Commander TIps

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

Here are my tips so far. I sure other people will have better ones:

Remember to go to the tile 1 back from where you want to put your units and unpack from there. Simple but I keep doing it wrong.
Get at least two commander right asap. One for offense and one for defense, and to be prepared if one dies.

 

[Hyronymus]

The unpacking is indeed a sure way to lose your units if you do it wrongly.

I also found the extra movement interesting as it also applies to siege equipment in your army.

 

[chazzycat]

"Units can move after unpacking" is my favorite promotion so far. You can really take the initiative that way and do a lot of damage on the first turn. Also, don't forget you can select individual packed units and unpack them manually to the desired tiles rather than use the auto-unpack button. Very handy.

The only thing I don't like about commanders so far is that if you ever fight without one nearby, it feels like a bit of a waste because you're getting no XP.

 

[Hyronymus]

"Units can move after unpacking" is my favorite promotion so far. You can really take the initiative that way and do a lot of damage on the first turn. Also, don't forget you can select individual packed units and unpack them manually to the desired tiles rather than use the auto-unpack button. Very handy.

The only thing I don't like about commanders so far is that if you ever fight without one nearby, it feels like a bit of a waste because you're getting no XP.

True. A promotion that increases the range in which the commander gathers XP would be nice.

 

[Queso]

Anyone figure out how to unlock the 5th or 6th unit slots on commanders?

 

[chazzycat]

Anyone figure out how to unlock the 5th or 6th unit slots on commanders?

it's one of the promotions under logistics I believe

 

[Queso]

it's one of the promotions under logistics I believe

Ah, good call. I was hoping for a civic/tech that could unlock those slots for all my commanders at once. Alas, it's gonna take effort to keep all my units for the next age.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Fleet Commanders can take in Treasure Fleets, to help protect them. (Exploration Age)

 

[Queso]

True. A promotion that increases the range in which the commander gathers XP would be nice.

Not 100% on this, but I think your command radius also equals the XP range, so the Merit Commendation (which comes free with Friedrich, Oblique) is quite nice to have

 

[Gehennas]

Completing a tree allows you to choose one of 5 advanced bonuses, one of which gives +5 strength to units in command radius and this is quite a lot in game's math. Keep this in mind when you receive a free commander promotion from traditions (when playing as Rome, for example) as this will allow you to complete the tree much faster.

Probably the most important use of commander is to use it as an in-combat transport to rotate the wounded units. Inside enemy territory, your frontline will heal extremely slowly. Pack some melee units into commander and switch them with your frontline to keep moving forward.

The unpacking is indeed a sure way to lose your units if you do it wrongly.

Just in case: you can choose a packed unit and unpack it to a neighboring tile manually

 

[vorlon_mi]

I'm just discovering the "Coordinated Attack" / "Focus Fire" action for Army Commanders and Fleet Commanders. I can't remember which has which. Can be very useful to put the hurt on a city you're attacking.

I also agree about unmpacking manually, as @Gehennas said. Very helpful when landing troops on an island, so as not to leave your land troops embarked and vulnerable.

 

[ggmoyang]

Commander can carry a civilian unit, besides of 4 military units.
Commander gets +1 movement when packing a unit. Civilian unit counts.
Unit in transit is technically not packed, so it doesn't get the movement bonus. Also, you can reinforce to a commander with full slot.
Unpacking all unit at once uses the commander's move, but unpacking a unit at a time don't.
With units can move after unpacking trait, units don't use movement point when being unpacked. This is essentially a free movement point. Better, it ignores movement penalty.

 

[PendragonWRB]

I have been completely unable to get the reinforce army button to do anything, is it bugged?

 

[ggmoyang]

I have been completely unable to get the reinforce army button to do anything, is it bugged?

The feature doesn't work if the unit is too close to army commander. If there's enough distance, you'll be able to click a target commander.

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

The feature doesn't work if the unit is too close to army commander. If there's enough distance, you'll be able to click a target commander.

Clicking on the commander tripped me up. Also the reinforment unit takes a slot in the commander even before it’s available .

 

[PendragonWRB]

The feature doesn't work if the unit is too close to army commander. If there's enough distance, you'll be able to click a target commander.

Is there any advantage to using reinforce army? Does it reduce movement costs or solve bottlenecks? I heard it hides the unit while on route which seems rather confusing.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Is there any advantage to using reinforce army? Does it reduce movement costs or solve bottlenecks? I heard it hides the unit while on route which seems rather confusing.

I have done it only a few times. Basically, the unit disappears from the map (not vulnerable to barbs or enemy attacks), while it moves invisibly to the commander. May take 2, 3, 4 turns. You (the player) do not have to babysit / move the unit explicitly. In previous Civ games (ones that allowed stacking), the player could set a rally point where all new units would start moving to. This feature acts a little like that; you may tell a unit to "rally" toward the commander.

I used it with a ship and a fleet commander. Saved a lot of tedious manual movement.

 

[Ornen]

what do commanders do for happiness?

 

[BlobRoss]

what do commanders do for happiness?

Cities get +1 happiness if you put them in the center.

Sorry, my original statement was very wrong. I thought that's how it worked because the first time I checked this I only got +1 when I put my commander in but that wasn't a flat number. Apparently it is:

"Commanders can be placed on any city hall or palace to reduce unhappiness in that settlement by 10%, plus another 10% for each promotion"

And just testing this again I went from -2 to +8 in a city with a commander so it can be significant.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

A few discoveries some mentioned some not...

• Initiative is almost always the first trait you should take. The exception would be a commander you intend for homeland defense and "logistics" because a 5% buff to yields in your capital can easily be worth a commander.
• Commanders can be used like helicopter evac during assaults. It works best with two commanders, so you can keep things moving, but you can have the front line tank a round or two of attacks (depending on the enemy's troops), load up the wounded into a commander as fresh troops move up, you can then move the troops back, dump them in the same round and with initiative they may even be able to make it to friendly territory for the +5 healing. The commander can then move forward to support troops and/or wait if you have one commander still at the front to rapidly bring the same troops back.
• I cannot find this anywhere officially, but I seem to be able to load a civilian unit into a "locked" slot
• Use commanders to transport your forward settlers. They will keep the movement bonus while your units are unpacked. This is useful for razing a poorly placed enemy settlement and immediately resettling.
• Units packed into a commander will take damage if the commander is attacked. This will kill heavily damaged units
• There's something to be said for the five unit army (1-2 Infantry, 1 siege, 1-2 ranged, and a cavalry). Pack the four "slow movers" and move the cavalry in tandem with the commander. Any attacks on the commander will first target the cavalry allowing you to unpack fresh units.
• Once you get some ranged attack bonuses from level ups there's something to be said about a ranged and melee double commander. Focus fire from the ranged will delete a unit and any ranged left over can still attack.
• Focus fire appears to allow attacks from ranged units without line of sight. Only one ranged unit needs to see the target.
• Remember to put a unit on your commander's hex after unpack if you didn't bring one.

Commander wishlist

• Initiative is so prevalent as the first promotion, I would like for them to just give free move on unpack to all commanders (Persia gets a free promotion) so more trait trees can be explored without limiting optimal play.
• Higher defense for commanders based on the units packed inside
• Ability to pack infantry into fleet commanders or aircraft carriers (with airdrop off of a carrier)
• Mass upgrade option to packed units (rather than single clicking)
• Maintaining target on commander after individual unit unpacking (rather than clicking back on commander, clicking the next unit, then clicking unpack)
• Smarter "full unpacking" (Melee units towards nearest enemy, ranged units further from enemy, ONE UNIT unpacking on commander every time.)
• Better civilopedia information (this is pretty much a universal need tho)

What are yours?