Manifest Destiny - What's the advantage?

[12agnar0k]

Seems kinda weak as a SA. It also seems to have the least synergy of any civ between SA and UU/UB. The Minuteman (combat bonus in friendly territory) doesn't play very well with this SA.

Well I wouldn't say it was a great ability, but its not awful, +1 sight for all units is definitely going to come in handy, as will "cheaper land grabs" if you want to spend your gold on that.
And I don't see how you have come to the conclusion that "The Minuteman (combat bonus in friendly territory) doesn't play very well with this UA"
(Its not SA but Unique Ability, ;p, i.e UA)
How exactly does "Cheaper and thus faster and more territory purchasing" Not help a Unit which excells in Friendly Territory, you will be buying more land and thus the minute man has more land with which it's ability has benefit from, this TIES DIRECTLY WITH THE UA. I really am flabagasted that you decided otherwise.

 

[Centurio]

You're forgetting, I'm AMERICAN! Diplomacy? Delayed gratification? I want it in a smoldering heap, and I want it NOW!!!

Eh, just play as the Romans. They're basically the Americans, except smarter, cleaner, and more licentious.

 

[Lorteungen]

I think the +1 sight is massively underrated, in fact I think it may be one of the strongest UA's in the game. It will give the americans a great military advantage up until the discovery of flight. Because of the 1upt combat system, recon is now extremely important in order to keep your troops alive. Anyone who have played Panzer General can testify to that. You no longer have the safety of the stack to nullify any combat modifiers by always letting the strongest unit defend. In Civ4 you could wander all over enemy territory with your stack, knowing that you always had the upper hand as long as the stack was diverse and kept to the woods and hills. The defensive stack always had a huge advantage, even when in enemy territory. Thankfully this horribly broken combat system will be gone in Civ5.

 

[Boshi]

What hasn't been brought up is how useful this ability will be for dealing with barbarians. The more your units can see the more land you can keep barbarians from spawning in better scouting keeps your explorers from running into big nests of barbarians. I'm seeing this as being very very useful for early game goody hut grabbing, which is always a lot of fun.

 

[civ_king]

if you had one more visibility, wouldn't that save scouts' lives? you could spot a unit without being spotted

 

[Boshi]

if you had one more visibility, wouldn't that save scouts' lives? you could spot a unit without being spotted

Exactly, I always hated blundering my units into bears in CiV, the Americans being able to dodge barbs while exploring give them a good leg up in the early game

 

[Lyoncet]

Exactly, I always hated blundering my units into bears in CiV, the Americans being able to dodge barbs while exploring give them a good leg up in the early game

Especially now that with animals gone, barbs probably won't be able to catch your non-terrain-restricted scouts (even if they only have move 2).

 

[Some guy]

Eh, just play as the Romans. They're basically the Americans, except smarter, cleaner, and more licentious.

Eh, excuse me?

The American ability isn't that great but neither is anyone else's. However, the ability is versatile and proves more mobility and options.