Top 5 best special units for war in BNW!

[Merciorum]

1) Kris Swordsman
2) Winged Hussar
3) Immortal
4) Siege Tower
5) Janissary

 

[ahawk]

1) Keshik
2) Siege Tower
3) Battering Ram
4) Cho-ku-no
5) B-17

Keshiks are still number 1 for me. Any UU that is potentially useful long after it's own era, even without upgrading, is a tremendous advantage, let alone one that tends to not even get hit.

The only BNW unit I see as all that great now is the Siege Tower. It's a Battering Ram, but better in that it also boosts adjacent units against the city.

Then Battering Ram.
Then Cho-ku-no.
Then B-17.

I didn't list the Impi only because it's not so much the Impi, but the Ikanda (the UB) that makes Zulu melee units amazing.

 

[Tyrvos]

Other than Keshik and Camel Archer...
My choices are based off of my play style, since I have an understanding of them over ones that don't fit my play style (coastal focus and defensive). It wouldn't make sense for me to rate units whose potential I don't understand.

No particular order:
Berserker (Insane coastal raiding and movement. I wish the movement carried on in the upgrades)

Sea beggar (Once the Dutch get these, they easily dominate the seas, and great for taking cities)

Berber Calvary (Godlike defense skills)

Janissary (That heal after kills makes military campaigns easy. I also give them the amphib promotion so if they need to fight when the disembark, they'll have a better chance of killing the guy to get full health)

Ship of the Line (A stronger frigate, which for me is one of the most important units in the game)

 

[HerrDoktor]

Question: does the siege tower keeps its city attack bonus after you upgrade it? Or do you have to keep one obsolete unit sitting for the whole game?

 

[feralminded]

I didn't list the Impi only because it's not so much the Impi, but the Ikanda (the UB) that makes Zulu melee units amazing.

This isn't really fair because part of what makes the Keshik so insane is Genghis Khan's UA and the Khans themselves who can keep up with them. That's not to imply that slightly slower Keshiks without a perma GG who also provides +15 healing would be bad but that's still a non-trivial part of what makes the Keshik storm unbeatable.

Similarly the Impi itself is nothing to scoff at (double XP, free first strike attack, upgrade to rifleman) ... but obviously means a lot more in light of all the buffalo parts: +1 move, +10% strength, +10% open terrain strength, +75% flank (really just +7.5%), +30% ranged defense. And of course there's the 50% maintenance cost.

Comparing UU's without the context of the Civilization they come from isn't of much use when those civ's grant unique combat bonuses of some kind. It's not like you can play Ghengis without Khans and Mongol Terror and if you are building Impi's without an Ikhanda you're doing it wrong.

 

[Tyrvos]

1) Kris Swordsman
2) Winged Hussar
3) Immortal
4) Siege Tower
5) Janissary

Is the kris that good? The chance of a debuff is just too much for me, personally.

 

[Elz Majesto]

1. Keshik
2. Camel Archer
3. Battering Rams
4. Chus/Longbows
5. Carolean/Jaguar/Siege Tower

 

[Gucumatz]

There are a few that deserve to be in the top 4 no matter the order:

Longbow
Cho Ko Nuh
Keshik
Camel Archer
----
With BNW 2 new units make an argument for top UU. The Impi and the Siege Tower. The Impi is unique in that it is the only true melee unit that can be made an argument for

 

[A Rabid Dopsis]

This isn't really fair because part of what makes the Keshik so insane is Genghis Khan's UA and the Khans themselves who can keep up with them. That's not to imply that slightly slower Keshiks without a perma GG who also provides +15 healing would be bad but that's still a non-trivial part of what makes the Keshik storm unbeatable.

Similarly the Impi itself is nothing to scoff at (double XP, free first strike attack, upgrade to rifleman) ... but obviously means a lot more in light of all the buffalo parts: +1 move, +10% strength, +10% open terrain strength, +75% flank (really just +7.5%), +30% ranged defense. And of course there's the 50% maintenance cost.

Comparing UU's without the context of the Civilization they come from isn't of much use when those civ's grant unique combat bonuses of some kind. It's not like you can play Ghengis without Khans and Mongol Terror and if you are building Impi's without an Ikhanda you're doing it wrong.

Keshiks don't receive the extra movement from the Mongol ability because they are coded as ranged units. They have 5 base movement even if you get them from a city state. Your main point stands though.

 

[SilverDash]

* Samurai (wrecks everything including cities)
* Longbow (3 range)
* Winged hussar (5 movement, and their ability to push enemies away and move after attack rocks. But sadly needs siege support vs cities)
* Siege Tower (too bad that early game warmongering is not really viable but these can take down Babylon with walls early on)
* ship of the line (because the tech gap between these and the battleships is imo the biggest these are thus the best sea special-units and can make you the biggest civ)

 

[kingofsealand]

Yes silver dash i had seen no one mention the winged hussar on this list until your post. True they cant really operate alone b/c of the siege penalty but man, not only can you drive apart pesky enemy formations by forcing a retreat, if a retreat is impossible for the defending unit you get another 30% combat bonus allowing this replacement lancer to take on units most lancers would get shredded by. The berber calvary is also pretty cool if youre not into expanding beyond your own borders

 

[i kimchi u]

*Chu kowns you
*Keshik
*Camel Archer
*Janissery
*Panzer

 

[seancolorado]

I haven't warmongered that much in BNW, but Impi tops my list easily. So strong in the player's hands, and defending against Zulu AI is actually something that really worries me.

Love it

 

[VirtuallyJesse]

My top 5 in no order:

Siege Tower
Camel Archer
Ship of the Line
War Elephant
Jaguar <-These things are still beastly for killing an early neighbor and farming barbs.

Haven't had the chance to use Impi yet, might replace my Jaguar love.

 

[Zezima]

1. Camel Archer/Keshik

No explanation needed. I prefer the Camel, but they are really so similar I don't think they deserve separate spots.

2. Longbowman/Chu Ko Nu

Prefer Longbowman, but again very similar.

3. Siege Tower

I understand the roles are different, but honestly I think it obsoletes the Battering Ram. It's more conservative/less risky and it amplifies the strength of the rest of your army without needing to even attack. It also holds it's own against ranged attacks very well. It also helps that the AI seems to put it at a low priority to attack.

4. Ship of the Line

This is just stupidly powerful if you are the first one to hit navigation (even if you aren't, really). Even on more land-based maps, anything coastal or remotely coastal is going to get pummeled by these things. They are even cheaper to build than regular frigates.

5. Minutemen

There is a reason why Inca are so beastly at war (and exploration, but that's irrelevant here). Additional power is always great, but ignore terrain cost is basically the closest thing a melee unit is going to get to Range +1, which is pretty much the best promotion for waging war. If only there was a ranged UU that had this promotion.

Honorable mentions to the Winged Hussar, which is just so much fun to use and actually makes upgrading Pikes worthwhile; the Samurai, which I almost put in but preferred the Minuteman instead; and the B-17, which just comes too late to really make much of a difference in comparison to these.

Haven't used many of the BNW UUs yet, such as the Impi, so I can't comment on them.

 

[Cyanfunk]

Impi are bar-none the best non-ranged unique unit. The Ikanda and Honor (Autocracy too if you make it to that) are just icing on the cake.

 

[Moshe Dayan]

1. ICBM
2. Tactical Nuke
3. Atom Bomb
4. Impi
5. World Congress

Impi are bar-none the best non-ranged unique unit. The Ikanda and Honor (Autocracy too if you make it to that) are just icing on the cake.

But they are ranged units

 

[Cyanfunk]

5. World Congress

The World Congress has that really bad promotion when you're against Greece though

"Screw You: You will never be the host of the World Congress again."

 

[Gyra Solune]

I do worry that now with all the shiny new warmongers, Rome won't be able to effectively utilize a Legion + Ballista combo, especially considering that the Zulu can do the same with Ancient-era units and 0 Iron.

 

[digrosz]

1. Battering Ram, especially when it's a warrior upgrade from a ruin... I once got a ram on turn 5 and inmediately wiped out both the Dutch and Arabia with that single unit.
2. Siege Tower, deadly powerful, almost like the battering ram, if it weren't for the latter to be available earlier.
3. Cho-Ko-Nu, D. E. S. T. R. U. C. T. I. O. N.
4, Keshiks, Hit and run, rinse and repeat.
5. Sea Beggar, can wipe out coastal cities without the help of frigates, and comes with Coastal Raider II, so with an armory you have logistics right off the bat.