Most underrated CIV 1 unit?

[Gundus]

I wonder which unit you think is seriously undervalued in CIV 1.

People seem to have very fixed opinions on whats useful and whats rubbish,
but maybe they undervalue something or at least that theres a rubbish unit
which can be very useful for some specific purpose.

As an opening bid I'll mention Cavalry. Most people seem to dislike it and not use it at all,
but it can be used very effectively at the start of a game if you're on a big
landmass with lots of other Civs.

Firstly its easy to get (only requires Horseback Riding).

Secondly its quick and cheap (two movement points, 20 shields), so if you lose
it its not a big investment gone to waste.

Thirdly it helps you explore the map quickly, and it acts as a diplomat because each time
you meet a new Civilization theres opportunity for swapping techs (meaning that you
can set Science research to zero and essentially stack up some gold while getting
lots of techs for free).

And you get to find alot of huts before the AI gets to them so you will get gold, techs,
or even new cities for free.

I dont run this tactic every time but overall I've been very satisfied with the results when
I try it, give it a try yourself!

 

[Mize]

Submarines. They are generally crappy units because of their low defence and movement points. However, they are quite cheap and big cities can spit them out every other turn or even every turn. This combined with their relatively high attack rating makes them great fodder you can send out to scout and attack enemy ships instead of risking your battleships and bombers. If you lose, you lose 50 shields, not 160 or 120, while literally anything you kill is worth it, unless we take into account the bonuses Emperor AI receives. But even then just killing two empty triremes before losing the sub is worth it. The submarine is also a great unit to just swarm enemy fleets with. I will usually go mass submarines if I'm trying to push back a superior naval force, moving them in formation around my battleships and using them to strike first and take the first hits when I meet enemy ships. Very much the cavalry of the sea.

 

[Skybuck]

Maybe diplomat, can scout well, not limited but movement/square rules and such. But only when made peace with civs, great wall forces civs into auto peace lol, discovered a few days ago or so, wanted to build colossus but somebody else build it first so ended up with great wall.. I do use cavalry it's nice and quick, but indeed a bit weak, had great success with legions, cavalry nice for exploring quickly even while in combat. I don't use a lot of caravans fro trade I probably should, but I am on conquest for now taken over cities =D It depends a bit, some civs are very pacifist and some are aggressive like russians and mongols they constantly want to attack so vs them not much sense to do caravans maybe great wall can help there too.

 

[rhaul]

caravans, it is essential to use these units to catapult the economy of civilization and something tells me that many people do not use them for this purpose.

 

[Theov]

Maybe diplomat, can scout well, not limited but movement/square rules and such. But only when made peace with civs, great wall forces civs into auto peace lol, discovered a few days ago or so, wanted to build colossus but somebody else build it first so ended up with great wall.. I do use cavalry it's nice and quick, but indeed a bit weak, had great success with legions, cavalry nice for exploring quickly even while in combat. I don't use a lot of caravans fro trade I probably should, but I am on conquest for now taken over cities =D It depends a bit, some civs are very pacifist and some are aggressive like russians and mongols they constantly want to attack so vs them not much sense to do caravans maybe great wall can help there too.

given enough money, Diplomats are my main military force.

caravans, it is essential to use these units to catapult the economy of civilization and something tells me that many people do not use them for this purpose.

when the game came out I didn't understand what 'trade' (the arrows) were.
When I picked it up again later after playing civ2 I understood what they meant and realized you can increase trade arrows by using caravans.
Now, I always make them in my big cities and try to make a network. Still don't know how they function exactly. There's a good chapter in Rome 640 K but I need to re-read that.

 

[Blake00]

given enough money, Diplomats are my main military force.

Haha same!

 

[tupi]

No way Diplomat is underrated. It blocks, it steals, it bribes units and cities, it sabotages City Walls, it forces enemy into peace if you have UN or GW, but most importantly it ignores ZoC so you can transfer your Chariots/Catapults right under Samarkand even when pesky Mongols are blocking you almost everywhere.
Caravans also are well known to be the next good thing after Diplomat.
But I can agree with OP about Cavalry. With Cavalry from huts you can explore continent (and block your rivals) faster, and if you have Horseback Riding from the start, it's ok to build cavalry instead of your first militia. Cavalry's kinda neat for that very early phase. Even Legion from a hut sometimes can be ok for very early attack.
And about submarines... I'm still not convinced. Yes, they are cheap, but they are just too weak and also cannot attack land... And not only you usually should prefer most powerful units (even if they are costly) due to 1 shield per unit per turn, but because of unhappy faces under republic/democracy this is even more important. So Battleships look better only because they don't create so many unhappy faces per same cost.

 

[Tancretus]

Cavalry.

Everyone skips over Chariot

Submarines.

If I'm stuck in an island-happy map I go Sub. I would agree like Cav underrated

Diplomat.

Caravans.

I would agree, and even would say Militia was better than Caravans... until I learned how to properly play Democracy/Republic governments, then the two above... they become godly.

Dip/Car/Sub.

I think of the perspective new/moderate players would have. Lke Theov I had no idea about the Arrows, I had no manual (nor was internet available to an 8 yo) lol, and without a good Trade economy Diplomats loose potency with low income.

As I mentioned before, I love Subs for island maps, since they are hidden you can coke off straits and they act as early warning systems! Plus you don't loose much Shields investment. Of course, having the right government is important

 

[rewster1]

My vote is for Sail. Depending on the order you get your techs, you might have it a long while before any other ships, and it's just so superior to a trireme for early diplomat or caravan (or cavalry) drop offs on other land masses.

 

[Cvv]

Caravan. Played for years and never figured out how big boost they do.

 

[Tristan_C]

I'm sure vans and diplos are not underrated though, except by the people who forget to use them lol

The most powerful unit, chariots, have already been correctly assessed as well.

I like cavalry as a nominee. That is a good score from a hut. You get to reveal the map, often for 0 maintenance! Maybe homed settlers are a bit underrated, too. It's correct play to build a lot of them. People obsess over trying to make NONE settlers, but maintaining settlers keeps cities from growing into civil disorder.

 

[C1v1l1z@t10n]

Diplomats is one of the most important unit, Diplomats and Chariots fix the victory

 

[Skybuck]

Perhaps settlers + fortress !

Enemy AI don't use carriers as far as I know...

 

[Mize]

I actually love fortresses and use them all the time. I like one city challenges and small empires with lots of improvements, and forts are great for guarding your borders if you don't intend to conquer the entire continent.

About carriers, the AI sometimes builds them by mistake, but it doesn't know how to use them. It needs a city within range to really bomb or nuke you.

 

[Osvaldo Manso]

During the first part of the game (4000 BC to 1 AD) I always use Phalanx+Catapult for defending cities, Diplomats (for exploring, making contact and preventing enemies from developing inside my territtory), Caravans (first for establishing Trade Routes and later for helping building wonders), and Settlers (first for building new cities, later for building roads and even later for irrigating and mining).
This means I rarely use Militia, Cavalry, Legion and Chariot.

In the second part of the game (from 1 AD to Modern Times=Industrialization+Automobile) I rarely use Frigates because I usually start using Sails and prefer not to replace them until Transports are available.
In fact, during this mid-game time there are plenty of units that are of an intermediate type.
I use them only when needed.
If there's no need, I skip them and wait for better units to be available (eg: why build Musketeers if your veteran Phalanxes are doing just fine and Riflemen are just a couple of turns away?; why build Cannons if your veteran Catapults do the job and your scientists are rushing for Automobile/Armor?)

In the third part of the game (from Modern Times to the end) I use almost every unit available.
Some people mentioned Submarines but I think they are helpful when placed at strategic locations for "seeing" enemy ships first and alerting Bombers or Battleships.
I don't use Artillery that much and instead use mainly Armors+Bombers+Battleships.

But overall, for me the least interesting unit in the game is the Knights because you need to follow a sort of a dead tech path to be able to build them.
I think most of players agree on this.

Some others mentioned Caravans or Diplomats but I can't understand how a veteran civ player would underrate these units.
80% of the time my cities are building either one or the other.
They cost no shields for maintenance and are extremely useful in many purposes (if not useful in the moment just save them for later opportunities).

 

[divec]

Caravans as a defensive unit, to hem in other civilisations — especially in a republic/democracy, as maintaining a "real" unit costs maintenance shields and causes unhappiness.

NONE settlers (i.e. settlers tied to no city), which require no food or shields — you can convert a normal settlers unit to a NONE settlers unit by building a city nearer to the city of another civilisation than your own, then building settlers in that city before it reaches size 2. The city will disappear and leave you with a NONE settlers. (This doesn't work on chieftain difficulty as it won't let you complete building settlers in a city of size 1).

 

[Mize]

I rarely use Frigates because I usually start using Sails and prefer not to replace them until Transports are available.

I've actually grown to appreciate frigates. They are safer than sails in case they get attacked, they themselves can attack enemy ships with reasonable success, and their increased carrying capacity is especially useful in OCC (3 caravans + diplomat/scout on your first ship out of port).

why build Cannons if your veteran Catapults do the job and your scientists are rushing for Automobile/Armor?)

A veteran cannon has a very respectable firepower of 12 and can be used up until the very end of the game. A veteran catapult with 9 will not fare nearly as well against modern units like armor and mech. inf., especially on rough terrain.

But overall, for me the least interesting unit in the game is the Knights because you need to follow a sort of a dead tech path to be able to build them.
I think most of players agree on this.

The same can actually be said about riflemen, even though their usefulness compared to musketeers and phalanx is much greater than that of knights compared to chariots. I only do the conscription detour early if a stronger and more developed AI is seriously threatening me with battleships or something similar. Otherwise I usually research automobile and labor union before that. The only things riflemen have got going for them is their low price and early availability.

 

[Skybuck]

I just discovered something ! HAHA.. By reading the civ manual ! Just by chance... was looking into wonders... It turns out Caravans can contribute to building wonders !

Never knew that or completely forgot ! =D

Won't tell you how yet that is the part of the fun ! =D

Soon I will be living streaming maybe... already have one civilization 1 test stream on my account !

Today/soon I plan on maybe economic victory path in civ1 probably won't work...

But I am sketching out different kinds of tech branches... very interesting ! =D