When CKNs get range, they experience the same 3-range targeting bug as Longbows, and still have lower (14 vs. 18) ranged strength than LBs. And terrain limits are the same for both.
CKNs shouldn't spend time healing because if someone is properly attacking a city their ranged units won't take damage.Longbows every time.
CKN's get more exp in theory, but throw theory out the window when you have to spend 3 turns healing off what damage a city throws at you.
Also, longbows...never...stop. With longbows, you can keep taking cities with the only damage you take being on the horseman (or knight) that takes the city, unless it hits 1 health, in which case even it wouldn't take damage.
Even just 1 or 2 longbowmen can slowly take down a city well into the industrial era, so the city has to have truly awesome defensive placement to protect against them, and if it has that much forest/jungle, it's probably not an important city anyway.
By the time they get the 4th promotion they probably they will have been upgraded to gatling guns or are close to being upgraded (at least on standard and quick) so the combat strength difference is a mostly moot point.And longbows have higher ranged combat strength than CKNs, so when both have range and logistics (or the CKN equivalent), the longbows deal more damage per turn.
Longbows for defense, CKN for offense.
Longbows can pick off units before they get to your cities (plus a few more when they're retreating) and CKN double attack is nice for quickly getting city HP down.
Actually, i think its the other way around.
It's simple- the enemy is heading for your cities, so you will get max 1 extra shot with longbows, most of the time. By the time they are in range of your cities your extra range doesnt matter. And CKN can get 2 shots each turn to defend your cities.
Not to mention defending cities is already fairly easy
Using longbows to siege means you can get enemy's cities to 0 HP without receiving any damage at all
CKNs shouldn't spend time healing because if someone is properly attacking a city their ranged units won't take damage.
Cities prioritize attacking units with the lowest health so just have like 90 health melee units to take all the hits.I normally move ranged units into place, attack the city until it's at 1 health, or very close to it, then move in and take it with a mounted unit that was waiting out of range.
I thought that was pretty standard.
When I have to bring in meat shields, such as very early game when working with archers, my experience is that the AI likes to target the unit it can kill in the fewest turns, making my ranged units popular choices for them and normally leaving me preferring to let a ranged unit soak up damage rather than have a melee unit attack the city and soak up damage from half health.
CKN's are even more likely to be targeted by the AI due to their lower strength.
Pretty sure (60%) the AI targets damaged units before full HP units, hence range units taking no damage.
Using longbows for attack is often not viable due to terrain. In that case they're no better than crossbows. Also, when attacking it's best to take cities down ASAP and the CKN double attack comes into play then.
As you said, defending is pretty easy already, so longbows can still pick off units that are retreating whereas CKN can't.
Cities prioritize attacking units with the lowest health so just have like 90 health melee units to take all the hits.
Having played quite a few games as England recently, terrain is rarely an issue for longbows. There is always an angle to shoot from.
CKNs are better for defending because generally you have multiple turns of shooting from the safety of the city and will do more damage the the one shot per turn longbow.
Comparing CKN with longbow is like comparing Impis to Samurai. Longbows are better than CKNs in small groups because they take less damage but if you are able to spam CKNs they do a lot of damage within a very short time. Therefore CKNs are arguable better in the offense because they can finish the job faster before the opponent can respond with higher era units and defensive buildings.Longbows are better in the end, but imho CKNs have their sweet spot if you have a target that you can train them on. Untrained CKNs are also not that restricted by rough terrain (against moving targets that is), because of their nuke potential.
It's strange comparing them though, the Great General-Bonus (and to a lesser extend, the free gold from their ub) is what puts China WAY ahead for midgame-domination imho.
Actually, i think its the other way around.
It's simple- the enemy is heading for your cities, so you will get max 1 extra shot with longbows, most of the time. By the time they are in range of your cities your extra range doesnt matter. And CKN can get 2 shots each turn to defend your cities.
Not to mention defending cities is already fairly easy
Using longbows to siege means you can get enemy's cities to 0 HP without receiving any damage at all
Longbows for sure. Go Honor if you want fast upgrades so much. But man oh man does the AI know exactly which bloody forest tile to leave unchopped making it impossible to capture the city in reasonable time.. Just recently I faield to take a city off William becuse of just 1 tile which made it possible for only 1 out of my 6+ lbows to fire upon it.
And I hate the fact that all the AIs beeline Chivalry and get knights. Several times I've ended up near Ghandi and tried to cbow into lbow rush him. Knights with Cover 1 and Medic 2 stall so much that the war drags until he gets gunpowder.
Oh yeah, gunpowder. I hate the fact that Deity AI can survive a lbow rush until it starts churning out fat gunpowder infantry. Here's a challenge: start near Washington and try to kill him before Minutemen and terrain put a stop to you pitiful domination efforts lol