Favorite UU Part I

[Sidney Magal]

Cataphracts=medieval praetorians.

 

[digitalcraft]

I notice nobody is voting for the Cho-ko-nu. I think it's a pretty good unit. Crossbowmen are often situational units used to counter the likes of macemen, but this unit causes collateral damage which means a stack of it will beat just about anything, even stronger units because of that.

Also, when attacking cities, instead of having to build a bunch of catapults to drag behind you or wait to get done and protect, you can just spam these, and they can deal with most same-era units one on one so you don't have to worry about the enemy ninjaing behind your forces and taking out your siege weapons.

Also, instead of having to get both machinery and civil service for macemen, two techs that are pretty cost intensive on separate paths, you can just bee-line machinery so if you're falling behind a little on the tech race, you still can have a tough unit to push people around with.

 

[Nikolai Dneppen]

I voted Redcoats, but it was a very tough choice between them and Incan uber warriors.
In the end though, I had to go Redcoats because they dominate what always seems to me to be the longest part of the game between major military upgrades.

I guess I should also mention that I always play on marathon speed and I always warmonger.

 

[Iranon]

Quechua. They keep me safe from barbarians, they allow a lot of cute tricks (using as mini-siege, cheap garrisons, upgrading for the promotion) and if someone spawns right next to me they allow me to turn a potential problem into a second capital.

 

[LegionSteve]

For usefulness I would have voted Fast Worker. For killing stuff I would have voted Quechua. I also really like Oromos. But instead I voted Choc-O-Nuts. Just because the collateral damage makes it seem more unique than most UUs. If everything else about the China civ wasn't so 'meh' I would play them a lot more.

 

[sanarchy]

Quecha's can give you just the extra advantage as Praetorians do, but they're lifespan is maybe a little less. But two reasons why quecha's are still better:
-earlier expansion CAN pay off more in the long run. [Don't overdo it though.]
-No iron = no Praetorians.

 

[*Svart*]

i don't like quetcha so much... their lifespan is so short.... prets are better for this.

 

[Absolute Zero]

i don't like quetcha so much... their lifespan is so short.... prets are better for this.

But they can do huge things within that short lifespan.

Besides, they remain solid barb defense vs. archers/warriors.

 

[*Svart*]

yeah, i know, but i'm not enough hardcore to try warrior rush only charriot and axe rush here. I must try quetchas rush soon

 

[Earthling]

Who the heck is voting for Fast Workers?

Lots of people, because they are really useful. Whenever the poll option with Praetorian comes up though I'll vote that because it is clearly one of the most broken UUs. (Quechua are just because of stupid AI and I don't condone or enjoy that playstyle, so I wouldn't give them the top slot, while Praets are broken against everyone)

 

[Ataxerxes]

Lots of people, because they are really useful. Whenever the poll option with Praetorian comes up though I'll vote that because it is clearly one of the most broken UUs. (Quechua are just because of stupid AI and I don't condone or enjoy that playstyle, so I wouldn't give them the top slot, while Praets are broken against everyone)

I really expect Praets will dominate the final poll.

The speed a person plays at really matters. CaesarPLayer plays Marathon, so Fast Worker he doesn't see as good for him. If somebody plays normal, Fast Worker is very good and 2 move units are good. If he says, favorite UU at Quick (anybody play this?), Fast Worker would rule.

Also, difficulty level fits in with the Quechua. Below Monarch, it isn't very useful. Monarch and above, they're the only warrior rush available.

 

[Axios]

Seal first, praetorians, redcoats, quechua

 

[*Svart*]

seals are a little late to be game breakers...

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Lots of people, because they are really useful. Whenever the poll option with Praetorian comes up though I'll vote that because it is clearly one of the most broken UUs. (Quechua are just because of stupid AI and I don't condone or enjoy that playstyle, so I wouldn't give them the top slot, while Praets are broken against everyone)

Prats lose hammer for hammer vs axes. Rome in MP is worth some respect, but isn't overly scary. Mali, Persia, Egypt, and yes even Inca are just as threatening...all of those have a risk to either 1) choke you or 2) hurt/kill you with a rush if you're unprepared. Mali in particular are brutal chokers in MP since without a strategic resource it's almost impossible for non-inca to dislodge skirmishers...even native america struggles there! Of course, AGG axes don't just win hammer for hammer, they tend to win straight-up on prats.

On top of that, ANY civ that a) gets metal and b) camps hill cities makes taking them down with prats very difficult. Sure, you can then pillage and choke, but you waited a long time and risked not having iron to do something that many other civs can do sooner and more consistently.

Once catapults enter consideration, prats can dominate cities...but that's only if your opponent does not also have catapults! If they do your prats and everything else will get hampered by collateral initiative + swept with cheaper axemen.

Prats are only broken vs the AI for the same reason that Quechas are. They remain good vs humans, but far from broken given that you can get your iron choked away or struggle mightily to capture a single city vs stock units...or simply get hit hard before you can hook iron up.

 

[bestbrian]

Fast Worker.

 

[thunderflush]

I play noble/marathon.

I really like the landsknecht. They are cheaper than macemen, can go toe to toe with them unupgraded and they protect your stack (and trebs) from mounted unit harrassment. They also come out about the same time as the rathauses so you can usually swallow one or two civs without taking a significant hit to your research.

Next after that is the phalanx. Axeman rush is a good strategy at my level and phalanxes ensure that even if your target has horses to counter them, it won't matter.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I play noble/marathon.

I really like the landsknecht. They are cheaper than macemen, can go toe to toe with them unupgraded and they protect your stack (and trebs) from mounted unit harrassment. They also come out about the same time as the rathauses so you can usually swallow one or two civs without taking a significant hit to your research.

Next after that is the phalanx. Axeman rush is a good strategy at my level and phalanxes ensure that even if your target has horses to counter them, it won't matter.

1. Landcraps die hard to xbows
2. Landcraps die hard to collateral initiative since they don't resist it and have very low base strength
3. Landcraps suck very hard at attacking longbows in cities
4. Landcraps are 100% hosed vs muskets, which are not far behind them

Landcraps are a joke. They are *slightly* better stack defense than a traditional medieval army's pikes. You get to trade out a couple xbows for a couple landcraps and be slightly more versatile...hooray...:/. They are trash city attackers and still rely on the trebs, but if you're going to rely on trebs any combo of xbow + pikes (or elephant) as needed if they have knights will cover trebs with ease.

Knights can still flank your siege badly in#'s too if you take even a tiny bit of catapult collateral - they're no better vs them than standard pikes. Obviously with even minimal collateral initiative (to damage your knights if you have any) muskets blow you to pieces.

I can understand liking the landcrap for its novelty value or because you think it looks cool...but liking the landcrap for its effectiveness beyond the base unit is nonsense. Regular AGG pikes arguably fit their role better because at least THEY can take formation at 5 xp!

The UB comes WAY sooner than engineering by the way...1000's and 1000's of beakers sooner (esp on mara). Engineering is closer to gunpowder than CoL basically. And for the record, the UB IS really good at least so if you can fund warfare it still makes sense.

 

[Kullervo]

Landsknechts get a 100% bonus against melee too, so I don't think they are crap, as you say. I can go completely without crossbows, and the AI tends to spam melee units for countering me, such as maces. Plus, any roving stacks of knights/maces which the AI loves to pillage with had better watch out, because a single landsknecht can make short work of it. Yes, they are not the best city attackers, but not the worst either. I lose maces sometimes because I attack a treb-damaged maceman in a city and lose due to it being Immortal or Deity level. With LK's, I don't have to worry about that nearly as much. And I prefer a small army so I can have a high research budget, so I can't get a stack of 50 trebuchets and as many macemen, and just waste them left and right. In my admittedly limited experience, lansknechts are great counter units, and not half bad offense units.

And I don't usually like to play as AGG civs, preferring instead Fin, Imp, or Phi. So instead of a non-agg Pikeman, I can get a Landsknecht, which has way more opportunities to reach ten XP than a pike.

 

[Issus]

Landcraps die hard to collateral initiative since they don't resist it and have very low base strength

Every thing dies hard to collateral initiative

Moving on, voted ormos, athough i just love berserkers, im not saying saying they are the best but the poll is FAVORITE UU's

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

No love for Vultures ??

cheaper , better(slightly) and earlier than swords . better than axes against chariots , HA`s , archers and catapults .

awesome early rush units or alternatively very cost effective vs barb cities.

i actually prefer them to Praets if factoring in UB and starting techs . Obviously not much staying power with CRE and PRO but very solid starter