Can someone explain great commanders to me?

[TeeAhr1]

I've tried looking in the manual and the civilopedia, and I can't find anything about them. I've gone through most of my first game without getting one, even though the slider in the military advisor screen is way past where it "should" have given me one. Can someone explain to me what great commanders do and how to get one?

thx-
p.

 

[Nor'easter]

Great Commanders are NOT generated the same way as Great Generals from regular civ. They're generated like other Great People, with the accumulation of Great People points. In your city screen, check the GP points and you'll see the percentage chance that the next GP will be a Great Commander.

 

[Tyrs]

A handful of wonders (the tower of eyes, Ride of the Nine Kings, the national and heroic epics) give GPP Great Commander. Plus I think you can get a free one from a tech, military strategy. What they let you do is either- build a command post -recruit a number of free units (1 for every 3 pop in city cast) or join a unit, giving +1 str and +1 xp per combat

 

[countjackula]

The first person to discover Military Strategy gets a Great Commander for free. That's how I usually get mine. I use him to create his building in one of my usual two forge cities, and generally end up with another one or two GCs along with Engineers from that city.

You can use a GP to start a Golden Age; attach it to a unit like the Great Generals in BtS (haven't done that yet); or use your GC to build a command post (all land units built in that city get +2 xp).

 

[Pyr0mancer]

Attaching it to a unit gives +1 strength and +1 xp per combat, and is NOT PERMANENT. It can be split at any point and attached to any other unit. My GCs usually wind up attached to my stronger heroes.

The command post gives +20% Military Production and +2 xp, and can also be built normally by civs with the Organized trait.

Recruit actually doesn't produce 1 unit per 3 population, but it is linked to city size. I think the proportion is actually higher for larger cities, for example a size 30 city will recruit 15-20 troops I believe. The troops produced are randomly split between the highest level Melee, Archery, Recon, and Mounted units you can build, other than National Units.

 

[Sarisin]

The best thing about Great Commanders (if you are playing a civ without the Raiders Trait) is that it allows the unit it is attached to to exceed the 100XP limit for fighting barbarians. As mentioned, you can pass the GC around and get more that one of your units to exceed that limit.

I think I just set a personal record in my game with a Beastmaster who had 646 XP. I was playing as the Amurites (no RAI Trait) and attached the 1st GC I got to a lowly Hunter who became a Ranger, then a very powerful Beastmaster. With the Blitz promotion, it was a real terror!

 

[Gabriel21]

The best thing about Great Commanders (if you are playing a civ without the Raiders Trait) is that it allows the unit it is attached to to exceed the 100XP limit for fighting barbarians. As mentioned, you can pass the GC around and get more that one of your units to exceed that limit.

I usually combine GCs with my heros bofore having the spell heroism.
Otherwise it is rather hard to surpass the 100 XP limit.