I know that this topic is often beaten to death, but which do you think is best? I am for Immortals, with Praets and Jags in second place. :ninja:

1)recoats
2)kelsics

why jags?

Fast worker.

Gotta be Vanilla Cossacks.

Fast Worker by a longshot



and then Redcoat and Praetorian

Redcoat. It comes at a time where most of my conquest-wars begin. And then it has quite a big advantage over their 'normal' counterparts.
And next to that, England is one of my three favourite Civs to play.

I like jaguars because of their bonuses and you don't need iron. My typical Aztec game is beeline to ironworking and start mobbing the first civs I meet.

What's so great about Fast Workers?

What's so great about Fast Workers?

Well, they get mines built and forests cut one turn earlier (due to not using up all their movement when entering hills or forest), there's no requirement for them, and they never go obsolete.

I'm not sure whether this really makes them stronger than redcoats, praetorians or immortals though.

Also, perhaps some people mistake the "fast" for "working faster" instead of "moving faster".

I thought they worked faster, and I still think they stink...
I played as India an I had to tech race to stay ahead of the game, which I don't like doing. I guess warmongers have no real use for fast workers...

I thought they worked faster, and I still think they stink...
I played as India an I had to tech race to stay ahead of the game, which I don't like doing. I guess warmongers have no real use for fast workers...
They help your early expansion, where every turn counts. Of course if you don't improve your territory a lot and don't chop a lot because you are busy with Quechua or Axe rushing, you don't really profit from Fast Workers :D

To stay on topic: my favourite UU is the 1.61 Cossack, but I admit it is too strong (as is the Praetorian, but at least you need early Iron for him to be a true killer unit). By the time you can build Cossacks, you usually have horses, so the needed resource is not really limiting for this UU.

Disregarding the obvious choices (Cossack, Redcoat, Praetorian), my favourite is the Cho-Ku-Nu -- the built in collateral damage is nice, and you can also use it to defend your cities quite effectively. The Conquistador (Spain) is also nice -- keeps its defensive bonuses as opposed to Knight.

--Sigi

1) Praetorian
2) Vanilla Cossack
3) Vanilla Redcoat

i have to FORCE myself to go to war early. even then, by early i mean "before i have catapults" not "before i build a second-third-sometimes fourth city". i'm just not really made that way. goes back to civ2 i think, i need to feel prepared to go to war, i mean like 'take over a city every turn' ready not just 'ok here goes, i think i can replace enough troops during the war to cover those i'll lose'. hubby was watching me today, i decided to pick on toku. he didn't have any cities of my religion, and of course never gave me open borders, so i had no idea of how many or what type of units he had. by the time i was ready and declared i must have literally had 6x the force he did, and every single one more advanced.

so clearly, i'm addicted to fast workers. they are the bomb. they help from turn one (well, whenever you build your first one), immensely at the start and never go obsolete or useless. part of my trouble is that i can't seem to remember to whip production. like, ever. maybe 4 times per game if that. i prefer serfdom, at least that one i don't have to actively do anything to use. workers are just great, they make me happy, they can make my empire pretty ... altho i miss the cute straight civ2 railroads.

the prettiest UU is the cossack. how's that for a girlie answer?

the spanish trebuchet....although not a UU, it outshines the conquistador.

The quechua. These guys are great (although perhaps not applicable to every situation). You can build them early as anything, you don't need to research any out-of-the-way tech or rely on any resources, and they mean you may not need to build a single settler in the entire early game.
For max effectiveness, I always chop/whip a barracks before I start churning them out, so I can give them Cover - it's a lot of hammers early, but for every guy you build after that, you get a massive boost from 25% to 62.5% (!) victory chance against normal archers fortified in a flatlands city, which keeps them useful a lot longer and means that a lot of them survive to get city raider. And for 15 hammers each! That's less than half an axeman!
Even when axemen come and cities start getting better defences, your axe rush is going to be so much quicker and more powerful because you've already got all these cheap and often promoted quechua auxiliaries to soften them up, take their other weak cities and pillage the hell out of them. And to fight off barbs. Often my promoted quechuas have better odds than the axes!
On monarch I can usually break the backs of two civs and net myself an easy four or five cities right off the bat with these guys, and even more when my axes start coming.
Admittedly, I wouldn't dare use it against a half-decent human player (except to deny them copper) but they're so very beautiful against the AI.
Plus they look awesome!

I have to say I like the Immortals best. You get them early and they are quick enough to overrun at least one AI. I haven't tried the Romans or English yet, bet their UUs look good, too.

Praetorian, followed by the Redcoat. I am so uncreative. :p

Just curious, does anyone like the less popular ones such as Musketeers or Camel Archers?

Just curious, does anyone like the less popular ones such as Musketeers or Camel Archers?

I like Camel Archers. They do everything Knights do, plus more. And, even better yet, they require no resources. What's not to like? I've never understood why everyone dislikes Camel Archers. They're not overpowered like Praetorians, but they're pretty cool.

I've had my butt saved by Musketeers before. That extra point of movement is pretty nice. They also can keep up with your Knights and Cavalry. Some people like going for gunpowder and rushing AIs with Musketeers, but I usually use them for defense. Grenadiers and Riflemen, which come very soon after Gunpowder, only have one point of movement, so I still build a few Musketeers, so that I can easily shift my defenders to any threatened city. They're a little better than Knights on defense, since they can get defensive bonuses. Really, they don't have all that much to recommend, but since you're stuck with them when you play as France, you might as well make use of them.

I don't like Praetorians, because they're so overpowered. I feel like I'm cheating when I play as Rome.

Pretty much all of them are cool, except Gallic Warriors (slightly better in the new patch) and Jaguars (though I've come to respect them more).

I'd rather have Camel Archers than Jaguars.

Praetorians and Redcoats both dominate their respective eras.

Fast Workers are good. It's not having to wait to get some work done! :)

I'd say that there's no single best UU. They all (yes, ALL) have their uses. Even the Jaguar - resourceless is just invaluable sometimes, so Atzecs can simply beeline for IW without worries and start whipping the Jags whether they have iron or not, or whether the iron takes long to connect or not.

Why does everyone else hate Jags? They are actually really good if used correctly.

Im currently playing as Egypt and really liked the War Charriots. That 100% vs. Axemen can be huge in the early stage of the game.

I personally really like the Keshik, they let you rape and pillage without contest since nobody can catch them when they want to run away. Plus that first strike sure is nice against ground units.

Give 'em mobility and flanking.... ahhhhhh

Gallic Warrior's are great in the new patch: They are the same as Swordsmen except they start with Guerilla I and can be built with either Iron or Copper. Even if you don't care about the free promo, the resource issue is huge!

BERSERKERS :viking:

My vote goes to the original Cossacks in Civ4.Warlords pretty well nerfed them.

i actually used to hate on the fast workers till i finally played a game with them. that said, i have yet to use redcoats and cossacks. i personally love the cho-ko-nu because i like playing qin and find them unstoppable. individually theyre not all that, but once u suicide one or two, you wont have ANY losses.

1)Cossacks-I dont have warlords so I dont have any comments is it vanilla or not
2)Immortals because they look so cool:D

Immortals are better than just looking cool. They're fast, cheap to build, and if you get horses early, there isn't much in their way. And they don't need a bunch of fancy techs.

I find Navy SEALs practically useless. What is the point in coming so late? Although they are cool to play with.

Gallic Warrior's are great in the new patch: They are the same as Swordsmen except they start with Guerilla I and can be built with either Iron or Copper. Even if you don't care about the free promo, the resource issue is huge!

Wow, I didn't think of that. I thought they were useless (with only a weak promotion that seems to be of limited use for a swordsman), but I never saw that they didn't require iron. I guess that makes them slightly better, yeah. :)

Anyway, I feel that Janissaries are a bit overpowered (or rather, the other UU's are perhaps not overpowered enough? :) )

Wow, I didn't think of that. I thought they were useless (with only a weak promotion that seems to be of limited use for a swordsman), but I never saw that they didn't require iron. I guess that makes them slightly better, yeah. :)

I actually had a blast playing as Brennus in my current game ... had a rather unlucky starting position with little space, Tokugawa choking me, and Monty declaring war as soon as he could. Monty's empire had many hills, and most of his cities were placed on hills. Having swordsman-like attackers with (sfter promotions) double movement on hills in the enemy's empire, hill defense, and hill attack bonus made this effort much easier. :)

I agree, however, that the usage of this promotion is limited to special situation. It's also quite dumb that the UU and the UB have the same effect, which doesn't stack.

Anyway, I feel that Janissaries are a bit overpowered (or rather, the other UU's are perhaps not overpowered enough? :) )

Musketmen tend to get bsolete real fast in my games, I usually get grenadiers soon after. In my last game as Mehmed, I built about 3 Janissaries in total. Might be due to my playing style though. Beelining to Janissaries instead might be an interesting tactic when playing Mehmed ...

I agree, however, that the usage of this promotion is limited to special situation. It's also quite dumb that the UU and the UB have the same effect, which doesn't stack.

Dun affect only applies to archery, gunpowder, and scout units. It does not apply to melee units.

Musketmen tend to get bsolete real fast in my games, I usually get grenadiers soon after. In my last game as Mehmed, I built about 3 Janissaries in total. Might be due to my playing style though. Beelining to Janissaries instead might be an interesting tactic when playing Mehmed ...

I think to make the Janissaries work, you must get them as early as possible. Their strengths are against the previous era of weaponry (longbows, maces and knights).

I used to think Quechas were the best unit followed by Praetorians and redcoats. However I just found out today the Conquistadors get defensive bonuses in cities and defensive terrain. Put that in with their 50% bonus against melee units and they are practically impossible to stop!

The only unit that can beat them is a war elephant and that only applies when the elephant can catch the conquistadors and also only when you catch them in open terrain and they have no muskets or pikemen protecting them.

My god, you guys hate my Jaguars....:sad:

They're great for when you have sloppy land(lots of jungle) and not enough workers, especially when someone's advancing on you in an early war. Suddenly you love that jungle, even though the Jags are slightly weaker than the average swordsman and that jungle deprives you of food. Plus if you've got a barracks, you can give them woodsman bonus and then they're really good border patrol for a while!

Samurais are not so loved by many other people, but I like them because they get first strikes and look cooler than those dorky macemen. HAHA!
-The King:king:

I used to think Quechas were the best unit followed by Praetorians and redcoats. However I just found out today the Conquistadors get defensive bonuses in cities and defensive terrain. Put that in with their 50% bonus against melee units and they are practically impossible to stop!
Yeah, they are completely underrated. Unfortunately they require Iron and Horses, which can be critical if you try to get them early on (after your first conquest you usually have both resources).

The only unit that can beat them is a war elephant and that only applies when the elephant can catch the conquistadors and also only when you catch them in open terrain and they have no muskets or pikemen protecting them.
In the defense Elephants work well in any case. Just that the AI hardly ever builds Elephants for defense (if they even have Ivory).

I have to make sure to kick some butt using these guys when I play Spain next time.

--Sigi

Samurais are not so loved by many other people, but I like them because they get first strikes and look cooler than those dorky macemen. HAHA!
-The King:king:
Interesting. I've always liked the macemen and the cool rattling sound they make when fighting. It looks really mean how they hack their opponents with the mace. The Samurai look very nice, too, of course (especially when they die :-).

--Sigi