bonafide11
Worker
They just don't hold a candle to more traditional Crossbowmen, Artillery, or Bomber based strategies.
I don't think you can fairly compare medieval units to artillery and bombers.
They just don't hold a candle to more traditional Crossbowmen, Artillery, or Bomber based strategies.
You don't think Impi should be compared to Crossbowmen, which were included in my list? Or you don't think it is easy to rush to Artillery or Bombers from the Medieval Era?I don't think you can fairly compare medieval units to artillery and bombers.
Sure, an Impi can defeat a Crossbowman 1v1. But a line of Crossbowmen are going to have a much easier and safer time taking out an enemy empire than a line of Impi. They don't have to overextend their lines deep into enemy territory, expose themselves to enemy flanking tactics to surround a city, and can stay somewhat mobile while avoiding zone of control.Impi are absolutely better than Crossbows. They have extended movement and defense against ranged, they're freaking designed with "**** your xbows" in mind.
Sure, an Impi can defeat a Crossbowman 1v1. But a line of Crossbowmen are going to have a much easier and safer time taking out an enemy empire than a line of Impi. They don't have to overextend their lines deep into enemy territory, expose themselves to enemy flanking tactics to surround a city, and can stay somewhat mobile while avoiding zone of control.
Can you succeed with Impi? Yes. Are you almost always going to do better with Crossbowmen? Yes.
Read op, issue isn't the impi, it is the promotions from the ikhanda. The combination of combat strength, speed, flanking bonus, and cover from a single promotion means that a handful of warriors can go up against a hilly capital defended by 5 comp bows and win.
See what you're saying, but can't quite agree that they're simply "melee units." "melee units" have 2 moves whereas impi have 3 (for all practical purposes) The extra move means they're a hybrid melee and mounted, which means they should suffer a city attack bonus like mounted units do, but they don't. Also, they get a free ranged shot before melee attacking. Since ranged shots are free shots, you lower the combat strength of the opponent before the strength calculations are made for melee combat calculations, it's almost like cheating the calculator a bit. When they attack cities, they get their free ranged shot, which is with impunity, and since melee units lose the majority of their health attacking a city, this attack with impunity is quite important.their fundamental basic function; they are melee units. Melee units are fodder, and the Impi are still just fodder, even if they're slightly more resilient fodder.
When they attack cities, they get their free ranged shot, which is with impunity, and since melee units lose the majority of their health attacking a city, this attack with impunity is quite important.
I appreciate that this thread emphasizes the UB and UA over the UU. If you ever have CS gifting impi -- they are underwhelming! Zulu would do almost as well without a UU! Which is crazy, but true. Ikanda buffed warrior line is great! So this to me indicates that Zulu were poorly implemented with this rev of Civ. It would have been better design to have the UU carry more of the buffs.
The flanking bonuses are not that incredible of a deal. A regular flanking bonus is +10%, correct? With all of the 3 buffalo promotions, you get +75% flanking bonus.
HOWEVER, this does not mean you get 10 + 75 = 85% flanking bonus. What this means is that your flanking bonus increases from +10% to +17.5%. Now I do believe that flanking bonuses add together when you have multiple units surrounding an enemy, but I think that some people might be overestimating the benefits of this.
Maybe that's changed. It's been a LONG time since I played without quick combat on, but back when I did, I saw the spear-throw animation when my city was attacked.I don't think their free ranged attack works on cities.