Desert-Storm
Chieftain
Upgrading is like... The most annoying thing in CIV III, and even more if you have a HUGE army... But is has its benefits (You probably know) So... Do you Upgrade???
Do you... Upgrade?
- Thread starter Desert-Storm
- Start date
al_thor
Prince
Of course, Especially if I have Leonardo's Workshop 
You say it's a hassle - did you know that you could hit shift-U and upgrade ALL units at once? Of course, this means all units of same kind that are in a city with Barracks, but, still it's a nice short-cut.
You say it's a hassle - did you know that you could hit shift-U and upgrade ALL units at once? Of course, this means all units of same kind that are in a city with Barracks, but, still it's a nice short-cut.
Desert-Storm said:
Yeah, well it sure beats having to disband/kill off the old units and then waste production time/money to build the newer/better/faster unit.
Don't forget that even if you're in 1600 AD and carrying a bunch of swordsmen, catapults, and horsemen, they will cost you support money. Odds are you're not going to attack another civ's riflemen or whatever with that horseman you built on your 11th turn, so he's most likely "sleeping" in one of your cities, sapping your treasury a little bit at a time.
Upgrading is necessary.
earthguido
Warlord
I feel it depends on your overall strategy. In some games, when I can develop a peaceful game, I get better in gold per turn production, switching to Democracy, and so I am able to upgrade without major inconveniences. This is surely the better way.
In other games, I am involved in warmongering from the early stages (I find this is happening far too often and don't like it) so I cannot earn enough to upgrade more than 1 or 2 units, but my cities are well developed in production, because I needed a lot of units to make war, so then it is cheaper to me just produce the new units, in fact, I can't afford to upgrade.
I do not know if someone has experienced the same.
In other games, I am involved in warmongering from the early stages (I find this is happening far too often and don't like it) so I cannot earn enough to upgrade more than 1 or 2 units, but my cities are well developed in production, because I needed a lot of units to make war, so then it is cheaper to me just produce the new units, in fact, I can't afford to upgrade.
I do not know if someone has experienced the same.
al_thor
Prince
Just another couple of thoughts on the 'Upgrade All' notion:
I will often upgrade only Veteran and obsolete Elite units - rarely will I upgrade a Regular, and NEVER a Conscript.
1) I will often keep some obsolete units around for use as Military Police (non-Democratic/Republic). It does not matter if you use a Warrior or a Mech Infantry - the result is the same. I only do this in non-boarder/non-coastal cities, for obvious reasons.
2) I will often Disband these units into a REALLY corrupt city to gain the quick shields.
I will often upgrade only Veteran and obsolete Elite units - rarely will I upgrade a Regular, and NEVER a Conscript.
1) I will often keep some obsolete units around for use as Military Police (non-Democratic/Republic). It does not matter if you use a Warrior or a Mech Infantry - the result is the same. I only do this in non-boarder/non-coastal cities, for obvious reasons.
2) I will often Disband these units into a REALLY corrupt city to gain the quick shields.
al_thor
Prince
Also - the obsolete units used as MP's in newly conquered cities is awesome - no more tying up my modern units doing police work - I need them to fight!
Randy
Prince
al_thor said:
And it take some of the sting away if the city depoist back. 3-5 warrior loss is better than even 1 modern unit.
Tripwire
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2004
- Messages
- 58
It depends. If the cost to upgrade is very high I'll disband and start over. On the other hand, if it's cheap I'll always do it. For example, fighter -> jet fighter or infantry -> mech infantry is a given. But spearman -> mech infantry? Probably not.
Mewtarthio
Emperor
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2004
- Messages
- 1,930
al_thor said:
Why's that?
Tripwire
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2004
- Messages
- 58
Mewtarthio said:
I do the same thing; I like my army to be experienced. I feel having half my military composed of regulars or, God-forbid, conscripts, is a lot worse than having a slightly smaller army composed mostly of elite and veteran units.
nullspace
King
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2002
- Messages
- 728
I know that I don't like to fight with anything less than a veteran. Those regulars and conscripts are going to be on the back-lines just doing mp duty anyway. Since they're never going to fight, there's no reason to spend money to upgrade them.
Otherwise, I upgrade almost everything. It's easy to give up a turn or two or research to get enough money to upgrade all your knights to cavalry.
Otherwise, I upgrade almost everything. It's easy to give up a turn or two or research to get enough money to upgrade all your knights to cavalry.
Siv
5 more minutes!
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2004
- Messages
- 39
Upgrading is very important. Even if you lack Leo's upgrade price reduction, it is still a good idea to upgrade older elite units and newer vets. If you cannot afford the mass upgrade, try adjusting you lux/sci slider a few turn to get some cash. After a mass upgrade your military might is vastly improved and other civ may think twice about trying to bully you.
warpstorm
Yumbo? Yumbo!
Of course, I upgrade.
T-Money
Conquestador
Massive empire + Sun Tzu's + Leo's Workshop + dozens of obsolete units = massive upgrade fest. I like to stockpile my outdated units that are cheap to make, then when I hit Feudalism I have a good prebuild from HG. Switch to Feudalism, prebuild for Leo's and later on I have a good number of MI/Pikes that will later become TOW Infantry and Mech Inf.
Black_Hole
Deity
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2004
- Messages
- 3,424
i always upgrade, its a waste of time to make all new units and u dont want spearmen in the industrial age
Binnor
High Prince
I always upgrade using the shift-U. Some of the early ones can be quite expensive (think archer to berserk) but it's almost always worth the money.
Although when it comes to upgrading i invariably overlook some of my bodgy units and end up with at least one or two warriors running around in the modern era.
Although when it comes to upgrading i invariably overlook some of my bodgy units and end up with at least one or two warriors running around in the modern era.
Desert-Storm
Chieftain
I've been looking this: The AI NEVER upgrades... That sucks, why? You go to Modern Era, Build Modern Armor then sex with the AI. Is just too simple 
But what the hell 
But what the hell Desert-Storm said:I've been looking this: The AI NEVER upgrades... That sucks, why? You go to Modern Era, Build Modern Armor then sex with the AI. Is just too simple
Play at a higher level than Warlord. The AI will disband a lot of non-essential units to lighten costs and/or build a more modern army. You're assessing a situation where the AI is penalized by the low difficulty level. Play at Monarch/Emperor, and you'll get a fight with modern troops. The AI will then only retain a few older units for exploration or the "police" type units dwelling in cities.
