Do you let scouts and scouting warriors heal?

[mrchadt]

That's it really. I don't usually let them heal but keep wandering round. My reasoning is that if you run into a bear or archer you will likely die anyway. And it's worth trying to get to the goody huts first.
Sometimes I get lucky and find a couple then bump into the ai and congratulate myself on a good strategy and other times a wolf kills me.

 

[A_Mere_Icon]

I let them heal, I want to get scouts and warriors woodsman II so they can fly around through jungles and whatnot....Usually they can last a while if they stick to the jungle/forest tiles, until the axemen start showing up. Then they can use woodsman II to run Sir Robin style.

 

[DrewTate]

Yes definitely. And then upgrade them to woodsman 2 like this dude said and they are way quick.

 

[svv]

Plus they might survive a hostile village if they're healed, in which case they end up with some nice experience!

 

[LlamaCat]

mostly I let them heal, but it depends on how hurt they are ... in some cases I might keep wandering for a few turns if in defensive terrain and take a calculated risk to find a nearby goodie hut, because you are right it's important to beat others to those.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Personally I run to a forest or forest hill then heal.

 

[Jorunkun]

Early on in the exploration phase I will always let them heal. Nothing worse than losing your scout and the AIs snatching up all those huts, or you getting to the point where you can spawn a settler but having no knowledge of the map.

Lately, I'm promoting my scouts to combat one and then medic. Turns an otherwise useless unit into a two move healer.

 

[Lord Chambers]

Huts are gone by the time animals appear on Emperor and above, so yes.

Keeping your early units alive is important, which is why my scouts only move one square per turn after animals appear when I can keep them on flat terrain. They only have panthers to fear since I can usually retreat. Exploring forests, hills, and jungles jeopardize the scout's life, but is of course neccesary sometimes.

 

[Jet]

This is a good one. Mine usually take cover and heal to full, but it's situational.

- If there's a hut visible to the unit and no visible barbs, I'll usually go straight for it no matter how injured.
- A warrior that I want back for defense is extra-cautious. But he might run home injured, if he's already close.
- Likewise I rarely do the Woodsman II thing. I usually go Combat and eventually try to bring him home.
- A scout at .7 or .8 might just keep going, especially if
--- he has a chance at more huts,
--- and/or I need to explore another pie slice around my capital,
--- and/or I know he's going to get eaten by an Archer soon anyway.
- An exploring scout/warrior that's distant but has been around for a while I usually just write off. I'm probably chasing techs other than Writing for open borders, and I KNOW he's going to get eaten by an Archer. I might automate him. By this time I'm getting lazy and am much more interested in the details of my first city or two (which are probably getting pounded by barbs) than in having to keep scrolling to a remote part of the map just to explore one more tile.
- I usually move scouts two tiles, even at risk. Rarely do mine move one and stop.

For the past while I've played Emperor/Epic, and if I start with Hunting my experience is generally that that my scout (and second scout, if I start by building one) can get a few huts, and that even a warrior can get one or two.

 

[Arnesson]

This is a good one. Mine usually take cover and heal to full, but it's situational.

- If there's a hut visible to the unit and no visible barbs, I'll usually go straight for it no matter how injured.
- A warrior that I want back for defense is extra-cautious. But he might run home injured, if he's already close.
- Likewise I rarely do the Woodsman II thing. I usually go Combat and eventually try to bring him home.
- A scout at .7 or .8 might just keep going, especially if
--- he has a chance at more huts,
--- and/or I need to explore another pie slice around my capital,
--- and/or I know he's going to get eaten by an Archer soon anyway.
- An exploring scout/warrior that's distant but has been around for a while I usually just write off. I'm probably chasing techs other than Writing for open borders, and I KNOW he's going to get eaten by an Archer. I might automate him. By this time I'm getting lazy and am much more interested in the details of my first city or two (which are probably getting pounded by barbs) than in having to keep scrolling to a remote part of the map just to explore one more tile.
- I usually move scouts two tiles, even at risk. Rarely do mine move one and stop.

For the past while I've played Emperor/Epic, and if I start with Hunting my experience is generally that that my scout (and second scout, if I start by building one) can get a few huts, and that even a warrior can get one or two.

I completely agree with this approach. A Warrior with the Woodsman promotion(s) can make an excellent sentry as an Axeman later on, stationed in a forest to exploit that defensive bonus. A Scout with the Healing promotion is a useful Medic in a stack when you're out conquering the world. If I have the opportunity and terrain, I will even invite attacks from Lions, Wolves and Panthers to gain those promotions.

 

[obsolete]

If I find a forested hill, I may camp there to heal. Often though I am in an emergency to find the nearest civ so I can STEAL a worker. Emperor gets god damn tuff and every turn counts early.

Often I find myself just 1 turn too short from the perfect kidnapping move.