Units you skip altogether...

[JBryan314]

I've been noticing as I play that I will skip certain units totally. And that these units I skip tend to be the same ones over and over. Does anyone else do this?

I typically skip mounted units altogether until knights come around. Even when I get knights though, it's a short while before they get upgraded to cav. I'm not sure I have ever built a chariot. I've only ever built a couple triremes total. I think I had an elephant one time. Maybe one time. I almost never build SAM infantry. I rarely build any musketmen. I've started skipping airships recently, too.

 

[Queebada]

Grenadiers for me. Also anti tanks and ships of the line

 

[Ray Patterson]

I couldn't imagine playing without chariots... both for rushes and to kill those nasty waves of barbarian axemen. Chariots are super cheap and their extra movement makes them ideal defending sweepers. By the time your axemen would reach the tile it'd probably be pillaged already.

Well, I often don't build any archers or longbows. This comes from playing too easy levels I suppose.

 

[pixiejmcc]

If you're not using War Elephants you're definitely missing out

I'd say pretty well all the non-unique military units see some action in my games. Though I don't see a great deal of late game action.

When you say you upgrade knights to cavs, you mean cash upgrades? Because there's probably better uses for your cash.

 

[Zx Zero Zx]

None, I don't build every single one every time I play. But there is no unit that I have never built, and used in war.

 

[Seraiel]

Airships + Cavs are awesome! You can own MGs without to big of a problem with them, Riflemen are also absolutely possible!

On the rest: I've actually never had a game that made it up to ICBMs or tactical nukes, techs even farther away of course included. I find Gunships are one of the most ridiculous units of all, getting shot down by almost anything, but I might be wrong, what I know is that they can pillage like hell :> . I also completely skip Muskets, they're good with Cannons (if one has to decide wether to get steel or Rifling I'd always choose Steel) but Macemen also do the job, especially with CR Promotion.

From mounted (besides the UUs) I only find Cavs worth the while, Cuirrassiers are also good, but one looses so many of them, Cavs with 30% withdrawl = awesome, in Combination with Airhips = ueber-pwnage. Knights I only use to upgrade later.

But.: I build a Trireme in every Big & Small game to upgrade to a Caravel to get Circumnavigation, if I don't get it with Paper. And Elephants are awesome if one gets them early enough, like beelining Construction + HBR after oracling Currency. They have a hard time against spears though I find, even with having Shock and STR 8.

And I cannot remember ever having built a Tankhunter, but my games also usually don't go that far.

 

[Zx Zero Zx]

Airships + Cavs are awesome! You can own MGs without to big of a problem with them, Riflemen are also absolutely possible!

On the rest: I've actually never had a game that made it up to ICBMs or tactical nukes, techs even farther away of course included. I find Gunships are one of the most ridiculous units of all, getting shot down by almost anything, but I might be wrong, what I know is that they can pillage like hell :> . I also completely skip Muskets, they're good with Cannons (if one has to decide wether to get steel or Rifling I'd always choose Steel) but Macemen also do the job, especially with CR Promotion.

From mounted (besides the UUs) I only find Cavs worth the while, Cuirrassiers are also good, but one looses so many of them, Cavs with 30% withdrawl = awesome, in Combination with Airhips = ueber-pwnage. Knights I only use to upgrade later.

But.: I build a Trireme in every Big & Small game to upgrade to a Caravel to get Circumnavigation, if I don't get it with Paper. And Elephants are awesome if one gets them early enough, like beelining Construction + HBR after oracling Currency. They have a hard time against spears though I find, even with having Shock and STR 8.

And I cannot remember ever having built a Tankhunter, but my games also usually don't go that far.

I love Nukes! They are just to fun when you get them around 1500 AD.

 

[Seraiel]

I love Nukes! They are just to fun when you get them around 1500 AD.

I love them too, but to see them, I actually had to watch youtube .

I still have to smile when I think of the picture "r_rolo" described once, not long ago, when he talked about "nuke-catchers" (running warriors to lure the nukes of the AI ) .

 

[digitalcraft]

It really depends on what the enemy is using and what resources I have available. For instance early game if an enemy gets bronze early, chariots are great for a swift attack because it seems like the AI doesn't build many spearman until you are already at war with them and using chariots, if you have a pile first, you can make some mean early hits and/or pillages to cripple them. Also, even if my attack stack is mostly swordsmen and axemen, I'll probably have some spears and chariots if I can help it for defense.

I'd say grenadiers are more rare because on offense, I'm probably going to knock them down with cannons before sending in rifles or muskets anyways. Grenadiers are mostly if they have grenadiers too, then I might have a few in my offense stack to defend and some in forward cities.

I think I miss currassiers entirely usually. They kind of fall between knights and calvary in the time when I'm usually teching as fast as I can to get the rifles and cannons to have a huge advantage to smash people with and not doing all that much warring.

 

[cain3456]

Ironclads for me. No ocean-going makes them useless for combat, and they're too slow to use as privateer killers.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Guided missiles, ironclads, privateers (for w/e reason I can never get these out fast enough and they eventually come out with frigates), grenadiers (The tech is just one I never have time to get.) , scouts, anti-tanks, attack subs/stealth destroyer (what's the difference between these two?) I'd rather have normal subs for tactical nukes.

I rarely use sam infantry, since machine guns can intercept and I use my own planes anyways. But in theory if I faced gunships or losing the Air war, I'd use them.

Knights are another unit I rarely build. A lot of games I can build Cuirs before them. :S]

I rarely build any actual gunships, however if the game has dragged on that long, it's a good use of ny stack of obsolete Cav that has survived.

Mobile Sam and Mobile Artilery are really cute, but they arrive too late and usually air power is still faster than them.

But for most of these, if I'm building them, I've already won and am bored.

 

[JBryan314]

I also don't really build any grenadiers, but the AI seems to like them a lot. I don't build cuirassiers either.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I rarely bother with ironclads these days. Muskets are rare as well, unless there is something special in the UU line. Grenadiers are another one I don't use much. Nukes never. I don't like them. Paratroopers are not good for much, unless you use nukes which I don't, so I don't bother with them either. Anti-tanks - I'll build one or two for each stack until I get gunships.

Gunships in a stack with tanks as stack defenders are very good, if properly promoted. Anything that can take out the gunships ends up getting killed by a defending tank. Anti tank units get killed by the gunships. Unlike what others have said, I rarely lose any gunships and I build a lot of them. They all get pinch which makes them pretty good against anything that has an advantage against mounted.

 

[SamSniped]

Rarely do I use Muskets, Ironclads, Subs, Genadiers, and/or SAM Infantry/Mobile SAM units Except for the last two, they are highly situational.

 

[Halion]

I find it useful to build around 20 cuirassiers while I'm waiting to tech to economics (to use the free merchant to help pay for the upcoming upgrade) and rifling, and then upgrade the lot to cavalry by around 1350 as soon as rifling is teched. Gives a great time window to go on the offensive with a good tech lead.

 

[strijder20]

*Muskets
*Grenadiers
*Mobile SAM and Mobile Artillery
*Archers
*Gunships
*Flying pigs

 

[JBryan314]

I see a lot of people don't use gunships much. I actually like to have around 10 or so. I use them basically in only one way. I split them into two groups, 5 in each group. Then if a war kicks off between two civs, and one asks me to join, and there is a benefit to me to see them win or take a couple of the other civ's cities, I join. Then without committing my major units, I fly my gunships around in the two groups inside the enemy civ's territory. I use them to attack the small stacks of units that are on their way to reinforce their besieged cities. That is about it. The gunships weaken or kill the small reinforcement stacks outright. Makes it much easier for whatever civ I am assisting. I also use them to harass small stacks that invade the civ I am assisting. It basically causes the enemy to either leave their units in the cities they originally had them in, or risk losing them in transit, granting safe movement of my friendly civ throughout enemy territory. And if they do leave them there, I just fly around and level all of their improvements. I find gunships are perfect for that kind of thing. I never actually attack cities with them, but I sure do wreak havoc on enemy units while they're moving from point A to point B. They often never reach point B.

 

[nfw]

I don't think I've built any galleys in recent memory.

 

[GreatProfit]

People love to hate on ironclads, but I've found them useful on many occasions. Considering:

1. Many wars are fought against your immediate neighbor on the same continent with many of his major cities on the coast. Bombarding them with warships before your land armies arrive is a good strategy.
2. The "around the world" movement bonus makes Ironclads tolerable speed-wise
3. Drydocks help you get Flanking I + Navigation I for more speed
4. Steam power and steel have other good/great benefits
5. Ironclads do not need astronomy
6. They're cheaper than SoL for bombardment purposes
7. They beat SoL
8. Destroyers require oil/uranium and combustion which can take a while to get. In the meantime ironclads can make a big difference in your war.

 

[Orion071]

Units I rarely build...

Spearmen
Cuirassiers
Musketman
Grenadier
Ship of the Line
Ironclads
Airships
Machine Guns