First of all, 20
are 20
, and with 100+ cities, that are 2000
. 2000
that I have to invest less mean 8 Cavs, that can make the difference between starting the war now or 50y later, and, believe or not, but 50y can make a difference of more than 100k in score. When trying to beat 3M points, every little bit counts.
In addition, I don't know how to build Archers till Rifling, CS + Machinery always comes at the same time in my games, and if I'm not playing totally afk in brain, I usually don't get attacked, so there simply is nn for a better Unit than a Warrior (or a Quechua) . One can even do crazier Math, because 2000
in the times of Cavs is not really much, just think what 1000 in a time where you're still expanding means, that's having 3 cities more, and those 3 cities again produce ...