What are the mechanics of the Drill promotion and first stike ability? I have several times saved and promoted units to Combat 4 then to Drill 4 and the combat promotion always yeilds a higher win rate. Is there a situation where Drill is a good choice? Does drill just give you a chance to do 1% or 2% (depending on the level) damage before battle starts or is there more to it?
On the other hand Samurai seem to get a signifigant advantage over Macemen. Anyone know how it works and when it is beter?

There are already several threads on this. This post covers it well.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=5805895&postcount=3

Hi

Cliffy notes version is a first strike is chance to do free damage but the odds of chance at free damage being sucessful is the same as odds of a normal combat round being successful whuch resluts in--

if two units are equal in everything else and one has first strikes and other doesnt then one with first strikes will get a better chance to win and the more first strikes the better the chance. (Which is why Samuris can usually handle Macemen since cept for first strikes everything else the same.)

If two units very unequal in strength stats. But one has first strike and other doesnt then. If the stronger unit has the first strikes it's odds of winning dont really increase BUT it's odds of winning AND getting through the fight completely undamaged or with less damage than it would if it didnt have first strike do. (which is handy for whether or not the stronger unit is attacker or defender if like it an attacking Tank it can take the city and then move on to next one and not have to stop to heal. Or if it say a Longbowman in a city then it can take on attacker after attacker without getting damaged so it means you need less defenders until you start getting attacked by units WAAAY stronger than your longbowman--but hopefully by then they get upgraded to infantry or something. Going the drill route also helps defenders since the higher drill promotions also lowers the amount of collateral damage they take) And again the more first strikes the better the odds.

If it is the weaker unit that has the first strike well it has as much chance of getting in some free damage as it would of winning a regular combat round so odds of first strikes being successful much less making a difference VERY low but there is still a teeny tiny chance of getting lucky on the first strike rolls and at least making the battle a little more costlier for the stronger unit to win if not turning the tide. And again the more first strikes the better but it would still be miracle if they helped weaker unit win.

If you do a search for a thread with title of something like "combat explained" you will get a very detailed breakdown of how first strikes change odds exactly. which you should look for if you kind of player who LIKES knowing how to make a unit get 89% odds to win instead of 85% and likes LOTS of math. Im not that smart a player so I just stick with the cliffy notes hehe :P

Anyways hope this helps a lil bit :)

Kaytie

Yes, thank you for the link.
The reason that I could not see the advantage was that I was promoting Archery units who are usually very weak attackers and the power of drill really only comes out in a defence situation which already has big % Mods so Combat promotion is relitvly small and Drill provides a % on a % or in situations where the attacker has a large advantage so as to optimize the % on % bonus and minimze damage to the attacker.
This is also why I have such success with Samurai, they can be overwhelming attackers while my longbowmen could not be. It also Explains why Protective civs get drill.
Anyway, that information is perfect, thank you.

One other thing to think about is those units that get a very large bonus to certain unit types. EG Machine Gun. When defending (duh) a combat 1 only effectively gives a +5% bonus 18 * (100+100+10) = 37.8 compared to 18*(100+100) = 36. This effect only affects the unit type they are strong against. Helicopters and Anti-Tank units are other examples of units that scream for first strikes.

One other thing to think about is those units that get a very large bonus to certain unit types. EG Machine Gun. When defending (duh) a combat 1 only effectively gives a +5% bonus 18 * (100+100+10) = 37.8 compared to 18*(100+100) = 36. This effect only affects the unit type they are strong against. Helicopters and Anti-Tank units are other examples of units that scream for first strikes.

actually Combat 1 Always gives a +10% to Strength
its
Base Strength
* Combat Modifiers (1.0 to 1.5)
* all other modifiers (if the defender)