Most uselss unit

[civ4lyfe]

well since there is a thread talking about your most favorite UU, I figured why not have a thread about most useless UU, or regular unit, if you feel its exceptionally useless.

IMO it's conquistadors. They have good movement, and treat all terrain as if it were hills, but at that point in the game, If i haven't traded all other civs for world maps, the only blacked out part of the map is some area of the ocean.

I could see if you wanted to use them to scout for your empire, because they can be pretty fast, but in that case just use any other sort of cavalry, with a stronger attack. I know they do not treat all terrain as road, but by that time If you do not have roads connecting all your empire, your a little bit behind IMO.

 

[Ataxerxes]

well since there is a thread talking about your most favorite UU, I figured why not have a thread about most useless UU, or regular unit, if you feel its exceptionally useless.

IMO it's conquistadors. They have good movement, and treat all terrain as if it were hills, but at that point in the game, If i haven't traded all other civs for world maps, the only blacked out part of the map is some area of the ocean.

I could see if you wanted to use them to scout for your empire, because they can be pretty fast, but in that case just use any other sort of cavalry, with a stronger attack. I know they do not treat all terrain as road, but by that time If you do not have roads connecting all your empire, your a little bit behind IMO.

Conquistador is pretty bad but does have uses. Similar to Explorers - there's a Strategy Guide to using Explorers, believe it or not.

My vote would be the F-15. It comes soo late. America, for me, doesn't have a UU. I think most people consider that one of the worst, if not the worst, UU. Although I like France, I haven't been able to get excited about the Musketeer.

 

[Verarde]

I agree, the F-15 is the most useless unit.

 

[creamcheese]

I agree as well the F-15 is the most useless. Why couldn't they have given the US a minuteman or something?

The conquistador is actually useful, but only a little more so than a regular explorer. if you are attacking an enemy with pikes or spears through thick jungle or mountains they actually rock, but that is rare. You should read the strategy article on using explorers. I always build a few and use them for raiding and taking resources.

 

[Aabraxan]

I've never built a single F-15 and even I can tell you that it ranks high on the "most useless" table. I have a hard time imagining a UU with less utility.

 

[del62]

The weird thing about the conquistador is for the human it is next to useless, when does an AI leave a city undefended, but for the AI it is something that the human has to take special care of.

Most useless standard unit has to be spear, I rarely build them

 

[PaperBeetle]

The game's full of pointless units. How about...
Ironclad: too expensive, too slow, too near to obsolescence. In C3C you even have to research an optional tech just to get it!
Tomahawk cruise missile: 60% the price of a bomber, and you get to use it just once. Bargain.
Submarine: too slow, too weak, and its unique ability is to accidentally start wars that you desperately didn't want.
Stealth Fighter: surely the point of fighters is to attract interception, dogfight, and thus thin out the ranks of anti-air defenses that threaten your bombers.

But my vote for the absolute worst goes to...
Paratrooper: Here you are Mr AI. I offer you my expensive but weak unit, that you may easily kill it. I place it well inside your territory, where I cannot defend it, and where you can easily attack from many directions, without leaving your own units vulnerable to my counterattack. This is my gift to you.
Moronic beyond belief, but the parachuting animation is cute.

 

[jtb1127]

Definitely the F-15. Hands down.
edit: I thought it was most useless unique units. In the entire game I would look up to Paper beetle's post.

 

[Fiddlin Nero]

Conquistador happens to be my favorite UU, imagine an army that can go into enemy territory 6 tiles (is it 9 in Conquests?) and knock out a redlined unit.

Yep, add the F-15 to the list of units I never build. Off the top of my head the list for PTW is Paratrooper, Helicopter, Stealth Fighter, Fighter, Bomber

 

[Smellincoffee]

The Advanced Flight units are fairly useless, but let's not forget the Ironclad. Once we got it with Steam Power, now it has its own tech. You can't upgrade any units to it, and it can't upgrade. Unless you wanted to see and hear it, why would you build one?

 

[creamcheese]

The Advanced Flight units are fairly useless, but let's not forget the Ironclad. Once we got it with Steam Power, now it has its own tech. You can't upgrade any units to it, and it can't upgrade. Unless you wanted to see and hear it, why would you build one?

I'm pretty sure the ironclad upgrades to the destroyer in C3C... but it is still useless with it's own tech needed. If it still came at steam power I could see myself building some to kill AI frigates and then mass upgrading to a nice big destroyer force, but actually researching ironclads is a waste.

 

[Theov]

Not the most useless, and although Privateers are a nice toy to play with in peace time, they never seem to repay the value to build them.
I always plan to build my fleet of ever expanding pirates, and commandeer (nautical term) some enemy ships, but apparently, it's not a pirate's life for me. Savvy?

 

[Desertsnow]

Yeah, the most useless unique unit is definitely the F-15--a quite good unit in life, but useless in the game. Civ 4 at least gave the Americans Navy SEALs.

The worst regular unit would have to be the ironclad. Close to obsolescence from the start, and not upgradable.

 

[Theov]

Ironclads < Destroyers

 

[geowzrd]

F-15s are up there, along with useless musketeers you can only build and can't upgrade pikemen and spearmen to. Explorers are also somewhat useless along with rival ironclads, frigates and privateers that you can't upgrade to anything and rival ones get really annoying just going around in circles in the modern era. All artillery units are up there along with chariots-there usually obsolete by the time I get around to building them anyway.

 

[creamcheese]

All artillery units are up there

You don't use artillery??? That seems like a big waste, to me all artillery units are the most useful.

 

[tR1cKy]

...along with useless musketeers you can only build and can't upgrade pikemen and spearmen to.

actually, you can.

i vote for the f-15 being the most useless, with the man-o-war coming close second.

 

[Theov]

F-15s are up there, along with useless musketeers you can only build and can't upgrade pikemen and spearmen to. Explorers are also somewhat useless along with rival ironclads, frigates and privateers that you can't upgrade to anything and rival ones get really annoying just going around in circles in the modern era. All artillery units are up there along with chariots-there usually obsolete by the time I get around to building them anyway.

Artillery???
If you're looking for artillery, it's there in the box that says 'very very useful'. Increasing the chances a unit has to defeat an enemy. That's... useful.

 

[Lord Emsworth]

...along with useless musketeers you can only build and can't upgrade pikemen and spearmen to.

actually, you can.

Looks rather like someone is not patched up. It was indeed so, in unpatched Vanilla and similarly ancient versions, that you could not upgrade to your UU. But nearly all civs suffered from that, not just France.

 

[Raliuven]

No disagreement regarding the F-15, but . . .

The War Chariot is dubious. Here is a UU that if used for full advantage virtually guarantees an early GA. Only two techs separate it from horsemen – WC & HBR, both of which are easily traded or even popped from a GH at all but the highest difficulties. The only advantage that the war chariot has over horsemen is the 20 shield price tag but that is countered by the fact that it requires roads to be effective over mountains, jungles and marsh – three terrain that are some of the last that a young civ is going to bother to road. Not to mention you need horses to build them which means roading towards the first herd you manage to find. And let’s not even mention the fact that Egypt doesn’t start with TW. I guess you could hope to spawn next to Japan.

Next is the Frigate. Galleys (1/1/3, 30 shields) are available by MM. Even if we are generous and say that MM is the last tech of the AA researched, frigates (2/2/5, 60 shields, requiring iron and salt) are 11 techs away. Pretty much every required tech of the Middle Ages. For an increase of 1/1/2 at double the price. So here is a ship that as often as not loses to a galley that could be built 11 expensive techs ago. Oh, and the galley can transport units and be upgraded all the way to transports. Meanwhile the frigate just sits around waiting to be sunk. But it can bombard at a 3 (which is one worse than catapults which could be built 13 techs before frigates are available – oh, and they upgrade too), so I guess that makes up for it.

By comparison, if HBR is the last tech of the AA researched, horses (2/1/2, 30 shields, requiring horses) are available. After 7 techs, of which 6 are required, you may build cavalry (6/3/3, 80 shields, requiring horses and salt).

Sounds like a good comparison to me.