I hear people often talk about "Boudica of Rome" (using unrestricted leaders) as being an "overpowered" combo.
Uhhh...what about plain ol' Boudica of Celtia??? How is that any worse? You've got a UU that gets two free promos, that requires only copper or iron rather than iron, that still gets the +10% city attack bonus, and which is only 4 exp from getting guerrilla III (only 1 exp with a barracks, or immediately there with simply 1 military instructor or 1 xp civic).
I think the reason why Boudica of Celtia gets less lovin' is that people underrate the utility of the guerrilla promo line--especially guerrilla III, which is really where it's at.
Guerrilla III (+25% attack vs. hills and 50% withdrawal chance, in addition to the double movement in hills and +50% defense of GI and GII) means you always have better than even odds of surviving when attacking. ALWAYS. If you were going to have a 0.2% odds of surviving beforehand, now you'll have a 50.1% odds of surviving. 40% --> 70%. 60% --> 80%. 80% --> 90%. And you're going to have better odds on top of that when dealing with those really tough hilled cities, which is really where you're gonna need the help.
With guerrilla III, much like with the drill line, you can really rack up the xp thanks to the fact that you can afford to risk your troops in riskier battles. If they don't win, but retreat, you'll get 1 xp, and if they win you'll get a whole lot more than normally. All you need to make sure of is that you don't lose.
Getting to rifles early as Brennus or Boudica can be just devastating. Although it's a pity that the dun obsoletes just as it could become a real terror of an asset to have, but you can still upgrade guerrilla III bows, Gallic Warriors, or muskets to guerrilla III rifles, which then become basically like cavalry that have flanking II, and that move 2 tiles in most instances, but which can fortify, and which can get an insane defensive bonus on hills as opposed to none at all, and which can't be easily countered by fortified formation pikemen (and are countered not as strongly by opposing riflemen as well, in case you are fighting an opponent with the same era of units). Almost like a 2nd UU.
Just as people often use a no-siege spy-assisted renaissance rush when they are able to get to curiassiers and cavs early, the same can be done with guerrilla III riflemen to even greater effect (in my last game as hannibal I had 3 military instructors in my heroic epic city, plus a barracks, so I was turning out instant guerrilla III riflemen. It can be done even without playing as the Celts). Imagine swarms of guerrilla III riflemen rushing in along your hills, pillaging your strategic resources with impunity, almost impossible to dislodge (even guerrilla II is good enough for this), and then the ones with guerrilla III moving in for the kill...almost like a renaissance-period impi rush, in my opinion. The trick would be to bring overwhelming numbers quickly, and only attack with your guerrilla III's while your guerrilla II's provide stack protection for the weakened guerrilla III's that retreat from battle. This strategy is obviously map-dependent, but God help the opponent who has cities next to hills....
The only odd thing about guerrilla III that I've noticed is that the retreat percentage seems to not come into effect when attacking from ships, so giving it to marines doesn't seem quite as useful if you are going to be using them in amphibious naval assaults. But otherwise, if I can produce gunpowder units with 3 promotions out of the gate, a good number of them are likely to be promoted up the guerrilla line. And remember: unlike forests, hills can never be chopped down. The guerrilla promotions retain their tactical usefulness for the whole game.
Also, I love attaching a warlord to a guerrilla III unit and giving it tactics as well. 80% withdrawal means I will have to be VERY unlucky to lose this dude to the RNG. Slap on leadership and some drill promotions as well, and that unit starts earning xp very quickly at very safe odds.
Uhhh...what about plain ol' Boudica of Celtia??? How is that any worse? You've got a UU that gets two free promos, that requires only copper or iron rather than iron, that still gets the +10% city attack bonus, and which is only 4 exp from getting guerrilla III (only 1 exp with a barracks, or immediately there with simply 1 military instructor or 1 xp civic).
I think the reason why Boudica of Celtia gets less lovin' is that people underrate the utility of the guerrilla promo line--especially guerrilla III, which is really where it's at.
Guerrilla III (+25% attack vs. hills and 50% withdrawal chance, in addition to the double movement in hills and +50% defense of GI and GII) means you always have better than even odds of surviving when attacking. ALWAYS. If you were going to have a 0.2% odds of surviving beforehand, now you'll have a 50.1% odds of surviving. 40% --> 70%. 60% --> 80%. 80% --> 90%. And you're going to have better odds on top of that when dealing with those really tough hilled cities, which is really where you're gonna need the help.
With guerrilla III, much like with the drill line, you can really rack up the xp thanks to the fact that you can afford to risk your troops in riskier battles. If they don't win, but retreat, you'll get 1 xp, and if they win you'll get a whole lot more than normally. All you need to make sure of is that you don't lose.
Getting to rifles early as Brennus or Boudica can be just devastating. Although it's a pity that the dun obsoletes just as it could become a real terror of an asset to have, but you can still upgrade guerrilla III bows, Gallic Warriors, or muskets to guerrilla III rifles, which then become basically like cavalry that have flanking II, and that move 2 tiles in most instances, but which can fortify, and which can get an insane defensive bonus on hills as opposed to none at all, and which can't be easily countered by fortified formation pikemen (and are countered not as strongly by opposing riflemen as well, in case you are fighting an opponent with the same era of units). Almost like a 2nd UU.
Just as people often use a no-siege spy-assisted renaissance rush when they are able to get to curiassiers and cavs early, the same can be done with guerrilla III riflemen to even greater effect (in my last game as hannibal I had 3 military instructors in my heroic epic city, plus a barracks, so I was turning out instant guerrilla III riflemen. It can be done even without playing as the Celts). Imagine swarms of guerrilla III riflemen rushing in along your hills, pillaging your strategic resources with impunity, almost impossible to dislodge (even guerrilla II is good enough for this), and then the ones with guerrilla III moving in for the kill...almost like a renaissance-period impi rush, in my opinion. The trick would be to bring overwhelming numbers quickly, and only attack with your guerrilla III's while your guerrilla II's provide stack protection for the weakened guerrilla III's that retreat from battle. This strategy is obviously map-dependent, but God help the opponent who has cities next to hills....
The only odd thing about guerrilla III that I've noticed is that the retreat percentage seems to not come into effect when attacking from ships, so giving it to marines doesn't seem quite as useful if you are going to be using them in amphibious naval assaults. But otherwise, if I can produce gunpowder units with 3 promotions out of the gate, a good number of them are likely to be promoted up the guerrilla line. And remember: unlike forests, hills can never be chopped down. The guerrilla promotions retain their tactical usefulness for the whole game.
Also, I love attaching a warlord to a guerrilla III unit and giving it tactics as well. 80% withdrawal means I will have to be VERY unlucky to lose this dude to the RNG. Slap on leadership and some drill promotions as well, and that unit starts earning xp very quickly at very safe odds.
)
when I can use them. CRIII siege is normally vastly superior to GIII anything else.
