Strategic Manipulation of Promotions, UUs Promotions and Permanent Alliances

Here is my second strategy article for , actually this one is . You know what they say: those who can, do. Those who can't, write strategy articles. Naw, there are plenty of great articles out there from people who know what they are doing. I do find for myself sometimes, that what I envision doesn't always work out for me. This article is not based on a vast experience, but is merely a theoretical look at how to exploit the special promotions given to UUs and what could mean while playing with Permanent Alliances. Sometimes I get frustrated while trying out a particular HOF gauntlet, so this is me taking a break and doing something we all enjoy: analyzing the game!


The benefits discussed here could be used for MP games or alliances with the AI. I would like to look at each unit that has promotions from the start, which would then carry through when upgraded or gifted. Obviously, certain civs, like the Celts for example, will have the ability to produce units with a promotion that will carry through the rest of those units, in this case, Guerrilla I. (See aelf's UU thread and my UB thread for details.) Actually, I strongly suggest reading through aelf's Comprehensive UU thread to really get the most from this thread. His thread lists a whole lot of strategies. What I would like to look at is the benefits of promotions when pumping up a unit in one era by building on their starting promotion(s) and then what it can lead to later on. I would also like to take a look simultaneously at the particular events and quests in BtS that could stretch things even further. So, I have written this with in mind, and not all may apply to Vanilla and Warlords. I have also not considered unrestricted combos, but there are certainly things discussed here that could apply to that. I have coloured-coded civs and their UUs with their familiar colours in an attempt to aid those quickly scanning for information relevant to a particular civ but also keep it easy on the eyes.

Events or Quests (shamelessly copied from Ori's Random Event List) which can result in blanket promotions to either specific units or type of units. The simplest way to look at it is to see it as one step further up the promotion path, but this article is aimed to look at the strategies that can arise. We can assume a Barracks for most situations. Obviously, civics and GGs can add to the promotion possibilities, but I would like to simplify by concentrating on this humble setup.

In order to discuss the combat possibilities when analyzing below, I combed through Arathorn's Combat Explained article and Solver's over at Apolyton, plus in tinkered around in the WorldBuilder. I have taken in game percentages when they conflict with the Math. I use no terrain bonuses unless stated and assume everything else as equal. I would appreciate any assistance and comments if there is something that I am doing wrong.


Before we start, here are the simple facts about the more relevant promotions that will be discussed in this thread:

Ambush (+25% vs. Armoured Units) is available to: Siege, Gunpowder, Armoured, Air and Helicopter Units
Blitz is available with the Military Science tech to: Armoured, Mounted, Helicopter and Naval Units (Sorry, no blitz Impis or Musketeers )
Charge (+25% vs. Siege Units) is available to: Melee, Mounted, Armoured and Helicopter Units
City Garrison is available to: Archery and Gunpowder Units
City Raider is available to: Melee, Siege and Armoured Units
Cover (+25% vs. Archery Units) is available to: Archery, Melee and Gunpowder Units
Drill is available to: Archery, Siege, Gunpowder, Armoured, Naval and Helicopter Units
Flanking is available to: Mounted, Armoured, Naval and Helicopter Units
Formation (+25% vs. Mounted Units) is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted and Gunpowder Units
Guerrilla is available to: Recon, Archery and Gunpowder Units
Mobility is available to: Mounted and Armoured Units
Pinch (+25% vs. Gunpowder Units) is available with the Gunpowder tech to: Mounted, Gunpowder, Armoured, Air and Helicopter Units
Sentry is available to: Recon, Mounted, Helicopter and Naval Units
Shock (+25% vs. Melee Units) is available to: Archery, Melee, Mounted, and Siege Units
Woodsman is available to: Recon, Melee and Gunpowder Units

Barrage promotions are not available to: Armoured Units as of BtS path 3.17
Combat promotions are not available to: Siege Units as of BtS Patch 3.17
March is not available to: Armoured, Naval, Air or Helicopter Units
Medic promotions are not available to: Armoured, Air or Helicopter Units


Free Promotions from Traits

Aggressive Civs have their Melee and Gunpowder Units start with Combat I. This means that in addition to the Combat line, for their first promotion they can have: Cover, Charge, Pinch, Shock or Medic I. Aggressive civs build their Barracks and Drydocks faster than other civs.

Protective Civs have their Archery and Gunpowder starts with City Garrison I and Drill I. Apart from following the Combat line, this means that for their first promotion they can have: Cover, Pinch, Shock and Medic I. Note how the Drill I promotion allows immediate access to all the same promotions to Archery and Gunpowder Units (except for Charge) without having Combat I to start. Protective civs build Walls and Castles faster than other civs.

*Note: Charismatic and Imperialistic civs will have easier access to promotions given their bonus of less XPs needed for promotion or greater GG appearance, respectively.

Special civs to be aware of include:

America: Two Charismatic leaders: Lincoln and Washington
Arabia: Saladin: Protective
Aztecs: Montezuma: Aggressive, UU: Jaguar: see below
Babylon: Hammurabi: Aggressive
Byzantine: Justinian I: Imperialistic
Carthage: Hannibal: Charismatic, UU: Numidian Calvary: see below
Celts: Both leaders are Charismatic, Boudica is also Aggressive, UB: Dun gives free Guerrilla I promotion to Archery and Gunpowder Units, UU: Gallic Swordsman: see below
China: Both leaders are Protective, UU: Cho-Ku-No: see below
England: Victoria: Imperialistic, Churchill: Charismatic and Protective, UU: Redcoats: see below
France: Two Charismatic leaders: De Gaulle and Napoleon
Greece: Alexander: Aggressive, UU: Phalanx: see below
Holy Roman Empire: Charlemagne: Imperialistic and Protective
Japan: Tokugawa: Aggressive and Protective, UU: Samurai: see below
Korea: Wang Kon: Protective
Mongols: Both leaders are Aggressive, Genghis Khan is also Imperialistic, UB: Ger gives +4XPs to Mounted Units, UU: Keshik: see below
Native Americans: Sitting Bull: Protective, UB: Totem gives +3XPs to Archery Units
Ottomans: Suleiman: Imperialistic
Persia: Cyrus: Charismatic and Imperialistic
Portugal: João: Imperialistic
Rome: Both leaders are Imperialistic
Russia: Catherine: Imperialistic, Stalin: Aggressive
Spain: UB: Citadel gives +5XPs to Siege Units
Sumeria: Gilgamesh: Protective
Vikings: Ragnar: Aggressive, UB: Trading Post gives free Navigation I to Naval Units, UU: Berserker: see below
Zulus: Shaka: Aggressive, UB: Ikhanda, Barracks that is a mini-courthouse and built faster, UU: Impi: see below

Starting Promotions for normal units and UUs:

Anti-Tanks start with Ambush
Berserkers start with Amphibious (and Combat I from Ragnar)
Cho-Ku-Nos start with City Garrison I and Drill I from Protective leaders
Gallic Warriors start with Guerrilla I (and Combat I with Boudica)
Explorers start with Guerrilla I and Woodsman I
Impis start with Mobility (and Combat I from Shaka)
Jaguars start with Woodsman I (and Combat I from Montezuma)
Marines start with Amphibious
Navy SEALs start with Amphibious and March
Phalanx starts with Combat I with Alexander
Tanks, Panzers and Modern Armour start with Blitz
Numidian Calvary start with Flanking I
Oromo Warrior starts with Drill I and Drill II
Privateers start with Sentry
Quechua start with Combat I
Redcoats start with City Garrison I and Drill I with Churchill
Samurai start with Drill I (and Combat I from Tokugawa)
Spy starts with Commando


Any promotion given to a unit will stay with that unit when upgraded. Intrinsic special units abilities will be lost. For example, a Maceman has a +50% strength versus other Melee Units. When upgraded to a Rifleman, it loses that ability. However, if the Maceman had the Shock Promotion, that +25% against Melee Units would stay with the Rifleman.

The real stroke of genius is to land promotions for your units outside of their normal ability in order to gain a tactical advantage. For example, all civs can employ this one: Gunpowder Units cannot receive Shock or City Raider promotions, but if you were to upgrade Melee Units which do have those promotions, then your new Gunpowder Units would have those promotions carry over. The rule when upgrading is that they cannot lose their training so sometimes you may want to promote before you upgrade instead of after. The idea is to look for more "exploits" from the Events and Quests and UUs and them apply them to Permanent Alliances. Let's explore, shall we?


Events: Basically any of these events is a nice advantage, as I assume only one civ is able to have an Event awarded to them. So while everyone will definitely benefit, perhaps there are certain leaders or traits or civs which can take this advantage and turn it into another. We are only discussing the Events which provide options for free promotions and what to do with those promotions once they have been awarded.


A) Bowyer: All your Archery units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Prereq: Archery
Obsoleting Era: Renaissance
Analysis: This event lasts basically the life of the Archery Units and obviously, the earlier the better, but later occurrences may be welcome. The immediate advantage means that city defenders are instantly stronger, giving more of an advantage against barbs for a start. A protective Longbowman on in Hill City with Combat I to start is that much tougher now. Furthermore, with a Barracks, your Archery Units would be available to receive Medic I, Cover, Shock and Charge out of the gate, all of which are important in the very early game. That being said, a Protective civ will have initial access to all of those except for Charge. So having the Combat I and right away to able to give it the Charge promotion to start might really be huge in defending. A Protective civ is able to give an Archery Unit the Formation promotion via Drill II. This event gives a non-protective civ equal footing with the Formation promotion through Combat I and II.

I feel the real benefit of this event is the promotions that it unlocks and the resulting ability to diversify your units much sooner by not having to wait for battles to gain the necessary XPs. It means that when you upgrade your Archery Units into Gunpowder Units they will already be that much better than or at least equal to the Gunpowder Units of non-Aggressive and Aggressive civs, respectively. If you are Aggressive, your Gunpowder Units will have Combat I anyway when produced, or from upgrading from Melee Units, but this event gives you the ability to have CI from units upgraded from Archery Units as well. It saves you the trouble of giving your Archery Units the CI to open other promotions and gets you a higher level unit sooner. At the very least, if you are not Aggressive, then this event will put your Gunpowder Units upgraded from Archery Units on par with an Aggressive civs' GP Units. And for defending, based on the usual promotions, Gunpowder Units from Archery Units are better defenders than those upgraded from Melee Units. This is only enhanced by the Bowyer event. For example, this free promotion could allow you to take the Guerrilla I off the start instead of Combat I.

Special Civ Considerations:
Archer rushing (or city protecting) with Bowman or Skirmishers just got better if you get this event practically off the bat and protection from Quechua and Immortals just got easier, again, if early enough. The Crossbowman and Chinese Cho-Ko-Nos just got stronger and perhaps a longer life. As said above, giving Churchill Combat I to start also means a quicker, Charismatic progression up the promotion paths for some future, deadly Redcoats. And, no more "wasting" the some of the +6XPs from the Native American Totem Pole on the CI promotion. You can use those two promotions to go further up the City Garrison or Drill paths or diversify with Cover, Shock, Guerrilla I, etc. For Protective civs, those CG and Drill units upgraded to Gunpowder Units would be scary behind the cheap Walls and Castles. And what about Celtic Archery Units built in Dun-cities? The Guerrilla promotions already make things bad, but the free CI promotion can really make it tough for an enemy to dislodge them. Finally, if you are Tokugawa, you will have CI, CGI and DI Gunpowder Units that you build, however your Archery Units only carry their starting promotions when upgrading. Taking a normal Longbowman and upgrading does not yield the automatic Combat I promotion that a built Rifleman gets. Therefore, this event favours Japan nicely, as it can make all your Archery Units upgrade to GP Units as if they were hard-built. Of course, this event favours Protective civs more as it makes a third free promotion when upgrading your Archery Units in to GP Units. But with this event you can concentrate on promoting your Archery Units with whatever you like and when you upgrade, they carry all of their training with them.


B) Horseshoe: All your Mounted Units gain the Flanking I promotion
Prereq: Pastured Horse and road or railroad
Obsoleting Era: Industrial
Analysis: This is an event with a potentially very long amount of time to trigger. I am guessing that there are two types of players: one which promote with Flanking immediately and those who prefer the combat path. This event makes it simple. Finish off the Flanking with II and then go up the Combat path or save the Flanking for later once your unit is powerful enough with promotions that you'll be more likely to want to preserve it. This 10% withdrawal chance adds to the intrinsic withdrawal of the mounted units. War chariots get a total of 20%, Mounter Archer units: +30%, Camel Archer and Cuirassier units: 25%, and Calvary Units: 40%. Any of these units upgraded to a Helicopter would give it a total of 35% withdrawal chance. Knights, Cataphrachts and the Elephant Units do not have an intrinsic withdrawal so the immediate Flanking I would be nice. This event makes your Knight units less vulnerable when upgrading from Horse Archer or Chariot Units.

With a Stable and Barracks, the unit will have enough for two promotions. Shooting for Mobility via Flanking II is now possible or maybe go up the Combat path in the hopes of eventually getting the blitz promotion much quicker. Why would it be quicker? The extra withdrawal chance ensures greater survival and therefore, more battles to win and GGPs to collect. An imperialistic or charismatic leader could reach the XPs for Blitz quicker than they could reach the Military Science tech needed for it! I never thought much about Flanking II as the withdrawal is of course nice, but if one only attacks at high odds it is not needed.

The Immune to 1st Strikes from Flanking II is also quite useless, I find, because most Mounted Units have that intrinsically. Only Chariots, Immortals, Cataphrachts and Calvary and Elephant Units don't have it. With this event, it's only one promotion to get to Flanking II, which makes it more desirable, being able to promote your Cataphrachts, Elephants and Calvary to Flanking II or promote lower units at the time and upgrade them with Flanking II intact, making them immune to first strikes as well. But again, I would likely use it as an opportunity to go with more combat or unit-type specific promotions, depending on the situation and difficulty level. That being said, you are now only two promotions away from mobility, which you can get out of the gate with barracks and stables. Now your mounted units can sneak in and out for quick resource pillaging or arrive unsuspectingly like the Keshiks can do. That is fun, but remember the more likely your unit survives, the less you need to build.

Special Civ Considerations: This event is not even entirely useless to Carthage despite their Numidian Calvary starting with Flanking I. With this event, any Chariot they have built that is upgraded will carry the Flanking I through, and any Elephant, Knight or above produced after would still get it. But jumping the NCs up to mobility is quite effective if not just plain fun, as now they are like a Keshik's younger brother - weaker, but almost as versatile on the terrain and as I said above, great pillagers and surprise attackers. They not only can withdraw, but can move a little quicker through some terrain in escaping to heal and just imagine Mobile Knights and beyond!


C) Champion: Unit gets Leadership promotion
Prereq: Not at war and undamaged unit with 3 or more XP and without Leadership promotion
Obsoleting Era: Renaissance
Analysis: +100% from combat experience? Thanks!! You could use the unit as is now or add a GG to really take advantage as this is a promotion usually burned on a GG Unit. Of course it depends on which or your units received this gift.


D) Axe Haft: All your Axeman units gain the Shock promotion
Prereq: Bronze Working
Obsoleting Era: Medieval
Analysis: This is a potentially early event with interesting future ramifications. Besides boosting the anti-Melee strength to 75% for a normal Axeman and later on a Maceman Unit (upgraded to, not hard-built), this promotion will stay with the unit even as it upgrades through the Gunpowder Unit path. Remembering that GP units cannot receive Shock promotions, this is great because if facing powerful Melee enemies your GP units have better odds. Perhaps a wounded GP unit is not such easy pickings or it's enough to dislodge a tough hill top opponent while pillaging or attacking a city on a hill and if you are still torn between the difficult decision of Shock or City Raider I, now you can have your cake and eat it too!

Finally, this is a way to get your Riflemen and Grenadiers upgraded from Axemen and Macemen to have the Shock promotion which is not available to Gunpowder Units. Of course, you can give the Shock to Melee units and upgrade to GP units on your own, but this is a free promotion!

Special Civ Considerations: The Phalanx or normal Axeman unit becomes more of an anti-Melee Unit, but what about the two other Axeman type? A Dog Soldier is only strength 4, but with +100% against Melee Units, while a Vulture is a whopping 6, but with only +25%. So, the free promotion here, makes the Vulture a slightly more powerful Axeman, negating the penalty if you will, of being strength 6. The Dog Soldier is not stronger, but the total 125% can be helpful too. Let's compare Melee Units against various Melee Units assuming all else is equal (Axeman and Phalanx are the same):


The Shock promotion allows you to concentrate on Combat, City Raider promotions or others. Vanillla Praetoria don't seem that tough now do they? Also, imagine your Axeman Unit upgraded to a Maceman or Samurai or Berserker; they are instantly the one of toughest Melee Units by base strength and anti-Melee Units from the Shock promotion. Remember, the Romans cannot upgrade Axeman to Praetoria because they are a unique Swordsman so although they have have a similar base strength to the Macemen types, they don't have the innate +50% versus Melee Unit bonus that both Axemen and Macemen have. Therefore, this event will help you tackle older, previously tough Roman forces if they have not started producing Macemen as well. Also, if you are playing as either Japan or the Vikings, your Aggressive trait will already grant Combat I to your Axemen you have produced and since they retain that promotion when becoming upgrading to the respective UUs They have a base strength of 8.8. Also, be mindful that the Samurai have 2-3 First Strike Chances which is why their results are slightly better. I have included that promotion in the comparison that we see below:


As can be seen, the Shock promotion can even weaken the superiority of the mighty Landsknecht against Melee Units, however behind Walls and on various terrains you would need to have the countering effect of City Raiders or going down the Combat line. Being able to free up those other promotions by having the free Shock can be advantageous, but we see that the Japanese and Viking UUs have perhaps a greater benefit once upgrading.

E) Tower Shield: All your Melee units gain the Cover promotion
Prereq: Mining
Obsoleting Era: Medieval
Analysis: This event could occur extremely early depending on your starting techs, however it does have a very low chance of occurring. So no more debating whether to give your Axeman the Cover or City Raider promotion for your opening rushes. This event makes your Melee defenders more resistant to Crossbows and makes your attacking forces a little better against city defenders.

F) Smokeless Powder: All your Musketmen units gain the Pinch promotion
Prereq: Gunpowder
Obsoleting Techs: Rifling, Scientific Method or Steel
Analysis: This event is only useful if your opponents also have Gunpowder Units. Conversely, you could build a bunch of Musketmen and then upgrade them at a later time. You only have the lifetime of Musketmen to gain and then exploit this rare event. Later on, it forces opponents to use the Pinch promotion as well in order to even things out, thus allowing you to pursue the Combat line or Drill path. Once you have enough of these Pinch Musketmen, upgrade them along the path and you will eventually have Infantry with +50% bonus and SAMs with +25% bonus against all Gunpowder Units. That is nice to have over other civs.

Special Civ Considerations: This is a nice event to help turn the time in your favour if you were not the first to Gunpowder, or keep your supremacy if you were, but imagine Musketeers, Janissaries or Oromo Warriors with this promotion. All the more reason to build these UUs now. The Jannisary becomes the best all-round unit with 25% bonus against Melee, Archery, Mounted and now Gunpowder Units.

Also, although weaker in base strength, Redcoats upgraded from English Musketmen will also have the +50% bonus against GP units, which is doubling the UUs advantage against the vanilla Rifleman which is quite powerful for England at that stage of the game. Charismatic Churchill would have quicker promoted Redcoats surviving more easily over the enemy Musketmen and Riflemen for some nicely promoted Pinch Infantry.

Let's have a look below and remember the equal strengths of the Musketman, Musketeer and Janissary. They all have equal base strength, however the Oromo Warrior gets a special look because of its starting Drill I and II promotions which gives 2-3 First Strike Chances. Let's also include some combinations based upon upgrading your Pinch Musketman to Riflemen or other Gunpowder Units and any advantages that may arise.


While it is obvious that having the Pinch promotions carried through is good for you, let's examine why. Notice above that a Pinch Riflemman is on par with a plain Redcoat, meaning if you get this event and can parlay those Pinch Musketmen in to Pinch Riflemen, and then with all else equal, you need not fear England's UU. Conversely, having this event giving England Pinch Redcoats out of the gate will make them virtually unstoppable until their opponents can get some Infantry uints.

Furthermore, we see that because the Grenadier's bonus against Riflemen is only applicable when attacking, any Rifleman attack on the Grenadiers will likely stop them, but Pinch certainly puts the odds up with out a doubt in your favour. You will notice too, that a Pinch Rifleman and more so, a Pinch Redcoat is not at all in danger from enemy Grenadiers attacking them and that this event neutralizes their threat especially if you attack them first. England UU's after this event will likely be able to defeat enemy SAM Infantry. Again, we see in these examples how this event either helps you to catch up or stay ahead of the curve. This event will come in handy if you are in a real "pinch".


G) Stronger Fittings: All your Crossbowman units gain the Combat I promotion
Prereq: Machinery
Obsoleting Era: Renaissance
Analysis: Not being Aggressive, you could build a bunch and let them keep the CI promotion when upgrading them to Riflemen. This event is not as common or as good as the Bowyer as it only affects the Crossbowman and not all Archery Units. A Chinese player will benefit by having their Protective Cho-Ko-Nos upgrade to Riflemen equal to that of Aggressive and Protective Japan, not to mention the extra strength that could tip the scales in their favour when they are able to last long enough to deal their collateral damage. Remember that with the 3.17 patch, they are the only non-Siege Unit able to cause collateral damage. See the Bowyer event above for the promotions that Combat I opens up and the applications pertaining to Archery Units.


H) Firing Pins: All your Grenadier units gain the Pinch promotion
Prereq: Military Science
Obsoleting Techs: Steam Power, Scientific Method or Artillery
Analysis: Grenadiers already have +50% attack against Riflemen, so this gives them a total of 75% versus Riflemen and the +25% against other Gunpowder Units. Based on what we see below compared with the Smokeless Powder event above, this event just puts your Grenadiers back on top with advantage over Pinch-less GP units, especially Riflemen.


This event is certainly something you would enjoy happening to you and maybe even disparately need if your enemy got the Smokeless Powder event, regardless of if they are England or not.

The most important thing to note, is that Grenadiers upgrade to Machine Guns which are Siege Units and therefore are not normally able to receive the Combat, City Garrison, Pinch, Formation, Guerrilla or Woodsman promotions. The Machine Gun unit can only defend and it's abilities include a First Strike, Interception and they are immune to collateral damage from other Siege Units. This is a key point for several reasons. Firstly, with the 3.17 patch, the Machine Gun is left with only Shock, Ambush, March, Medic and Drill promotions. Even without this Event, you can upgrade some Grenadiers to some formidable units whether they have CG, Formation, Guerrilla or Pinch bonuses or a combination of them. They could be CII CG with Formation to stave off powerful Calvary Units or CI GII/WII Medic guarding and healing your stack of death on a nearby Hill.

Having the Pinch automatically lets you further fine-tune your promotions to meet your defensive needs at present and in the future or just gives them the extra defense they need if your enemies make technical advances. Knowing where you will use these MGs once they have been upgraded will help you decide whether to give your Grenadiers the Combat IV, CG III or Formation or Woodsman promotion before you make the upgrade to the Siege Unit, Machine Gun. Of course you can wait until you upgrade them again/later to Mechanized Infantry which returns your unit being a Gunpowder Unit. One thing to avoid might be upgrading any CR Grenadiers or Melee Units as the MG won't be able to use the CR promotions, however you could be preparing for some CR Mech. Infantry which could very well in an offensive role. Throw in CG from the Protective trait or promotion and they would be near unstoppable until Modern Armour.

Giving promotions denied to Siege Units before upgrading the Grenadier into the Machine Gun can be useful. For example, Grenadiers might not need the Pinch promotion to fight off Musketmen, but we see above that it is against Riflemen. Now, sometimes we upgrade units to stronger units and think that because they are stronger they are superior. Imagine you upgrade to a Machine Gun with +50% versus Gunpowder Units. You are not worried when a Marine or Navy SEAL with their +50% against Machine Guns attacks you because they even out, but if they also have Pinch then you are in trouble, because the MG cannot take the Pinch promotion. This is where promoting before you upgrade can be the key. If this is done, then the bonuses cancel again and your other defensive bonuses will take over.

Remembering that Siege cannot promote up the Combat path with the latest patch, having a few CIII or CIV Grenadiers could make for some tough defenders too and needs to be done beforehand. With a strength of 18 this unit will be a great defender with +30 or 40% strength or either Medic, or Ambush promotions, but let's not forget the innate +50% bonus against GP units already. If your game version allows for Armoured Units to gain the Barrage promotion, you can counter with the Drill promotions on the Machine Gun which will not only make the collateral damage from Tanks far less, but it will also grant an increasing number of First Strikes and First Strike Chances. Or even without Tanks causing collateral damage, you take the Drill line just for the First Strikes which will only add to the +75% versus GP units that your special Pinch MG's will now have whereas the others civs only have +50%.

Ultimately, you will likely want to put these special units into places where they will be attacked and come out triumphant and as the XPs add up so once you discover Rifling and Robotics, you can upgrade these babies into Mechanized Infantry that will have Drill Promotions that other civs' Mech Infantry won't be able to get. Oh, and unless they really need it, I would definitely skip any March promotions on the Machine Guns, because Mech Infantry start with it and it will automatically be awarded when you upgrade the unit.

This has a pretty good chance for occurrence, so if you get this event hopefully you can have those units last long enough and your game plan is to go deep enough into the game to really leverage something no other civ will be able to do or stop. You should be able to outdo anything a crafty Spanish player may try by delaying Ecomonics in trying to build Machine Guns with many XPs from their UB, the Citadel. Sure, they could do the same, but not if this quest falls to you! Those MGs and then MIs in your cities will be very tough to crack and your enemies will waste many Calvary, GP and Siege units just to weaken them. If this is the plan that a Protective civ can orchestrate, there should be no stopping them.


I) Rifled Cannon: All your Cannon units gain the Combat I promotion
Prereq: Rifling and Steel
Obsoleting Era: Future
Analysis: With the 3.17 patch, the Combat line was taken from Siege Units. I am not sure if this event is still the way it was intended. It seems that in order for one to promote a unit type up a line of promotions which are not permitted for that unit type, the unit either needs to have the first of that promotion line from the start when produced, such as the Samurai having Drill I or it needs to upgrade to a different unit type and then receive the first two promotions in the the desired line before that unit is upgraded back as the unit type it originally was, as mentioned above with the Machine Gun.

Therefore, the Cannon will not be able to proceed up the Combat path, however it appears that the awarded promotion will allow the promotions that are not in the Combat line, such as: Medic I and Shock without wasting a promotion on Drill I. Therefore this event gives the ability to create Cannons which will be able to heal themselves with less XPs used. In fact, with enough XPs, you could have a Canon with Medic I and March. While this is something that all civs can use, Spain's UB gives the extra XPs to Siege Units and so if they have avoided Economics (the obsoleting tech), they could best take advantage of this event to eventually producing healing artillery by delaying the research of the Artillery tech until after a sizable stockpile of Medic Cannons with March (as well as super Machine Gunners) were produced. With the right civics, some GGs or West Point, one could have some CR3 or B3 Artillery or some combination thereof which can still heal while on the move or bombarding each turn. Add a GG to this unit and look out! Double This is a big deal, because sometimes the conquest is only as fast as the healing rate of the Siege Units.


J) Metal Decks: All your Carrier units gain the Drill 3 promotion
Prereq: Flight and Industrialism
Obsoleting Tech: Composites
Analysis: Since Carriers do not in any upgrade path, what you see is what you get. Definitely nice for better defending of your vulnerable Air Units.


K) Long Range Fighters: All your Fighter units gain the Range 1 promotion
Prereq: Flight
Obsoleting Tech: Composites
Analysis: The Fighters upgrade to Jet Fighters, but this is the same for all civs. The extra tile range can be a difference maker.


L) Halberd: All your Pikeman units gain the Shock promotion
Prereq: Engineering
Obsoleting Era: Industrial
Analysis: As free promotion is always nice and this will make any civs Pikeman like more of a Landsknecht. Meanwhile, the HRE UU now looks to be unbeatable behind their Protective Walls and Castles, never mind any terrain bonus.


Special Civ Considerations: We see from above that the actual Pikeman unit is not too strong against the strongest of Melee units even with the Shock promotion. However, we also see that the Landsknecht is all the more powerful in defending against those Melee Units. Comparing the numbers here with that of the Axe Haft event, we see that whoever has the Shock promotion will have a slight advantage against the other, while the Landsknecht's innate +100% bonus versus Melee Units is enough to counter and overpower the +50 %Melee bonus of the Macemen units if all else is equal.

Therefore, if the Holy Roman Empire receives this bonus they will be very difficult to dislodge and defeat, for instance: a forested Hill tile (especially with GI). The Landsknecht is a great pillager and unit support unit - defending troops on route to battle even if it does not directly attack the city. But the CR promotions can go to them as well and the unit just got more versatile. Finally, with the likelihood of Walls and Castles to protect those HRE cities, the only way to get back some advantage against these mercenaries and that is the CR route on your Macemen. It should also be noted that this event -- like the Axe Haft event, but more immediately -- will allow any civ to carry Shock promotions into the Gunpowder Unit path when they upgrade to Riflemen or Grenadiers. In addition, the High Warlord event can grant you two free Pikemen units which would make for a great combination.


M) Reinforced Hull: All Trireme units gain the Combat 1 promotion
Prereq: Metal Casting
Obsoleting Era: Renaissance
Analysis: The earlier you get MC, the longer the window for this to occur. There is little chance of an overlap or synergy with the Overwhelm quest, but this event can help strengthen a Navy. It can help protect your units aboard your Caravels or Carracks from Barbarian or enemy attacks. The last thing you want is your exploratory/missionary/colonization team at the bottom of Davy Jones' locker! Tougher Triremes can lead to Frigates more resilient against Ship of the Line -- the Frigate killers. Ultimately, Stronger Destroyers could be on the horizon. Getting this event and being the first to circumnavigate the map could be a nice advantage. The Viking Trading Post will add in the Navigation I as well and now you can support your Galley laiden with your fierce Berserkers. Viking or not, if you get this event, circumnavigation should be considered a priority for naval dominance.


N) Charismatic: All Gunpowder units gain the March promotion
Prereq: Running Police State and in the Renaissance Era
Obsoleting Tech/Era: None
Analysis: Being able to heal units while they flee for safe terrain or cities or while on the move to your next target is great. Perhaps the two-move French Musketeer is the unit which benefits more than others, while the Mech Infantry and American Navy SEAL will not as March is a starting promotion for them. This can be a huge impact for the player and has a comparatively high chance of occurring. Also, notice that one could trigger this event without having researched Gunpowder yet. If this happens, you could/should make that tech your top priority, however there is no hurry to produce crazy amounts of GP units because this event does not expire -- only peace treaties with neighbours will.


Quests: Quests are a little different from Events in that they actually require you to do something, usually building enough city improvements or units. When the Quests are triggered you have a certain amount of time to do what is asked and once you have accomplished the feat, you chose your reward. Quests can be quite fun, but may cause you to deviate far from your original strategy or current plans so you must decide if you even want to bother trying to complete the mission. We are only discussing the quests which give free promotions.


A) Horse Whispering: All your Mounted Units get the Sentry promotion or you receive N Horse Archers
Prereq: Animal Husbandry and Horse resource
Target: Build N Stables/Gers
Obsoleting Era: Renaissance
Analysis: Let's first discuss the Sentry option. It is available with either CIII or Flanking I, but this quest could let you have it off the bat. Sentry can be useful in scouting the borders and being cautious of picking of single enemy units without exposing your precious Mounted Units to any traps or danger from stronger units. This bonus is applied to all your Mounted Units can last over a large amount of time if the quest is completed early enough. While not game breaking, it can be useful and of course, your Helicopter Units will maintain that training when upgraded. There are many civs with Mounted UUs but this option does not seem to favour one civ over any others.

Secondly, you can chose to have the Horse Archers. This option will factor in the world size for how many you get and your desired victory condition and immediate necessities. Perhaps you need to troops in the triggering city right away for protection or happiness or for the final blow powered by a MA rush. Maybe, you are on a small map and prefer the Sentry option for the whole game which is a more long term benefit than 2-4 Horse Archers. Even just having the number of troops jumping up to increase your power rating might be useful. Having them sit tight until you can upgrade them to Knights could be a strategy as well. Of course, getting some free UUs can make this choice more tempting too, and using them even more tempting.

Special Civ Considerations: The Numidian Cavalry starts with Flanking I which opens up the Sentry promotion, so while free Sentry might appeal to some, it is not that big of a deal when you get get it with your very first promotion. Besides, Charismatic Hannibal can promote his Numidian Cavalry rather quickly and so with an early Quest completed and a few victories against barbs or weaker AI Melee Units, they could be quite effective and groomed for later greatness when upgraded to Knights and onward. For example, starting with Flanking I, a free NC is like a free FI promotion for a Knight. If you give the NC a FII promotion, then it will transfer when upgraded and give a 30% chance for withdrawal to the Knight unit with no innate ability to withdraw from combat. If you want to add the Sentry to that you can, but I think the free Numidian Cavalry might be a better reward. Then again, having Sentry would help you track down those units free for the picking.

Very similar is the situations with the Mongols, especially as the Imperialistic Genghis Khan. When this Quest is triggered early and you are a Mongol leader, you just cackle with glee as you were likely to be building your UB, the Ger, anyway. Send in those Keshiks and steamroll the opposition. Attaching quick GGs or gaining XPs through easy battles will ensure some powerful Knights should your game last that long whether you have got them for free or built them with free Sentry.


B) Harbormaster: All your Naval Units gain the Combat 1 promotion or all your Naval Units gain the Navigation 1 promotion
Prereq: Compass and map with minimum 40% water tiles
Target: Build N Harbours/Cothons
Obsoleting Era: Industrial
Analysis: There are choices for any completed Quest and here there are two related to units. Depending on the map you are playing, you could take the power of the CI promotion and ensure Galleys are stronger against attack and Triremes are better support for them. You could take the CI and look forward to the future of naval warfare and ensure that all future units from Galleys to Stealth Destroyers start with a leg up on the competition. More importantly, the CI allows for the Medic I so you can create a medic ship early and often. Until Drydocks are around you are relying on combat for promotions so this can be well suited to certain situations. This would be the situation taking by the Vikings as there UB already gives them the advantage of a free NI. Taking the CI ensures better survival of the ships carrying those feisty Berserkers to crush coastal cities.

Or, you could take the NI and have a better shot at being the first civ to circumnavigate the map and get the +1 ship movement bonus. Again depending on the map, that might be a more pressing priority such as a Terra or Archipelago map.


C) Master Blacksmith: All your Swordsman units gain the Shock promotion
Prereq: City with a Forge/Mint
Target: Build N Forges/Mints
Obsoleting Era: Renaissance
Analysis: Firstly, you may find the discussion of upgrading Shock Melee Units to Macemen and the various ramifications as laid out in the Axe Haft Event above. As Swordsmen also upgrade to Macemen, the discussion is essentially the same, except that Swordsman do not have an innate +50% bonus against Melee Units that Axemen have, so upgrading a Shock-less Swordsman can be the difference. However, we are discussing here how to work the free Shock promotion to Swordsmen in the best possible way.

Swordsmen Units are not designed to nor able to compete with the Macemen units and therefore, here we shall analyze the likely targets of Swordsman aggression. We will not bother looking at Swordsmen Units versus the mighty Axemen, as only a Shock Praetorian has a chance versus a vanilla Axeman. We are also ignoring the Landsknecht as a mere Shock promotion is not enough to offset this UU's special bonus against Melee Units. This leaves our Swordsmen attacking Spearmen, Pikemen or other Swordsmen. For the purposes of our analysis, we can take Spearmen to also include its unique versions, the Zulu Impi and the Mayan Holkan as they have the same numbers in this scenario of no terrain bonus or other promotions. Also note, that the Jaguar has a strength rating of 5, but with the Combat I from his Aggressive leader, it comes out at 5.5. We assume no Aggressive leader for the Celts, as they have two possible choices. Furthermore, we see results for GIII GWs and WIII Jaguars going against their enemies on +25% Hill bonus and +50% Forest bonus, respectively, however we will ignore the withdrawal chances for the GWs as they are quite low. See the next post for the analysis.

Special Civ Considerations: So, we see that the Spearmen Units are no real match for any of the Swordsmen Units in the first place and that the Shock promotion just brings the percentage up winning from respectable to nearly a sure thing. A plain GWs can even spot the Spearman the +25 terrain bonus on a bald Hill tile and still have a 73% chance at winning because the Spearman base strength is so low. The point I wish to make is that if given a free Shock promotion, the Celts, with two Charismatic leaders will have no problem sending out GIII Shock GWs. We see that that combination is needed for Strength 6 units on a Hill, because the Shock basically negates the Hill terrain bonus, however the GIII still gives +25% attack bonus for attacking a Hill tile. The idea would be to use these GWs to take out the anti-Cavalry Units with your Melee stompers and then let your Mounted troops take out their Archery Unit or Axemen defenders left over.

Of course, we don't always get to choose, but with a free Shock on your swift GIII GWs skipping through the Hills and gaining quick Charismatic promotions from beating up on hapless Spearmen or other inferior units, they should be racking up some other useful promotions as well. Free promotions are great for everybody, but the GW already has one starting ones (two with Aggressive Boudica) and another promotion gained from a quest can only fuel a powerful GW rush, or at the very least, a few quick and tricky pillagers.

The Jaguar does start with two promotions: Woodsman I and Combat I from his Montezuma's Aggressive trait. Giving the Jaguar another free promotion is especially helpful given its slight comparatively lower base strength. Notice how above, we did not bother testing the Jaguar against his enemies on a Forest/Jungle tile without having WIII? Because Forest/Jungle tiles give a +50% defense bonus rather than just +25% like a Hill tile and with his 5.5 base strength, it would be futile. Therefore, we see that despite its two First Strikes and +50% Forest/Jungle attack bonus, the WIII Jaguar really needs the Shock promotion to almost absolutely ensure a victory against a Spearman on a Forest tile and while a plain or Shock Jaguar would have no chance at all against a Pikeman or Swordsman on a Forest/Jungle tile without WIII. The Jaguar would still have a tough time against an Axeman, but being WIII Shock would help.

So, like the GW, this quest allows you to build up promotions to the WIII path and more, for instance Medic I, something which can help the unit with a slightly lower strength than its brethren units. Then again, a WIII Unit will heal +15% per turn, which is 5% higher than a Medic I Unit. Give a Jaguar both of these and we have a nice Medic Unit that can also attack and defend when needed. Even without the Civics, Jaguars can reach the WIII level quickly and with a free Shock, you can chose that path with more assurance. This unit can also play the role of a quick scout, pesky pillagers or could comprise a large part of a stack of death on your neighbours's doorstep. That being said, depending on your map, you may not be so quick to go either the GIII path with the Celts' UU or the WIII path as the Aztecs.

Looking above at the Axe Haft Event, we see that Japan or the Vikings can upgrade their Shock promoted Swordsmen to Shock Samurai and Shock Berserkers and if enough are upgraded, that could literally means skull-splitting headaches from their adversaries. It might be wise to build a lot of them and save up the cash for upgrading rather than trying to pump them out of the Barracks. Since the Samurai can only be built with Iron, the Japanese have the advantage of disconnecting their Iron, building Swordsmen and then reconnecting it when ready for a mass upgrade. Finally, we see that this Quest can help to lengthen the lifespan of usefulness and capability of the Praetorian. The the appeal of the Mali UB, the Mint, means that they may be likely to get this quest triggered or completed if they are able to get Mints quickly.


D) Best Defense: All your Melee units gain the City Garrison I promotion
Prereq: Engineering
Target: Build N Castles/Citadels
Obsoleting Techs: Rifling, Railroad or Economics
Analysis: This Quest doesn't just make your Axeman or your Swordsman and city defender, but all your Melee Units! This is a rare and special thing. You need to hold off on Economics if you are to do it, so that likely means giving up the free Great Merchant that tech gives. It is a short window depending on the tech rate, but totally worth exploiting if you are given this quest as it is the equivalent of receiving 3 or 4 more UUs. The Melee Units near the end of the line with higher strength such as the Praetorian, Maceman, Samurai, Berserker, Pikeman and especially, the Landsknecht are going to be better defenders of either those cities you capture or your own.

These CG Melee Units will not have the ability to go further up the CG path, but they will keep the CG promotion when upgraded to Gunpowder Units. This Quest then gives a non-Protective some GP Units which are basically equal to Protective GP Units, except for the extra First Strike Chance from Drill I. Until then, you have a greater chance of holding on to your newly conquered cities.

This is not a game-breaker event but if it was possible any earlier in the game it could be considered just that. If a Spanish player is holding off Economics and building up Citadels for the super Siege Units, they could be more likely than others to trigger this event and if they do, it could be a the return of the Spanish Inquisition. And, as we can surmise from the numbers above, a few CGI Landsknechts behind a Castle could be unbeatable until Gunpowder.


E) War Chariots: All your Chariot units gain the Combat I promotion
Prereq: The Wheel and a State Religion
Target: Build N Chariots/War Chariots/Immortals
Obsoleting Era: Classical
Analysis: As stated with previous Events or Quests, the Combat I promotion will allow your Chariot Unit access to Shock, Pinch, Charge or Medic I (cover is not permitted for Mounted Units). Having Shock or Charge for your first promotion can help beef up your odds against defenders and a medic unit is always handy when a stack is hurting. Furthermore, Combat II allows Formation (and Ambush), so this quest can be worth it by giving you quicker Formation promotions to even up against if you have slightly advanced enemies with Horse Archers or maybe even Knights. This quest has a very short window, so let's look at the immediate benefits, ignoring the withdrawal numbers as they are not significant here:


We see from above nothing that we didn't already suspect. Immortals and War Chariots already make short work of Archers in the open from their +50% Archer bonus and 5 strength strength, respectively, but the free Combat I promotion really does help the vanilla Chariot unit. And while all three have little trouble with the Axemen units (~99% without CI against the base 4 Dog Soldier and ~78 without CI against the base 6 Vulture), it is only the CI War Chariot that has slim chances against the Greek version, the Phalanx.

Remember that the Chariot unit only has an attacking bonus against the Axemen and units of similar strength might not be as easy to beat. Furthermore, if they are the one defending, they do not get that bonus and even with this free promotion would not fare well at all. We also add that this was only a comparison with the +10% strength to the Chariot Unit. In comparing these units and their free promotion, it seems that the War Chariot is may be the best-suited to take advantage, especially if we add in the Shock which becomes available with the free CI since +25% of 5 is greater than +25% of 4.

Of course, given the short time span, one could just build several (or a whole bunch of) Chariots and then wait to promote to Knights. Knights do well against technologically inferior units and Mounted Archers, but still have problems against Spearman at ~79.7% and can't beat Pikemen. The Byzantine Cataphract, of course has a base strength of 12 rather than the 10 of the Knight or Arabian Camel Archer. That +10% becomes +1.2 rather than +1.0 and brings the chances against Pikemen up to 68.1% while destroying Spearmen. It goes without saying that upgrading CI Chariots to Mounted Units further up the chain is a great idea, but using them wisely in battle to get up to that point takes care. Any player would benefit by utilizing the advantage of other promotions the free CI promotion opens up, but to end up with some nicely promoted Knights, Cuirassiers, and Calvary down the road would really milk it and the Spanish or Russian player could parlay this quest into a great disparity between their enemies' troops and their Conquistadors and Cossacks, respectively.

At the very least, if not battle-tested until after the upgrade, the CI opens up Pinch to counter the bonus that Riflemen have against Mounted Units, but it seems that to have Barracks and Stables in action (let alone coupled with GG's and Civics) when pumping out your CI Chariots would really make the biggest impact allowing you the versatility to promote them to Charge, Shock or Medic as specialists, or up the Combat or Flanking path to ensure these Mounted Units will last long enough to be upgraded to some truly elite equines. Any way you slice it, this quest can certainly aid in a quicker Conquest victory.


F) Elite Swords: All your Swordsman Units gain the City Raider I promotion or All your Melee Units gain the Drill I promotion
Prereq: Iron Working and a State Religion
Target: Build N Swordsmen/Jaguars/Gallic Warriors/Praetoria
Obsoleting Era: Medieval
Analysis: There might seem to be really only one choice for this Quest. The Drill I is usually not available to Melee Units and while tempting for the pure novelty, I don't think that the First Strike Chance is going to amount to much. But before we dismiss this avenue entirely, we should note that those DI Swordsmen or upgraded DI Macemen will be facing Archery Units as city defenders and that one First Strike may cancel out theirs if they are not promoted or Protective Archery Units. Remember though, that many Mounted Units are immune to First Strikes, so this likely only works against Archery Units. In addition, once upgraded to Gunpowder Units, they will already have Drill I to start. Therefore, the Protective civ may not gain as full a long-term benefit as other civs will, but non-Protective civs would gain half of the Protective trait and once upgraded to Gunpowder Units, the CG promotion is also available. Basically, this is more of a free promotion for your upgraded GP Units, getting them to DII, DIII and DIV quicker, than it is a free promotion for your Melee Units.

On the other hand, giving all Melee Units a free City Raider promotion is very handy indeed. Most of your Swordsmen get the CR line of promotions anyway, but this just speeds it up. With your Barracks in place, you could be sending out CRII units instead of just CRI. If you are Aggressive, you can give your unit a Shock or Cover promotion to go with the free CRI and have better success and not have to wait until victorious battles to have a unit with those two promotions. If warring civs are building uints with the same XPs and gaining XPs at the same rate, then this quest instantly gives you a one up with every Melee Unit you build! Better still, it eliminates the lack of healing time normally faced once you have earned those XPs. They will earn a third promotion and likely not be as damaged meaning faster healing.

And how many times have you needed to resort to stack protectors or medics to kill off those last few city defenders only to lose those guys too? The odds are more in your favour with this blanket promotion. Finally, while the other choice gives a Gunpowder promotion to Melee Units, this choice ensures that any Melee Units upgraded will have a promotion that Gunpowder Units can't have when build. While stronger, GP Units could use the extra bonus against city defenders.

Special Civ Considerations: Having CRI from the start is great for everyone, but this quest can really add to the strategy of the Jaguars and Gallic Warriors. Rather than giving CR promotions, you will have CRI for free and can spend your promotions to get them up to WII and GII which gives them better defense and double movement in Forests/Jungles and Hills, respectively. This may be important for battles along the way to the city or pillaging/scouting, but clearly the ability to have those CRI units at enemy cities more quickly is a great advantage rather than taking the time to have WI CRI or GI CRI units slowly get there or having WII or GII units arriving but with little offensive capabilities. Now you will have WIII/GIII CRI units on the move in no time. After one battle you could have them. This is huge because GIII Gallic Warriors get a bonus for attacking Hills and they get a withdrawal chance, which comes in handy when you have a Medic there too, while the WIII Jaguars will get the Forest/Jungle attacking bonus and their own healing ability. You could win a battle and then promote to CRII. Conversely, you could give them CRII with one promotion and once they have enough XPs, take them to WIII and GIII, again respectively. Either way, they will be at their full unique ability sooner and that makes them all the more useful and dangerous.

With the second choice, a WIII Jaguar already has two First Strikes, so giving the Drill I to Melee Units might work out nicely for the Aztecs. Similarly, the Mayan Holkan is already immune to First Strikes, so having a chance for one of its own could make for more effective fights against Archery Units. Meanwhile, since Japan is Protective and their Swordsmen upgrade to Samurai which start with Drill I anyway there is not much point in this promotion then, but especially not for later as their Gunpowder Units will get the Drill I and more anyway and it would likely benefit them more to have the CRI promotion when upgrading their Swordsmen to CRI Samurai. Finally, the Praetorian does not receive the +10% city attack bonus possessed by the other Swordsmen Units and so this promotion would greatly improve their usefulness and lifespan. Their base strength of 8 gets +2 with the +25% CR bonus which is greater than the +1.6 available to other Swordsmen.


G) Warships: All your Trireme units gain the Combat I promotion
Prereq: Sailing and Metal Casting and map with minimum 55% water tiles
Target: Build N Triremes
Obsoleting Era: Renaissance
Analysis: Stronger Triremes should mean better protection of your Work Boats and your Galleys. This is identical to the Reinforced Hull Event discussed above except that you need Sailing and a certain type of map. In fact, because this is a quest and you have to actually build the units first, it may not seem worth it if you don't have naval plans at the time. But the fact that this quest is triggered should tell you that naval battles and power should be important in your game. You can always chose the +2 commerce in every Harbour, but we are discussing the value of the promotions here. See the Reinforced Hull Event up above for more information. We must remember that although Triremes are only good for Coast tiles, that eventual upgrades could give quite a powerful navy which could help out the Portuguese when upgrading them into the Carracks.


H) Guns Butter: All your Musketman units gain the Pinch promotion
Prereq: Gunpowder
Target: Build N Musketmen/Musketeers/Janissaries/Oromo Warriors
Obsoleting Techs: Rifling or Railroad
Analysis: Please see the Smokeless Powder Event above for the strategical analysis. The only thing that is different here is that you will have build some of these Musketmen Units in order to earn the promotion. It is easy enough to avoid Rifling and Railroad, compared to needing to avoid Scientific Method and Steel as well for the event version, and certainly worth as we discussed above. I don't know if the game checks for repeats, but if you already had the related Event, you could always build them with the Pinch promotion and take a Golden Age as the reward for the Quest.


I) Noble Knights: All Knight Units gain the Flanking I promotion
Prereq: Guilds and Horseback Riding
Target: Build N Knights/Arabian Camel Archers/Byzantine Cataphracts
Obsoleting Techs: Military Tradition, Rifling or Railroad
Analysis: The two difference between this and the Horseshoe Event is that you have to build the units first and it's only good for Knights. Knights and Byzantine Cataphracts do not inherently have an ability to withdraw, but the Arabian Camel Archer does. Perhaps the Arabian player choose another option, confident in their 15% withdrawal chance. Knights can be pretty powerful if activated early enough and you may prefer the Combat or Shock promotions. Then again, you could be looking to have Cuirassiers or Calvary later on with superior withdrawal abilities, especially if you are playing as Spain or Russia. Now, those late Mounted Units are vastly superior others and early Gunpowder Units and so beefing them up and then getting them to withdraw will save them for upgrading to Gunships.

Flanking I allows Sentry, so perhaps you chose this as a promotion after the free one and let your Knights and upgrades Mounted Units not only have the withdrawal chance, but a little extra early warning against anti-Mounted Units defending their territory from your onslaught. Finally, Flanking II allows for Mobility and this means your Knight Units are not as inhibited by the terrain, meaning less time for the enemy to stockpile Pikemen and other strong defenders. While the withdrawal abilities are great, the advantage gained from an earlier attack can work out well too and so this free FI can be exploited quite well.

Special Civ Considerations: For Carthage, any Numidian Calvary upgraded to Knights with have the Flanking I carry over anyway so this might not benefit them, but it would still allow hard built Knights to have the promotion to be carried over when they upgrade.

An Arabian player should have an easier time to complete this quest as their UU does not require iron or horses to build (only Archery in addition to the prereq techs). So, quicker Camel Archers means they will have more of an impact and the free FI for a total of 25% withdrawal chance means the ones you have build should have a greater chance of surviving and end up upgrading to well promoted later Mounted Units.

As for the Cataphracts, they have a higher base strength and so one may value them greater and give them the Flanking I promotion to protect their assets or chose another reward, confident in the fact that they are the most powerful of the Knight Units. But Mobile Cataphracts could be even deadlier!


J) Overwhelm All your Destroyer, Battleship, Carrier, Fighter and Jet Fighter Units gain the Combat I promotion
Prereq: Flight and Industrialism and map with minimum 55% water tiles
Target: Build 4 Destroyers, 2 Battleships, 3 Carriers and 9 Fighters
Obsoleting Tech: Robotics
Analysis: Clearly, this is the Quest for Naval dominance and superiority. As I have said before, and again with no understatement whatsoever, this type of quest could be really important if it is triggered, given the type of map it requires. There are not upgradable UUs or promotion manipulation involved, but some civs may complete this quest more easily than some (see my UB thread).

As you can see, there are some interesting options with the Events and Quests that give some units promotions which are not normally allowed for that unit type. Some are just normal advantages, but advantages, nonetheless. While all promotions carry through and most chose them with that in mind, there are some intricacies which may have eluded the casual strategist. Let's take a closer look at promotion and upgrade paths using the attached picture as a guide. We note that all civ have the ability to do the following:

A) Give the Shock promotion to Gunpowder Units by upgrading Shock Archery and Shock Melee Units. A unique late-game case would be giving the Shock promotion to the Mechanized Infantry (Gunpowder Unit) by upgrading a Shock Machine Gun (Siege Unit) or Archery/Melee Units but no Melee Unit stands a chance against those late-game GP Units anyway.

B) Giving the Charge or City Raider promotion to Gunpowder Units by upgrading Charge or CR Melee Units.

C) Giving the Cover, Charge, Formation, Pinch or Guerrilla promotion to the Machine Gun (Siege Unit) by upgrading those respectively promoted Grenadiers (Gunpowder Unit) or Archery/Melee Units.

D) Giving the City Garrison promotion to the Machine Gun (Siege Unit) by upgrading CG Grenadiers (Gunpowder Unit) or Archery Units. Those Machine Guns would then have access to further Drill promotions, but you would need to promote up to CGIII before you upgrade in order for the Machine Gun to be CGIII. Protective Grenadiers could be upgraded to give CG DI Machine Guns rather than building ones without those promotions possible.


Aggressive Leaders can gift their Melee or Gunpowder Units and their CI promotion will stay with them regardless of the recipient leader, however gifting a vanilla unit to an Aggressive civ will not earn them any CI promotion.

Protective Leaders can gift their Archery or Gunpowder Units and their CG and DI promotions will stay with them regardless of the recipient leader, however gifting a vanilla unit to a Protective civ will not earn them any CG or DI promotion.

So, we see that promotions are never rescinded, but the units need to already be promoted before being gifted as a promotion cannot arise from a unit changing alliances. They weren't trained there for that leader's free promotions and so, will not get them. With that in mind let's review the Unique Units and units starting with promotions to analyze the civ-specific strategies to fully utilize the promotion system and gifting of units.


Unique Units:

America: Navy SEALs start with March and Amphibious promotions, however the Marine Units are not part of any tech path.

Aztecs: Jaguars start with the Woodsman I promotion. Any upgraded Jaguar will retain the Woodsman I and Combat I promotions. Being Aggressive, the Combat I would be given to upgraded or hard-build Melee and GP Units regardless, but any Maceman or Gunpowder Unit upgraded from them would get WI for free.

Results of Unit Gifting: Swordsmen Units start a branch of the Melee Unit upgrade path and cannot be upgraded from anything, however they could be upgraded to Macemen Units and then from there into either Riflemen or Grenadiers. Melee and GP Units can receive further Woodsman promotions, but it will depend on the situation if you go up to WIII before gifting or leave it to the recipient to do. The AI is not as smart with promotions as human players, so take that into consideration. Obviously we have a better idea of what we want to try with units gifted to us. The CI WI Jaguar could be upgraded to a CI WI Maceman which could lead to WIII Macemen by your promotion path or theirs. Gifting the Aztec UU to the Vikings or Japanese will affect their UU as well, but you must gift them the unit and let them do the upgrading, otherwise you will gift them a Maceman and not their UU.

After the Vikings upgrade, their Berserker would now have WI and Amphibious. The CI is a wash because both leaders are Aggressive, but if Ragnar wasn't that would be there too. Having Berserkers with free Woodsman I and the potential to get to WIII sooner is very appealing for those shore landings where the enemy city is a tile or two inland. Even with just the WI, that can be helpful, but what about WIII Berserkers? Now they are faster over land and the Vikings get a much needed boost on land dominated maps. With fast movement through Forest/Jungle tiles and the defense bonus, not even an Aggressive Shock Maceman can take them out (~1.5% chance of victory). They still have difficulty in Forest/Jungles against Crossbowmen or other Macemen because of their innate +50% Melee bonus in addition to the tile bonus, but they can handle a Praetorian or even a vanilla Macemen with ~80% success chance. So, while not able to take out every unit on the Forest/Jungle tiles, neither can they themselves be taken out, meaning a safe passage to the city for attack. With Barracks and appropriate civics you can have WIII Berserkers at war and building up XPs to get to either Shock or City Raider. They can attack from boats or across rivers and cannot be taken out without much sacrifice on the enemy's part. Finally, let's not forget that the WIII promotion gives a healing ability just slightly superior to Medic I. Couple this with the Master Blacksmith Quest and you are in serious business, but let's not forget the +10% strength for the CI and the +10% city attack bonus unique to the Berserker.

The scenario just above for the Berserker is pretty much the same thing for the Japanese and their Samurai. Even if Tokugawa was not Aggressive, the CI promotion would carry through. Of course, the Samurai does not have the Amphibious promotion, but instead Drill I. This means 4-5 First Strikes when we have a WIII Samurai. This brings the numbers to a much more likely outcome for you. For example, against the Praetorian and vanilla Macemen are closer to 90% success chance. It even has a 65.5% chance against a Landsknecht on a Forest/Jungle tile. That is probably not worth the risk for what better things we can achieve with this gifted unit promotion combo, but sometimes you have to fight low risk battles. The good news is that aLandsknecht cannot protect a city and get the Forest tile bonus, maybe only a +25% Hill bonus. If we add in a CR promotion, then the numbers increase for us even more. It suffices to say that WIII Samurai have much to offer. Just imagine adding a GG or getting the XPs to get some more Drill promotions for this unit. Less collateral damage against it and the healing ability of the WIII promotion means these UUs will last longer and in tougher situations.

Finally, I think it goes without saying, or at least with very little analysis that letting England upgrade gifted WIII Jaguars into WIII Redcoats would mean some seriously powerful units owning the Forest/Jungle tiles. But remember that Churchill will not gain the CG or DI promotions for those WIII Redcoats he upgraded from Jaguars as only units that he builds will have his starting Protective bonus promotions.

Carthage: Numidian Calvary start with the Flanking I promotion. All Mounted Units have this promotion eligible, so this is more of getting to Sentry or, with Flanking II getting to Mobility sooner.

Results of Unit Gifting: Gifting to a friendly civ with the technology for Knights or even more advanced Mounted Units would be the plan. Of course, because Knights do not have the intrinsic withdrawal ability this can be advantageous. Gifting Flanking I units to upgrade to either Cataphracts or Camel Archers will make those UUs all the more effective compared to normal Knights and gifting them to the Spanish or Russians will give their Conquistadors and Cossacks, the UU versions of Cuirassiers and Calvary, a slightly better edge for withdrawal. In the future, Gunships will enjoy the boost as well.

Celts: Gallic Swordsmen start with the Guerrilla I promotion. Any upgraded Gallic Swordsman will retain the Guerrilla I -- and Combat I promotion if Boudica is the Celtic leader. With her being Aggressive, the Combat I would be given to upgraded or hard-build Melee and GP Units regardless, but any Maceman or Gunpowder Unit upgraded from the Gallic Swordsman would get GI for free. Let us assume the Aggressive version in our discussion.

It is true that the Celtic Dun also gives a free GI promotion to any Archery or Gunpowder Unit built in that city and that those units could be upgraded. Celtic GP Units could be upgraded or hard-built and they would have the free GI promotion with access to GII and GIII. However, Melee Units cannot receive Guerrilla promotions, so this UU is a golden opportunity to give promotions to units that would not normally be able to receive them. A GIII GW could be upgraded to a GIII Maceman, but the promotion down the Guerrilla line must be done before the upgrading.

Results of Unit Gifting: Swordsmen Units start a branch of the Melee Unit upgrade path and cannot be upgraded from anything, however they could be upgraded to Macemen Units and then from there into either Riflemen or Grenadiers. However, unlike the Woodsman promotion, the promotions to GII and GIII must be done before the gifting. Gifting a GIII GW to the Vikings or Japanese will enhance their UUs.

After the Vikings upgrade, their Berserker would now have GIII and Amphibious. The CI would not transfer to Ragnar unless Boudica was the Celtic leader, but let's assume this in order to keep the CI promotion we are accustomed to have for Berserkers. Having Berserkers with GIII is very appealing for those shore landings where the enemy city is a tile or two inland. Now they are faster over land and the Vikings get a much needed boost on land dominated maps. With fast movement through Hill tiles and the defense bonus, they are not the easy targets perhaps they used be. The Hill defense bonus of +50% comes when promoting up to GII and with the +25% from the Hill itself that should be enough to defend themselves along there path to the enemy cities.

However, the GIII promotion gives the +25% bonus for attacking a Hill tile. The Hill attacking bonus basically cancels out the defensive bonus the defender gets from the tile, so if that unit does not have any other bonuses such as Anti-Melee ability or Shock, the odds are pretty good for success or at least a retreat to the Medic Unit in your stack. They still have difficulty in Hills attacking Crossbowmen or other Macemen because of their innate +50% Melee bonus in addition to the tile bonus, but they can handle a CI Shock Praetorian at ~76% or even a vanilla Macemen with ~68% success chance. While not able to take out every unit on a Hill, neither can they themselves be taken out, meaning a safe passage to the city for attack and let's not dismiss the chance for withdrawal. No other Melee Units can withdraw and so while the Guerrilla promotion line does not give intrinsic healing that the Woodsman line does, it does give the retreat chance which can lead to healing. Having a unit promoted to GIII Medic II/III -- or especially to GIII WIII on a Forested Hill -- would ensure a safe and healing stack of death. With Barracks and appropriate civics you can have CI GIII Berserkers at war and building up XPs to get to either Shock or City Raider. They can attack from boats or across rivers and cannot be taken out without much sacrifice on the enemy's part. Finally, let's not forget that unlike the Woodsman line, the Guerrilla line helps to defend the cities you have just taken because Hills can still be present under a city. Couple this with the Master Blacksmith Quest and you are in serious business.

The scenario just above for the Berserker is pretty much the same thing for the Japanese and their Samurai. Of course, the Samurai does not have the Amphibious promotion, but instead Drill I. This still means the standard 2-3 First Strikes when we have a CI GIII Samurai and so perhaps upgrading from a GIII Gallic Swordsman does not make use of the Samurai's unique abilities like the upgrading a WIII Jaguar. The odds against the CI Shock Praetorian and vanilla Macemen are ~87% and 81.5% respectively. If you don't like any of these odds that much, remember the chance the GIII Samurai will have to withdraw and fight another day. It really depends on the terrain and role you give these units, but I like the WIII promotion might work better with the GIII Samurai, however they are already slightly better than normal Macemen before this little gifting trick. Imagine a GG or more XPs to get some more Drill promotions for this unit

Finally, since Gunpowder Units can receive Guerrilla promotions, gifting the GIII Gallic Warrior to England might not be that big of a deal. Then again neither is gifting Woodsmen promoted units because GP Units have access to both lines, however it is the free promotion which allows a flexibility to specialize or go further down those paths that is the key here. Of course, Churchill could hard build his Protective Redcoats and upgrade the GIII Gallic Warriors into fast and deadly UUs to terrorize the enemy.

China: Both of China's leaders are Protective and so, their UU, the Cho-Ku-No will start with City Garrison and Drill I. These free promotions will stay with the unit when upgraded to either a Rifleman or a Grenadier and further down the GP line. It goes without saying that gifting this unit to a Protective civ does not make use of promotions carrying over. Gifting this unit to a non-Protective leader makes much more sense.

Results of Unit Gifting: The best outcome from gifting could be if gifted to a non-Protective civ, either before or after the upgrade. However when gifting them to England, we want them to make the upgrade so that they can have Protective Redcoats. This would provide the two Queen leaders the same UU that Churchill produces.

Ethiopia: The Oromo Warrior starts with Drill I and II which make it easier to reach Drills III and IV much quicker. Drill II gives 20% less collateral damage, however a Drill IV Oromo Warrior would receive 60% less not mention the 4-7 First Strike Chances, immunity to First Strikes and +10% against Mounted Units.

Results of Unit Gifting: Gifting a OW to a civ with Rifling would give them a Gunpowder Unit half way to becoming Drill IV. This is beneficial to even a Protective civ as even though they won't receive the free CG, they will get up to Drill I for free. Gifting to England will give them a DII Redcoat after they upgrade. They won't have the First strike immunity or as many FSCs as the OW when they hit DIV or if they are upgraded from a DIV OW, but DIV Redcoats will have +35% against Mounted Units. The main thing is the extra First Strikes Chances and +25% against GP Units that the Redcoats would have over normal Riflemen. That is a powerful enough combination without even considering the 60% less damage a DIV Redcoat would receive from enemy Siege Units, which is a great advantage whether you are on the offense or defense of a war.

Germany: The Panzer starts with Blitz, but so does the Tank and so upgrading to Modern Armour which also has Blitz is the same for all civs.

Japan: Samurai start with CI and Drill I. These two free promotions are two of the three free promotions that Japan's Aggressive, Protective Gunpowder Units would receive.

Results of Unit Gifting: Gifting this unit to any civ which is not Aggressive, not Protective or neither of the two would be the best impact. Upgrading the unit to Rifleman would make it like a Japanese Rifleman, except missing the City Garrison. Once the unit has be upgraded, the CG promotion line with be available to that unit as well. Gifting this UU to a Protective civ gives the free Drill I, but the CG would not be free. It would have to be gained through XPs. In that case, one could build their own Protective GP Units for city defense and use upgraded Samurai laden with Drill promotion as attacking units. Redcoats that much closer to Drill IV is very nice as they would become quite difficult to take out.

Mongols: The Keshik does not have any free promotions but their UB, the Ger, allows for more XPs assigned to Mounted Units from the start. Depending on the Civics and number of GGs, there could be some heavily promoted Mounted Units which could be gifted to other civs. Storing up for future upgrade or gifting to more advanced allies would be the plan, but the civs with their own Mounted UUs, such as Arabia, Byzantines, Spanish and Russia stand to gain the most from this after upgrading to their respective UUs.

Native Americans: Their UB, the Totem Pole, allows for more XPs assigned to Archery Units from the start. Sitting Bull is Protective, so that already means a free CG and DI for the units. Depending on the Civics and number of GGs, there could be some heavily promoted Archery Units which could be gifted to other civs. Storing up for future upgrade or gifting to more advanced allies would be the plan, but China with their Cho-Ku-Nos and England stand to gain the most from this after upgrading to their respective UUs.

Spain: Their UB, the Citadel, allows for more XPs assigned to Siege Units from the start. Depending on the Civics and number of GGs, there could be some heavily promoted Siege Units which could be gifted to other civs. Storing up for future upgrade or gifting to more advanced allies would be the plan, however there are no clear advantages for one civ over any other.

Vikings: The Berserker starts with the Combat I and Amphibious promotions. They will stay with the unit when promoted up the Gunpowder chain which can be quite useful. Amphibious Infantry or even Mech Infantry landings could be game breaking.

Results of Unit Gifting: Gifting the Amphibious promotion to any civ can be helpful, but gifting CI Amphibious Berserkers to England for Amphibious Redcoats would really let them take advantage of their +25% bonus against Gunpowder Units. When dealing with Castles and other defensive obstacles, the quickness of attacking from across the river or from a boat and their inability to counter attack without penalty can save time the enemy uses to reinforce the city or tile. Imagine a few City Raiders promotions as a Berserker and not even Paul Revere's heroics could stop these Redcoats!

Zulus: The Impi starts with Combat I and Mobility. Mobility grants -1 terrain movement cost to the unit and is only useful for the Impi because it has a movement of 2, however way down the road it could become useful again when upgrading to either Mechanized infantry or Mobile SAM because those units also have a movement of 2. Storing up for future upgrade or gifting to more advanced allies would be the plan, however there are no clear advantages for one civ over any other. The Combat I also transfers when the unit is gifted and/or upgraded.

Results of Unit Gifting: Of course, you could attach a GG to your Impi and give them the Morale promotion. Now the unit would have two moves to make use of the free Mobility promotion when upgraded. Remember, the GG grants free upgrades as well as opening up other promotions which can ensure a greater likelihood of survival. This unit would become quite a nice gift to the HRE for upgrading to Mobile Landsknchets or to England for Mobile Redcoats.



We have seen the free promotions from the Quests and Events and how to transfer the free promotions of UUs down the upgrade paths. While it is advantageous for any civ to have any Event or successful Quest, we want to combine them with UU gifting to generate a list of potential strategies for Permanent Alliance or Multi-player games which will maximize the number and advantage of free promotions. We are looking at the base promotions from Barracks only and will only mention extra promotions from XPs granted from UBs and not from Civics, GG or battles. One thing which should be mentioned when gifting the AI is that it is probably better to save your UU until they have the technology needed to upgrade your gifted unit to the special superior unit. We will conclude this study below with a look at each Civilization and which special combinations will work best for them.

Civilizations:

America: None

Arabia:

When Gifted: Well promoted Chariot Units -- Immortals from Cyrus or Egyptian War Chariots and well promoted Horse Archers -- Keshiks or especially Numidian Calvary with their free Flanking I.

When Gifting: Well promoted, Flanking I CAs to Spain or Russia

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to CAs
3. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units
OR
1. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to CAs
2. Horse Whispering Quest to get free Mounted Archers, upgrade to CAs
3. Noble Knights Quest to give Flanking I to all CAs

Aztecs:

When Gifting: Well promoted WIII Jaguars to Japan, the Vikings or England

Best Scenario:
1. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units
2. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Shock promotion to all Jaguars
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units
4. Elite Swords Quest to give City Raider promotion to all Jaguars
5. Promote to WIII and attack cities with free CI Cover Shock CR promotions and defend with CG. Riflemen will have CR capability.
OR
4. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units
5. Promote to WIII and attack cities with free CI Cover Shock CR promotions and use DI promotion in conjunction with WIII's two First Strikes. Riflemen will be Aggressive and Protective when upgraded.


Please see post #9 for the conclusion.

I presume you are suggesting that a civ with an early UU gift its units to an allied civ with a later UU, the idea being that the receiving civ could upgrade the older unit into the newer UU, while keeping the unique/additional promotions. Is this what you mean?

If I'm understanding the purpose of the post, then ...

Both Swords and Axes upgrade to Maces. Maces upgrade to Rifles.

Civ 1 is Celtia, Civ 2 is Japan, Civ 3 is England.

Boudica/Celtia makes Gallic Warriors with Guerilla III and gifts them to Toku, who upgrades them to Samurai, getting 2 first strikes and Drill I. Toku gifts the uber-Samurai to Victoria, who uprgrades them to Redcoats, gaining the +25% bonus vs. gunpowder bonus.

At the end, the Redcoat has Combat I, Guerilla III, two first strikes, Drill I, and +25% vs. gunpowder units, plus whatever other promotions the unit has earned through the ages. Although I'm not sure if the Samurai two first strikes survive the upgrade.

The same could be done with Monty at the start, giving the units Woodsman III instead of Guerilla III.

You got the right idea, except the Drill 1 carrys over, but not the first strikes. Japan could easily promote it up the Drill path and than we'd have some fierce Redcoats.

I have tried a game getting some interesting promotions to Impi and then gifting them to HRE. More of that later. I have been up for almost 24 hours straight, putting this flowchart diagram together on PhotoShop. This should be my real life job!

Looking foward to the rest of the article. A number of corrections:

Promotions:
Copypaste error in flanking
Blitz promotion is not mentioned
Leaders:
Kublai Khan is spelled wrong under aggressive
Citadel gives 5 XP to siege units

UUs:
Berserkers do not start with Combat I innate, but from Aggressive trait.
Impi starts with combat I from Shakas Aggressive trait.
Samurai do not start with Combat I innate, but from Aggressive trait.

Keep up the good work, and grab yourself some more

Don't forget the king of uber units creation. Cyrus. Imperialistic and charasmatic. Heaps of GG's to load up those quickly promoted troops.

Babylon:

When Gifting: Well promoted Bowmen to China or England (all Archery Units)

Best Scenario:
1. Bowyer Event to give Combat I promotion to all Archery Units

Byzantines:

When Gifted: Well promoted Chariot Units -- Immortals from Cyrus or Egyptian War Chariots and well promoted Horse Archers -- Keshiks or especially Numidian Calvary with their free Flanking I.

When Gifting: Well promoted, Flanking I Cataphracts to Spain or Russia

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to Cataphracts
3. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units
OR
1. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to Cataphracts
2. Horse Whispering Quest to get free Mounted Archers, upgrade to Cataphracts
3. Noble Knights Quest to give Flanking I to all Cataphracts

Carthage:

When Gifting: Well promoted, Flanking I Numidian Calvary to Arabia, Byzantines, Spain or Russia

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units
OR
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. Horse Whispering Quest to get free Numidian Calvary
OR
1. Horse Whispering Quest to get free Numidian Calvary, build more and upgrade all to Flanking I Knights

Celts:

When Gifting: Well promoted GIII Gallic Warriors to Japan, the Vikings or England

Best Scenario:
1. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units
2. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Shock promotion to all Gallic Warriors
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units
4. Elite Swords Quest to give City Raider promotion to all Gallic Warriors
5. Promote to GIII and attack cities with free CI Cover Shock CR promotions and defend with CG. Riflemen will have CR capability in addition to the Hills attack.
OR
4. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units
5. Promote to GIII and attack cities with free CI Cover Shock CR DI promotions. Riflemen will be Protective (and Aggressive with Boudica) when upgraded.

China:

When Gifted: Well promoted Protective Archer Units, especially from Sitting Bull

When Gifting: Well promoted Protective Bowmen to China or England (all Archery Units)

Best Scenario:
1. Bowyer Event to give Combat I promotion to all Archery Units (can be gifted from other civs (Protective is preferred), CI Archers upgraded to Cho-Ko-Nos)
OR
1. Stronger Fittings Event to give Combat I promotion to all Crossbowmen/Cho-Ko-Nos

Dutch:

Best Scenario:
1. Harbourmaster Quest to give Combat 1 promotion to all Naval Units
2. Trade maps with other civs to be first to Circumnavigate the map and receive +1 ship movement
OR
1. Harbourmaster Quest to give Navigation 1 promotion to all Naval Units
2. Use free NI to be first to Circumnavigate the map and receive +1 ship movement

Egypt:

When Gifting: Well promoted, Egyptian War Chariots to Arabia, Byzantines, Spain or Russia

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all War Chariots
3. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units

England: The Rifleman is the link for many units types to the main upgrade path, meaning there is many possible combination of things leading to nicely promoted Redcoats before any battle promotions. There are several ways to get Shock Redcoats, for example. Due to the many possible combinations there is only one list given below. However, note that they all rely on units gifted to them, if England does not trigger the Events or Quests themselves as there are no Events or Quests which will boost the Rifleman. In fact, the Rifling tech will obsolete several of these if they are not already obsoleted on the way to Rifling.

When Gifted: Well promoted Protective Archer Units -- especially from Sitting Bull, well promoted Aggressive Melee Units -- especially the CI Amphibious Vikings' Berserkers, Japanese Samurai with CI & Drill I, WIII Aztecs' Jaguars or the GIII Celts's GWs, and well promoted Aggressive or Protective Musketman Units or Ethiopia's Oromo Warriors with Drill I and II

Best Scenario:
1. Bowyer Event to give Combat I promotion to all Archery Units (can be gifted from other civs (Protective is preferred), Archers upgraded to CI Redcoats)
2. Axe Haft Event to give Shock promotion to all Axemen Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Axemen upgraded to Shock Redcoats)
3. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), units upgraded to Cover Redcoats)
4. Smokeless Powder Event to give Pinch promotion to all Musketmen Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive, Protective or OWs are preferred), Musketmen upgraded to Pinch Redcoats)
5. Stronger Fittings Event to give Combat I promotion to all (can be gifted from other civs (Protective is preferred), Crossbowmen upgraded to CI Redcoats)
6. Halberd Event to give Shock promotion to all Pikemen Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Pikemen upgraded to Shock Redcoats)
7. Charismatic Event to give March to all Gunpowder Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive, Protective or OWs are preferred), Musketmen upgraded to March Redcoats)
8. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Shock promotion to all Swordsmen OR to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), units upgraded to Shock or DI Redcoats)
9. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Melee Units upgraded to CG Redcoats)
10. Elite Swords Quest to give City Raider promotion to all Swordsmen (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Swordsmen upgraded to Redcoats)
11. Guns Butter Quest to give to give Pinch promotion to all Musketmen Units (can be gifted from other civs (Protective or OWs are preferred), Musketmen upgraded to Pinch Redcoats)

Ethiopia:

When Gifting: Well promoted DII Oromo Warriors to England

Best Scenario:
1. Smokeless Powder Event to give Pinch promotion to all ORs
2. Charismatic Event to give March to all Gunpowder Units
OR
1. Charismatic Event to give March to all Gunpowder Units
2. Guns Butter Quest to give to give Pinch promotion to all ORs

France:

When Gifting: Well promoted Musketeers to England

Best Scenario:
1. Smokeless Powder Event to give Pinch promotion to all Musketeers
2. Charismatic Event to give March to all Gunpowder Units
OR
1. Charismatic Event to give March to all Gunpowder Units
2. Guns Butter Quest to give to give Pinch promotion to all Musketeers

Germany: None

Greece

When Gifted: Well promoted Aggressive Warriors or CI Incan Quechuas

When Gifting: Well promoted Phalanx to Japan, the Vikings or England

Best Scenario:
1. Axe Haft Event to give Shock promotion to all Phalanx
2. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units
4. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units

Holy Roman Empire:

When Gifted: Well promoted Aggressive Warriors, CI Incan Quechuas, Zulu Impi, or Mayan Holkans

When Gifting: Well promoted Landsknechts to England

Best Scenario:
1. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units
2. Halberd Event to give Shock promotion to all Landsknechts
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units
4. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units

Inca: This UU comes so early that it could be gifted to any civ and the other civ can decide whether to upgrade to Axemen or Spearmen depending on their UU, their resources and other factors. It is nothing more than a CI Warrior with an Archer bonus, it actually comes too early to really gain enough XPs to be a great gifted unit or to know which civ you want to have be allies with (except for MP games)

When Gifting: Well promoted CI Incan Quechuas to just about any civ, particularly to the Mayans (no resource needed to upgrade to Holkans), Sitting Bull (no resource needed to upgrade to Dog Soldiers) and non-Aggressive civs.

India: None

Japan:

When Gifted: Well promoted Aggressive Melee Units -- especially the CI WIII Aztecs' Jaguars or the CI GIII Celts's GWs, and Axemen Units

When Gifting: Well promoted CI DI Samurai to England

Best Scenario:
1. Axe Haft Event to give Shock promotion to all Axemen Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Axemen upgraded to Shock Samurai
3. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Axemen and Swordsmen Units upgraded to Cover Samurai
4. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Shock promotion to all Swordsmen (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Swordsmen Units upgraded to Shock Samurai
5. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Axemen and Swordsmen Units upgraded to CG Samurai)
6. Elite Swords Quest to give City Raider promotion to all Swordsmen (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Swordsmen upgraded to Samurai)
7. Promote with CR and attack cities with free Cover Shock DI promotions and then defend them with the CG or go down the Drill line to DIV for extra First Strikes and strong resistance to collateral damage.

Khmer :

When Gifting: Well promoted, Ballista Elephants to Spain or Russia

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units

Korea: None

Mali:

When Gifting: Well promoted Skirmishers to China or England (all Archery Units)

Best Scenario:
1. Bowyer Event to give Combat I promotion to all Archery Units

Mayans:

When Gifted: Well promoted CI Incan Quechuas or Aggressive Warriors (no resource needed to upgrade to Holkans)

When Gifted: Well promoted Holkans to HRE or England

Best Scenario:
1. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Cover Warriors/Quechuas upgraded to Cover Holkans
2. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), DI Warriors/Quechuas upgraded to DI Cover Holkans
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), CG Warriors/Quechuas upgraded to CG Cover Holkans

Mongols:

When Gifting: Well promoted, Flanking I Keshiks to Arabia, Byzantines, Spain or Russia

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units
3. Promote with XPs from battle and Ger to great Mounted Units and upgrade all to Knights and beyond
OR
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. Horse Whispering Quest to get free Keshiks
3. Use free Keshiks and promote with XPs from battle and Ger to great Mounted Units and upgrade all to Knights and beyond

Native Americans:

When Gifting: Well promoted Archers to China or England (all Archery Units)

Best Scenario:
1. Axe Haft Event to give Shock promotion to all Dog Soldiers
2. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units
4. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units
5. Bowyer Event to give Combat I promotion to all Archery Units (can be gifted from other civs (Protective is preferred), CI Archers upgraded to Longbowmen or Crossbowmen but without the Totem Pole's XPs)
OR
5. Stronger Fittings Event to give Combat I promotion to all Crossbowmen

Ottomans:

When Gifting: Well promoted Janissaries to England

Best Scenario:
1. Smokeless Powder Event to give Pinch promotion to all Janissaries
2. Charismatic Event to give March to all Gunpowder Units
OR
1. Charismatic Event to give March to all Gunpowder Units
2. Guns Butter Quest to give to give Pinch promotion to all Janissaries

Persia:

When Gifting: Well promoted, Immortals to Arabia, Byzantines, Spain or Russia

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Immortals
3. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units

Portugal:

Best Scenario:
1. Reinforced Hull Event to give give Combat 1 promotion to Triremes, Upgrade Triremes to Carracks
2. Harbourmaster Quest to give Navigation 1 promotion to all Naval Units
3. Use free NI to be first to Circumnavigate the map and receive +1 ship movement
OR
1. Warships Quest to give give Combat 1 promotion to Triremes, Upgrade Triremes to Carracks
2. Harbourmaster Quest to give Navigation 1 promotion to all Naval Units
3. Use free NI to be first to Circumnavigate the map and receive +1 ship movement
OR
1. Harbourmaster Quest to give Combat 1 promotion to all Naval Units
2. Trade maps with other civs to be first to Circumnavigate the map and receive +1 ship movement

Rome:

When Gifting: Well promoted CR Praetoria to Japan, the Vikings or England

Best Scenario:
1. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units
2. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Shock promotion to all Praetoria
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units
4. Elite Swords Quest to give City Raider promotion to all Praetoria
OR
4. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units

Russia:

When Gifted: Well promoted Mounted Units -- Immortals from Cyrus or Egyptian War Chariots, Keshiks, Numidian Calvary with their free Flanking I, Camels Archers, Cataphracts, Ballista Elephants, Conquistadors.

Best Scenario:
1. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
2. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to Cossacks)
3. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units
OR
1. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to Cossacks)
2. Horse Whispering Quest to get free Mounted Archers, upgrade to Cossacks
3. Noble Knights Quest to give Flanking I to all Knights, upgrade to FI Cossacks

Spain:

When Gifted: Well promoted Mounted Units -- Immortals from Cyrus or Egyptian War Chariots, Keshiks, Numidian Calvary with their free Flanking I, Camels Archers, Cataphracts, Ballista Elephants

When Gifting: Well promoted, Flanking Conquistadors

Best Scenario:
1. Rifled Cannon Event to give Combat I to all Cannons, use Barracks and Citadel XPs on other promotions
2. Horseshoe Event to give Flanking I to all Mounted Units
3. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to Conquistadors)
4. Horse Whispering Quest to give Sentry to all Mounted Units
OR
2. War Chariots Quest to give CI to all Chariots (can be gifted from Persia or Egypt), upgrade Chariot Units to Conquistadors)
3. Horse Whispering Quest to get free Mounted Archers, upgrade to Conquistadors
4. Noble Knights Quest to give Flanking I to all Knights, upgrade to FI Conquistadors
4. Rifled Cannon Event to give Combat I to all Cannons, use Barracks and Citadel XPs on other promotions

Sumeria:

When Gifted: Well promoted Aggressive Warriors or CI Incan Quechuas

When Gifting: Well promoted Vultures to Japan, the Vikings or England

Best Scenario:
1. Axe Haft Event to give Shock promotion to all Vultures
2. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units
4. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units

Vikings:

When Gifted: Well promoted Aggressive Melee Units -- especially the CI WIII Aztecs' Jaguars or the CI GIII Celts's GWs, and Axemen Units

When Gifting: Well promoted CI Amphibious Berserkers to England

Best Scenario:
1. Axe Haft Event to give Shock promotion to all Axemen Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Axemen upgraded to Shock Berserkers
3. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Axemen and Swordsmen Units upgraded to Cover Berserkers
4. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Shock promotion to all Swordsmen (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Swordsmen Units upgraded to Shock Berserkers
5. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Axemen and Swordsmen Units upgraded to CG Berserkers)
6. Elite Swords Quest to give City Raider promotion to all Swordsmen (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Swordsmen upgraded to [Berserkers)
OR
6. Elite Swords Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Swordsmen (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Swordsmen upgraded to [Berserkers)

1. Reinforced Hull Event to give give Combat 1 promotion to Triremes
2. Warships Quest to give give Combat 1 promotion to Triremes
3. Harbourmaster Quest to give Combat 1 promotion to all Naval Units, Navigation I from Trading Post
4. Use free NI and promote to Navigation II, use extra 2 movement and map trading with other civs to be first to Circumnavigate the map and receive +1 ship movement
5. Load up Galleys or other Naval Units with those deadly Berserkers

Zulus:

When Gifted: Well promoted CI Incan Quechuas or Aggressive Warriors

When Gifted: Very well promoted Morale Impi (with attached Great General) to HRE or England

Best Scenario:
1. Tower Shield Event to give Cover promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), Cover Warriors/Quechuas upgraded to Cover Impi
2. Master Blacksmith Quest to give Drill I promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), DI Warriors/Quechuas upgraded to DI Cover Impi
3. Best Defense Quest to give City Garrison promotion to all Melee Units (can be gifted from other civs (Aggressive is preferred), CG Warriors/Quechuas upgraded to CG Cover Impi



There is the rundown. I hope this information is helpful and that it will spark more discussion regarding alliances, gifting units and promotions in general.

A big error here: Units won't get the agressive/protective bonus promotions when upgraded. I remember my CII+Formation Rifles from a recent Tokugawa game, upgraded from Pikes. They didnt get CG and Drill.

Edit: second error: melee and archers cant get pinch, even if xou have gunpowder tech.

Feyaria said:

A big error here: Units won't get the agressive/protective bonus promotions when upgraded. I remember my CII+Formation Rifles from a recent Tokugawa game, upgraded from Pikes. They didnt get CG and Drill.

Click to expand...

Oops. I know from gifting it doesn't go, but after testing with Japan, it appears you are correct. Where exactly did you see I made that mistake? Thanks!

EDIT: Yeah, I see my wording was contradictory in some spots and I fixed it up. Thanks for catching that.