Fighting with backward units

[fathertuck]

What is the most backward units you've used compared to the AI's, and still won a conquest/domination victory? I had a great game yesterday (emperor difficulty) where I fought modern armor and mobile artillery with tanks and artillery (and some nukes). I ended up winning a diplomatic victory, but I probably could have won a conquest/domination victory if the AI's hadn't launched a space ship and forced me into it.

What surprised me though is that Tanks/Arty actually could take out moder units. It rises the question, how backward can your be and still kick the he** out of the AI?

 

[Dhoomstriker]

the most backward units you've used compared to the AI's

I have taken out an AI that had Longbowmen, Musketeers, and a few Grenadiers using a combination of Axemen, Swordsmen, and Catapults. It would have been a nasty mess but I had 2 AI allies helping to receive my enemy's attacks, so most of my battles were fought we my units on the offensive... siege's advantage carried the day.

 

[fathertuck]

I have taken out an AI that had Longbowmen, Musketeers, and a few Grenadiers using a combination of Axemen, Swordsmen, and Catapults. It would have been a nasty mess but I had 2 AI allies helping to receive my enemy's attacks, so most of my battles were fought we my units on the offensive... siege's advantage carried the day.

Grenadiers requires Military Science, so you were fighting units like 5 straight techs away in the tech-tree (don't know how many real techs away). Lol, that's nice.

 

[jwez11007]

Most backwards war that I recall saw CR2 trebs and maces against rifles...managed to take three cities with that outdated stack before waiting for steel and running away with it from there.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Grenadiers requires Military Science, so you were fighting units like 5 straight techs away in the tech-tree (don't know how many real techs away). Lol, that's nice.

Just to clarify, it was in Vanilla, not BtS, where Grenadiers only require Chemistry (the Military Science tech doesn't exist there) and where Trebuchets don't exist either (otherwise I probably would have been using them in favour of Catapults).

Most backwards war that I recall saw CR2 trebs and maces against rifles

If you have War Elephants to *help* guard your stacks (more like to take the hits and die so that the other units can attack), then it's not impossible to go up against Riflemen + Cavalry with Macemen and Trebs.

As usual, in such a backwards situation, it pays major dividends to have a war ally or two, particularly with Cities on the border of the enemy's lands.


Still, it is my preference to hit AIs not much later than them learning Gunpowder (for them getting Musketmen) if I'm using Macemen.

Oddly enough, if you have stack defenders that can handle the Musketmen (say, Knights, Muskets of your own, or just extra defenders with Combat III or that you don't mind losing), it can often be preferable to fight against a mix of Longbowmen and Musketmen than a stack of Longbowmen, as the Muskets tend to have less defensive bonuses than Longbowmen when defending Cities.

 

[fathertuck]

Just to clarify, it was in Vanilla, not BtS, where Grenadiers only require Chemistry (the Military Science tech doesn't exist there) and where Trebuchets don't exist either (otherwise I probably would have been using them in favour of Catapults).

Just out of curiosity, how did you get so much behind in tech so early in the game?

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Just out of curiosity, how did you get so much behind in tech so early in the game?

By sucking.

Playing at a difficulty level above my abilities at the time was probably a major contributing factor, but it is also easy to over-expand and kill your tech rate until you get a relative feel for balancing Maintenance Costs against expansion--a feeling that I did not have at the time.

Actually, I still over-expand in a lot of my games and my tech rate tends to be one of the weaker aspects of my gameplay (although generally not that bad--you did ask for a person's worst experience), but at least I have learned to confidently fight AIs that have better military units than I do.

 

[michmbk]

keshiks against knights, muskets, and even a few grenadiers mixed in. By that time I had about 100+ keshiks, so doesn't matter what the AI had. I think the last civ I overtook had just gotten to rifles as I swarmed them with the final keshiks.

Of course, by that time the keshiks had 3 promotions out of the gate, so many of them had 50% withdraw odds + 10% strength, and with a healer in the stack, a stack of 100 keshiks can overtake about anything.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I've beaten tanks, bombers, infantry, machine guns, and arty using rifle/cannon...in an XOTM game.

 

[bobbyboy29]

The mad scientist "satan and the end of days" RPC shows the power of numbers even when at a tech disadvantage. He had an abysmal tech rate almost all game but managed to fight his way out of it in true RPC fashion!
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=348464

 

[AbsoluteZero]

Generally I can and have taken on:

grenadeers with 2 star or 1 star + pinch knights.

Curassiers with 2 star or 2 star + formation elephants.

Maces, pikes, knights, longbows, xbows and trebs with a combination of elephants + axes + catapults.

I'm at a bigger disadvantage then that, then I avoid war until I can catch up.

 

[Higher Game]

Riflemen and artillery can truly test outdated units. Besides those monsters, however, being behind isn't that bad, especially on defense. It does help to have horses.