YoungEagle
Chieftain
Post 1.29f I always upgrade all my units. Since I often trade for techs, I want to look as intimidating as I can to the AI so I get better deals.
Do you upgrade spearmen or use them for cannon fodder?
- Thread starter sabo
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Evincar
Iron works is a legend!!
Have you thought it over? I don't really think the gold you save pays at all the big disadvantages...and disbanding old units to speed up the new ones is often an illusion, in the sense you often get no benefit for it.
Just think about it: say you have 50 Knights, which you used for Mid Age conquest. You get Military Tradition, and then what do you think is best:
a) Disbanding knights to get 17 shields and save a turn (no more) in building cavalries. That means you'll need like 10 turns to build your cav force...And when you have your armies completed, maybe your enemies have rifles
b) Pay 1000 gold (Is it THAT much??) and press shift+U. Blam. Instant cavalry force. You can then use your production to crank out more cavs, universities, muskets or whatever you like, while if you disband your cities are busy.
With most units (knights-Cavs, rifle-infantry) I really think b) is a better option. Of course, in the case of pikes-muskets, which is expensive as a night in Hotel Ritz, you may not want to upgrade at all, but there are obvious cases in which upgrading is a gift...
Grey Knight
Old hacker
Originally posted by Evincar (edited for clarity)
Just think about it: say you have 50 Knights, which you used for Mid Age conquest. You get Military Tradition, and then what do you think is best:
a) Disbanding knights to get 17 shields and save a turn (no more) in building cavalries. That means you'll need like 10 turns to build your cav force...And when you have your armies completed, maybe your enemies have rifles
b) Press shift-U and pay 1000 gold. Blam. Instant cavalry force. You can then use your production to crank out more cavs, universities, muskets or whatever you like.
I'm surprised it took so long for somebody to say this. Basically, there are two principles involved:
1) Limited production capacity (shields) and oppertunity cost -- If player 1 has to spend 10 turns building 50 cav, and player 2 upgraded 50 cavs and got to spend those 10 turns building other things, who comes out ahead?
2) Time-value of technology edge -- Being the first to gain a technology is nice, but what is important is being the first to apply the technology. Again, if it takes you 10 turns to field your cavs, and I can field mine NOW, who comes out ahead?
As you can see, upgrading is very powerful. I always run my economy with a mind to having enough cash to upgrade when the time comes. If I'm short, I do the critical units first, and the rest later. The only time I don't upgrade is when I have such a huge advantage the MM isn't worth it (i.e. the unit I'm upgrading still has an advantage, and it's easier just to send the unit into battle).
Cheers,
Shawn
nullspace
King
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2002
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- 728
Like Grey Knight said, upgading is nice since you get all the new units right away. It looks like you've got a tech lead if you have 50 new units the turn after you discover the tech.
But it's also important to think about what you need more: shields or gold. If I've got the Great Library, then I've got extra gold to spend upgrading everything. But if I'm trying to research at a decent rate, then doing some disbanding and rebuilding is better, especially if I want to replace some regulars with veterans. But usually I prefer upgrading, the cost doesn't seem too steep, and shift-U is just so easy!
But it's also important to think about what you need more: shields or gold. If I've got the Great Library, then I've got extra gold to spend upgrading everything. But if I'm trying to research at a decent rate, then doing some disbanding and rebuilding is better, especially if I want to replace some regulars with veterans. But usually I prefer upgrading, the cost doesn't seem too steep, and shift-U is just so easy!
I only do infantry to MI, Tank to MA, and Knight to Cavalry grades. The rest are too expensive. This is what I do with my outdated units:
1. Station around coastal area that most likely to suffer naval bombardment. They absorb all the hits before doing any damage to the land and they recover fairly quickly.
2. Disband them in a highly corrupted area, I can rush an improvement per turn without playing double. I can also use them to build temples while the city in resistance.
3. Quiet down the resistance without tiding up my "modern" units. Also, I won't have to worry about losing valuable units from a cultural flip.
4. Block friendly units from my terriroty without risking the chance of war.
5. Lure enemy to a trap.
1. Station around coastal area that most likely to suffer naval bombardment. They absorb all the hits before doing any damage to the land and they recover fairly quickly.
2. Disband them in a highly corrupted area, I can rush an improvement per turn without playing double. I can also use them to build temples while the city in resistance.
3. Quiet down the resistance without tiding up my "modern" units. Also, I won't have to worry about losing valuable units from a cultural flip.
4. Block friendly units from my terriroty without risking the chance of war.
5. Lure enemy to a trap.
Four Four Seven
Spearman
I save all my spearmen for when tanks come around. Then I replace any other defensive units threatened by tanks with my spearmen. Since spearmen always defeat tanks, I can't lose!
Sultan Bhargash
Trickster Reincarnated
I always upgrade spearmen, I like to keep two baseline defenders in each city and evolve them over time. As far as "cannon fodder" sometimes the unupgradable swordsmen etc. are good for that but I would rather disband old units for shields in captured cities (a way to finish that first improvement before resistance ends).
