New uses for old units

There's nothing new under the sun, and naturally tactics involving obsolete units have been discussed many times before, but I thought it would be interesting to pull together a single thread on uses for obsolete units. These could be either ways to use obsolete units you find yourself stuck with (either for lack of cash to upgrade, lack of key resource, or end of an upgrade path), or uses powerful enough to justify keeping obsoletes around even when they could be upgraded with cash.

Here are some that I have either thought of or read here - please comment, discuss, and of course, add more suggestions.

* disband obsolete units in freshly captured cities to help speed the production of the temple or other first build item

* garrison obsolete units in freshly captured cities to quell resistance and prevent flipping (I do this all the time)

* keep obsolete elites around to pick off wounded targets in hopes of generating leaders

* throw stacks of obsolete units at "that last defender" in a city you are trying to take, especially after that defender has been promoted to elite status. The reasoning here is that while you might lose ten swordsmen trying to dislodge that last elite infantry, it won't be promoted any further so you actually have a chance of killing it.

* pillage brigade!

any other thoughts?

Border blockers to keep the annoying AI units from "strolling" around your territory.

I use obsoletes Unique Units (like Immortals) as police force to prevent flipping.

You can build then quicker than more modern units.

Along the lines of Skullbones, line your coasts (particularly the spots your culture hasn't covered yet) to discourage A.I. settler "visitations"

Can be useful too for tempting the enemy off mountains - nothing like a lone weak unit to pull the enemy into your kill zone.

I often use old units as observers for wars that I am not involved in. Even if you dont have a Right of Passage with a civ, come the later eras, rarely will a Civ complain about a spearman or swordsman sitting in their territory watching the battles. The main trick for this is not to put them next to their cities

One of the most interesting use I had for a pile of units once was forming the blocking wall with troops. However this time I wasnt protecting my soil but I was protecting the last couple of cities from a friendly AI that would of been smashed. I was able to surround their cities with what military I had there and a pile of old spearmen ( I found them in a colony that I forgot about . On one side of my troops were my friends on the other side the rampaging hordes of troops that I just didnt have the ability to deal with at the time.

How about a coast to coast wall along a shared boarder, then signing a ROP agreement so you have full access to the AI's land but they can't set foot on yours.

Lure powerful enemy units to waste moves attacking your weak units, then counterattack the enemy units with your powerful units.

Seperate two opponent civs at war with each other (at a choke point), in hopes of saving the easy civ's territory for youself or if their is a civ that I take pity on and want him to survive a little longer.

You can use your civ "obsolete" unique unit to get perfect timing in triggering Golden Age whenever you want, if you haven't already had one. Remember that all UUs are always accessible as long as you have needed resources.

If you cannot stop another Civ using your territory then station troops on key rail and road junctions.

There is nothing worse than a friendly civ blocking your rail line when you need to get your troops to the frount.

In the OCC I have used obslete troops to hold territory blocking other civs from setting up a city near a luxury resource at the edge of my borders.

I have a perfect use for my obsolete units: I upgrade them. And when they can't be upgraded any further, like cavalry, they just won't be obsolete. A 6 power attacker still has 6 power... Thus a 50% chance of defeating a fortified MI that's been redlined after intense bombardment.

Originally posted by col
Can be useful too for tempting the enemy off mountains - nothing like a lone weak unit to pull the enemy into your kill zone.

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I once had a veteran immortal fortified on a hill, defeat veteran modern armor. I could not believe my eyes...

Originally posted by Globetrotter


I once had a veteran immortal fortified on a hill, defeat veteran modern armor. I could not believe my eyes...

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Seems that "immortality" attribute indeed helped him a lot

On topic: obsolete units are also great for protecting resources from disconnecting and destroying improvements via bombardment.

Originally posted by Globetrotter


I once had a veteran immortal fortified on a hill, defeat veteran modern armor. I could not believe my eyes...

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good that the RNG also helps the Human

On Cavs I am with shabbaman. They are useful at least you get to MA, because tanks got only 2 movement and a 3 mover is always useful at this time.

When you capture a large city with superior culture, you risk losing your garrison no matter how many obsolete units are stacked in it. In this case a 40-shield unit doesn't have much chance to quell a resistor, but you are guaranteed to take out one resistor by disbanding the unit to rush a worker.

I use them in all the ways above EXCEPT throwing them en masse against a much stronger enemy unit. Why? I believe that your war weariness increases for every unit of yours that is killed, so wasting them in a mostly futile attack may not be a good thing...

Though disbanding them is good since you stop the upkeep cost and get the shields where you want them, the computer 'knows' that you are militarily weaker now and so may give you worse trades or even attack you!

When you move them from front-to-front the AI also 'knows' that there are more (or less) units in that area and so will respond differently.

Watch out for upgrading Elite units--they lose their Elite status! That's why I keep them separate and attack crippled enemies out in the open when they have a chance of winning and generating a leader...

On the coasts they also absorb any shelling to prevent damage to terrain improvements.

Maintain a large force of obsolete units to help intimidate the AI. This gives you more diplomatic clout, and also decreases the chance of extortion by the AI.

(Great thread, by the way! I love all the different ideas.)

Indeed, Bismarck, I was thinking that this has turned out to be a very good thread. Glad I started it!

I especially like the ideas of using obsolete units as border guard, and using them as lures for stupid AI attackers.

DaveMcW - while I see your point about disbanding to create workers, I am curious - does the strength of the units in the garrison matter for quelling resistors, or just the number? I know the culture flip formula does not include the strength of the units, and I have had excellent results using a stack of obsolete units to stop culture flipping (you and I have discussed culture-flip prevention on another thread).

* throw stacks of obsolete units at "that last defender" in a city you are trying to take, especially after that defender has been promoted to elite status. The reasoning here is that while you might lose ten swordsmen trying to dislodge that last elite infantry, it won't be promoted any further so you actually have a chance of killing it.

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Satchel, my only problem with this tactic is that there is a change of giving the enemy a Great Leader. Although it's half as likely as during an attack, I had it happen twice in my last game.