Commando promotion

[IvaartheBoneless]

The Commando promotion allows units to scale cliffs. I can't find any cliffs on the map. What am I missing here?

 

[Felis Renidens]

They are usually on shore tiles and prevent embarking\disembarking.

 

[IvaartheBoneless]

Thanks, Felis. When you hover your mouse over the tile, does it actually say "Cliffs?"

 

[Felis Renidens]

I think so. Also, it looks different than a normal coast.

 

[juanpavo]

This is one of my new favorite promotions. Very useful in cases where you need to launch an invasion and the enemy coast has 4+ consecutive cliff tiles.

 

[Rosty K]

I heard you can't go back into the water the same way though Never tried myself.

 

[Zuizgond]

Some people really choose this promotion?

 

[stinkubus]

Sure, sometimes I take Battlecry early if my starting warriors does a lot of barb fighting. I'll often take Commando next just so I can get to Urban Warfare faster.

 

[Forster]

Usually when I pick commando it is because I mis-clicked.

 

[XVeris]

The Commando promotion allows units to scale cliffs. I can't find any cliffs on the map. What am I missing here?

Sounds like you're missing cliffs.

Very odd to have no cliffs on a map. Most the maps I've played on are very cliff-heavy, although Coastal Cities usually allow me to conquer without the promotion anyways.

 

[king of nowhere]

so if you don't plan any coastal invasion that promotion is useless. tthe alternative is amphibious, which at least lets you cross rivers, and it is useless if you're fighting in desert. second melee promotion suck either way

 

[Siptah]

so if you don't plan any coastal invasion that promotion is useless. tthe alternative is amphibious, which at least lets you cross rivers, and it is useless if you're fighting in desert. second melee promotion suck either way

Good thing you are not forced to pick one by the game.

 

[Victoria]

You only take it once you have missed it, before that you always haughtily dismiss it.

As one who does naval invasion it is often invaluable, they upped the amount of cliffs a few patches ago.

Also on the finer points

1. The gaps between cliffs are often flat land where you are in a fire zone from hell
2. Embarking up cliffs allow you to choose better hills or pillaging places
3. Of course you can rappel, you are a commando! This can be a turn saver.
   
4. The damage to some commando's on a farm hill is healed and is less than they would do to your navy, landing next to their city provides horrible decisions for them

 

[king of nowhere]

victoria brings some good points to a case where the commando promotion is highly desirable, however it remains very situational.
I personally have little use for it because when I go naval invasion I use missle cruisers/submarines/bombers to smash city defences and I land ground troops only after destroying all resistance. However, this works against AI, which does not know how to counteract a naval invasion and will just dumbly move its units around into my firing range until I killed them all. I have the suspect that using ranged units/airplanes to return fire would give the advantage to the defender, since he can repair those ranged units, while the attacker must return the ships to his homeland to repair. I'd be curious to see the PvP version of this, but my one experience at multiplayer was a pointless string of crashes, people disconnecting and new games started and disbanded after afew turns, which left me with no desire to try it again. Also, I think 90% of the times victory would just go to whoever has more/better troops anyway

 

[Victoria]

I played a couple of island map ones with friends, we do not normally have time or more importantly it's low priority but I bribed them.

Naval warfare is quite frightening because your fleet can be eaten so fast. Having the nelson upgrade gives a big advantage combined with good speed, you just out point your opponent too much. That mauled most my fleet in the first game and when I came back they ganged up on me and I was toast.
I was glad carriers cannot carry many planes or I would not have recovered but tbh I got minced by overconfidence so severely in the first game I was too cautious in the second.

 

[Canadian Bluebeer]

I have noticed a lot more cliffs recently. Does make for nice defenses for your own city, but yes, have a unit or two that can scale cliffs is handy.
AI is stupid, but they are NASTY about emplacing encampments.

 

[unpossible251]

I've only very, very rarely had occasion to use the Commando upgrade in hot blood, and its never been a decisive factor. it only comes into play in invasions that I'm sure to flog the opposition mercilessly anyway.

however, i gotta say it might be nice if they patched in Commando the ability to cross mountain tiles as if they were hills. Its still in keeping with the spirit of the Commando upgrade, and would open up a whole new mechanic. raid the enemy from a direction they havent invested in defending? pillage those campuses / holy sites before running back into the mountains? Hannibal invading through the Alps? yes please. why haven't they done that already?

 

[king of nowhere]

I've only very, very rarely had occasion to use the Commando upgrade in hot blood, and its never been a decisive factor. it only comes into play in invasions that I'm sure to flog the opposition mercilessly anyway.

however, i gotta say it might be nice if they patched in Commando the ability to cross mountain tiles as if they were hills. Its still in keeping with the spirit of the Commando upgrade, and would open up a whole new mechanic. raid the enemy from a direction they havent invested in defending? pillage those campuses / holy sites before running back into the mountains? Hannibal invading through the Alps? yes please. why haven't they done that already?

yeah, I'd also like that. not by allowing the commando to actually stand still on mountains, but by letting it cross and go directly on the other side. In fact, for a long time I've been convinced that's exactly what the commando promotion did; it was a surprise when I first tried to pass mountains and I couldn't.
Even then, the applications are not that widespread. rarely you get so many mountains that a couple units sneaking behind them is important. But considering how situational the commando promotion already is, I'd think we're all in favor of giving it some more love.