Most worthless unit?

Hi

I vote stealth destroyers. They cant see subs and they will only defend in a stack if it is attacked by another stealth destroyer so they useless as escorts. Anything else they can do regular destroyers or subs can do already plus everything thing else they cant. Now if I am playing maps that need a decent navy I make sure to have plenty of regular destroyers made before I get stealth and cant make regular destroyers anymore.

It very sad when an "upgrade" is less useful than the unit it is replacing :/

Kaytie
 
Oh, no, Stealth Destroyers are awesome! Okay, granted they shouldn't obsolete normal Destroyers, I agree with you there. But Stealth Destroyers are spectacular on their own. They can't be attacked, so you can Blockade an entire continent with just a few of them, and they stand a 50% chance of Intercepting any incoming Air units.

Again, I agree that they aren't strictly better than normal Destroyers, but they're quite good in their own right.
 
Another vote for explorers here. There's very little point in an exploration unit that shows up after the map has been completely explored.
 
Maybe I missed the point, but do missles do something extra when loaded onto a missle cruiser or is it just a way to transport them? Some people are making it sound like it makes the cruiser stronger.
 
Maybe I missed the point, but do missles do something extra when loaded onto a missle cruiser or is it just a way to transport them? Some people are making it sound like it makes the cruiser stronger.

The Cruiser is the same strength, and the Missiles are merely tansported, but it's still very, very strong on the attack. It helps to think of Missiles as First Strikes. They don't take damage, but they deal it. So if you send out four of them, then you've sent out four First Strikes at 40(?) Attack. You can cripple a fleet with them easily, then finish it off at no risk to yourself with other ships--often weaker ships, even.
 
OFF:
AFAIK a stealth bomber of the US Army has been shot down during the Jugoslavian war. JUGOSLAVIAN! I have nothing bad to say about them but it's a Balcanic army who shot down the most advanced plane of the most advanced army. :crazyeye: !

It was Stealth Fighter. Ostensibly Yugoslavian (well, it was pretty much Serbia by 1999) radar ground crews managed to get F117's to show up by using unusually high wavelengths (particularly if the weather conditions were helpful). By taking a fair number of well-aimed shots at one using SA-3s (one of the most advanced SAM systems in the world still at that point I guess...) they managed to down one. Another one was apparently irreparably damaged in the bombing raids over Yugoslavia. (The armed forces in Yugoslavia at the point of protracted, violent dissolution were quite 'up-to-date' in terms of Soviet kit.)
 
To all those who don't like explorers, play highish lvls BTS huge maps/agg ai. I've very rarely had time (or opportunity) to explore even my own continent by the time compass comes along, and of course they do the job perfectly.

They also have countless no of times helped me get the circumnavigate bonus, e.g. build 2 caravels, both with explorers-one goes east, one west-, meet some new civs, get open borders, then use their roads at 6 tiles per turn (far faster than caravels, which is very silly but is true in the game world) to complete the east /west connection.

Then keep them mapping, and when you have the bonus round the world mvmt, sell the maps to all and sundry, and get lots of gold for them. Often with 14 or so total civs, this can be in the thousands of gold. Also, if you are lucky enough to find a big chunk of unsettled land , they can explore the interior of it, may even find an unguarded hut, and stand a good chance even against barb longbows, if in a forest tile.

Still useless? ;)
 
Amen.
If an 1800s artillery piece can cause collateral, surely a guided missile can.

Sorry, I have to one up you.

If a chinese crossbow can cause collateral damage, surely a guided missile can.
 
keyword here being "guided", ppl


the whole advantage of guided missiles in modern warfare is that the strike is concentrated on the target, minimizing collateral damage to neighbouring civilian infrastructure....as opposed to just shelling the crap out of the city and levelling every building, military or not.
 
One thing that irks me about Stealth Destroyers is that other than being invisible they have no strenght advantage over regular destroyers. Surely the element of surprise should count for something, like a couple of first strikes at least.
 
:band: Drum Roll..



















The Jaguar.
 
I will agree with the Jaguar. How worthless.

I don't mind the guided missile. With the propensity for planes to get shot down, at least the guided missile is guaranteed substantial damage. They could be beefed up a bit, but in a pinch, they do the job.
 
I can't count how many most-worthless-unit threads I've encountered on CFC. I guess BTS had to have its own, given new possibly worthless units and old units possibly newly rendered worthless.

But maybe we could take it up one level of abstraction. Could we come up with a list of the (non-)qualities of the theoretical most worthless unit? Then score them all, say one point for applicable statement? Here's my shot at it:
  1. Unit cannot attack
  2. Unit is better at defense than attack
  3. Unit isn't good at attacking cities
  4. Unit doesn't effectively counter any other unit
  5. Unit is a UU that has something less than the unit it replaces
  6. Unit costs too much to build
  7. Unit requires a resource that's often hard to find
  8. Unit comes too late to be of much use
  9. Unit comes too early to be of much use
  10. Unit requires a dead-end technology
  11. Unit is quickly obsoleted by the next tech
  12. Special features of unit are often/mostly useless
  13. Unit is a naval unit
  14. Unit is an air unit

Thoughts?
 
I actually really like the guided missile. When you are behind in tech, a couple of them can moderately cheaply soften up a mech inf or Mod Armor for your Tanks to kill. A heck of a lot cheaper than using several tanks to soften up the Mech inf/Mod arm.

In a recent game, an Saladin had 2-4 modern units backed up by 10-15 cav/rifleman in SoDs. The guided missiles allowed me to Knock a hole through the tough units so I could kill all the soft and gooey ones before he could upgrade them (4-5 promos each).



As for the carrier, don't forget that with the new stacking limits on cities, the carrier can provide a nice movable overpower to the defending enemy fighters.
 
Explorer should be able to upgrade to an army scout.

Army Scout
Str 8
Mov 2
Starts with Sentry, Commando
Can only defend
Requires Military Science and Rocketry
 
Guilded missiles should be able to pick their targets, I mean they ARE GUIDED missiles
 
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