Praetorian - the new Immortal?

[MeteorPunch]

Man these units are powerful. Simple formula to take over your continent.

1. build barracks.
2. build 10 Praetorians.
3. give 2-4 of them defensive abilities (hill/jungle/forest defenses).
4. give the rest of them the city attacking ability.
5. move them in a stack or two and take over.

I would not want to be in an early war vs. Rome.

Also, is there a better civ for war in multiplayer?

 

[Edmund Fogg]

I agree. I (India) got whacked Thursday night by an otherwise weak looking Rome in the early game thanks to those suckers.

 

[kalendae]

Crossbowman: 6str, +50% vs melee = 9str vs praetorian
1 first strike.

it cost 50% more but u get 1 more str + 1 first strike + 50% city defense and 25% hill defense.

if it is the unique Crossbowman Cho-Ko-Nu, you also get collateral damage, so say good bye to stacking and also they get 2 first strikes.

 

[MeteorPunch]

It seems like crossbows are a good counter-defense, however they may come too late.

To build crossbows, you need all the techs for Praetorians *plus* hunting, archery, metal casing, and machinery. Without the ability to make trades early on, the defender will have to research these extra techs and build his units, by which time the stack of Praetorians has already arived.

 

[Mujadaddy]

Interesting... I'll have to check that out

 

[Mannu]

Well Rome is not aggressive, so if you face the AI, just make friends with Ceasar and sic him on someone else...

if it's not the AI... then good luck

 

[Si_Lurker]

You mean, the new Legion?

 

[OGGleep]

Pratorians were the only unit in the tutorial that stood a chance against Archer defended city. They usually won 50% of the time.

 

[Shillen]

Yeah I just did a game with Rome and was kicking butt with praetorians. You can stack them right up cause the AI doesn't have catapults yet. I still brought along a few archers/longbows to defend the cities after I take them, though. I gave most of my praetorians the city raider ability. That's helps a ton. A few I will give the medic ability so I can heal up faster after taking a city. They're useful for a long time. Even after you get macemen I just stuck with my praetorians. Not worth the 100ish gold to upgrade them just for the +50% melee damage. Most of the time they're going against archers anyway.

 

[Mujadaddy]

You mean, the new Legion?

Good point... In Civ I, spamming early Legions was totally dominating...

 

[dorkforce3]

I think rome just became my new favorite civ

 

[killercane]

Pratorians were the only unit in the tutorial that stood a chance against Archer defended city.

Immortals get +50% against archers, making them pretty effective in the early game as well.

 

[Dun Malg]

In Civ I, spamming early Legions was totally dominating...

Interesting. I never tried legions like that in Civ I. For a quick "steamroller" game, I was always a fan of researching only up to The Wheel and cranking out hordes from a "chariot farm" of cities arranged in a grid, each 2 squares apart. No possible way to lose!