Bear in mind this comparision is mostly just for fun 
In an early game rush scenario on a Duel map/Prince/ where it's just Persia and Greece (and each knows the other will be there and not be some random civ), will all other factors being equal, would you prefer Immortals or Hoplites? Both are identical (UU version of spearman), save for:
Hoplite: Combat Strength 9
Immortal: Combat Strength 8, heals at double rate
To me, it seems this scenario, with all other factors equal (same production, tech, both sides went Honor to get GG and %10 bonus for adjacent military units), would favor the Greeks sitting on defense and the Persians attempting to move out and pillage en-masse (rather than confront Greek cities). Here's why:
The force-multipliers of the Greeks being fortified as well as on the terrain of their choice (river, hills, etc) will help that 1 extra strength over the Immortal get utilized to the fullest, and because they don't heal nearly as well, the Greeks have less incentive to move forward away from choice terrain until they get their other UU, Companion Cav, to assist (though let's assume neither side has horses so that it's just the single Persian UU against the Greek equivalent).
Conversely, the Persians can heal far better when they come to a stop, meaning they can cycle injured units back to the rear and heal up much faster and renew the attack. However, attacking a city directly, with a garrisioned Hoplite, is almost out of the question if both sides are otherwise equal in every other regard, as the more powerful and just as numerous Hoplites can easier defend if they have a city to bombard the Immortals with and if the Immortals clump up so a single one can be picked out and attacked by multiple Hoplites at once. Hence, the Immortals would be best to deny improvements, luxuries, and tiles in general (unless there's a Greek city away from the capital that is relatively unguarded), and stay spread out in a few small groups, with the biggest group having the GG with it, pillaging and taking workers if possible. Staying spread out and threatening resources will keep the Hoplites from being able to bunch up, and may draw some Hoplites away from good defensive spots.
A lot of this would depend on terrain (say Greece has a solid mountain range forcing the Immortals into a mountain pass, like Thermopylae), but if each has identical, open terrain, it could be a close call. Personally, I would think the Immortals might strangle Greece's production enough to overpower them, but who knows. This may all just be madness
In an early game rush scenario on a Duel map/Prince/ where it's just Persia and Greece (and each knows the other will be there and not be some random civ), will all other factors being equal, would you prefer Immortals or Hoplites? Both are identical (UU version of spearman), save for:
Hoplite: Combat Strength 9
Immortal: Combat Strength 8, heals at double rate
To me, it seems this scenario, with all other factors equal (same production, tech, both sides went Honor to get GG and %10 bonus for adjacent military units), would favor the Greeks sitting on defense and the Persians attempting to move out and pillage en-masse (rather than confront Greek cities). Here's why:
The force-multipliers of the Greeks being fortified as well as on the terrain of their choice (river, hills, etc) will help that 1 extra strength over the Immortal get utilized to the fullest, and because they don't heal nearly as well, the Greeks have less incentive to move forward away from choice terrain until they get their other UU, Companion Cav, to assist (though let's assume neither side has horses so that it's just the single Persian UU against the Greek equivalent).
Conversely, the Persians can heal far better when they come to a stop, meaning they can cycle injured units back to the rear and heal up much faster and renew the attack. However, attacking a city directly, with a garrisioned Hoplite, is almost out of the question if both sides are otherwise equal in every other regard, as the more powerful and just as numerous Hoplites can easier defend if they have a city to bombard the Immortals with and if the Immortals clump up so a single one can be picked out and attacked by multiple Hoplites at once. Hence, the Immortals would be best to deny improvements, luxuries, and tiles in general (unless there's a Greek city away from the capital that is relatively unguarded), and stay spread out in a few small groups, with the biggest group having the GG with it, pillaging and taking workers if possible. Staying spread out and threatening resources will keep the Hoplites from being able to bunch up, and may draw some Hoplites away from good defensive spots.
A lot of this would depend on terrain (say Greece has a solid mountain range forcing the Immortals into a mountain pass, like Thermopylae), but if each has identical, open terrain, it could be a close call. Personally, I would think the Immortals might strangle Greece's production enough to overpower them, but who knows. This may all just be madness
