Great General

[Sokar Rostau]

In Civ IV I could attach a GG to a unit and that unit would then get special promotions as it leveled up. So far, I can't seem to find a use for a GG in Civ V.

All I seem to be able to do with them is to travel with, but separate to, my army and I seem to be hitting the Sleep/Do Nothing buttons a LOT. I know they give a bonus to nearby troops, that's why I have them following my armies around, but is that it?

Yes, I know I can build a Citadel or start a GA with them, but I'm talking about in the field.

 

[Mallow]

Yes, that is it. China has higher GG combat bonus and Mongol's Khan also has healing feature.

 

[Rpger29]

I don't even care if we couldn't do anything else but turn on/off "follow this unit" for GG's. Just that would be a GIANT improvement.

 

[Tabarnak]

I don't even care if we couldn't do anything else but turn on/off "follow this unit" for GG's. Just that would be a GIANT improvement.

A GG is counsidered like a civilian unit. They have some restrictions compared to combat units.

 

[DaveMcW]

It's a nice suggestion. But I think it belongs in the suggestions forum. Or if you want better chances of seeing it, the mods forum.

 

[Sokar Rostau]

Given some of the features missing from Civ V that were in Civ IV (BtS), I smell an expansion... err... I mean DLC, to fix these kind of annoying things.

 

[Jodien37]

I don't even care if we couldn't do anything else but turn on/off "follow this unit" for GG's. Just that would be a GIANT improvement.

Maybe an option for expending the GG on a unit to give it a higher and permanent bonus while granting the usual bonus to the nearby units. The GG should be permanently attached to the said unit (marking it with a star?).

 

[Sokar Rostau]

Maybe an option for expending the GG on a unit to give it a higher and permanent bonus while granting the usual bonus to the nearby units. The GG should be permanently attached to the said unit (marking it with a star?).

What an awesome idea, I wonder why they never thought of that before...

 

[Olleus]

I'm guessing that you are using your GG wrong.

Mine never follow the same unit all the time, and usually aren't even on a unit, but 1 tiles behind. Its all about positioning them so that the max number of units get the bonus, and even shuffling them around when its my turn so that every unit I attack with gets the +20%, and the vast majority get it on defence.

If you are not doing this then you probably should, if you have so many GG that you dont need to do this then build some citadels or burn them for golden ages.

 

[Crdnl Richelieu]

My major beef with GGs (that's Great Generals, not gee-gees) is that I forget to move them. So wrapped up am I with moving my other guys about that it's only once I complete my bloody and long-drawn-out war against the AI when I notice my GG sitting in my capital patiently twiddling his thumbs.

Or even worse than that - when I have my GG sitting behind a line of troops but due to sheer ineptitude, I forget to move him into a safe hex each turn. Then he is inevitably destroyed by an enemy GG (gee-gee, not Great General).

So yes - binding him to a unit or using him for XP would be very useful!

 

[Rpger29]

My GG is always on top of a ranged unit, and within 2 tiles of most of my army. Once that ranged unit is something like artillery, cities and units go down fast. I just don't like the tedium of moving him separately. It's a minor gripe.

 

[CoolLizy]

My major beef with GGs (that's Great Generals, not gee-gees) is that I forget to move them. So wrapped up am I with moving my other guys about that it's only once I complete my bloody and long-drawn-out war against the AI when I notice my GG sitting in my capital patiently twiddling his thumbs.

Or even worse than that - when I have my GG sitting behind a line of troops but due to sheer ineptitude, I forget to move him into a safe hex each turn. Then he is inevitably destroyed by an enemy GG (gee-gee, not Great General).

I don't know what you're talking about. I never have that problem. I always remember to move my fortified general when altering my line of battle!

*nose grows*

Seriously, though, just being able to double-click and select both the civilian and military unit in the same tile as a group would probably be enough to fix the issue. It'd also help with settlers, since right now if you send a settler and an escort from the same tile to the same destination they tend to take separate routes. :/

 

[Optional]

I'm fine with how the Great Generals are.

To the people who 'forget' to move them: try to make it a habit to look for your GG at the start of any attack round. Sometimes during an attack round you'll want to move your GG as well to cover all your units with. No automated system would do this for you.
Tying the GG to a unit could indeed give a problem in a case like where you want to use this unit to protect a worker or settler, so this would just give other headaches.

 

[nanomage]

GG's are fine, much better than in IV in terms of game mechanics.
However, they seem now somewhat stupid: in IV, a unit with a GG attached was still a unit and you could think of it as being constantly replenished with new troops while still admiring traditions of superior training and leadership which were once established by an attached GG.
But now? The same GG leading the armies of bowmen, cavalry charges and tanks through multiple millenia? That's weird at least.

 

[Olleus]

Weirder than the same civ leader leading your civilization for 6000 years? Weirder than that scout you posted remaining on lookout for 1500 years?

I guess you can think of it as not a single general, but a whole HQ and a tradition of having good high level officers.

 

[Noatz]

In Civ4 you could still stack all your units; having the GG seperate is a necessary evil in a way since otherwise you would be a lot more limited in movement if you wanted to keep the unit buffing everything possible.

Still, there should be an option to attach it to a unit, giving perhaps a free promotion in the process and still the area buff, if for no other reason than consistency with the special abilities of other GP. That way you have something to do with spare GG's other than golden age spam.

 

[Buccaneer]

Completely disagree about the "ineffectiveness" of the GG (or perhaps their use is not understood?). It is one of the best game mechanics and concepts in Civ5 - far, far better than the warlord in Civ4. If you have ever played any one of the many classic hex-based war games, this is very similar to the way leaders worked (zone of influence). Yes, you have to pay attention to their movements and placements (which was also critical in the traditional war games) but why wouldn't you since their bonus can mean the difference between winning or losing a fight?

 

[Johan de Witt]

While being in war, why do you fortify your general? I almost never fortify my generals because pressing space to skip their turn is a minor inconvenience compared to forgetting to move your general with your army...

 

[oopsy poopsy]

Completely disagree about the "ineffectiveness" of the GG (or perhaps their use is not understood?). It is one of the best game mechanics and concepts in Civ5 - far, far better than the warlord in Civ4. If you have ever played any one of the many classic hex-based war games, this is very similar to the way leaders worked (zone of influence). Yes, you have to pay attention to their movements and placements (which was also critical in the traditional war games) but why wouldn't you since their bonus can mean the difference between winning or losing a fight?

I mostly agree, but I do find it a little gamey in civ when you can move the gg one tile to get guys on one side of a city their bonus, then move one more tile to attack with the remaining forces. Having to MM GG's for max benefit is not what I would call one of the best game mechanics at all.

The way it works in principle is more interesting and I prefer it to 4 and attaching him (although I'd like to see the option to beef up one unit as an option as an alternative for extra GGs), but I would've preferred to see a mechanic that makes your gg your first move each turn to receive the benefit and solidify his sphere of influence, then have combat go forward. This would help people to not forget about moving him, take away the cheesy MMing one can do, and add a layer of planning from the outset that could potentially leave your GG in harm's way if you didn't set it up right. Maybe even something like siege weapons where he has to set up camp to give his bonus, but that just popped into my head right now, so there might be something wrong with that approach.

 

[CoolLizy]

While being in war, why do you fortify your general? I almost never fortify my generals because pressing space to skip their turn is a minor inconvenience compared to forgetting to move your general with your army...

For the same reason I use the production queue in my cities. If I have some forty or fifty units to move each turn, the last thing I want to do is have to stop and press the space bar on my generals simply because they didn't give me a way to group military and civilian units. For me, it interrupts the flow of the game. What if I had to reissue orders to my workers every turn? "Just keep working on that farm, little dudes!"