Most uselss unit

[scratchthepitch]

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

You need to wait till later in the game to use spears. Build lots early on. When the AI starts building tanks, then that is when spears come into their own.

On further thought, never mind. It works well for the AI to counter player tanks with spears, but not the other way around.

 

[nbd]

I wonder, are there other reasons apart from pure fun for building in the second half of game any units other than tank and modern armor? I mean, I never build after discovering Motorized Transportation any aircrafts, ships (except for transports and transports' defenders) and almost no ground units except of MAs. Can someone describe some viable strategy for building units which would be more cost effective than simply spamming MAs?

 

[Theov]

I wonder, are there other reasons apart from pure fun for building in the second half of game any units other than tank and modern armor? I mean, I never build after discovering Motorized Transportation any aircrafts, ships (except for transports and transports' defenders) and almost no ground units except of MAs. Can someone describe some viable strategy for building units which would be more cost effective than simply spamming MAs?

ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
try kumbayaaaa mode- eh pangea.
Try a harder game mode ( monarch is the first that is worse than baseline. Regent is baseline)

 

[nbd]

I play on Emperor and almost always on Pangea 60%. It seems that there are no units or unit combinations that could be comparable with MA in terms of economic cost / battle value. I tried to use Bombers, Cruise Missiles, Artillery etc., but invariably was returning to MA. Artillery can be good, but only if you captured it for free. Building one Artillery unit instead of one MA unit simply has less of return in battle (if you use tens or hundreds units in one turn).

 

[creamcheese]

I play on Emperor and almost always on Pangea 60%. It seems that there are no units or unit combinations that could be comparable with MA in terms of economic cost / battle value. I tried to use Bombers, Cruise Missiles, Artillery etc., but invariably was returning to MA. Artillery can be good, but only if you captured it for free. Building one Artillery unit instead of one MA unit simply has less of return in battle (if you use tens or hundreds units in one turn).

Sounds like you need to play a harder difficulty. You will quickly learn that assaulting metros with civil defenses, fortified mechs, hills, and radar towers. (+250%, 63 defense i think ) can really wipe out your MA really fast, then you will pray for artillery and bombers. Even just a metro, or just a city with hills makes artillery attractive.

 

[nbd]

metros with civil defenses, fortified mechs, hills, and radar towers. (+250%, 63 defense i think )

That's interesting. Actually, I was playing Vanilla, which does not have all these defense improvements, and only today finished my first game on C3C (Emperor, standard Pangea, 60%) (I have reached domination yet before MA though). With these add-ons it seems that using only MA really will not suffice.

 

[creamcheese]

That's interesting. Actually, I was playing Vanilla, which does not have all these defense improvements, and only today finished my first game on C3C (Emperor, standard Pangea, 60%) (I have reached domination yet before MA though). With these add-ons it seems that using only MA really will not suffice.

Well vanilla you can still have a fortified mech in a metro on a hill (+175%) which is still annoyingly hard to shift.

Don't get me wrong, modern armour are still much better than any other unit to attack with, but combined arms wins the day. Either that or use Armies. With the military academy you effectively double your attack in conquests iirc, making a modern armour army very powerful.

 

[PaperBeetle]

If you're fighting in the modern age, it's usually just a case of choosing what method of spanking the AI amuses you the most, but imo thr rocket truck is as good value for money as the armour. Industrial artillery may be the victory-guarantor unit, but they just get left behind by the speed of modern war, and the distances [through enemy territory] that need to be covered. Upgrading them to rocket trucks brings artillery right back into the mix.

 

[ThinkTank]

The helicopter. If anyone ever uses these please enlighten me, because in my view they're utterly useless.

Probably they overpowered railroad is the reason for this.

 

[Core Imposter]

I wonder, are there other reasons apart from pure fun for building in the second half of game any units other than tank and modern armor? I mean, I never build after discovering Motorized Transportation any aircrafts, ships (except for transports and transports' defenders) and almost no ground units except of MAs. Can someone describe some viable strategy for building units which would be more cost effective than simply spamming MAs?

You should try a modified ruleset such as Ethical Emperor (shameless plug). Once you have to face off against an AI, on its own continent, that has 300 mechanized infantry, 100 modern armor, and 50 stealth bombers you will gain an appreciation for a wider array of the units provided.

 

[Core Imposter]

The helicopter. If anyone ever uses these please enlighten me, because in my view they're utterly useless.

Probably they overpowered railroad is the reason for this.

Its like having a can of bear repellent or more like not having one when you need it. I've had situations where I both had and did not have a loaded helicopter around when the need presented itself. Most likely use is to drop in defenders when the AI does a sneak or counter attack and you need defenders in place immediately to save a city from being overrun. Based on the game design they are mostly defensive in nature. Since most of us play games with unlimited warfare and play them aggressively, most of us don't use them.

If units could drop and then move and attack on the same turn it would be an entirely
proposition.

 

[darski]

hands down - it is the Egyptian war chariot for me.

I recently saw a War chariot actually kill something. That was the first ever in 10 years of playing. I always said that a WC(intersting initials) would fall over dead if a warrior on another continent happend to look at it.

I used to play Egypt a lot - I just liked them - but I just told myself that Cleo has no UU.

 

[Desertsnow]

I still play Egypt often, and I do quite well. I agree, though, that the UU is just--ugh.

 

[Lord Emsworth]

The Egyptian War Chariot is actually a pretty good UU. They are fast attackers at reasonable price (you could view them as cheaper horsemen with slight drawbacks). They can easily be used to trigger a Golden Age. And you can use them as an uber-cheap upgrade basis (WC to Cav: 60 shields).

No, the War Chariot is definitely not the most useless unit. Not in a long shot.

 

[darski]

The Egyptian War Chariot is actually a pretty good UU. They are fast attackers at reasonable price (you could view them as cheaper horsemen with slight drawbacks). They can easily be used to trigger a Golden Age. And you can use them as an uber-cheap upgrade basis (WC to Cav: 60 shields).

No, the War Chariot is definitely not the most useless unit. Not in a long shot.

so what is the upside to building a unit that is as useful as a settler in combat? I'm just not seeing it. RPEAT - in 10 years I have only seen 1 WC win in combat and that is from both sides of the fight. I know the PRNG gods hate me but that is a bad ratio for anyone.

 

[tR1cKy]

so what is the upside to building a unit that is as useful as a settler in combat? I'm just not seeing it.

it is as useful as a horseman, actually, and at 66% of its price, supposing you're in open space. besides that, the settler is an awesome combat unit.

 

[darski]

it is as useful as a horseman, actually, and at 66% of its price, supposing you're in open space. besides that, the settler is an awesome combat unit.

Nice touch since we are discussing Egypt - your sentence is proof that Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

as Patton said... no dumb bast--d ever won a war by dying for his country. You win by getting some other dumb bast--d to die for his country.

 

[tR1cKy]

Nice touch since we are discussing Egypt - your sentence is proof that Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

as Patton said... no dumb bast--d ever won a war by dying for his country. You win by getting some other dumb bast--d to die for his country.

uhh... are you trolling, sir? horsemen's stats are 2/1/2 and one unit costs 30 shields. WC stats are 2/1/2 and one unit costs 20 shields, that is two thirds of the price of a horseman. only drawback, the WC is wheeled, so it cannot move on non-open terrain unless it's roaded. therefore, as long as you're in open space, a WC is the same as a horseman, at 66% of its price. with the added bonus of starting a golden age.

 

[darski]

uhh... are you trolling, sir? horsemen's stats are 2/1/2 and one unit costs 30 shields. WC stats are 2/1/2 and one unit costs 20 shields, that is two thirds of the price of a horseman. only drawback, the WC is wheeled, so it cannot move on non-open terrain unless it's roaded. therefore, as long as you're in open space, a WC is the same as a horseman, at 66% of its price. with the added bonus of starting a golden age.

the stats don't matter for a DEAD unit and all WC's die all the time in every case. that is my point - they just die - must be a congenital defect or something

And you need to get your glasses checked. You cannot possibly believe my avatar shows an elderly man

 

[tR1cKy]

the stats don't matter for a DEAD unit and all WC's die all the time in every case. that is my point - they just die - must be a congenital defect or something

And you need to get your glasses checked. You cannot possibly believe my avatar shows an elderly man

If so, then sorry for the 'sir', madam. Besides that, hard stats do matter because they are used by the game engine to calculate the outcome of a battle and they are not affected by selective bias while your anecdotal evidence, most probably, is.