I would have guessed that by "remaining useful" he means to refer to the speed of the conquistador in enemy territory, which in an army, and with some solid defense at the end of a turn, can pillage massively.
Since the thread has gotten dredged up, I'll say that, as pointed out by Ision, the article works limited in scope. The comments overlook that the war chariot makes for a better disconnect-reconnect unit than any other. It also has greater value on smaller sized maps, witness the Sid Tiny conquest and domination tables in the HoF. The enkidu warrior has a hidden value in that some Sid players have used it in ways you wouldn't think to ever try on lower levels... you play with no militaristic opponents, you train some good enkidus, declare war fairly earlier, and watch the AIs warriors impale on your enkidus. The Numidian Mercenary makes a rather good compliment for a 20k island game, since it helps you survive early. It's definitely not "bottom tier" there, imo.
I think it much more important to point out reasons why you value a UU over another, or more over it's regular version, than a simple rating. Having said that Ision says in the thread
If Ision meant that, then why wouldn't the Conquistador come as in the 0th tier, since it replaces the 0 attack, 0 defense explorer? Since he didn't, I feel inclined to believe this some sort of propoganda instead of a more careful analysis. Or maybe he just forgot what it replaced?
Since the thread has gotten dredged up, I'll say that, as pointed out by Ision, the article works limited in scope. The comments overlook that the war chariot makes for a better disconnect-reconnect unit than any other. It also has greater value on smaller sized maps, witness the Sid Tiny conquest and domination tables in the HoF. The enkidu warrior has a hidden value in that some Sid players have used it in ways you wouldn't think to ever try on lower levels... you play with no militaristic opponents, you train some good enkidus, declare war fairly earlier, and watch the AIs warriors impale on your enkidus. The Numidian Mercenary makes a rather good compliment for a 20k island game, since it helps you survive early. It's definitely not "bottom tier" there, imo.
I think it much more important to point out reasons why you value a UU over another, or more over it's regular version, than a simple rating. Having said that Ision says in the thread
Ision said:Every UU is of benefit - and they all provide an upgrade over the units they replace and/or supplement. My intention with tiers is to break units or civs into catagories that reflect the degree to which they are an upgrade.
If Ision meant that, then why wouldn't the Conquistador come as in the 0th tier, since it replaces the 0 attack, 0 defense explorer? Since he didn't, I feel inclined to believe this some sort of propoganda instead of a more careful analysis. Or maybe he just forgot what it replaced?