myth unit: Mountain giant: A giant with tons of hp, huge attack and decent armor.
Techs: Ring Giver: 400 Gold, 30 Favor: Jarls +25% HP
:Long serpent: 200 Gold, 25 Favor, Longboats +20% attack, -20% crush vulnerability
:Wrath of the deep: 200 Gold, 15 Favor, Krakens +200 HP.
Njord is a very good choice when you do a fh, because he has a good gp, a extremely strong myth unit and a great tech which benefit your strong jarls.
Myth unit: Frost giant: 200 gold 22 fav: a myth unit who can freeze units with his breath.
Techs: winter harvest: 200 food 20 fav.: increase farm rate by 20%
Huntress axe: 300 Gold, 20 Fav: increase attack of ta’s by 20%
Rime: 200 Food, 20 Favor, Frost giants +33% HP, +20% hack damage, special attack charges 25% faster
Skadi isn’t a bad choice too for fh, because frost and ww have the same effect, but I prefer njord to skadi, because ww can kill units too and mountain giants are better.
). Myth units are very important in this strat, because Norse have access to very good myth units(esp. the mountain giant which has a tons of hp and a good crush attack so you have good siege). If you decide to use portable rams try to get at least 2-3 of them, because when they are alone they suck pretty hard. Try to destroy his militairy buildings and houses. If you keep a good pressure, you will win most of the times, because he will lose map control.
).
