Crusaders

[Ansar]

Crusaders are 5:3:1, yet they act like if they were 3 or 4 attack to me. So I was wondering, should I keep making Knights Templar in my games?

 

[shady milkman]

What do you mean, they "act" like they are 3 or 4 attack? They are 5 attack, it's just the luck of the draw, as with all units. Personally, I've never found the Crusader a useful enough unit to build the Knight Templar. I'd stick to something more practical that doesn't require a wonder (knights or MIs).

 

[gunkulator]

I usually have really good luck with Crusaders. Sometimes I think they are 7.3.1. RNG quirks I guess.

As to building KT: I only bother if I don't have iron, in which case it is a priority.

 

[admiral-bell]

YES. crusaders are like early middle age slow cavelry

 

[majk-iii]

it's not that good of a wonder, but not very expensive either.
I usually build it in a core city and stack the crusaders up until i know what to do with them.
I hate to have my knights face enemy-crusaders on mountains or as counter-attackers.

 

[Ansar]

Curse you, RNG Goddess.

 

[Steve2000]

I had a game where I built the Knights Templar by accident - the AI wonder cascade left me with no other option (I was going for Sun Tzu). Now I love it. I still refuse to research chivalry on my own - but if the timing is right I will build it. Crusaders are pretty good up until cavalry, and an army of crusaders is sweet. I was playing one game as a 5CC and without the crusaders I would have lost my empire. I was on a small island and I used them to block every coastal tile so the enemy couldn't invade. (I know you can do that with any unit, but the crusaders don't upgrade to anything so it gave them a use after they were obsolete.)

 

[DBear]

Crusaders are extremely useful if you can't build knights (no horses or iron).

 

[Tesuji]

I never build KT, I think it becomes obsolete so soon after building it that I hardly get my money's worth. Add to that the risk of losing shields when an AI beats you to it... I rather build bowmen and pikemen if no horses. If no iron, well, that's tough anyway. In that case it's better to build some troops and go get some iron, can't expect to last without iron.

 

[SimpleMonkey]

Actually, crusaders stay useful for the entire game. Unless I have them actively involved in pounding someone in the early to middle MA, I like to have them at work building forts and (especially) barriers. This frees up my workers for infrastructure and gives my much more defendable borders. One of the great joys of the game is watching the AI's SOD get tangled up in barbed wire and then getting pounded into splinters from arial and land bombardment. I strongly recommend building forts and barriers, especially in tight bottlenecks.