Javelin Thrower/other early game units

I think that this should be an early offensive archery unit. Here might be some possible stats:

Javelin Thrower
Strength: 3
Movement: 1
Class: Ranged (Yes this is a new class of unit)
Bonuses/Abilities:
1. Can strike enemy units within 1 range (essentially like an airship), for up to 40% damage (up to 60% damage for mounted units)
2. 100% vs. Mounted units
3. -25% vs. Melee units
4. 25% Hills defense/attack
5. -25% Forest defense/attack

I also think that a few more pre-gunpowder units should be added, to add diversity. Here are a few:

Battering Ram
Strength: 4-6
Movement: 1
Class: Siege
Bonuses/Abilities:
1. Cannot defend - can only attack cities/forts
2. Ignores city defenses/the presence of walls, castle, fort
3. Does not ignore the terrain of hills

Ballista
Strength: 0
Movement: 1
Class: Ranged
Bonuses/Abilities:
1. Cannot move or defend
2. Can strike enemy unit within 3 range for up to 50% damage, always strikes for 50% damage (obsolete when unit is Medieval Era caliber or above)
3. Cannot hit units in Forest, Jungle, fort
4. Cannot strike outside of cultural borders

Slinger
Strength: 2
Movement: 2
Class: Ranged
Bonuses/Abilities
1. 100% defense in Forest, Jungle
2. 50% defense on Hills
3. -25% defense on flat land
4. 100% vs. Ranged Units

There are my two cents for the day.

why to make new unit class? you can rename "archery units" to "missile units" if you do not like javeliners and slingers to be archery.

why slingers given 100% defense in forest? and -100% vs ranged? sling range was superior to bow's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)

Akkon888@
how does a javelin get a 2 range and ballista 3

These are four good idea for units but they should have reasonable abilities

@killmeplease:

The "missile" or "projectile" unit category is a good idea. And, I put a hyphen before each attribute, so it actually says (hyphen) 100% vs. Archery Units, and (hyphen) 100% defense in jungle. These are bonuses. Maybe I should edit the hyphens some.

@Silurian:

The ballista was a very long range weapon, capable of shooting over 500 yards(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballista). I do not know what would be considered "to scale" in this game, but 3 range seems about right. And as for the javelin, you are right. There should not be any range, or if there is, it should be 1 range.

Thanks for replying, it helps me refine these ideas.

Akkon888@
Its the range I do not like mainly
Javelins/ ballista do not go 100km
And why can't a ballista move like any other siege weapon

@Silurian:

Well, I can add 1 movement, but it should not be able to attack outside of cultural borders. The ballista was mainly a defensive weapon, and it should be able to defend against city attackers. Also, you mention 100km. Based on the scale of the game, that would mean that it takes 10-40 years just to move a unit a few kilometers. The scale in the game isn't perfect at all.

Akkon888@
The ballista was a siege weapon like catapults and would be carried to the front line in wagons.
Like a catapult it could be taken any ware - slowly.

Civ is a strategy game not a war game.
The battles in civ are representative of a number of battles that would take place during a turn.
The different units allow you to carry out different war fighting strategies.
You could choose to research the cheap sling tech which would give you the cheap sling unit or archery which would be a stronger unit.

The scale of the game is correct for a strategy game. If the tiles were say 100m square and turns lasted 10 mins so you could have real battles you would need a supper computer to play on and would die of old age or boredom by 1000BCE

The Javelin thrower seems redundant, as the Spearman fulfils early anti-mounted unit needs.

The Battering Ram seems like a weaker catapult, so no-one would build it, assuming it came at roughly the same time.

The Ballista seems unrealistic. 3 tiles? Wow, that's a long way, considering artillery does not have ranged bombardment.

The Slinger is only really necessitated by the Ballista (which was 0 strength, and so needs no unit specifically to counter it) and the Javelin Thrower (which is redundant).

Javelins were used against heavy foot troops not mounted troops
Spearmen keep their spears javelins are thrown
They are more like shorter ranged arrows that carry more punch

No first strike chance

Battering rams were used in the assault, catapults were used to soften up the target.
If suicide siege units were replaced with there actual role of bombardment there would be a use for battering rams.

I suggested in “siege as attachments” that catapults take a turn to set up. Maybe ballista can be used straight away but do less damage

The Slinger is only really necessitated by the Ballista

Click to expand...

I do not understand this.

Slings had longer range than arrows but required more training.
Cost less than archers to produce
They could defend themselves better than archers.
They tended to fire from the front due to the risk of a miss fire.

Requires sheep or deer to build, slightly higher strength than archer. Restriction in number that can fight in battle!! Can not all be at front?

The Javelin Thrower would not require copper or iron, and would cost 75% the cost of an archer, which would give it a time of dominance, like the Janissary. But, if copper or iron are not available, the Javelin Thrower would seem to be the only other unit besides UUs and archers/warriors in the Ancient Era.

I do not see how the javelin would cause more damage to heavy foot soldiers than mounted units. I know that a shield would block almost all damage a javelin can do. Perhaps a bonus/penalty against shielded/unshielded units?

Also, the battering ram would come before construction, requiring only forests in the city's borders. 1 lumber would be picked by the player to consume at the cost of producing the ram.

Silurian said:

I do not understand this.

Click to expand...

Well the only feature of the Slinger in the OP that seems to be too different from the current units is the +100% vs. Ranged Units. And seeing as the Javelin Thrower and Ballista are the only two units in this category, the Slinger's only obvious use would be against these units. Although you wouldn't need a special unit against another unit with 0 strength.

I suppose, though, that the extra movement point of the Slinger could be of use, although the role of an early double movement unit falls to the chariot.