Most powerful UU's?

[rschissler]

Has anyone made any determinations as what are the most powerful UU's in the game? In other words, what civ would you like to play, based on the strength of the UU's?

 

[Feyd Rautha]

It all depends on the period.

The longer the game goes the less viability people have to be truly epic with their UUs. If we're talking about best UU for the length of time it is on the field then it's up in the air. With beelining anybody can just pop the next tier up and outfight your UU.

That said, by era my votes go to...

Ancient: Hoplite

Classical: Companion Calvary (barely beating the Legion due to their Great General producing power).

Medieval: Tied b/w Samurai and Longbowman (I'd want a Samurai 6 out of 10 times over a Longbowman though...)

Renaissance: Ship of the Line if there is any naval aspect to the game otherwise I'd say Cossack by a nose.

Industrial: Panzer... hands down.

Modern: B17 is the only modern replacement.

Future: N/A (no replacements).

 

[12agnar0k]

As for modern, the Zero could be an option too.

Personally though I think "most powerful UU" is too a subjective term.

I prefer questions on favouritism, and to that I don't quite know yet .

 

[homan1983]

Chu ku nu RANGED:10x2 = 20 which is 67% more than the unit it repaces. I think thats the biggest improvement in a UU.

Longbow Range 3 is also very good. It isn't a straight up boost to power, but it changes the dynamic of war.

 

[King Jason]

Classical: Companion Calvary (barely beating the Legion due to their Great General producing power)

Except for the fact that it's stronger, faster, and has no weakness... right? All Spears other than the hoplite are 7 strength... Modified to their mount bonus they only match the Companion in strength. It's also the fastest unit the ancient era... matched in speed on land by The Helicopter, Panzer, and Sipahi alone. But yes... it also increases GG gain.

The only solution would be to get pikemen as quickly as possible. Which... by the way... at 9 strength, the Hoplite is essentially a Pike obtainable about 2 techs into the game... powerful enough to at least match knights.

So I agree with both your assessments as to ancient and classical units.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Except for the fact that it's stronger, faster, and has no weakness... right? All Spears other than the hoplite are 7 strength... Modified to their mount bonus they only match the Companion in strength. It's also the fastest unit the ancient era... matched in speed on land by The Helicopter, Panzer, and Sipahi alone. But yes... it also increases GG gain.

The only solution would be to get pikemen as quickly as possible. Which... by the way... at 9 strength, the Hoplite is essentially a Pike obtainable about 2 techs into the game... powerful enough to at least match knights.

So I agree with both your assessments as to ancient and classical units.

I would put it as a stronger winner, but the Legion is scary strong without a 1:1 matchable counter unit. Hoplite with Companion Calvary though... :eep:!

 

[awesome]

foreign legion looks like it might be pretty cool.

 

[stealth_nsk]

Longbowman is the strongest. With its 3-hex range and good strength it should dominate ranged attacks until Artillery.

 

[DalekDavros]

Has anyone made any determinations as what are the most powerful UU's in the game?

When Civ 4 first came out, I recall that having heard complaints about how weak the Quechua was. So, to answer your question: no, no one has a clue what the most powerful UU is right now.

Chu ku nu RANGED:10x2 = 20 which is 67% more than the unit it repaces. I think thats the biggest improvement in a UU.

Doesn't work that way. The damage comparison is based on the ratio between the strength of the two units. Against a unit with strength 20, two attacks of strength 10 just means that you get to be ineffective twice. Against a unit of strength 10, it'll be awesome.

 

[Shafi-is-back]

i was always leaning towards playing the greeks. and now i made my mind up ... its gonna be time .

 

[qyll]

Yes, there's the panzer and other great late units, but a majority of games are made or broken in the first hundred turns. This is why the quechua and war chariot and vulture were so good in Civ4.

Just from a quick glance (which probably doesn't mean much), I like the looks of the hoplite and legion. Both are 2 points stronger than their standard counterparts. The hoplite's boost from 7 --> 9 strength is huge, while the legion goes from 11 --> 13. However, the legion can also build roads and forts! So they can help connect resources while the workers can go improve tiles. What a deal!

 

[Cronos]

It's also the fastest unit the ancient era

This isn't 100% correct. The war chariot also has a movement of 5. But I would still vote the companion cavalry the best UU anyway!

 

[generalwar]

I think Longbowman will be a killer. Range 3!!! And you bomb someone while he's 3 tiles away(melee units) next turn you bomb i when he's tile away and your melee ends him. I think it's pretty powerful and it could be good vs mounted units. You remember how English longbows stopped the domination of French cavalry?

 

[DalekDavros]

Just noticed that according to the manual, Ballistas don't need to set up before attacking (but Catapults do) in addition to added ranged strength. Assuming that's not an error, that certainly makes the Ballista one of the best improvements over its base unit.

 

[Iceciro]

If Balistas don't need set up time I may be back to playing Rome again.

 

[Olleus]

Balistas must need to set up surely.....
Otherwise you have a unit that can fling knights at you from range in the classical era. And at the back of the manual it says that they do need to set up.

 

[ytswy]

Yes, there's the panzer and other great late units, but a majority of games are made or broken in the first hundred turns. This is why the quechua and war chariot and vulture were so good in Civ4.

Completely agree with that for Civ IV. but I'm unsure exactly how true this will be for Civ V. I haven't been following Civ V as closely as some, but there seem to be changes aimed at tackling the "bigger is always better" approach in previous games*. If this is actually the case and successful, it might take the shine of early UUs a bit.

In Civ IV it was always the case that an early conquest sets you up for the game - it's kind of 'move up a difficulty level once you figure this out' sort of powerful. If Civ V really does make playing with a smaller number of cities for much of the game a viable alternative, there might actually be a case for late UUs not being weaker inherently as they were in Civ IV.

*Just to emphasise that I really haven't been following development that closely, so if you think I'm wrong about this then you are probably correct

 

[generalwar]

Just noticed that according to the manual, Ballistas don't need to set up before attacking (but Catapults do) in addition to added ranged strength. Assuming that's not an error, that certainly makes the Ballista one of the best improvements over its base unit.

Really? I haven't noticed because I only ran across units to see their special ability but, this means that ballista is a really good special unit. Frankly, I thought that this is a poor UU, but this changed my mind.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Ballistas do require a move to set up. Their special ability is +4 strength compared to catapults. Say what you will about it being a "poor" UU, but if you beeline Ironworking and then Mathematics and then backfill to get the reqs for physics (which btw will leave you with a bunch of necessary techs unlearned such as trapping) you are still 1145 science away from trebuchets. That's a long period of field dominance.

 

[Schuesseled]

Chu ku nu RANGED:10x2 = 20 which is 67% more than the unit it repaces. I think thats the biggest improvement in a UU.

Longbow Range 3 is also very good. It isn't a straight up boost to power, but it changes the dynamic of war.

Thats not how combat works, two attacks at 10 strength does not equal one attack at 20 strength.