Cho-Ko-Nu's must be the greatest unit

[Phrederick]

If you can get Chokos out before the defender has longbows, then game over for them. Against longbows, however, I typically would tech to trebuchets or macemen for a heavy assault, and use chokos for cover and defense. The protective trait makes them that much more awesome.

 

[DaviddesJ]

I have been having some really good luck ...or skill...playing multiplayer with Chokos.

Do your opponents let you choose your civ? I would think you would only get China 1/18 of the time.

If you're choosing China, then aren't they choosing Rome, and killing you before you kill them?

 

[Hans Lemurson]

Cho-Ku-Nos cost 60. That and their lack of any City-Raider promotions fundamentally limits their usefulness. That, and they require an expensive technology to build in the first place.

Attempting to rush to machinery is folly, since it would give you no strong unit for capturing cities, which is the entire point of any war. You're not going to get any good conquest built on the back of Cho Ku Nos. They are simply not effective or efficient enough for their price. Suiciding them is also a bad idea, given their price.

They are good counter-units and protectors. They will shield you from melee units and do significant harm to any would-be invaders (who are usually melee if they mean buisiness).

They might be better in multiplayer due to the greater aggressiveness of human players and the accompanying greater emphasis on melee.

 

[malekithe]

I agree with Hans. I rate the Cho-Ku-Nu (and crossbows in general) as a niche unit. Unfortunately, my game doesn't have many niches...

If I wanted to deal collateral damage, I'd use a catapult. If I wanted to take a city, I'd use a sword or mace. If I wanted to defend a stack from melee, I'd use a specifically promoted axe or mace. Cho-Ku-Nu are tweener units that don't perform any particular role particularly well (except defense from melee outside of cities). I even tried pairing them with war elephants, for a supposedly unstoppable stack. The results were simply "meh".