CASE STUDY 01 — Ptolemies vs Medium Romans on Alpine Valley

SCENARIO What We're Solving SETUP

Element	Value
Map	Alpine Valley — single eastern choke, mountains north & south, river protects flank
You	Ptolemies (cheap pikes, mercenary camp, strong eco)
Enemy	Medium AI Romans (swordsmen + skirmishers heavy, attacks straight down the valley)
Threat	Wave 1 around minute 8-10. CRITICAL: Medium AI scouts your walls and reroutes. If you wall the east choke, they attack from the NORTH flank instead. Expect 30-50+ units, not the head-on naive push.
Goal	Survive Wave 1 with 50%+ of your army intact. Be production-ready for Wave 2.

READ What the Map is Telling You 30-SECOND SURVEY

Mountains south → free wall on that side. Don't waste stone there.
Eastern choke — THE OBVIOUS approach. Wall it. But it is NOT the only path.
Northern flank along the river — passable. Medium AI's known trick: if you wall the east, they come north. This is THE killing blow people don't see.
Resource clusters near base → inner-ring eco. Don't expand east. Expand south, away from both attack vectors.

Map archetype: Looks like a CHOKE map (VOL.06) but is actually a TWO-PATH map in disguise. The strategy: wall the obvious choke AND fortify the flank, OR you get a free Trojan Horse against yourself.

📚 LESSON UPDATE: Medium AI scouts your walls and reroutes. Walling the east doesn't redirect them — it forces them to find the other path. You must cover BOTH approaches, not just the obvious one.

TIMELINE Minute-by-Minute Build 0:00 → 10:00

0:00 — START

Queue 5 women. Scout the choke. Grab treasure chests.

Queue 5 villagers in CC (women — food bonus)
Send starting cav east, sweep the choke, check map edges for treasure chests
Starting villagers: 4 food (berries/sheep), 2 wood

WHY: Starting cav loop is your minimap-pre-scout. Treasure chests can give 200-300 of any resource — picking them up funds a tower / extra villagers later.

2:00 — FOUNDATION

Barracks near woodline. 3 houses. Queue another 5 villagers.

Barracks goes up between CC and the choke (not deep in base)
Build 3 houses now (pop cap kills booms — see WHY)
CC queue refilled: 5 more villagers

WHY: The #1 silent eco leak is pop cap. You probably stopped training units last game because pop maxed out — and the game doesn't warn you. 3 houses now = ~30 pop headroom = no silent stalls.

4:00 — DOUBLE VISION

TWO outposts. One on north ridge. One overlooking the east choke approach.

Outpost #1: on the north ridge (covers the river flank — the AI's reroute path)
Outpost #2: forward on the east approach (covers the obvious choke path)
Storehouse AT the woodline (3-step drop-off)
2 villagers on stone
Villager count target: 18-20

WHY: Two outposts because there are TWO approach paths. Last game your scout saw movement to the north but you misread it as expansion. With outposts on both vectors, you'll see EXACTLY which path the wave is taking — east, north, or both. Vision on the north is non-negotiable.

6:00 — PHASE II + DUAL DEFENSE

Phase up at 25 villagers. TWO towers (east + north). 2nd barracks. Don't wall the east yet.

Phase II at 25 villagers, no later
Tower #1: at the EAST choke entrance
Tower #2: covering the NORTH approach (where the AI reroutes)
Second barracks goes up centrally — equidistant from both threats
DON'T wall the east yet. Walling forces the AI north. Let them think east is open until you have BOTH flanks fortified.
Build 3 more houses

WHY: This is the counterintuitive move: walls are information to the AI. The moment you wall a path, they reroute. If you have a tower covering the OTHER path BEFORE you wall, the wall is fine — they'll get shot routing around it. If you wall first without the north tower, you funnel them into your weakness. Cover before you commit.

7:00 — ARMY PIPELINE

Both barracks queue 5 pikes each. Mercenary Camp going up.

Each barracks: queue 5 pikes (right-click 5 times)
Mercenary Camp goes up halfway to the choke — start it now
Stable optional but useful (3 cav for flanking)
Villager queue STILL going in CC

WHY: Continuous queueing is the parallel-process mindset (VOL.05). Don't pause villagers for army. Both happen simultaneously. The Merc Camp is your Iberian Skirmisher source — these counter Roman skirmishers directly.

8:00 — STANDING ARMY, CENTRAL POSITION

10-12 units in the CENTER. NOW wall the east. Garrison both towers. Healers ready.

~10-12 units: 6 pikes, 3 skirmishers, 2 slingers, 1-2 cav
Position the army centrally — equidistant from both towers. They can react to whichever flank gets hit.
NOW wall the east choke. Both flanks are covered — the AI can reroute north and still hit a tower.
Build a Temple, train 2 healers
Garrison 3 ranged in each tower (east tower + north tower)
Aggressive stance, in formation

WHY: Central army = response flexibility. If the wave comes east, you reinforce the east tower from the center. If they reroute north, you intercept on the north flank. The center is the only position that responds to both. Putting your whole army at the east wall is a trap that loses the moment they go north.

9:00 — KEEP PUMPING

Both barracks + merc camp pumping. Don't stop. Don't garrison yet.

Both barracks: queue another 5 pikes each
Merc camp: queue 5 Iberian skirmishers
Stand pat. Don't engage. Wait for them to come to you.
Villagers KEEP GATHERING — don't garrison yet

WHY: The wave is about to hit. By being still queueing units, when wave 1 lands you'll have +5 reinforcements arriving during the fight. This is the fix for "wave 2 caught me empty" — your wave 1 doesn't pause production, so wave 2 finds you already replenishing.

9:30 — WAVE INCOMING

Outpost spots the wave. Garrison villagers. Army holds.

Outpost confirms army moving toward you (not workers) — that's an attack force
Garrison villagers in CC + houses (one hotkey)
Army stays behind wall, aggressive stance, in formation
Healers behind the army line
Reinforcements still queued in barracks — they spawn DURING the fight

WHY: Garrisoning villagers is free — they're safe and the CC shoots arrows with them inside. Your army is positioned, not panicking. The wave is now hitting infrastructure, not your eco.

10:00 — THE FIGHT (RESPONSIVE)

Read which path. Move army to that flank. Hold while reinforcements spawn.

Whichever flank the outpost reports — move army there. Don't split. Don't hesitate.

If they come EAST (the obvious path):

Move army to the east tower. Pikes behind the wall.
Wall + tower do massive chip while they break through
Send cav south around to flank their skirmishers
Reinforcements from barracks reach the east in 15s

If they reroute NORTH (the trap):

Move army to the north tower. No wall there but tower covers the open ground.
Pikes form a line in the open with the tower at your back
Cav loops around and hits their rear
This is where most players die — but you saw it coming and you're not panicking

In both cases: healers tick HP, reinforcements arrive mid-fight, you don't engage until they're committed.

WHY: The whole point of the central army + dual-outpost setup is THIS MOMENT. You're not guessing — you're reading and reacting. The AI can pick the path; you can pick the response. They lose either way because both flanks are covered.

Success metric: Wave 1 ends at minute 11-12. You have 8+ units alive, healers active, both barracks still queueing, and Wave 2's spawning units already partway done. You're not just surviving — you're scaling.

WHY Why This Plan Wins PRINCIPLES IT EXPLOITS

Principle	How it applies here
Use the map	Mountains = free walls north + south. River = vision lane. Only one direction to defend.
Terrain fights first	Tower + wall + choke do 50% of the damage before your army even engages.
Parallel processes	Eco grows AS army builds AS scout reports AS towers go up. Nothing waits.
Counter the comp	Pikes vs Roman swords. Iberian skirmishers vs Roman skirmishers. Cav flank kills their ranged.
Production never stops	Even during the fight, units are being trained. Wave 2 doesn't find you empty.
Houses ahead of pop	No silent stalls. Every barracks keeps producing without you noticing.
Outpost for read	You see the wave coming, you see what kind it is, you don't misread expansion as attack.
Healers in temple	Your units survive between waves. Wave 1 doesn't leave you at zero.

FRAMEWORK How to Solve Any Matchup REUSABLE FOR ANY CIV + MAP

This specific plan is one application. To derive a plan for any future matchup, run through these 6 questions in order:

What is the map archetype?

Open / Choke / Island / Highland / Asymmetric. From VOL.06. This dictates whether to wall, rush, expand wide, or boom safe.

What's the enemy civ's signature comp?

Romans → swords+skirmishers. Persians → cav-heavy. Macedonians → pikes+siege. Each has a counter. Look it up before the game.

What's your civ's signature counter?

Ptolemies → cheap pikes, Iberian skirmishers via merc camp, elephants. What does YOUR civ do that beats THEIR comp?

Where can the first attack come from? (Plural.)

List EVERY possible approach path. Don't just pick one. Medium AI scouts walls and reroutes — if you defend only the obvious choke, they take the other path. Cover all paths with at least an outpost + tower BEFORE you wall any one.

What's the minimum army I need by minute 9?

Medium = 10-15 units behind defense. Hard = 20+. Work backwards: how many barracks need to be pumping from when?

How do I leave Wave 1 with units AND eco intact?

Use terrain + buildings to soak damage. Keep production running through the fight. Have healers. Don't all-in on the first defense.

The framework in one sentence: Read the map, name the enemy, pick the counter, place defense on the predicted path, hit production targets, and survive with reserves.

PITFALLS What Killed You Last Time DON'T REPEAT

Pop cap silent stall — fix: 3 houses by minute 4, 3 more by minute 6, more by minute 10
Misreading scout report — fix: army units moving TOWARD you = attack. Workers at a resource cluster = expansion. Direction matters.
Single-flank wall (THIS GAME'S KILLER) — fix: every approach gets at least ONE tower BEFORE you wall anything. Walls force reroutes; uncovered flanks become highways.
Booming THEN army — fix: parallel processes. Eco never stops. Army never stops.
No reserves for Wave 2 — fix: production runs DURING wave 1. Reinforcements arrive mid-fight. Wave 2 finds you replenishing, not empty.
Slingers vs skirmishers — fix: that's the wrong matchup. Use Iberian skirmishers + cav flank.

ENDPLATE The Three Sentences to Memorize RECITE BEFORE EACH GAME

Read EVERY path, not just the obvious one. Walls reroute the enemy.
Cover all approaches with a tower before walling any one.
Boom and army are parallel. Never sequential.
Wave 1 must leave reserves. Wave 2 always comes.