Personally I have disliked Unique Units since their inception in Civ III. It leads to immersion-breaking scenarios, like the Civ with the best ships starting landlocked, or the Civ with the best cavalry starting on a continent that has never seen horses.
The idea behind Active Research seems to recognise this problem, and gives tech bonuses based on geography. This is good from both a plausibility and a gameplay perspective but it needs to go further.
The Unique Units should be available to any Civ who first masters the preconditions for them, essentially working as a Wonder (but still only one UU allowed per Civ, making it a strategic choice). Theres no reason why, say, America shouldnt be able to get Legion infantry, if they have established a large, centralised Iron Age empire with good military infrastructure.
Historically, the kinds of armies that Civs have fielded have ALWAYS been a reflection of their geography and their society. E.g. the Medieval European Knight was very much a product of the aristocratic estates established across the grasslands of France and Germany.
Every game you play, your location and your society choices should shape your Civ NOT the other way around, as sadly seems to be the convention. Active Research is an acknowledgement of the problem, but an incomplete fix.
The idea behind Active Research seems to recognise this problem, and gives tech bonuses based on geography. This is good from both a plausibility and a gameplay perspective but it needs to go further.
The Unique Units should be available to any Civ who first masters the preconditions for them, essentially working as a Wonder (but still only one UU allowed per Civ, making it a strategic choice). Theres no reason why, say, America shouldnt be able to get Legion infantry, if they have established a large, centralised Iron Age empire with good military infrastructure.
Historically, the kinds of armies that Civs have fielded have ALWAYS been a reflection of their geography and their society. E.g. the Medieval European Knight was very much a product of the aristocratic estates established across the grasslands of France and Germany.
Every game you play, your location and your society choices should shape your Civ NOT the other way around, as sadly seems to be the convention. Active Research is an acknowledgement of the problem, but an incomplete fix.
