You know, I've been wondering... What is everyone's favorite unit?

For me, in a recent thread, several people say that they skipped mine altogether. I've had a lot of fun with a lot of units, but no single unit in the entire game gets me quite as excited as... Longbowmen.

In a period of resource hogging expensive units that require a multitude of fancy-schmancy techs, this guy is a beacon of simplicity and versatility. A relatively cheap generalist with one outstanding strength. He doesn't cost a ton, he gets tremendous bonuses on defense (heck, I get so-so odds taking out protective longbowmen on a hill with riflemen and cannons), and on the field he's a great guy to compose a bulk of your force. As a protective Civ, he's a good assault leader - but otherwise, he's just a good general filler for a force. Also, should he be more or less all you're stuck with due to resource limitations, with a healthy siege force he'll be able to take - and hold with gumption - any city a macemen force could. If you play the terrain right with him, he'll hunker through enemy territory without being able to be touched by anything prior to knights, and in your own territory, he's the best of the best when something comes knocking on your door.

Yeah, I love longbowmen. Feudalism, is one of my favorite techs, and Sitting Bull is my favorite leader, because he makes my boys all the stronger.

So, what about everyone else?

I like macemen a lot. Especially when they get up to like CR 3 so I can upgrade them to riflemen/ infantry.

Knights and Trebuchets. I bombard the defense, cause some colaterall damage, and Lance-shock some n00bs. If I play as my favorite Civ, Holy Rome, I get the Landsnechts in my doom stack too.

I like Grenadiers a lot for some reason. And trebuchets

Grenadiers. +50% attack against Rifleman I think. It's annoying.

Recent favorite has to be the Landsknechts. Good, versatile unit on both offense and defense. These and Protective-strengthened Longbows and Muskets helped me put down a 30+ offensive stack launched by the Celts.

I guess it's gotta be privateers. I usually beeline for optics and go all-out on the circumnavigation race, then aim for the first privateer. If I want to fatten my treasury, or my units on experience points, or earn Great General points, I can do all of that ...in peacetime, against anyone or everyone as I see fit. Support them with spies, and I can choke a rival economy.

The reason that the're my favorite is that they have the biggest fun factor.

ICBM! Oh you mean like a real unit... Oromo(sp?) warriors are totally sick. :)

Glad someone mentioned grenadiers. All those poor buggers rushing to riflemen never know what hit 'em, when the grenadiers and (right after them) cannons start marching in..

i like cavalry with flanking 2 best of all. you have not to bother with siege weapons, just build up a horde of cavalry and sweep out all on your way.

problem with calvary is that when cannons show up infantry and machine guns are just a tech anyway so its really difficult to have a calvary survive such units.

The mace and the treb. They compliment each other so well and can serve a purpose long in the future (CR upgrades to rifles/infantry and cannons/arty), if need be.

The mace and the treb. They compliment each other so well and can serve a purpose long in the future (CR upgrades to rifles/infantry and cannons/arty), if need be.

Don't you find macemen and trebs fill the same role to some degree? Macemen are the big hitting city busters, paired with... Trebs, the big hitting city busters. Neither one really excels for the cost outside of city attacking.

Upgrading though, yeah, Maces are great for that, and Trebs... Well, their whole upgrade line is pretty linear, so they're good. But the units in themselves? I don't find they compliment each other so much as they overkill on one job.

Rifles....they kick ass and an anti gunpowder unit upgrade isnt that expensive so within no time they also kick grenadiers asses. Maybe even better, redcoats....See them grenadiers die by the dozens trying to attack redcoats :D

Brings tears to my eyes :D

What if the grendiers get the anti-gunpowder upgrade too? :o :o

What if the grendiers get the anti-gunpowder upgrade too? :o :o

They are not allowed, then they are cheating and I will throw a fit....yes they can, BUT, 25% on 14 strenght kicks in harder then 25% on 12 strenght.....It closes the gab, but the odds are getting better......Mostly I love rifles cause AI doesnt seem to make them a Prio.....if I am in a dead lock, beeline rifles and by the time AI gets either rifles OR grens, I have usually already decided the game in my favour OR have inf tech....

But back to your question, I am God Emperor and they are NOT allowed to take that Upgrade.

Thus Spoke Pir Lan Tota
We thank him

;)

He he, I'll remember that if we ever play :)

Though, you do have a point. I do notice that quite often the CPU goes all the way to assembly line without getting rifling... It's scary to capture a city of a guy you're attacking because he doesn't have rifles yet to find that it has a factory in it :S

Blitz promoted gunships probably take the first spot for me. Back when paras could drop in empty enemy cities, they were by far my favorite combo. Many even more modern units are very cool, but they appear so late there is really not enough time to play with them. Riflemen and infantry upgraded from CR macemen win "the most used favorite units". Redcoats do not really have any competition for the best UU in my games.

I like stealth bombers, especially with extra range.

I dunno that I really have a favorite unit as such. But I definitely agree, LongBowmen have saved my bacon more often than pretty much any other unit upgrade.

i gotta admit i love the samurai, they're my favourite unique unit....
i remember playing a multiplayer game......i witnessed a massive pretorian invasion sweep across pangea to the south of me..i had a small empire, i wasnt having a very good game...just 3 cities versus the roman empires 10...
but i hung in there and built up a small force of perhaps 10 samurai...
when the time came...BANG...
i inflicted around 40-45 preterian casualties for the loss of TWO samurai...and i was frankly amazed that the samurais first strikes were so powerful....thats got to be the biggest turnaround i've ever had in a game..


my favourite normal unit??

i know this might be a bit of a boring choice, but the stealth bomber is soo cool. first of all it looks amazing....and secondly....carrying out recon sweeps, lighting up the map gives me a cheap thrill....especially when i spot incoming ships out in the ocean and slam em before they know it.....
and thats besides the fact with a decent force, one can comprehensively destroy the improvements of ur opponent..
imagine if ur oponent has one oil....but its in bombing range of ur stealth.....how long will he have that u think lol!?

Maceman, My early war unit.

Futher I like the Oromo Warrior, Landsknecht & Privateer

I like Landsknechts quite a bit -- they are cheaper than normal for defending because you don't need a mix of units to defend. I'm also a fan of the warrior & archer UUs.

Don't you find macemen and trebs fill the same role to some degree? Macemen are the big hitting city busters, paired with... Trebs, the big hitting city busters. Neither one really excels for the cost outside of city attacking.

Upgrading though, yeah, Maces are great for that, and Trebs... Well, their whole upgrade line is pretty linear, so they're good. But the units in themselves? I don't find they compliment each other so much as they overkill on one job.

Yes and no. Thus why I said the compliment each other. It's almost as if they were meant to attack that city together. As for combat other than city raiding, I think the mace holds it's own in the field. Siege weapons suck in the field, IMO, so I try to avoid that at all possible, until you get arty.

As for upgrades, that's a no brainer, especially with maces. The only trebs I upgrade are the CR1 or CR2 trebs. I do not upgrade the treb I have given the +10% bombard upgrade to until late game when I can afford such luxuries, plus you lose some bombard damage when you upgrade to cannons, at least it seems to me.:confused:

@SharpMango

my fav UU is also Samurais haha

Worker!! :p

But I really do agree with the longbowman idea. Especially after a couple early wars, it's great to just stick a few of those guys in each city and know that you're pretty much safe until people get knights and gunpowder units, allowing you to build up infrastructure.

Tanks and Modern Armors I love to use them agaisnt civ not as advanced as me in the late game geting a late domination vicotry or take care of your rivals :D

Longbows doesnt get obsolete until grens and rifles. Muskets cant counter Longbows well.

Samurai :ninja: second choice the spy


hmmm , a vote would have been nice , ....

I always liked the Attack Sub since they are truly the capital ship these days. When I play Wolf's Mod the American heavy cruiser icon is a Brooklyn class light cruiser, one of the best, if not the best light cruiser ever built. I also like the heavy tank and the missile cruiser since my third ship while I was in the Navy was the San Jacinto, an Ticonderouga class Aegis cruiser.

Crossbowmen, for many of the same reasons that AfterShafter likes Longbowmen. They're a good offensive unit that can, when required, defend a city nearly as well as a Longbowman, partiularly if you play a Protective leader, as I often do. They're also less adversely affected by a lack of defensive terrain then the latter, and I like Machinery better than Feudalism anyway. Yeah, they need iron, but I haven't played a game in recent memory where I didn't have access to it. They, along with Catapults - and, before long, the Trebuchets that I'll be able to get soon after Machinery - invariably make up the bulk of my medieval armies.

The two things that I have to concede to the Longbows, though, is that they're cheaper and have a longer lifespan since they're more effective at defending cities against Musketmen.

Cavalry. Why? Because you can spam vast numbers of the things all over the enemy BFC, and burn everything to the ground. Rifles do counter them eventually, but if you have enough you can just send other cavalry to attack the weakened riflemen. In the same way, you can use them as a screen to stop enemy units from attacking your invading stack o' doom and hurting the top city attackers.

If you have a tech lead over the enemy, you can also send cavalry to attack small cities garrisoned with longbows. This stops your main stack from having to make diversions to take all the little cities that you would just raze anyway.

Hello?! Praetorian.

I like cavalry. Since I'm not the greatest Civ player, I find one of my cities being attacked (with too few units to defend) and the cavalry has bailed me on more than a few occasions. The flank attack is a nice feature too

The redcoat or the Indian worker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s_oNan5apc

someone needs the make this for the treb and maceman.

Redcoats. I hate Mel Gibson.

You know, I've been wondering... What is everyone's favorite unit?

For me, in a recent thread, several people say that they skipped mine altogether. I've had a lot of fun with a lot of units, but no single unit in the entire game gets me quite as excited as... Longbowmen.

So, what about everyone else?

I love protective musketman, really so much it can be said to be my favourite if I have to choose just one.

The redcoat or the Indian worker.

Fast... Worker...

Over a short time, becomes exponentially effective.....
Build whatever you want, after that.

Fast... Worker...

Over a short time, becomes exponentially effective.....
Build whatever you want, after that.

Yes, bare in mind though the slower the speed you play the less effective it is...

ICBM. Another favorite of mine that no one else has mentioned. Although, I like attack subs too.

Got to be Riflemen, especially as when with the English you get the Redcoats,

Case in point present game English (Churchill) I have a major chokepoint with Surry from Cambodia trying to get through to my core cities, I have 4 Redcoats all with drill 3 and also hills 2 fortified on a hill inside a fort with a super medic to patch them up.

It just reminds me of target pratice with a never ending supply of
new figure 11's (Military tadget for range) to have a pop at.

Hope it does not eventually end up like the Spartan 300 but then again as in the movie the rest of their buddies are ready and willing to take revenge

The unit I love most is cannon. As long as I beeline cannons and get it before the other side gets military tradition or rifles, cannons has no hard counters. They are also not subject to flanking attacks from knights. Upgrading treb to cannon is also very cheap.

Qechua.


Message too short? How's this: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

what , no one else loves the spy :confused:

The paratrooper. They are quick-strike force that can pack a punch when promoted. I usually combine them with tanks and airplanes for quick modern era assaults.

It usually goes like this:

1) Paratroopers drop in ahead of tanks, and fortify
2) Bombers bomb while tanks approach
3) Tanks+paras take the city
4) A few paras stay behind for defense, the rest drop to the next target

Rinse, repeat :-)

dowski

ps - plus, the animation is so cool :-)

i like cavalry with flanking 2 best of all. you have not to bother with siege weapons, just build up a horde of cavalry and sweep out all on your way.

I like the Mongol Keshik for this same reason, albeit in a different era.

dowski

Upgrade knight/elephant to cav used to be a good jump, but not anymore.

Generally, any army superior to the enemy is the best, whichever era you get it.

The Immortals

No competition for the truly powerful UUs... but I've come to appreciate Conquistadors more than I would have thought.
They actually hold cities competently, with the bonus of being able to intercept opposing siege. Their speed enables them to be wherever I need to repel an attack, and once the tide of battle turns they make decent offensive units as well.

Needless to say, any poor sod still relying on melee troops will get a solid spanking as well.

Marines take the cake on all maps but pangaea, because along with naval cover their amphibious strikes are something way beyond the AI's ability to handle. On pangaea I'll probably favor units like horse archers. Favorite pangaea unit is the Keshik, otherwise SEAL as the marine UU.

No one else likes the good ole' Panzer, eh? On a land-based map, the unit I get the most use out of is...infantry! Infantry combined with Artillery is when I go and smack everyone down, usually. Then of course if I'm Germany the Panzers start rolling off the lines shortly to mop up...Panzers may suck as a UU but they're waaaay cooler than the normal tank...Panthers are way cooler than Shermans.

On an island-based map, my favorite unit would have to be carriers. When I hit Flight, I completely revamp my navy, separating it into carrier groups with escorts. Carriers are the way to control the seas, and taking islands with Marines because the enemy's navy is afraid to show itself to my fighters is probably the my favorite thing in Civ.

Redcoats. The classiest unit by far.

Either Marines or Paratroopers. With proper planning, an airborne/amphibious assault is a faster conquest than armor.

Privateers, easy. By the time I get them I'm usually just done with a recent war and rebuilding and recovering from war wearieness, so they keep me occupied until my next conquest. Plus I like pillaging anyone and everyone without diplomatic repercussions, it's fun :D

Privateers, easy. By the time I get them I'm usually just done with a recent war and rebuilding and recovering from war wearieness, so they keep me occupied until my next conquest. Plus I like pillaging anyone and everyone without diplomatic repercussions, it's fun :D

AH , the free general unit by choice , indeed where would we be without this unit :goodjob:

its a unit that is so often forgotten :(

its so nice to disrupt trade with the AI :D

Prets (rome)

If i play with them I love them.
If i play another civ I miss them.

Fast... Worker...

Over a short time, becomes exponentially effective.....
Build whatever you want, after that.

I don't see how their effectiveness is exponential. They're better than the standard worker of course, but constantly, not exponentially.

My favorite (non unique) unit is the infantry. They're versatile and don't have a strong counter.

Pirate ships are the most fun, but they don't stand a chance against frigates. Once frigates start showing up, I keep a couple in my cities and use them to sink stray caravels and galleons.

Grenadiers should cause collateral damage.

My favorite UUs: praetorians, immortals, war chariots, quechuas, cataphracts, cho ko nus.

I don't see how their effectiveness is exponential. They're better than the standard worker of course, but constantly, not exponentially.

My favorite (non unique) unit is the infantry. They're versatile and don't have a strong counter.

Pirate ships are the most fun, but they don't stand a chance against frigates. Once frigates start showing up, I keep a couple in my cities and use them to sink stray caravels and galleons.

Grenadiers should cause collateral damage.

My favorite UUs: praetorians, immortals, war chariots, quechuas, cataphracts, cho ko nus.


Grenadiers causing collateral damage would make them overpowered to the max.


I like the Cho ko nu - It's pure death

Any flying machine that can destroy improvements is my favorite. Turns a productive size 20 city into a piece of crap size 12 city with no aluminium mine.

Marines.

Modern wars can be so quick with a combination of fighters on carriers and marines on transports for coastal cities and bombers and tanks to clean up inland. I admit I play archipelago maps a lot, but even on large continents they can be really helpful.

Modern Armor.
Strong and fast force that can even cause collateral damage, and in combination with some good bombers it will crush ctities like flies.

I don't see how their effectiveness is exponential. They're better than the standard worker of course, but constantly, not exponentially.


Ohh!! but it is. Same as serfdom, Hagia Sofia or steam power. Having an improvement earlier means having for instance buildings earlier (thus multipliers earlier, defences earlier, units earlier, invasions earlier); or having more commerce earlier, thus techs earlier and their advantages; or resources conected earlier, starting a wonder earlier, having more chance of success and enjoying it's benefits earlier, thus having even more comerce/production, etc earlier.
You see how it becomes exponential now.. Of course, this is provided you have improvements to build.. hahahah!!!

Nevertheless, I still believe serfdom can use an upgrade, which I have figured out, after analisis, as giving +1 commerce over farms. This will entirely balance the trait and make it useful immediatelly, rather than just exponentially over a long period of time. It can be historically reasonable and being financial doesn't umbalance it, as you will have to choose between working a farm beside a river or a cottage (both rendering the fin bonnus right away).

Sorry Ashafter for this out of the topic intrusion, but what are threads for if not an open discussion..

THANK you, someone other than me gets it :lol:
Was starting to feel lonely...

Rifles because they just come when I've grabbed the tech lead and are early enough to make a difference. Otherwise I do love the Longbow for the fact that I can stick 3 in every city and worry so little about my defence.

Edit: Worker. I love seeing those little guys running around my nation building cottages for my city population to "Work" and gathering my resources. *sob* and They do it for thousands of years without complaints! Unlike military units who keep whining for shiny new weapons..

UU: Berserker. Love the looks of it, and when I can research Macemen it usually a turning point in my games, so the 10% city attack is a tremendous boost, and the amphibious is just even more.

Regular Unit?.. Look at my pic!! There awesome when protecting cities, and if air attack- quick promo to SAM Infantry. That one promotion SAM gets... I think it's called visibility (cant find it here at CFC). Either way, it helps against air attacks.:lol:

nothing like the smell of a ICBM in the morning

Go Infantry!!:band:
I always beeline Assembly Line, and attack the opponets still using longbowmen. Then use them to kill the musketmen, w/ 25% gunpowder advantage