Guide to using military units

[johnny_rico]

I don't know if that info is in the civ-pedia but if you hover over the unit icon in the tech tree, that information is there. Also, if you have a grenadier selected, if you hover the mouse over the grenadiers stats in the lower left of the HUD, you'll see that information as well.

I think mounted units bonuses vs. siege is also attack only.

 

[asder2]

chariots don't get defensive bonuses?

 

[z0wb13]

just suggesting a few updates to this article, including naval units. it wouldn't let me edit. i would list the techs that unlock the units, too, along with which type they are.

cavalry, 15. military tradition, rifling.
tactics: flanking cannons and city attack.
counter: machine-guns, riflemen

grenadier, 12. military science.
tactics: riflemen
counter: cuirassier

cuirassier, 12. military tradition.
tactics: archery units, flanking cannons and city attack
counter: riflemen, pikemen, elephants

musketman, 9. gunpowder.
tactics: all pre-renaissance units.
counter: all post-medieval units.

infantry, 20. assembly line.
tactics: gunpowder units, e.g. marines.
counter: machine-gun

marines, 24. gunpowder.
tactics: machine guns and artillery; amphibious assault
counter: mech infantry, infantry

bombers, 16. radio, flight.
tactics: cities and stacks, resource denial, naval units
counter: fighters, destroyers.

fighter, 12. flight, combustion.
tactics: air superiority
counter: promoted fighters, destroyers, machine guns.

airship, 4. physics.
tactics: reconnaissance, submarine hunting
counter: fighters, destroyers, machine guns.

gunship, 20. rocketry.
tactics: tanks and artillery
counter: jet fighter, SAM infantry, mobile SAM

jet fighter, 24. composites.
tactics: air superiority
counter: promoted jet fighters, mobile SAM

mech infantry, 32. robotics.
tactics: city defence
counter: bombers, combined arms

anti-tank, 14. artillery.
tactics: tanks
counter: infantry

paratrooper, 24. fascism.
tactics: surprise attacks
counter: machine gun, infantry

tank, 28. industrialism.
tactics: city-raider, attack
counter: anti tank

modern armor, 40. computers, composites.
tactics: city-raider, attack
counter: gunship, panzer

stealth bomber, 20. stealth.
tactics: cities and stacks, resource denial, naval units
counter: promoted jet fighters

stealth destroyer, 30. stealth.
tactics: naval supremacy.
counter: stealth destroyer

submarine, 24. radio, combustion.
tactics: carry cruise missiles, hunt battleships, carriers and transports.
counter: attack submarines, destroyers, airships

attack submarine, 30. rocketry.
tactics: hunt submarines, carry spies
counter: destroyer, airship

destroyer, 30. combustion.
tactics: hunt submarines, air-defense, city-bombard
counter: battleship

battleship, 40. industrialism.
tactics: naval supremacy, destroyers
counter: air units

missile cruiser, 40. robotics.
tactics: naval supremacy, carry missiles
counter: air units

ironclad, 12. steel, steam.
tactics: pre-ironclad
counter: post-ironclad

ship of the line, 8. military science.
tactics: frigate, privateer
counter: ironclad

frigate, 8. chemistry, astronomy.
tactics: privateer
counter: ship of the line

privateer, 6. chemistry, astronomy.
tactics: caravel
counter: frigate

caravel, 3. optics.
tactics: trireme
counter: privateer

trireme, 3. metal casting.
tactics: galleys, barb defense
counter: caravel, galleon

galley, 2. sailing.
tactics: transport
counter: trireme

galleon, 4. atronomy.
tactics: transport, caravels
counter: frigate, privateer

transport, 16. combustion.
tactics: transport, pre-industrial navies
counter: destroyers, submarines, battleships

guided missile, 40. radio, rocketry.
tactics: bombard
counter: none?

tactical nuke, . fission, rocketry.
tactics: bombard
counter: interception promotions, bomb shelters

icbm, . fission, rocketry.
tactics: bombard
counter: SDI, bomb shelters

 

[Tephros]

The original article was a good idea but incomplete. Even if it was based upon vanilla I can't imagine not mentioning hills when talking about archers/longbows...

Also have comments on the update post below:

cavalry, 15. military tradition, rifling.
tactics: flanking cannons and city attack.
counter: machine-guns, riflemen

Cavalry have the highest base withdrawal of all land units, so that makes them a hit-and-run unit, cities or otherwise, which is nice given that their other purpose is to destroy siege in the field. They also have a high base strength, making them shine in the open field generally.

Machine guns are not specifically a counter to them. Machine guns will do alright given their high base strength, but except promotions earned before upgrade, machine guns go down the drill line, which can be totally nullified with flanking 2.

grenadier, 12. military science.
tactics: riflemen
counter: cuirassier

Attacking rifles, you mean. Not that they're especially good at that either given low base strength. These are better than other units of the renaissance at defending your stack from other grenadiers while in the forest, I suppose, but that's not worth researching military science.

musketman, 9. gunpowder.
tactics: all pre-renaissance units.
counter: all post-medieval units.

These are mostly for city and stack defense. For stack defense they do well in hills and forests. Substantially better than longbows for cities built on flat land, but they're still vulnerable to knights in the open field.

infantry, 20. assembly line.
tactics: gunpowder units, e.g. marines.
counter: machine-gun

They destroy rifles, so getting infantry is a good time to start a war against somebody relying on rifles, particularly if they don't have a lot of cavalry/MGs. They aren't really a counter to marines, though. Without promotions on either unit they'll beat marines by a bit, but since marines have higher base strength promotions will make them better than infantry within a few comparable promos (though they cost more).

marines, 24. gunpowder.
tactics: machine guns and artillery; amphibious assault
counter: mech infantry, infantry

Counter's a tank, I'd say. Mech infantry is a counter to pretty much everything except modern armor.

bombers, 16. radio, flight.
tactics: cities and stacks, resource denial, naval units
counter: fighters, destroyers.

Fighters more than anything make bombers less useful, as a fighter can destroy about a half-dozen of them in a row. Destroyers have a relatively low interception chance that can't be improved upon (30%). If you mention destroyers you might as well mention machineguns (20%), and anti-tank (20-50%), mechanized infantry (20-50%)... let alone SAM (40-70%), or mobile SAM (50-80%).

fighter, 12. flight, combustion.
tactics: air superiority
counter: promoted fighters, destroyers, machine guns.

Again don't forget SAM and anti-tank.

airship, 4. physics.
tactics: reconnaissance, submarine hunting
counter: fighters, destroyers, machine guns.

SAM again.

gunship, 20. rocketry.
tactics: tanks and artillery
counter: jet fighter, SAM infantry, mobile SAM

Jet fighter?!? I don't get it.

Gunship are the cavalry of the modern era. They are good at withdrawal, so are hit and run units. With blitz they can kill up to 4 units per turn directly, and their 4 moves also make them the best land-based pillagers.

mech infantry, 32. robotics.
tactics: city defence
counter: bombers, combined arms

Bombers? They have upgradeable interception, so I'm not sure if bombers are a particular counter against them. If anything is a counter to mechanized infantry, it's the modern armor.

paratrooper, 24. fascism.
tactics: surprise attacks
counter: machine gun, infantry

Infantry aren't really a counter to them. An excellent use for paratroopers is to quickly reinforce cities captured deeper in enemy territory. Otherwise you'd only be able to airlift in one city defender of a recently captured cities. With paratrooper you can jump from a recently captured city to the newly captured city.

tank, 28. industrialism.
tactics: city-raider, attack
counter: anti tank

Gunships and panzers are also counters.

modern armor, 40. computers, composites.
tactics: city-raider, attack
counter: gunship, panzer

Gunship yes.. panzer... not really. The adjusted strength of the panzer without considering promotions is going to be 28+14=42, which is a bit above the modern armor's base strength, but given two combat promos on each the modern armor comes out ahead.

stealth destroyer, 30. stealth.
tactics: naval supremacy.
counter: stealth destroyer

Resource denial, surprise attacks. If the enemy doesn't have stealth destroyers you can destroy their sea-based resources without having to worry about them counterattacking at all.

submarine, 24. radio, combustion.
tactics: carry cruise missiles, hunt battleships, carriers and transports.
counter: attack submarines, destroyers, airships

Submarines are the ultimate hit-and-run unit. Flanking 2 gives them an 80% chance of withdrawal, which is just awesome. Hence they should hunt in packs or be the initial naval units to attack when engaging a large enemy naval stack that has battleships. Though if carrying missiles, should probably lodge those in the enemy's behind first.

Also they can carry tactical nukes, which cost half as much as ICBMs with the same potency. So the submarines can do a cheap nuclear strike on enemy coastal cities.

attack submarine, 30. rocketry.
tactics: hunt submarines, carry spies
counter: destroyer, airship

The destroyer and airship will reveal the position of the attack submarine, but the attack submarine has the same base strength as the destroyer, so the destroyer is not really a counter in itself. A destroyer+battleship would be an example of a counter, as the destroyer reveals the sub and the battleship is effective in destroying it. Basically the sub is much stronger on offense than defense, given its 50% base withdrawal.

The attack sub oddly takes over the function of the caravel as you mention, so it represents the final obsolescence of the privateer (privateers in your own ports can kill incoming caravels and withdraw back to safety).

battleship, 40. industrialism.
tactics: naval supremacy, destroyers
counter: air units

On their own the battleship/cruiser is the king of the ocean, but they are vulnerable to certain tactics: A lone battleship is vulnerable to packs of submarines especially attack submarines or regular subs carrying guided missiles, as they can't see the submarine and on defense the subs will likely withdraw until the battleship is destroyed.

ironclad, 12. steel, steam.
tactics: pre-ironclad
counter: post-ironclad

Tactics would be resource defense/attack, as they're too slow for escort and can't enter the ocean. When I say resource attack you can use an ironclad or two to pillage an enemy's coastal resources (if they can be reached without crossing ocean) provided they don't have ironclads or post-ironclad units.

ship of the line, 8. military science.
tactics: frigate, privateer
counter: ironclad

A ship of the line is no better than a frigate versus the privateer in terms of odds, and privateers can outrun them unless they're circumnavigating viking SOTLs.

frigate, 8. chemistry, astronomy.
tactics: privateer
counter: ship of the line

Same movement as galleon, so it makes them great for escort duty.

privateer, 6. chemistry, astronomy.
tactics: caravel
counter: frigate

Tactics equals pillaging for profit, choking islands, etc. While a bit more risky, they're also nice for attacking galleons that are, e.g., trying to colonize some islands. So when you kill the galleon at 80-90% odds you kill settlers and units with it. Along the same lines I think the most exciting use I've seen was when I knew somebody was about to attack me (we have enough on our hands and we hate you), and a pack of my privateers found a herd of their galleons, presumably loaded with their military units. I destroyed half of them before they got to my shores to declare war.

caravel, 3. optics.
tactics: trireme
counter: privateer

Tactics also include getting spies or great merchants into enemy territory.

guided missile, 40. radio, rocketry.
tactics: bombard
counter: none?

I wouldn't use this to bombard defenses as there are plenty of ways to bombard city defenses without spending extra hammers. The guided missile is ideal for severely weakening strong defenders in preparation for an all-out attack. Its counter would be large, uniform stacks, as the hammers spent on the guided missile won't give the subsequent unit a better chance of survival. For example you might consider using a guided missile on a stack you're about to attack that has 1 battleship and 9 destroyers after your air power failed to weaken them due to enemy interception, but probably not on a stack with 10 destroyers of equal promotions.

Another use would be if your units have used all of their attacks but failed to kill an important, crippled unit that will escape if you don't finish it off with the guided missile.

tactical nuke, . fission, rocketry.
tactics: bombard
counter: interception promotions, bomb shelters

Promotions? Not sure about that. It is a counter to SDI, as the tactical nuke has a high chance of bypassing SDI-based interception.