3rd and 4th Unique Components for VP - Discussion/Strategy Thread

[Bhawb]

This thread is for more in-depth discussions of the 3rd and 4th Unique Components for VP mod. If you have 3/4UC civ reviews, comparisons, strategies, or other more in-depth discussions this is the place to discuss them, while the original thread can still be used to report bugs and discuss the specific balance of 3/4UC components themselves.

 

[amateurgamer88]

@Bhawb I wish you luck organizing this thread! It's not going to be easy managing and organizing all the information but I'm sure you're up for the challenge!

I want to first discuss my thoughts on America as it's pretty interesting. For me, it feels like the civ has a strong early and late game. The mid game seems alright compared to the tools it has. When looking at the civ, I find that I have to discuss the entire kit as we have to see how they work together. Let's start with the UA.

Spoiler America UA :

Manifest Destiny:

All land military units have +1 sight.

50% discount when purchasing tiles.

Tile purchases grant +20 Production, scaling with era.

Can Purchase tiles already owned by other Civilizations, though at a much higher Gold cost than normal.

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First, we have the extra sight for all land military units. This plays a vital even at the start of the game since Pathfinders are considered military units. This means that you can uncover ruins faster (if you're playing with ruins) or get the necessary information to make key decisions like: where to settle, what policy to go for and what pantheon to go for. Later on, the extra sight gives you important information on the position of enemy units so you can properly plan ahead how you approach the war.

Secondly, we have tile purchases and we have two aspects to it. For the first aspect, we have discount when purchasing tiles and purchased tiles grants Production, scaling with era, for the city. How is this useful? Let's say you normally spend Gold to invest in buildings. Now, you can actually buy tiles you want sooner and still speed up buildings. Note that this is granting Production. That means that you can even speed up Settlers, something you can't do normally. In addition, the early Wonders have a relatively low Production cost since purchasing tiles, while costing less Gold than investing in the Wonder, can actually speed up Wonder more than just investing. For instance, let's look at Stonehenge where it costs 150 Gold to get 37.5 Production. Buying two tiles will get you 40 Production and certainly not 150 Gold unless you already bought tiles before.

The second aspect can be extremely powerful if you do it right. The AI has an annoying Citadel next to your border? Well, why not use it against the AI? Want a wider front against AI and move units closer to a targeted city before the declaration of war? Buy a crucial tile and then place a Citadel there to grab more territory. Chances are that you will conquer that neighbor so what they think of you probably won't matter that much. You can even purchase tiles from a CS to grab a luxury or strategic resource if you wanted to. Note that your relations with that CS will plummet as a result but you probably don't care if it's already on your mind.

Spoiler America UU :

Minuteman, replaces Musketman.

More Combat Strength (23 vs. 20) and Ranged Combat Strength (33 vs. 32).

Obsoletes at Ballistics rather than Dynamite.

Special abilities:

Starts with the Accuracy I promotion and has another promotion that allows it to move through rough terrain as though it were clear.

Starts with a promotion that allows this unit to, upon killing an enemy, convert 100% of the defeated enemy unit's Combat Strength into Golden Age Points for your Civilization.

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First, you might think that Minutemen are slightly improved Musketmen just by looking at their CS and RCS. However, it's their promotions that really make this unit powerful. Since this unit starts with Accuracy I promotion, they can get Medic I and II faster which are, in my opinion, both very important for any army composition. Basically, a city with a Barracks and Armory can produce Minutemen with Medic II right out the gates.

Then, the ability to move through rough terrain as though they are flat terrain allows the Minutemen to reposition where necessary and take advantage of their Medic II promotion for wounded units. It also makes it difficult for non-mounted units from chasing down this unit through rough terrain as kiting is made much easier with this promotion. Finally, the extra GAP gained from kills is simply cherry on top. With Minutemen and their upgrades (Gatling Guns and Machine Guns) playing a larger role in future wars, the extra GAP can easily add up to a few more Golden Ages and, as a result, more yields when it can matter the most.

Rating: 3.5/5 (subjected to change as I compare to other similar units)

Spoiler America UM :

Monitor (replaces Ironclad):
unlocked at Industrialization
900 Production cost
61 CS
"Hardened" (Damage received is reduced by 3)
"Coastal Guard" (+5% City Defense to adjacent Cities)
Requires Coal

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With the recent changes to Ironclad, the CS has been adjusted to 61. Tests will be required to determine if this is too high but, given the promotion about to be mentioned, chances are that it will be dropped. (And Destroyers have a CS of 65 to put things into perspective)

The promotion "Hardened" can't be underestimated. It reduces each damage taken by 3 and those can quickly add up. If you go down the Dreadnought line and picked up Dauntless, then you can reduce up to 8 damage (unless they don't stack) and that make the Monitor extremely to sink. If they don't stack, then the Dreadnought isn't that good so you might as well go down the Boarding line, then you will have a nice balance between offense and defense. Overall, this ability will make Monitor a terrifying unit to fight. The Coastal Guard seems like a nice to have if you go Fealty where the % boost can go further. The only downside is the requirement for Coal but there are talks about changes regarding strategic resource.

Rating: 4.5/5 (subjected to change as I compare to other similar units)

Spoiler UNW :

The Smithsonian, replaces Hermitage.

More Culture (5 vs. 2).

+25% Culture in the city, and 50% of the Culture from Great Works, World Wonders, Natural Wonders, and improvements is added to the Tourism output of the city.

Boosts the Culture and Science output of Museums and Broadcast Towers in all Cities by +5.

+5 Science and +5 Culture if Themed.

Does not require an Opera House in this City.

Becomes available later than the Hermitage which it replaces.

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While this UNW comes later than the Hermitage, it actually provides some very powerful bonuses and can make the late game of America not to be underestimated. In addition to 5 flat Culture, the UNW also gives a +25% Culture in the city (most certainly your capital) as opposed to +1 Culture for every 4 citizens in the city from the Hermitage. To put things into perspective, a city with 100 base Culture gets 25 additional Culture from the UNW. For the Hermitage to provide the same amount, you would need 100 Citizens and I have yet to see any city reaching that number.

Then, this UNW really gears America for a CV if that's what the player is going for. The "50% of the Culture from Great Works, World Wonders, Natural Wonders, and improvements is added to the Tourism output of the city" isn't to be underestimated, especially when you look at when this becomes available. The National Visitor Center gives takes 100% of the Culture and Stadium takes 25% of the Culture (both of which excludes Great Works) and adds to Tourism but both are only available in the Atomic when you hopefully are almost there with that CV.

What if you pursue other victories? The fact that this UNW gives Museums and Broadcast Towers +5 Science and +5 Culture means that, if you go wide, you can still a leader in technology and/or policies. While the +5 yields doesn't appear much at this point, the modifiers that you hopefully accumulated in your cities will hopefully make them impactful while competing for the victory against the AI.

Rating: 4.5/5 (subjected to change as I compare to other similar units)

To be continued...