BalbanesBeoulve
Emperor
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2008
- Messages
- 1,060
So is Monotheism.
it leads to both Monarchy and theology. So no.
So is Monotheism.
civil service is basically mandatory and philosophy is almost always preferable to divine right, so in my book they are both basically dead-end techs.
it leads to both Monarchy and theology. So no.
I guess that's because you don't play on all available map types. You clearly don't play using the same tactics and strategies that I've found useful. There are certain games where Military Science is a useful tech and that can be researched for the grenadier or the SotL or the Military Academy, all of which I've found can be strong improvements.I'm yet to remember when I last researched mil. sci.(wasn't in the last 30 games anyway - getting it from internet doesn't count).
There are many ways of dealing with the big stack of cuirassiers. If you're playing on a water map just invade a civ that doesn't have them (perhaps no horses). Otherwise land on a hill or wood next to a city with a big stack of defensive troops and weather the storm of his counter attack. As long as you don't get hit by a lot of collateral damage a mix or grenadiers and pikemen can win against cuirassiers if fortified in favourable terrain. A woodsman 2 grenadier sitting in a wood is a pretty tough stack defender. If the opponent is bringing a load of collateral then just get back onto your ships and sail away and find another target. That's the beauty of this naval approach, the ability to chose the battleground for the decisive battle.The combo is dreadful and plays the ai game; you're without counter to mounted, which the ai loves, and your work ponnie will be the cannon, which gets flanked because you don't have the hard counter to the mounted... Since going rifles, most of the time defending the stack with some pinch knights is enough to protect me from ai grens; ergo, I don't want to be in this situation and see ai pinch knights chewing my stack.
The SotL has its uses. It is vastly superior to enemy frigates and can attack them with great confidence when your own frigates are usually a 50 - 50 dice roll. They also deter enemy frigate attacks even if they have superior numbers.And the SoTL is just a bad joke... 3 movement; umm... you could fall asleep before it reaches somewhere; leaving aside that the ai will flee with his frigate when he sees your sotl, and mathematically you don't ever catch him(that supposing you build a navy).
But the grenadier adds so much to the cannon led SoD. And it's available much sooner than riflemen can be researched (given that you've beelined to Steel). It has strength 12 and gives the best stack defenders. It also gives the best attacker for use against those extra tough top defenders that frequently kill your leading cannons! Upgrading a CR3 macemen gives a very useful city raider. Upgrading a CG3 crossbow gives a supreme city defender that later becomes a great machingun stack defender. To defend in terrain choose a guerilla or woodsman promotion. Since cannons provide the firepower for your SoD the grenadiers main role is a defensive one and their 12 strength is very useful compared with the 6 of pikemen and 8 of macemen, promotions and terrain bonusses have more effect with a larger strength. Muskets are useful in the SoD but they only have 9 strength and older troops with good promotions can't be upgraded to them. My cannon based SoD will have drafted muskets (for bulk and garrison duty) some pikes, maces, axes and other rag tag troops that can exploit the cannon's firepower and a few specialist grenadiers (upgraded and fresh built). Grenadiers add great flexibility to the cannons.Steel is a good tech; might pick it from lib. Might pick chemistry some times and go cannon/pike/musket/mace, but mil. sci. - no thanks.
Muskets are draftable but not upgradeable. Grenadiers are not draftable but can be upgraded. So I see them as complimentary. I outlined a few of my favourite upgrades to grenadier above. A 12 strength CR3 unit does the job nearly as well as 14 one, and I can't affort to wait. As long as I still have built enough macemen before researching rifles then I can have both types of CR. And do you know what? Later in the game when the AI has its own rifles defending the CR3 grenadiers make a comebackTo top an already dreadful combo, they ain't draftable... Plus, why would you want a str. 12 city raider instead of a str. 14 city raider...
Any upgrade to grenadier costs 30 gold less than to rifleman (since they cost 10 hammers less).You should probably pay more or less the same for upgrade from mace(I guess, not using grens., so I don't know how much they cost, but probably it's in the same range as rifles).
Last, if you want infantry fast, you need rifling, not mil. sci.; and who doesn't want infantry fast![]()
I consider Theology a useless tech and Monarchy can be attained without Monotheism.
Time to post points disagreeing with me that I will instantly disregard and not read.