Point Of The Army???

[TriviAl]

I find armies really useful in the both the nutcracker and defense rolls. If available an infantry army is great for my guarding artillery stacks. Mainly because I get really paranoid about what an AI would do if it captured a 30 piece artillery stack .

One thing I did wonder about was why people (often seen this while SG lurking) fill their armies with elite units as opposed to vetrans? I often put in Elite* units as they can't produce another leader and will lose their extra bar if they upgrade (anyone know if they regain the ability to produce leaders then?). I think the elite units are far more useful 'leader fishing' rather than increasing an army from 12-15/16-20Hp - which I don't think makes that much difference to their survivability or power.

 

[MadScot]

Originally posted by TriviAl
One thing I did wonder about was why people (often seen this while SG lurking) fill their armies with elite units as opposed to vetrans? I often put in Elite* units as they can't produce another leader and will lose their extra bar if they upgrade (anyone know if they regain the ability to produce leaders then?). I think the elite units are far more useful 'leader fishing' rather than increasing an army from 12-15/16-20Hp - which I don't think makes that much difference to their survivability or power.

An elite* unit, when upgraded to the next class of unit, reverts to veteran. If then promoted, it will be an elite, able to produce a Great Leader, at which point it becomes elite* and the cycle can repeat.

Of course, you can't upgrade them in the army.

Going from 12-15 to 16-20 hit points might not be much. But the difference between 8hp (2 vets) and 10hp (2 elite*s, say) can matter. It can make sense to part fill armies, in which case you want units with high hit points.

 

[Penguin Glory]

if you fill a army with elite (not * units), can they produce great leaders?

 

[Beanzy]

I don't think so, though I'm not postitive. I've never seen or heard of that happening, so I'd think not.

 

[Penguin Glory]

Ok thanks

 

[MadScot]

Penguin

No, units in an army can NEVER produce a leader. Which is why there is always a debate between putting elites in the army or not - they make your army stronger, but that's one less elite available.

That also means that someone running a very army-biased military, using them for a large number of their battles, may produce significantly fewer GLs later in the game. An elite tank or MA can take down most units, most of the time, with arty or bomber support. That gives the chance of a leader. Some the later game wonders can be game breakers - getting the UN can make or break a warmongering game. So that leader could be vital.

 

[Grille]

re: filling armies w/ elites

A related question: What does the retreat ability of an army depend on?
Is it a fixed number/chance or is it affected by the (last) attacking unit's promotion status (or the army "rank" itself - regular or vet)?

 

[Kaiser_Berger]

My main use for armies is to get more leaders through the Heroic Epic. If I'm actually using them in combat a lot, then it's usually an all infantry army as a guard unit for my artillery stacks.