Couple of quick questions from the new guy

Hey everyone. Im new to these forums and this game but ive played plenty of RTS's before, and the switch to a TBS isnt as rocky as i thought it would be. I currently only have the demo but i like it, and already have the hang of the tech tree (up until steampower/gunpowder thanks to the demo) and i usually get a domination victory before the demo ends (knights). Im pretty sure im gonna pick me up a copy of the actual game soon cuz im pretty sure the actual game is more in-depth and requires some more thought, which is a good thing. So, on to the questions.

Ive heard people saying things like 'you can sell a unit' or 'units turn into other units once a new tech is researched'. For example, someone in another thread had said that if you get elite warrior units as germans early game, researching iron working will turn those warriors into legions. I understand that they replace the warriors on the "produce unit" section of your cities, but they dont actually replace the units that you have on the battlefield do they?

As far as the 'selling units', im lost on that one too. I know you can save some production up, for example if you're researching feudalism, change a tile or two per city over to production and put it on a wonder or something, than once you have feud, change all those hammers over to knights and you can have a couple of knights out in one turn. But, can you actually sell the units you have already produced? The demo doesn't let you sell units or turn units into other ones, so i was just curious how different the game is from the demo, if at all.

One of the advantages for the German civilization is that their elite units will upgrade when a new tech is discovered, so if you have elite warriors, they will become legions once you discover Iron Working. Elite means the unit (or army) has a special bonus like Blitz or Scout. I'm not sure if those are available in the demo, but you'll find out about them when you get the full game.

So the trick for the Germans is that their warriors already start off veteran, so if you build a barracks and then build warriors, they will be elite from the start. So you keep your tech low, get a pile of warriors, then go for Iron Working and Feudalism and your warriors are now all knights. If you're fast enough, that should be game.

The only other way to upgrade your units is to build Leonardo's Workshop which will upgrade all your units (not just elite) to the most current version, so for example your archers would become riflemen if you had Gunpowder. Maybe that wonder isn't in the demo. Note that both upgrades require you to have all the intermediate techs. For example, if you have Bronze Working (archers) and Gunpowder (riflemen) but skipped Democracy (pikemen) for some reason, you wouldn't upgrade your archers. You also only get one shot to upgrade. It won't just happen later when you do get Democracy.

To sell a unit, click down on the right thumbstick while the unit is selected. That game provides no explanation for to whom you are selling the unit.

Thank you thrasher, that was a very thorough answer. Yes, both elite upgrades and Leo's workshop were in the demo, but after discovering the Feudalism/Combustion tech tree, i never found time in the demo (ends at 1250 AD) to produce leo's workshop while maintaining a good beaker income from the 6 or so cities i usually end up with by the AD's. Besides, i totally thought Leo's workshop just upgraded every unit i had on the field, i.e. if it was a veteran knight, it get the elite upgrade. I always wondered why such a miniscule benefit like that cost so many hammers.

And thanks for the quick tips on how to use the germans special abilities to their advantage, ill keep that in mind when im trying out each faction in-game. The demo only allows you to use egyptians or romans. I generally use egyptians because of the wonder you start with. Regardless of which wonder i spawn with, it helps alot when youre only playing until 1250 AD as long as i use it to my advantage correctly.

About this selling thing. I understand now you can literally sell a unit, but i dont understand what happens when it is sold. Is it randomly sold to one of the AI's or does it just literally vanish.

Aheadatime said:

About this selling thing. I understand now you can literally sell a unit, but i dont understand what happens when it is sold. Is it randomly sold to one of the AI's or does it just literally vanish.

Click to expand...

Nope, it just disappears - replaced by a pittance of gold added to your total.

Just a couple of minor gotchas for the upgrades:
1. Only German Warriors get the auto-veteran bonus. (Which is why you often delay getting iron working/legions.)
2. Only German units who are elite at the time the upgrade is researched get upgraded. If they get the elite achievement later, nothing happens. Also, if you research an upgrade out of order (can be done), then the auto-upgrade doesn't happen.
3. Same thing for Leo's. If you have skipped an upgrade tech then the units aren't upgraded all the way. (i.e. Have Combustion/Tanks but skipped Feudalism/Knights then your warriors get upgraded to Legions instead of Tanks.)

One thing I would add is that a barracks early in the game is a pretty big investment. Even without a barracks, your first veteran warrior will become elite with three victories. Combine that warrior with two new warriors and you have one elite army which can upgrade. Next combine three vet warriors into an army. When they attack a barbarian village, they will overrun it which gives a free upgrade (first overrun only). That way you can have two elite armies built (plus whatever you get from 2-3 barbarian villages) in just a little more time than it takes to build a barracks. On the other hand, elthrasher's technique will yield armies with three separate upgrades. However, in my experience, the faster you get your upgraded legions into action , the better. Even with Infiltration (+50% to attacks against cities on top of +50% for Veteran status) a legion army needs some luck to kill an entrenched archer army. So if you are going to use your legions rather than just using them as a way-point on the path to knights and then tanks, you need to get them out there fast, before your enemies get their archer armies built.

Thank you ericball, that cleared it up a bit further. And terra, i dont really plan to use legions. I usually just stick with light scout units/archers in cities until i get knights and eventually combustion.