Crouching Tigers On Offense?

[Knightfall]

When the last patch came out I started a game as China on the East Asia True Start Map. The general received wisdom seems to be not to use Crouching Tigers for offense purposes due to their low range; however, I have found them to be very useful for these purposes. They shred Ancient and Classical units, and in groups they can even take down a walled city in 3-4 turns. Do you guys think I've stumbled on to something new, or did I just get really lucky in this particular game?

 

[Victoria]

I just do not think people appreciate the 50'damage early
They are great in jungles too
They just cost a lot to make and other armies just make more sense.
I do not think they are bad, it's just making them that is

 

[Knightfall]

I just do not think people appreciate the 50'damage early
They are great in jungles too
They just cost a lot to make and other armies just make more sense.
I do not think they are bad, it's just making them that is

I agree that they are expensive. But when you're going for a culture/science win and don't necessarily want to invest in things such as swordsmen or cavalry, they make a great alternative.

 

[Victoria]

One issue is most people invest heavily in archers.
Building yet more ranged on top at a higher price is just not sensible.
Their +10 is nerfed against a city as well so they are just not a great option.

 

[Knightfall]

One issue is most people invest heavily in archers.
Building yet more ranged on top at a higher price is just not sensible.
Their +10 is nerfed against a city as well so they are just not a great option.

In my case, I used Crouching Tigers to replace archers once I got to Machinery. Personally I think they should change the game rules so that archers can upgrade directly to Crouching Tigers.

 

[liv]

Other units are in the same boat such as sammurai and beserkers. Possibly nice to play with but too costly to actually build. I love to play as the Norwegians but I never build a beserker

 

[Knightfall]

Other units are in the same boat such as sammurai and beserkers. Possibly nice to play with but too costly to actually build. I love to play as the Norwegians but I never build a beserker

I would disagree; I haven't found Crouching Tigers to be that costly.

 

[liv]

I am sure that depends on playing style.
I am a warmongerer and build a lot of units in the very beginning using the various civic cards so that they are cheap. Then I train them and upgrade them. So my crossbows started out as slinger etc.... I rarely build any units later in the game. Just infrastructure so that I get earn enough money and progress fast enough in science to upgrade my ancient army into modern units. And some faith buying

 

[Knightfall]

I am sure that depends on playing style.
I am a warmongerer and build a lot of units in the very beginning using the various civic cards so that they are cheap. Then I train them and upgrade them. So my crossbows started out as slinger etc.... I rarely build any units later in the game. Just infrastructure so that I get earn enough money and progress fast enough in science to upgrade my ancient army into modern units. And some faith buying

This would be the heart of the matter. I prefer science or culture victories, so I tend to have a fairly small, hi-tech military.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Meh, they cost the same as a crossbow and that is more flexible. If you run into a city that can blow crossbows up, then you're going to have just as bad as a time with the crouching tiger.

But there is something to try. If you have swords + ram you can take down the wall really fast and crouching tiger will make quicker work of the city than anything else.