Opening/Early Game as Elf

[Huttensohn]

Hi, are there already established "openings" in skirmish games?
I mostly play elf and I am trying to find the best openings. I found out that rushing for winning the Tc split and then consolidating works best, better than immediately trying to max out your factories. This even won me some games vs orc although if I play orc vs elf against myself orc completely crushes elf.
Speaking of the game with a medium amount of towns, fog of war and only a builder to start with, I do the following:

1) Construct an archery range and take the second Tc.
Recruit two townwatch
2)Continue building the archery range, send out your two townwatches. Recruit 1 ent worker and 1 fairy.

What is your ususual building order? I mostly do archery range, training ground, temple of nature, and then it really depends. Wizards are a big boost, but if the game is decided before you get them, it's of course a pity.
Questions are also elf worker vs ent worker and archer vs town watch and when to take ambidextrous.
Sometimes it can also be quicker to go for the fairy first, as you can steer your town watch more accurately to the tcs and don't waste time missing them while going into the fog of war.

The question is also on which maps/when going for the horse scout will end up in quicker occupation of the neutral tcs.

I have to admit in small games, I don't really go for glade, tree of life and sometimes not even ents. My (little) experience is by the time you get them, the game is decided.

[Huttensohn]

plus, if playing skirmish against ai, building one early anti cavalry unit always pays off. Generally I like the idea of building one backup anti cavalry unit and only move it out of the town center once I'm attacked with cavalry.

[Anchar]

Personally, when playing as elves in a multiplayer game, I first put on the production of a mounted scout, then with a builder I capture the 2nd center and in the 2nd center I produce an ellf with a stick in 1 turn. Elves with a stick quickly seize centers in the district, and a scout is needed to capture more distant centers, while I ignore some of the centers on the path of the scout and capture a closer one to the enemy in order to prevent the enemy from expanding their possessions. From the distant center, I again produce 1 walking elf which captures buildings in the distant district.

After the production of the invaders, I make builders in all centers in the rear and build production closer to the rear as soon as possible. In the distant region, I do, depending on the situation, both builders and cheap troops for defense (spearman, archer, swordsman). I try to build more buildings in the rear without even completing them, because even if your centers are captured, you will not lose the producing buildings, which is why you need to build production in advance.

When it comes to building buildings, the first thing I do is build buildings that have the most useful technologies to learn as soon as possible. It is best to produce buildings that have profitable fighters and profitable technologies, in case your production building is in danger, you can immediately change production to fighters.

I play big cards without fog.

[makazuwr32]

I like either 30x30+ maps or skirmish-based maps (preset tc gen, preset starting locations, you know where you need to move, no randomness).

For elves i always start on mentioned above maps for first building a blacksmith.
First few units i am training are (not in very first turn but in first 5-10 turns):
Townwatch for capturing tcs (3-4 max, depending on map size, amount of tcs near starting location)
Ent laborers and elven workers (1 worker per 2 laborers)
1-2 Druids/woodshapers
1-2 elven warriors (may be used as replacement of townwatch on maps with obstacles around starting location like "The Grand Fortresses" map)
1-3 archers (at least 1 poison archer among those)
1 swordman
Blade singers against everyone exept experienced elves (early game only)

Later produce few (1-3) mounted on unicorn townwatches for further scouting of map and conquering of tcs.

After finishing first blacksmith i am usually making first temple of nature and 1-2 wolf dens (temple of nature has delay vanishing aura that allows you to gather more wolves). In temple first tech to research is "nature".
After i am making training grounds and more blacksmithes (depending on map up to 5). Archery range is required only 1-2 for me and not that much here and now thus its construction can be delayed.
On medium and bigger maps i also make embassy and ent trainer(s).

First techs which is better to research:
Tc: melee/ranged dodges tier 1 (starting with ranged), ambidextria, tech for +2 sight (gives bonus sight for wolves as well thus is useful even on open maps to detect invinsible units in higher range, ridicilously useful on fog maps), treetop archery for bonus space in parapets for easier movement around your base.
Blacksmith: first required weapon smithing, after archery/armor, than shields, lastly throwers. If map has good amount of water than tridents are either 2nd or even 1st to research.

Overall strategy is depending on enemies, environment (labyrinth map for example requires either swordmen or blade singers early game to deal with gnoll towers and also some support of archers).

[Huttensohn]

Thanks for your inputs. I mostly play small maps (desert Mediterranean and Perilous Realm).

I found that the elven archery upgrade is extremely helpful, especially against orcs, because it makes your flame archers more viable against their buildings and trolls.
Same is true for arcane range.

[Huttensohn]

Thanks for your inputs. I mostly play small maps (desert Mediterranean and Perilous Realm).

I found that the elven archery upgrade is extremely helpful, especially against orcs, because it makes your flame archers more viable against their buildings and trolls.
Same is true for arcane range.

[makazuwr32]

Indeed arcane range and druidic range both are extremly useful as well as archery tech. Alas i do not like small maps because i prefer mostly long-term matches.

A bit later, after upscaling upgrade maybe we can play few matches between you and me.

[Shark guy 35]

I would be willing to play with you as well if you wanted.