WilliamOfOrange
May 17, 2008, 10:10 PM
Here is my second strategy article for [civ4], actually this one is :bts:. You know what they say: those who can, do. Those who can't, write strategy articles. :lol: Naw, there are plenty of great articles out there from people who know what they are doing. I do find myself sometimes, that what I envision doesn't always work out for me. This article is not based on a vast experience, but is merely a theoretical look at how to exploit the special promotions given to UUs and what could mean while playing with Permanent Alliances. Sometimes I get frustrated while trying out a particular HOF gauntlet, so this is me taking a break and doing something we all enjoy: analyzing the game! :coffee:
I was inspired at the possibilities of promotions and gifting units between civs when playing the HOF Major Gauntlet 25: an Emperor Domination victory with Hammurabi. I had tried a few games as a OCC with the hopes of forming a PA with a strong civ with good culture spreading ability. It never worked out, but the seeds for this article were planted. I tried a few games with Zulu and Ethiopia and others, practicing gifted units and seeing what would happen.
The benefits discussed here could be used for multiplayer games or alliances with the AI. I would like to look at each unit that has promotions from the start, which would then carry through when upgraded or gifted. Obviously, certain civs, like the Celts for example, will have the ability to produce units with a promotion that will carry through the rest of those units, in this case, Guerrilla I. (See aelf's UU thread and my UB thread for details.) Actually, I strongly suggest reading through aelf's Comprehensive UU thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=194003) to really get the most from this thread. His thread lists a whole lot of strategies. What I would like to look at is the benefits of promotions when pumping up a unit in one era by building on their starting promotion(s) and then what it can lead to later on. I would also like to take a look simultaneously at the particular events and quests in BtS that could stretch things even further. So, I have written this with :bts: in mind, and not all may apply to Vanilla and Warlords. I have also not considered unrestricted combos, but there are certainly things discussed here that could apply to that.
Before we start a few simple facts about promotions:
Ambush is available to: Siege, Gunpowder, Armoured and Helicopter Units
Amphibious is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted, and Gunpowder Units
Barrage is available to: Siege, Armoured and Naval Units
Blitz is available to: Armoured, Mounted, Helicopter and Naval Units (Sorry, no blitz Impi or Musketeers :sad:)
Combat is available to: All Units
Charge is available to: Melee, Mounted, Armoured and Helicopter Units
City Garrison is available to: Archery and Gunpowder Units
City Raider is available to: Melee, Siege and Armoured Units
Cover is available to: Archery, Melee and Gunpowder Units
Drill is available to: Archery, Siege, Gunpowder, Armoured, Naval and Helicopter Units
Flanking is available to: Mounted, Armoured, Naval and Helicopter Units
Formation is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted and Gunpowder Units
Guerrilla is available to: Archery and Gunpowder Units
Interception is available to: Gunpowder and Air Units
Mobility is available to: Mounted and Armoured Units
Pinch is available to: Mounted, Gunpowder, Armoured and All Air Units
Sentry is available to: Mounted, Helicopter and Naval Units
Shock is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted, and Siege Units
Woodsman is available to: Melee and Gunpowder Units
March is not available to: Armoured, Naval or All Air Units
Medic is not available to: Armoured or Air Units
Both Archery and Gunpowder Units are eligible to receive the same promotions. Both Melee and Gunpowder Units are eligible to receive the same promotions. This is basically because all Melee and Archery Units will eventually become Gunpowder Units, although Melee and Archery Units receive separate promotions exclusive to themselves.
Any promotion given to a unit, whether or not it is legal for its upgrade path, will stay with that unit when upgraded. Intrinsic special units abilities will be lost. For example, a Maceman has a +50% strength versus other Melee Units. When upgraded to a Rifleman, it loses that ability. However, if the Maceman had the Shock Promotion for an additional +25% against Melee Units, that would stay with the Rifleman.
The real stroke of genius is to land promotions for your units outside of their normal ability in order to gain a tactical advantage. For example, all civs can employ this one: Gunpowder Units cannot receive Shock or City Raider promotions, but if you were to upgrade Melee Units which do have those promotions (or Archery Units with Shock), then your new Gunpowder Units will have them carry over. The rule when upgrading is that they cannot lose their training. The idea is to look for more exploits from the Events and Quests and UUs and them apply them to Permanent Alliances. Let's explore, shall we?
Free Promotions from Traits
Aggressive Civs have their Melee and Gunpowder Units start with Combat I. This means that for their first promotion they can have: Cover, Charge, Pinch, Shock or Medic I. Those leaders include: Montezuma of the Aztecs, Hammurabi of Babylon, Boudica of the Celts, Alexander of the Greeks, Tokugawa of Japan, Kubla Khan and Genghis Khan on the Mongols, Stalin of Russia, Shaka of the Zulu and Ragnar of the Vikings. Aggressive civs build their barracks faster than other civs.
Protective Civs have their Archery and Gunpowder starts with City Garrison I and Drill I. This means that for their first promotion they can have: Cover, Pinch and Shock. Those leaders include: Saladin of Arabia, Mao Zedong and Qin Shi Huang of China, Churchill of England, Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire, Tokugawa of Japan, Wang Kon of Korea, Sitting Bull of the Native Americans and Gilgamesh of Sumeria. Protective civs build walls and castles faster than other civs.
*Note: Charismatic and Imperialistic civs will have easier access to promotions given their bonus of less XPs needed for promotion or greater GG appearance, respectively. Special civs to be aware of include:
America: Two Charismatic leaders: Lincoln and Washington
Arabia: Saladin: Protective
Aztecs: Montezuma: Aggressive, UU: Jaguar: see below
Babylon: Hammurabi: Aggressive
Byzantine: Justinian I: Imperialistic
Carthage: Hannibal: Charismatic, UU: Numidian Calvary: see below
Celts: Both leaders are Charismatic, Boudica is also Aggressive, UB: Dun gives free Guerrilla I promotion to Archery and Gunpowder Units, UU: Gallic Swordsman: see below
China: Both leaders are Protective, UU: Cho-Ku-No: see below
England: Victoria: Imperialistic, Churchill: Charismatic and Protective, UU: Redcoats: see below
France: Two Charismatic leaders: De Gaulle and Napoleon
Greece: Alexander: Aggressive, UU: Phalanx: see below
Holy Roman Empire: Charlemagne: Imperialistic and Protective
Japan: Tokugawa: Aggressive and Protective, UU: Samurai: see below
Korea: Wang Kon: Protective
Mongols: Both leaders are Aggressive, Genghis Khan is also Imperialistic, UB: Ger gives extra +2XPs to Mounted Units, UU: Keshik: see below
Native Americans: Sitting Bull: Protective, UB: Totem gives +3XPs to Archery Units
Ottomans: Suleiman: Imperialistic
Persia: Cyrus: Charismatic and Imperialistic
Portugal: Joćo: Imperialistic
Rome: Both leaders are Imperialistic
Russia: Catherine: Imperialistic, Stalin: Aggressive
Spain: UB: Citadel gives +5XPs to Siege Units
Sumeria: Gilgamesh: Protective
Vikings: Ragnar: Aggressive, UB: Trading Post gives free Navigation I promotion to Naval Units, UU: Berserker: see below
Zulus: Shaka: Aggressive, UB: Ikhanda, Barracks that is also a mini-courthouse and is built faster, UU: Impi: see below
Starting Promotions for normal units and UUs:
Anti-Tanks start with Ambush
Berserkers start with Amphibious (and Combat I from Ragnar)
Cho-Ku-Nos start with City Garrison I and Drill I from Protective leaders
Gallic Warriors start with Guerrilla I (and Combat I with Boudica)
Explorers start with Guerrilla I and Woodsman I
Impis start with Mobility (and Combat I from Shaka)
Jaguars start with Woodsman I (and Combat I from Montezuma)
Marines and Navy SEALs start with Amphibious and March
Phalanx starts with Combat I with Alexander
Tanks, Panzers and Modern Armour start with Blitz
Numidian Calvary start with Flanking I
Oromo Warrior starts with Drill I and Drill II
Privateers start with Sentry
Quechua start with Combat I
Redcoats start with City Garrison I and Drill I with Churchill
Samurai start with Drill I (and Combat I from Tokugawa)
Spy starts with Commando
Events or Quests (shamelessly copied from Ori's Random Event List (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=236727) which can result in blanket promotions to either specific units or type of units. The simplest way to look at it is to see it as one step further up the promotion path, but this article is aimed to look at the strategies that can arise (I didn't have enough characters to put in the title). We will assume a Barracks for most situations and ignore possible civics or GGs for the most part. Obviously, they would add to the promotion possiblities, but I would like to simplify by concentrating on this humble setup. By all means, if there is something that you feel I should mention, speak up.
Events: Basically any of these event is a nice advantage, as I assume only one civ is able to have an event awarded to them. So while everyone will definitely benefit, perhaps there are certain leaders or traits or civs which can take this advantage and turn it into another.
A) Bowyer: All your Archery units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Prereq: Archery
Analysis: This event lasts until the Renaissance, which is basically the life of the Archery Units and has occurred in most of the games that I have played. Obviously, the earlier the better, but later occurrences may be welcome. The immediate advantage means that city defenders are instantly stronger, giving a more of an advantage against barbs for a start. A protective Longbowman on in hill city with Combat I to start is that much tougher now. Furthermore, with a Barracks, your Archery Units would be available to receive Medic I, Cover and Shock out of the gate, all of which are important in the very early game and also Pinch (with gunpowder) and Charge would be available too, an advantage towards the end of the usefulness of the archery units. Being attacked by enemy Musketmen suddenly and being able to give your Longbowmen the Pinch promotion might be huge. That being said, a protective civ will have access to all of those except for Medic I. So being able to give it the medic promotion to start might really be huge in defending. A protective civ is able to give an Archery Unit the Formation promotion via Drill II. This event gives a non-protective civ equal footing with the Formation promotion through Combat I and II.
I feel the real benefit of this event is the promotions that it unlocks and the resulting ability to diversify your units much sooner by not having to wait for battles to gain the necessary XPs. This event means that when you upgrade your Archery Units into Gunpowder Units they will already be that much better than or at least equal to the Gunpowder Units of other civs, non-Aggressive and Aggressive, respectively. If you are Aggressive, your Gunpowder Units will have Combat I anyway when produced, or from upgrading from Melee Units, but this event gives you the ability to have CI for units upgraded from Archery Units as well. It saves you the trouble of giving your Archery Units the CI to open other promotions and gets you a higher level unit sooner. At the very least, if you are not Aggressive, then this event will put your Gunpowder Units upgraded from Archery Units on par with an Aggressive civs. And for defending, based on the usual promotions, Gunpowder Units from Archery Units are better defenders than those upgraded from Melee Units.
Special Civ Considerations:
Archer rushing (or city protecting) with Bowman or Skirmishers just got better if you get this event practically off the bat and protection from Quechua and Immortals just got easier, again, if early enough. The Crossbowman and Chinese Cho-Ko-Nos just got stronger and perhaps a longer life. As said above, giving Churchill Combat I to start also means a quicker, Charismatic progression up the promotion paths for some future, deadly Redcoats. And, no more "wasting" the some of the +6XPs from the Native American Totem Pole on the CI promotion. You can use those two promotions to go further up that path or others or even diversify with cover, shock, etc. Those units upgraded to Gunpowder Units would be scary behind the cheap Walls and Castles. And what about Celtic Archery or upgraded-to-Gunpowder Units built in Dun-cities? The Guerrilla promotions already make things bad, but the free CI promotion can really make it tough for an enemy to dislodge them. Finally, if you are Tokugawa, you will have Combat I, City Garrison I and Drill I Gunpowder Units that you build, however your archery units only carry their promotions when upgrading. Taking a normal Longbowman and upgrading does not yield the automatic Combat I promotion that a built Rifleman gets. Therefore, this event favours Japan nicely, as you can concentrate on promoting your Archery Units with further Combat or Drill promotions or Shock, Cover, etc. Then when you up grade, they carry all of their training with them.
B) Horseshoe: All your mounted units gain the Flanking I promotion
Prereq: Pastured Horse AND road OR railroad
Analysis: I am guessing that there are two types of players: one which promote with Flanking immediately and those who prefer the combat path. This event makes it simple. Finish off the Flanking with II and then go up the Combat path or save the Flanking for later once your unit is powerful enough with promotions that you'll be more likely to want to preserve it. This 10% withdrawal chance adds to the intrinsic withdrawal of the mounted units. War chariots get a total of 20%, Mounter Archer units: +30%, Camel Archer and Cuirassier units: 25%, and Calvary Units: 40%. Any of these units upgraded to a Helicopter would give it a total of 35% withdrawal chance. Knights, Cataphrachts and the Elephant Units do not have an intrinsic withdrawal so the immediate Flanking I would be nice. This event makes your Knight units less vulnerable when upgrading from Horse Archer or Chariot Units. With a stable and barracks, the unit will have enough for two promotions (close to three with Charismatic Hannibal or Cyrus or Imperialistic Mongols or - yipes! - Cyrus again!!): shooting for Mobility via Flanking II is now possible or maybe go up the Combat path in the hopes of eventually getting the blitz promotion much quicker. Why would it be quicker? The extra withdrawal chance ensures greater survival and therefore, more battles to win and GGPs to collect. An imperialistic or charismatic leader could reach the points quicker than they could reach the tech needed for blitz! I never thought much about Flanking II as the withdrawal is of course nice, but if one only attacks at high odds it is not needed. The Immune to 1st Strikes is also quite useless, I find, because most Mounted Units have that intrinsically. Only Chariots, Immortals, Cataphrachts and Calvary and Elephant Units don't have it. With this event, it's only one promotion to get to Flanking II, which makes it more desirable, being able to promote your Cataphrachts, Elephants and Calvary to Flanking II or promote lower units at the time and upgrade them with Flanking II intact, making them immune to first strikes as well. But again, I would likely use it as an opportunity to go with more combat or unit-type specific promotions, depending on the situation and difficulty level. That being said, you are now only two promotions away from mobility, which you can get out of the gate with barracks and stables. Now your mounted units can sneak in and out for quick resource pillaging or arrive unsuspectingly like the Keshiks can do. That is fun, but remember the more likely your unit survives, the less you need to build.
Special Civ Considerations: This event is not even entirely useless to Carthage despite their Numidian Calvary starting with Flanking I. Any NC upgraded will carry the Flanking I through, but any Chariot before then or any Elephant, Knight or above produced after would still get it, without needing to be an upgrade from the NC. But jumping these guys up to mobility is quite effective if not just plain fun, as now they are like a Keshiks younger brother - weaker, but almost as versatile on the terrain and as I said above, great pillagers and surprise attackers. They not only can withdraw, but can move a little quicker through some terrain in escaping to heal. Don't forget, Hannibal loves his Elephants, too!
C) Champion: Unit gets Leadership promotion
Prereq: Not at war AND undamaged unit with 3 or more XP AND without Leadership promotion
Analysis: +100% from combat experience? Thanks!!
D) Axe Haft: All Axeman units gain the Shock promotion
Prereq: Bronze Working
Analysis: Lasting until the Renaissance Era, this is a potentially early event with interesting future ramifications. Besides boosting the anti-Melee strength to 75% for a normal Axeman and later on a Maceman Unit (upgraded to, not hard-built), this promotion will stay with the unit even as it upgrades through the Gunpowder Unit path. This is great because if facing powerful Melee enemies your GP units have better odds. Perhaps a wounded GP unit is not such easy pickings or it's enough to dislodge a tough hill top opponent while pillaging or attacking a city on a hill and if you are still torn between the difficult decision of Shock or City Raider I, now you can have your cake and eat it too!
Special Civ Considerations: The Phalanx or normal Axeman unit become more of anti-Melee Unit, but what about the two other Axeman type? A Dog Soldier is only strength 4, but with +100% against Melee Units, while a Vulture is a whopping 6, but with only +25%. So, the free promotion here, makes the Vulture a slightly more powerful Axeman, negating the penalty if you will, of being strength 6. The Dog Soldier is not stronger, but the total 125% can be helpful too. Combing through Arathorn's Combat Explained (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=137615) article and Solver's over at Apolyton (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140622&) I have been able to produce a spreadsheet to help analyze combat. I have taken in game percentages when they have conflicted with the Math. Let's compare Melee Units against unpromoted Axemen and Spearmen assuming all else is equal (Axeman and Phalanx are the same):
Axeman Vs. Axeman, 5.0 vs. 5.0 -- 50.0%
Dog Soldier Vs. Axeman, 4.0 vs. 3.33 -- 72.8%
Vulture Vs. Axeman, 6.0 vs. 6.25 -- 35.2%
Shock Axeman Vs. Axeman, 5.0 vs. 4.0 -- 75.0%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Axeman, 4.0 vs. 2.86 -- 88.0%
Shock Vulture Vs. Axeman, 6.0 vs. 5.0 -- 72.9%
Axeman Vs. Spearman, 5.0 vs. 2.66 -- 97.5%
Dog SoldierVs. Spearman, 4.0 vs. 2.0 -- 98.0%
Vulture Vs. Spearman, 6.0 vs. 3.2 -- 97.5%
Shock Axeman Vs. Spearman, 5.0 vs. 2.28 -- 99.4%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Spearman, 4.0 vs. 1.78 -- 99.4%
Shock Vulture Vs. Spearman, 6.0 vs. 2.66 -- 99.5%
Axeman Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 5.0 vs. 4.0 -- 75.0%
Dog Soldier Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 4.0 vs. 3.0 -- 78.2%
Vulture Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 6.0 vs. 4.8 -- 75.0%
Shock Axeman Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 5.0 vs. 3.43, 89.2%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 4.0 vs. 2.66, 90.0%
Shock Vulture Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 6.0 vs. 4.0, 90.0%
Shock Axeman Vs. Praetorian, 5.0 vs. 4.57 -- 67.7%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Praetorian, 4.0 vs. 3.56 -- 69.3%
Shock Vulture Vs. Praetorian, 6.0 vs. 5.33 -- 69.3%
The Cover promotion allows you to concentrate on Combat or City Raider promotions. Praetorians don't seem that tough now do they? Also, imagine your Axeman Unit upgraded to a Maceman or Samurai or Berserker; they are instantly the one of toughest Melee Units.
Tower Shield: All Melee units gain the Cover promotion
Prereq: Mining
Analysis: This is an event which could occur extremely early depending on your starting techs, however it does have a very low chance of occurring. So no more debating whether to give your Axeman the Cover or City Raider promotion for your opening rushes. This event makes your Melee defenders more resistant to Crossbows and makes your attacking forces a little better against city defenders.
Smokeless Powder: All Musketman units gain the Pinch promotion
Prereq:Gunpowder
Analysis:Available until Rifling, Scientific Method or Steel, this event is only useful if your opponents also have Gunpowder Units. You could build a bunch of Musketmen and then upgrade them at a later time. You only have the lifetime of Musketmen to gain this rare event. Later on, it forces opponents to have to promote Pinch as well to even things out while allowing you to pursue the Combat line or Drill path.
Special Civ Considerations:This is a nice event to help turn the time in your favour if you were not the first to Gunpowder, or keep your supremacy if you were, but imagine Musketeers, Janissaries or Oromo Warriors with this promotion. All the more reason to build these UUs now. The Jannisary become the best all-round unit with 25% bonus against Melee, Archery, Mounted and now Gunpowder Units.
Stronger Fittings: All Crossbowman units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Analysis: With Machinery you get Crossbowman and the chance for this event, until you reach the Renaissance Era. Not being Aggressive, you could build a bunch and let them keep the CI promotion when upgrading them to Riflemen. This event is not as common or as good as the Bowyer as it only affects the Crossbowman and not all Archery Units. A Chinese player will benefit by having his Cho-Ko-Nos upgrade to Riflemen equal to that of Aggressive and Protective Japan. See the Bowyer event for the promotions that Combat I opens up.
Firing Pins: All Grenadier units gain the Pinch promotion
Analysis: Military Science gives you Grenadiers and the chance for this event to occur, at least until you have discovered Steam Power, Scientific Method or Artillery. Grenadiers already have +50% attack against Riflemen, this gives them a total of 75% versus Riflemen or just +25% against other Gunpowder Units.
Rifled Cannon: All Cannon units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Analysis:
Metal Decks: All Carrier units gain the Drill 3 promotion
Analysis:
Long Range Fighters: All Fighter units gain the Range 1 promotion
Analysis:
Halberd: All Pikeman units gain the Shock promotion
Analysis:
Reinforced Hull: All Trireme units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Analysis:
Charismatic: All Gunpowder units gain the March promotion
Analysis:
Quests:
Horse Whispering
All mounted units get the Sentry promotion
Harbormaster
All Naval Units gain the Combat 1 promotion
OR
All Naval Units gain the Navigation 1 promotion
Master Blacksmith
All Swordsman units gain the Shock promotion
Best Defense
All Melee units gain the City Garrison 1 promotion
War Chariots
All Chariot units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Elite Swords
All Swordsman units gain the City Raider 1 promotion
OR
All Melee units gain the Drill 1 promotion
Warships
All Trireme units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Guns Butter
All Musketman units gain the Pinch promotion
Noble Knights
All Knight Units gain the Flanking 1 promotion
Overwhelm
All DESTROYER, BATTLESHIP, CARRIER, FIGHTER and JET_FIGHTER units gain the Combat 1 promotion
As you can see, there are some interesting options and units both with and without the quests that give some units promotions which are not normally allowed for that unit type. Some are just normal advantages, but advantages, nonetheless. Before we analyze each civ and how they can exploit this or work with a partner to either gift or accept UUs, let us look at the normal upgrade paths for all the units.
I was inspired at the possibilities of promotions and gifting units between civs when playing the HOF Major Gauntlet 25: an Emperor Domination victory with Hammurabi. I had tried a few games as a OCC with the hopes of forming a PA with a strong civ with good culture spreading ability. It never worked out, but the seeds for this article were planted. I tried a few games with Zulu and Ethiopia and others, practicing gifted units and seeing what would happen.
The benefits discussed here could be used for multiplayer games or alliances with the AI. I would like to look at each unit that has promotions from the start, which would then carry through when upgraded or gifted. Obviously, certain civs, like the Celts for example, will have the ability to produce units with a promotion that will carry through the rest of those units, in this case, Guerrilla I. (See aelf's UU thread and my UB thread for details.) Actually, I strongly suggest reading through aelf's Comprehensive UU thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=194003) to really get the most from this thread. His thread lists a whole lot of strategies. What I would like to look at is the benefits of promotions when pumping up a unit in one era by building on their starting promotion(s) and then what it can lead to later on. I would also like to take a look simultaneously at the particular events and quests in BtS that could stretch things even further. So, I have written this with :bts: in mind, and not all may apply to Vanilla and Warlords. I have also not considered unrestricted combos, but there are certainly things discussed here that could apply to that.
Before we start a few simple facts about promotions:
Ambush is available to: Siege, Gunpowder, Armoured and Helicopter Units
Amphibious is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted, and Gunpowder Units
Barrage is available to: Siege, Armoured and Naval Units
Blitz is available to: Armoured, Mounted, Helicopter and Naval Units (Sorry, no blitz Impi or Musketeers :sad:)
Combat is available to: All Units
Charge is available to: Melee, Mounted, Armoured and Helicopter Units
City Garrison is available to: Archery and Gunpowder Units
City Raider is available to: Melee, Siege and Armoured Units
Cover is available to: Archery, Melee and Gunpowder Units
Drill is available to: Archery, Siege, Gunpowder, Armoured, Naval and Helicopter Units
Flanking is available to: Mounted, Armoured, Naval and Helicopter Units
Formation is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted and Gunpowder Units
Guerrilla is available to: Archery and Gunpowder Units
Interception is available to: Gunpowder and Air Units
Mobility is available to: Mounted and Armoured Units
Pinch is available to: Mounted, Gunpowder, Armoured and All Air Units
Sentry is available to: Mounted, Helicopter and Naval Units
Shock is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted, and Siege Units
Woodsman is available to: Melee and Gunpowder Units
March is not available to: Armoured, Naval or All Air Units
Medic is not available to: Armoured or Air Units
Both Archery and Gunpowder Units are eligible to receive the same promotions. Both Melee and Gunpowder Units are eligible to receive the same promotions. This is basically because all Melee and Archery Units will eventually become Gunpowder Units, although Melee and Archery Units receive separate promotions exclusive to themselves.
Any promotion given to a unit, whether or not it is legal for its upgrade path, will stay with that unit when upgraded. Intrinsic special units abilities will be lost. For example, a Maceman has a +50% strength versus other Melee Units. When upgraded to a Rifleman, it loses that ability. However, if the Maceman had the Shock Promotion for an additional +25% against Melee Units, that would stay with the Rifleman.
The real stroke of genius is to land promotions for your units outside of their normal ability in order to gain a tactical advantage. For example, all civs can employ this one: Gunpowder Units cannot receive Shock or City Raider promotions, but if you were to upgrade Melee Units which do have those promotions (or Archery Units with Shock), then your new Gunpowder Units will have them carry over. The rule when upgrading is that they cannot lose their training. The idea is to look for more exploits from the Events and Quests and UUs and them apply them to Permanent Alliances. Let's explore, shall we?
Free Promotions from Traits
Aggressive Civs have their Melee and Gunpowder Units start with Combat I. This means that for their first promotion they can have: Cover, Charge, Pinch, Shock or Medic I. Those leaders include: Montezuma of the Aztecs, Hammurabi of Babylon, Boudica of the Celts, Alexander of the Greeks, Tokugawa of Japan, Kubla Khan and Genghis Khan on the Mongols, Stalin of Russia, Shaka of the Zulu and Ragnar of the Vikings. Aggressive civs build their barracks faster than other civs.
Protective Civs have their Archery and Gunpowder starts with City Garrison I and Drill I. This means that for their first promotion they can have: Cover, Pinch and Shock. Those leaders include: Saladin of Arabia, Mao Zedong and Qin Shi Huang of China, Churchill of England, Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire, Tokugawa of Japan, Wang Kon of Korea, Sitting Bull of the Native Americans and Gilgamesh of Sumeria. Protective civs build walls and castles faster than other civs.
*Note: Charismatic and Imperialistic civs will have easier access to promotions given their bonus of less XPs needed for promotion or greater GG appearance, respectively. Special civs to be aware of include:
America: Two Charismatic leaders: Lincoln and Washington
Arabia: Saladin: Protective
Aztecs: Montezuma: Aggressive, UU: Jaguar: see below
Babylon: Hammurabi: Aggressive
Byzantine: Justinian I: Imperialistic
Carthage: Hannibal: Charismatic, UU: Numidian Calvary: see below
Celts: Both leaders are Charismatic, Boudica is also Aggressive, UB: Dun gives free Guerrilla I promotion to Archery and Gunpowder Units, UU: Gallic Swordsman: see below
China: Both leaders are Protective, UU: Cho-Ku-No: see below
England: Victoria: Imperialistic, Churchill: Charismatic and Protective, UU: Redcoats: see below
France: Two Charismatic leaders: De Gaulle and Napoleon
Greece: Alexander: Aggressive, UU: Phalanx: see below
Holy Roman Empire: Charlemagne: Imperialistic and Protective
Japan: Tokugawa: Aggressive and Protective, UU: Samurai: see below
Korea: Wang Kon: Protective
Mongols: Both leaders are Aggressive, Genghis Khan is also Imperialistic, UB: Ger gives extra +2XPs to Mounted Units, UU: Keshik: see below
Native Americans: Sitting Bull: Protective, UB: Totem gives +3XPs to Archery Units
Ottomans: Suleiman: Imperialistic
Persia: Cyrus: Charismatic and Imperialistic
Portugal: Joćo: Imperialistic
Rome: Both leaders are Imperialistic
Russia: Catherine: Imperialistic, Stalin: Aggressive
Spain: UB: Citadel gives +5XPs to Siege Units
Sumeria: Gilgamesh: Protective
Vikings: Ragnar: Aggressive, UB: Trading Post gives free Navigation I promotion to Naval Units, UU: Berserker: see below
Zulus: Shaka: Aggressive, UB: Ikhanda, Barracks that is also a mini-courthouse and is built faster, UU: Impi: see below
Starting Promotions for normal units and UUs:
Anti-Tanks start with Ambush
Berserkers start with Amphibious (and Combat I from Ragnar)
Cho-Ku-Nos start with City Garrison I and Drill I from Protective leaders
Gallic Warriors start with Guerrilla I (and Combat I with Boudica)
Explorers start with Guerrilla I and Woodsman I
Impis start with Mobility (and Combat I from Shaka)
Jaguars start with Woodsman I (and Combat I from Montezuma)
Marines and Navy SEALs start with Amphibious and March
Phalanx starts with Combat I with Alexander
Tanks, Panzers and Modern Armour start with Blitz
Numidian Calvary start with Flanking I
Oromo Warrior starts with Drill I and Drill II
Privateers start with Sentry
Quechua start with Combat I
Redcoats start with City Garrison I and Drill I with Churchill
Samurai start with Drill I (and Combat I from Tokugawa)
Spy starts with Commando
Events or Quests (shamelessly copied from Ori's Random Event List (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=236727) which can result in blanket promotions to either specific units or type of units. The simplest way to look at it is to see it as one step further up the promotion path, but this article is aimed to look at the strategies that can arise (I didn't have enough characters to put in the title). We will assume a Barracks for most situations and ignore possible civics or GGs for the most part. Obviously, they would add to the promotion possiblities, but I would like to simplify by concentrating on this humble setup. By all means, if there is something that you feel I should mention, speak up.
Events: Basically any of these event is a nice advantage, as I assume only one civ is able to have an event awarded to them. So while everyone will definitely benefit, perhaps there are certain leaders or traits or civs which can take this advantage and turn it into another.
A) Bowyer: All your Archery units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Prereq: Archery
Analysis: This event lasts until the Renaissance, which is basically the life of the Archery Units and has occurred in most of the games that I have played. Obviously, the earlier the better, but later occurrences may be welcome. The immediate advantage means that city defenders are instantly stronger, giving a more of an advantage against barbs for a start. A protective Longbowman on in hill city with Combat I to start is that much tougher now. Furthermore, with a Barracks, your Archery Units would be available to receive Medic I, Cover and Shock out of the gate, all of which are important in the very early game and also Pinch (with gunpowder) and Charge would be available too, an advantage towards the end of the usefulness of the archery units. Being attacked by enemy Musketmen suddenly and being able to give your Longbowmen the Pinch promotion might be huge. That being said, a protective civ will have access to all of those except for Medic I. So being able to give it the medic promotion to start might really be huge in defending. A protective civ is able to give an Archery Unit the Formation promotion via Drill II. This event gives a non-protective civ equal footing with the Formation promotion through Combat I and II.
I feel the real benefit of this event is the promotions that it unlocks and the resulting ability to diversify your units much sooner by not having to wait for battles to gain the necessary XPs. This event means that when you upgrade your Archery Units into Gunpowder Units they will already be that much better than or at least equal to the Gunpowder Units of other civs, non-Aggressive and Aggressive, respectively. If you are Aggressive, your Gunpowder Units will have Combat I anyway when produced, or from upgrading from Melee Units, but this event gives you the ability to have CI for units upgraded from Archery Units as well. It saves you the trouble of giving your Archery Units the CI to open other promotions and gets you a higher level unit sooner. At the very least, if you are not Aggressive, then this event will put your Gunpowder Units upgraded from Archery Units on par with an Aggressive civs. And for defending, based on the usual promotions, Gunpowder Units from Archery Units are better defenders than those upgraded from Melee Units.
Special Civ Considerations:
Archer rushing (or city protecting) with Bowman or Skirmishers just got better if you get this event practically off the bat and protection from Quechua and Immortals just got easier, again, if early enough. The Crossbowman and Chinese Cho-Ko-Nos just got stronger and perhaps a longer life. As said above, giving Churchill Combat I to start also means a quicker, Charismatic progression up the promotion paths for some future, deadly Redcoats. And, no more "wasting" the some of the +6XPs from the Native American Totem Pole on the CI promotion. You can use those two promotions to go further up that path or others or even diversify with cover, shock, etc. Those units upgraded to Gunpowder Units would be scary behind the cheap Walls and Castles. And what about Celtic Archery or upgraded-to-Gunpowder Units built in Dun-cities? The Guerrilla promotions already make things bad, but the free CI promotion can really make it tough for an enemy to dislodge them. Finally, if you are Tokugawa, you will have Combat I, City Garrison I and Drill I Gunpowder Units that you build, however your archery units only carry their promotions when upgrading. Taking a normal Longbowman and upgrading does not yield the automatic Combat I promotion that a built Rifleman gets. Therefore, this event favours Japan nicely, as you can concentrate on promoting your Archery Units with further Combat or Drill promotions or Shock, Cover, etc. Then when you up grade, they carry all of their training with them.
B) Horseshoe: All your mounted units gain the Flanking I promotion
Prereq: Pastured Horse AND road OR railroad
Analysis: I am guessing that there are two types of players: one which promote with Flanking immediately and those who prefer the combat path. This event makes it simple. Finish off the Flanking with II and then go up the Combat path or save the Flanking for later once your unit is powerful enough with promotions that you'll be more likely to want to preserve it. This 10% withdrawal chance adds to the intrinsic withdrawal of the mounted units. War chariots get a total of 20%, Mounter Archer units: +30%, Camel Archer and Cuirassier units: 25%, and Calvary Units: 40%. Any of these units upgraded to a Helicopter would give it a total of 35% withdrawal chance. Knights, Cataphrachts and the Elephant Units do not have an intrinsic withdrawal so the immediate Flanking I would be nice. This event makes your Knight units less vulnerable when upgrading from Horse Archer or Chariot Units. With a stable and barracks, the unit will have enough for two promotions (close to three with Charismatic Hannibal or Cyrus or Imperialistic Mongols or - yipes! - Cyrus again!!): shooting for Mobility via Flanking II is now possible or maybe go up the Combat path in the hopes of eventually getting the blitz promotion much quicker. Why would it be quicker? The extra withdrawal chance ensures greater survival and therefore, more battles to win and GGPs to collect. An imperialistic or charismatic leader could reach the points quicker than they could reach the tech needed for blitz! I never thought much about Flanking II as the withdrawal is of course nice, but if one only attacks at high odds it is not needed. The Immune to 1st Strikes is also quite useless, I find, because most Mounted Units have that intrinsically. Only Chariots, Immortals, Cataphrachts and Calvary and Elephant Units don't have it. With this event, it's only one promotion to get to Flanking II, which makes it more desirable, being able to promote your Cataphrachts, Elephants and Calvary to Flanking II or promote lower units at the time and upgrade them with Flanking II intact, making them immune to first strikes as well. But again, I would likely use it as an opportunity to go with more combat or unit-type specific promotions, depending on the situation and difficulty level. That being said, you are now only two promotions away from mobility, which you can get out of the gate with barracks and stables. Now your mounted units can sneak in and out for quick resource pillaging or arrive unsuspectingly like the Keshiks can do. That is fun, but remember the more likely your unit survives, the less you need to build.
Special Civ Considerations: This event is not even entirely useless to Carthage despite their Numidian Calvary starting with Flanking I. Any NC upgraded will carry the Flanking I through, but any Chariot before then or any Elephant, Knight or above produced after would still get it, without needing to be an upgrade from the NC. But jumping these guys up to mobility is quite effective if not just plain fun, as now they are like a Keshiks younger brother - weaker, but almost as versatile on the terrain and as I said above, great pillagers and surprise attackers. They not only can withdraw, but can move a little quicker through some terrain in escaping to heal. Don't forget, Hannibal loves his Elephants, too!
C) Champion: Unit gets Leadership promotion
Prereq: Not at war AND undamaged unit with 3 or more XP AND without Leadership promotion
Analysis: +100% from combat experience? Thanks!!
D) Axe Haft: All Axeman units gain the Shock promotion
Prereq: Bronze Working
Analysis: Lasting until the Renaissance Era, this is a potentially early event with interesting future ramifications. Besides boosting the anti-Melee strength to 75% for a normal Axeman and later on a Maceman Unit (upgraded to, not hard-built), this promotion will stay with the unit even as it upgrades through the Gunpowder Unit path. This is great because if facing powerful Melee enemies your GP units have better odds. Perhaps a wounded GP unit is not such easy pickings or it's enough to dislodge a tough hill top opponent while pillaging or attacking a city on a hill and if you are still torn between the difficult decision of Shock or City Raider I, now you can have your cake and eat it too!
Special Civ Considerations: The Phalanx or normal Axeman unit become more of anti-Melee Unit, but what about the two other Axeman type? A Dog Soldier is only strength 4, but with +100% against Melee Units, while a Vulture is a whopping 6, but with only +25%. So, the free promotion here, makes the Vulture a slightly more powerful Axeman, negating the penalty if you will, of being strength 6. The Dog Soldier is not stronger, but the total 125% can be helpful too. Combing through Arathorn's Combat Explained (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=137615) article and Solver's over at Apolyton (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140622&) I have been able to produce a spreadsheet to help analyze combat. I have taken in game percentages when they have conflicted with the Math. Let's compare Melee Units against unpromoted Axemen and Spearmen assuming all else is equal (Axeman and Phalanx are the same):
Axeman Vs. Axeman, 5.0 vs. 5.0 -- 50.0%
Dog Soldier Vs. Axeman, 4.0 vs. 3.33 -- 72.8%
Vulture Vs. Axeman, 6.0 vs. 6.25 -- 35.2%
Shock Axeman Vs. Axeman, 5.0 vs. 4.0 -- 75.0%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Axeman, 4.0 vs. 2.86 -- 88.0%
Shock Vulture Vs. Axeman, 6.0 vs. 5.0 -- 72.9%
Axeman Vs. Spearman, 5.0 vs. 2.66 -- 97.5%
Dog SoldierVs. Spearman, 4.0 vs. 2.0 -- 98.0%
Vulture Vs. Spearman, 6.0 vs. 3.2 -- 97.5%
Shock Axeman Vs. Spearman, 5.0 vs. 2.28 -- 99.4%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Spearman, 4.0 vs. 1.78 -- 99.4%
Shock Vulture Vs. Spearman, 6.0 vs. 2.66 -- 99.5%
Axeman Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 5.0 vs. 4.0 -- 75.0%
Dog Soldier Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 4.0 vs. 3.0 -- 78.2%
Vulture Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 6.0 vs. 4.8 -- 75.0%
Shock Axeman Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 5.0 vs. 3.43, 89.2%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 4.0 vs. 2.66, 90.0%
Shock Vulture Vs. Swordsman/Pikeman, 6.0 vs. 4.0, 90.0%
Shock Axeman Vs. Praetorian, 5.0 vs. 4.57 -- 67.7%
Shock Dog Soldier Vs. Praetorian, 4.0 vs. 3.56 -- 69.3%
Shock Vulture Vs. Praetorian, 6.0 vs. 5.33 -- 69.3%
The Cover promotion allows you to concentrate on Combat or City Raider promotions. Praetorians don't seem that tough now do they? Also, imagine your Axeman Unit upgraded to a Maceman or Samurai or Berserker; they are instantly the one of toughest Melee Units.
Tower Shield: All Melee units gain the Cover promotion
Prereq: Mining
Analysis: This is an event which could occur extremely early depending on your starting techs, however it does have a very low chance of occurring. So no more debating whether to give your Axeman the Cover or City Raider promotion for your opening rushes. This event makes your Melee defenders more resistant to Crossbows and makes your attacking forces a little better against city defenders.
Smokeless Powder: All Musketman units gain the Pinch promotion
Prereq:Gunpowder
Analysis:Available until Rifling, Scientific Method or Steel, this event is only useful if your opponents also have Gunpowder Units. You could build a bunch of Musketmen and then upgrade them at a later time. You only have the lifetime of Musketmen to gain this rare event. Later on, it forces opponents to have to promote Pinch as well to even things out while allowing you to pursue the Combat line or Drill path.
Special Civ Considerations:This is a nice event to help turn the time in your favour if you were not the first to Gunpowder, or keep your supremacy if you were, but imagine Musketeers, Janissaries or Oromo Warriors with this promotion. All the more reason to build these UUs now. The Jannisary become the best all-round unit with 25% bonus against Melee, Archery, Mounted and now Gunpowder Units.
Stronger Fittings: All Crossbowman units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Analysis: With Machinery you get Crossbowman and the chance for this event, until you reach the Renaissance Era. Not being Aggressive, you could build a bunch and let them keep the CI promotion when upgrading them to Riflemen. This event is not as common or as good as the Bowyer as it only affects the Crossbowman and not all Archery Units. A Chinese player will benefit by having his Cho-Ko-Nos upgrade to Riflemen equal to that of Aggressive and Protective Japan. See the Bowyer event for the promotions that Combat I opens up.
Firing Pins: All Grenadier units gain the Pinch promotion
Analysis: Military Science gives you Grenadiers and the chance for this event to occur, at least until you have discovered Steam Power, Scientific Method or Artillery. Grenadiers already have +50% attack against Riflemen, this gives them a total of 75% versus Riflemen or just +25% against other Gunpowder Units.
Rifled Cannon: All Cannon units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Analysis:
Metal Decks: All Carrier units gain the Drill 3 promotion
Analysis:
Long Range Fighters: All Fighter units gain the Range 1 promotion
Analysis:
Halberd: All Pikeman units gain the Shock promotion
Analysis:
Reinforced Hull: All Trireme units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Analysis:
Charismatic: All Gunpowder units gain the March promotion
Analysis:
Quests:
Horse Whispering
All mounted units get the Sentry promotion
Harbormaster
All Naval Units gain the Combat 1 promotion
OR
All Naval Units gain the Navigation 1 promotion
Master Blacksmith
All Swordsman units gain the Shock promotion
Best Defense
All Melee units gain the City Garrison 1 promotion
War Chariots
All Chariot units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Elite Swords
All Swordsman units gain the City Raider 1 promotion
OR
All Melee units gain the Drill 1 promotion
Warships
All Trireme units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Guns Butter
All Musketman units gain the Pinch promotion
Noble Knights
All Knight Units gain the Flanking 1 promotion
Overwhelm
All DESTROYER, BATTLESHIP, CARRIER, FIGHTER and JET_FIGHTER units gain the Combat 1 promotion
As you can see, there are some interesting options and units both with and without the quests that give some units promotions which are not normally allowed for that unit type. Some are just normal advantages, but advantages, nonetheless. Before we analyze each civ and how they can exploit this or work with a partner to either gift or accept UUs, let us look at the normal upgrade paths for all the units.