Are there any underlying factors that we're not told about?

Wizzykin

Chieftain
Joined
Jul 27, 2008
Messages
8
I only ask because I've wondered about Warriors vs Archers in this game.

Bronze Working is what I guess you'd call a tier 1 Tech, which means it can be researched from the start of the game. Now even with just 2 Research, you can get it in 7 turns. This gives you access to the Archer unit.

Now looking at the two I see that they're the same, except that Archers have an extra 1 on defense.

So I'm wondering if once I've gotten Bronze working, should I even bother with Warriors? Because I notice Archers don't make Warriors Obsolete as many of the stronger units do during the game, and that seems kind of strange to me.

Technically, they're the same unit - they cost the same, they have the same moves, they have the same attack, however they have that boost on defense. So what would be the point of the warrior unit after discovering them, and why wouldn't they become obsolete?

I'm curious if there's any sort of underlying factor that makes Warriors still stronger when attacking, despite having the same attack strength. Because I have noticed that when my warriors attack a Barb. Village, I rarely lose a unit. However, with an Archer unit it's not uncommon for me to lose a unit, or sometimes two.

That seems like a strange occurrence to me, and perhaps it's complete coincidence. It just seems odd.
 
One factor we do know about, but you're not mentioning is that since Warriors are considered offensive units, they will get offensive promotions, such as Infiltration, that are not available to archers. If you're going to build early armies to attack your neighbours, that might be worth considering.
 
Archers are defensive units. They aren't nearly as strong in the offensive category. They are good for city defense and defending settlers, catapults, spies and caravans. They are also good if you are prepping to take an enemy capital in the early game. When you are strangling thier growth by sitting on their available production tiles you can place archers on each of the tiles to defend while you are building up an assault force.

Another thing of note archers, riflemen and modern infantry are all considered defensive units and when on the same stack as offensive units, they are the ones who defend against enemy attackers. You can have 5 cannon armies and one riflemen army on the same stack, the riflemen will always be the default defenders (until they are destroyed) as your enemy cannot pick what units to attack in your stack.

It wise on a level like diety and to a lesser extent, emperor to have defensive units in your stacks of offensive units when making a push for an enemy city.
 
One factor we do know about, but you're not mentioning is that since Warriors are considered offensive units, they will get offensive promotions, such as Infiltration, that are not available to archers. If you're going to build early armies to attack your neighbours, that might be worth considering.

Ah - see I wasn't aware certain promotions weren't available to certain units. So is it if a unit has a higher offense, it gets offensive bonuses, and if it has a higher defense, then it just gets the defensive bonuses?
 
Because I have noticed that when my warriors attack a Barb. Village, I rarely lose a unit. However, with an Archer unit it's not uncommon for me to lose a unit, or sometimes two.

That seems like a strange occurrence to me, and perhaps it's complete coincidence. It just seems odd.

That's something I've been wondering about too. It doesn't say anywhere that different types of units (ranged etc.) has a specific advantage or so, but it sure feels like it sometimes.
 
Ah - see I wasn't aware certain promotions weren't available to certain units. So is it if a unit has a higher offense, it gets offensive bonuses, and if it has a higher defense, then it just gets the defensive bonuses?

Yes. I don't remember them all, but three (including Infiltration) are offensive bonuses, three (one of which is Loyalty) are purely defensive and three are common to all units (including, I think, Medic and March).
 
If you already have two warriors, you might prefer another warrior over an archer so that you can form an army.

If you are playing as the Germans, you might want the vet promotion which comes free on warriors.

If you are planning on building Leonardo's Workshop later in the game, you might prefer upgrading your warrior to a knight, rather than upgrading your archer to a pikeman.
 
Also, the Zulu and Aztec have 2 move warriors IIRC, so you might want to build them even when you have Bronze Working.
 
The only way that warriors can be better than archers is that they have offensive promotions, without promotions they're both just as good at attacking, the only thing that matters in combat is the strength value. One difference though is that melee units will take the place of the defeated unit after battle, but ranged units will stay in place.
 
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