Promotions Strategies On Units

[kristopherb]

I like the current promotion system on CIV. It allows you modify your units to your liking or what needs be.
So what Promotions strategies do you use? And why?

A few that i use are

Anti-axeman (Axeman)
Requires, Combat 1 and Shock
Added bonus, Combat 2,3,4

Has a good line up against most mellee other then Maceman. Though it requires two promotions.

Level1-medic (Archer/Warrior)
Requires Drill1 or Combat1 and Medic1
Added bonus, Medic 2,Medic 3

This strategy should only be used when you have Aggressive or Protective. At the start of the game you don't have many chances to get a level 1 medic. Agg/Pro allows the unit to have a free prequisate promotion for medic, so after barracks, free medic. Archer and Warrior is so the unit is hardly called into battle and has better upgrading options.

So what are yours?

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

One of the interesting promotions I saw recently attached a great general to an Axe to open access to Morale (+1 Movement). Add Shock, and you have a great anti-spear piece that can keep up with your stack of mounted units.


I like the idea of Gunships with Blitz, but I've found it to be less compelling in practice.

 

[OneThingIKnow]

I usually tend to enhance the strengths of my units... Axemen get shock as soon as possible (unless I'm rushing with them), spears get formation, archers get city garrison, swords get city raider, early horses usually just get combat, although later ones get pinch and charge, etc...

I like to take my opening warrior (when I don't start with hunting), and get him promoted to woodman III while he's exploring, then use the first great general on him for the medic promotions to create a super medic. Nothing too special or unique in these ideas though...

 

[kristopherb]

One of the interesting promotions I saw recently attached a great general to an Axe to open access to Morale (+1 Movement). Add Shock, and you have a great anti-spear piece that can keep up with your stack of mounted units.


I like the idea of Gunships with Blitz, but I've found it to be less compelling in practice.

The 2 movement axe idea is awesome. blitz gunship is awesome but it just doesn't work

I usually tend to enhance the strengths of my units... Axemen get shock as soon as possible (unless I'm rushing with them), spears get formation, archers get city garrison, swords get city raider, early horses usually just get combat, although later ones get pinch and charge, etc...

I like to take my opening warrior (when I don't start with hunting), and get him promoted to woodman III while he's exploring, then use the first great general on him for the medic promotions to create a super medic. Nothing too special or unique in these ideas though...

i wondered when super medics where going to be mentioned. I used to upgrade using combat all the time but milking promotions can be very rewarding.

 

[dankok8]

With a few notable exceptions, every unit in the game has a hard counter so its usually more worthwhile giving units promotions that enhance their strengths than those that mask their weaknesses.

One of the few exceptions are war elephants - I often give them shock to make them much stronger against spearmen which are really their only counter. Not because they are stronger one on one but because of hammer efficiency. Since spearmen are so useless for anything except that anti-mounted role, it puts the enemy in a bad situation militarily to spam spears. The AI rarely does...

 

[goodolarchie]

My promotion strategy is to usually hold off on promotions until the unit is actually going to see combat. The promo's that I think I need now (i.e. axemen > shock is logical), may change in 10 turns when a bunch of chariots come barreling out of the enemy gates.

I guess it depends on your game speed, but especially in the early stages of warfare on normal and up, a lot can change as your stack marches into position. There's no downside to deciding promos until they get there, only advantages.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

You want to give your stack defenders the promotions they likely need though.

 

[UWHabs]

You want to give your stack defenders the promotions they likely need though.

Yeah, always promote a few people to the counters, and wait on everyone else until you know what you need. Sometimes, I wait until after I attack. If I'm going in with 99% chance to win, may as well wait until after and use the promo to heal me.

 

[*Svart*]

i usually wait to do the promotion. When i need some shock i give shock, when some archers show up i give cover and so on.

 

[6K Man]

Depends on what I am trying to do. I have greatly simplified my use of promotions lately.

On mounted units, I tend to use Flanking if I am trying a HA rush, otherwise Combat. If I war often enough and long enough, I may manage to get one or more mounted units to 26XP and Commando. This is now my usual goal for mounted units, instead of Blitz -> upgrade to Gunship. As noted, Blitz Gunships aren’t all that good… unless you are fighting very badly wounded units, they never stay healthy long enough to make all 4 attacks. I add Combat promos to Armoured units for the same reason. Yes, 26 XP is a long way away, but being able to attack twice per turn means you can get to 26XP twice as fast. WP+Barracks alone is 7 XP… add a couple of settled GGs and/or Pentagon/Theocracy/etc and it is surprisingly achievable. Commando units + Bombers/Airlift/Gunships/Paratroops + end-of-turn reinforcing means for much quicker endgames.

On 1-move units, I try for City Raider if available. However, if you are facing highly promoted units behind cultural defenses, Combat is about as good a promo line as CR. Thus, the slow units that can travel with siege units get CR (because I expect them to be attacking when defenses have been bombarded down to nil). Siege units themselves always get CR.

Privateers and earlier ships usually get Combat, and I hope to get to Blitz. Blitz ships are much more useful than Blitz Gunships or Cavalry, in my experience. Submarines get Flanking/Sentry as I usually use them for scouting or stacked with other ships to counter AI subs. Carriers and Transports get Medic promos, so the units on board don't need 'em. Destroyers/Battleships usually get Combat or occasionally Barrage for the latter. If I get to Stealth Destroyers, I like to use Drill to add to the 1st strikes they already have.

As a sidenote, I build a lot of Airships before I get to Flight, as they spot subs and other aircraft don’t. Makes patrolling much safer – you can spot the AI ships coming without leaving your own ships out at sea and vulnerable to sneak attacks.

I tend not to build many City Garrison units anymore. I just am not in a position to defend cities very often in most games.

I’ll occasionally build counter units, but only in the early game. I don’t think I’ve ever built a unit with the Charge promotion, though I suppose those would be good against Machine Guns. Same with Ambush – I’ll just build Antitank Guns or Gunships. I only use Guerilla and Woodsman on Scouts. Hardly ever use Amphibious.

 

[vicawoo]

I'm not sure getting shock against melee units is enough to be called a strategy.

Most early promotions are straight forward strength multipliers. The few that are not are sentry (useful), mobility (often useful for cutting resources), amphibious (only good on elephants).
Guerilla 3's not bad.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

i try to avoid shock , formation , cover if at all possible (of course there are exceptions) . It`s just that those promtions have a limited lifespan while Combat lasts forever.

 

[z0wb13]

i'm going to focus on situations where you can reliably generate level 4 units (10 xp). being aggressive, protective or charismatic opens up other interesting possibilities, as do certain UUs.

melee gets combat, in general. but because this class of units spans half the game and wears a lot of hats, there are a few special units you should go about creating. a woodsman 3 warrior makes a great medic (+15% to healing for units on same tile). pikes/spears get C2 and formation. you also might want a few city raider units to attack the top defenders, but not more than 1/3 of your army should have this promo.

archery gets drill, mostly because there aren't that many good promos available. guerrilla 3 is better, but you have to get access to lots of experience somehow in the relatively early game. for city defense, obviously city garrison is better.

siege can do well to use some specialization. usually 4 or a few more get accuracy to accelerate lowering city defenses. the rest get city raider, although i have heard some arguments for using drill siege to ensure damaging the top defender. the exception is machine guns, which unfortunately can only take drill promos.

mounted get combat. mounted units are generally the strongest units of their age, so you might as well accentuate their proclivities. maybe flanking 2 for cavalry, as they don't have the natural immunity to first strikes that most mounted get.

gunpowder gets combat, unless the unit has some natural bonus against another class. so like, anti-tank gets ambush and SAM infantry get interception. i figure that you want those units to be used to the best of their abilities, as they are mostly for stack defense. if you are doing city defense, use city garrison.

armor gets combat. you can make a few with city raider for help with the top defenders, but if you are utilizing a strategy of combined arms, it is likely that you have damaged the top defender with your air power or artillery. you can also try pinch for help against mechanized infantry.

air gets combat. try for ace if you can get another promo past combat 3.

naval units get combat. blitz can work well, as naval units can take advantage of their multiple moves and attack many times in one turn. this is especially true of destroyers finishing off ships following a guided missile attack. medic 2 is an option for transport ships, as it can help to heal disembarked units along the coast, and units can heal while being transported.

i used to specialize with promos, but now i mostly just go up the combat line. sometimes, i think that pinch is a good pick, because past the renaissance, the vast majority of city defenders will be gunpowder units. promos like shock that boost against a unit class are great for stack defenders, but as city defenders you want to stick with city garrison.

combat 4 & 5 are especially helpful at speeding unit's recovery, meaning that your strongest attackers are able to participate in more attacks and generate more wins.

 

[Ataxerxes]

I usually wait on promos until I see what I'm doing or if I can save the promo to help healing.

One thing to consider is that it's generally worthwhile going "up the line" with regard to promos. Dave McW noted that Drill doesn't do much until Drill IV. Combat gets better the more you have for healing. So a couple of mine, sorry if their obvious.

Flanking II for Carthage's horses. Then Mobility. If you upgrade, you get Keshik Knights.
Drill III and IV for Ethiopia's Oromos or Oromo upgrades.
Combat line for Aggressive Melee.
Drill or CG for Protective archers.

If I have a tech lead, I like Drill line for Tanks. A lot of the time the tank doesn't get a scratch on the first attack, makes Blitz more valuable.

Siege gets City Raider line, with about 4-5 getting Accuracy and everybody else straight up the line.

 

[kwang.tx]

Tank - Commando, paired with nukes is an absolute deadly attack combo that can take out a civ extremely quickly. (usually only if I play charismatic, aggressive, or both ....)

Pre-Rifles- I usually go city raider on most so that they can upgrade into city-raider rifles.

However usually I just go with drill on muskets for most of my warring.. I usually have a huge stack of siege and the muskets can clean up very efficiently with drill.

 

[dankok8]

I usually wait on promos until I see what I'm doing or if I can save the promo to help healing.

One thing to consider is that it's generally worthwhile going "up the line" with regard to promos. Dave McW noted that Drill doesn't do much until Drill IV. Combat gets better the more you have for healing. So a couple of mine, sorry if their obvious.

Flanking II for Carthage's horses. Then Mobility. If you upgrade, you get Keshik Knights.
Drill III and IV for Ethiopia's Oromos or Oromo upgrades.
Combat line for Aggressive Melee.
Drill or CG for Protective archers.

If I have a tech lead, I like Drill line for Tanks. A lot of the time the tank doesn't get a scratch on the first attack, makes Blitz more valuable.

Siege gets City Raider line, with about 4-5 getting Accuracy and everybody else straight up the line.

Never thought about Drill for Tanks but it could be awesome for killing those commonly seen Rifles in cities more quickly.

 

[kwang.tx]

Never thought about Drill for Tanks but it could be awesome for killing those commonly seen Rifles in cities more quickly.

It also works wonders in conjunction with bombers

 

[stefista]

I can't believe I see only one mention of Guerilla III above! GIII allows crazy effects, like a 2-move (in hills) city-attacking stack composed of longbows and crossbows that withdraws like mounted. Unlike mounted, however, such a stack gets generously enhanced defensive bonuses, making it less susceptible to counters.

Add in specials like gallic warrior, which allows for a truly mixed GIII stack, or a stack of GIII cho-ko-nus that cause collateral and withdraw...well GIII is almost unfair (but not quite, thanks to the need for 3 promos).

 

[dankok8]

I can't believe I see only one mention of Guerilla III above! GIII allows crazy effects, like a 2-move (in hills) city-attacking stack composed of longbows and crossbows that withdraws like mounted. Unlike mounted, however, such a stack gets generously enhanced defensive bonuses, making it less susceptible to counters.

Add in specials like gallic warrior, which allows for a truly mixed GIII stack, or a stack of GIII cho-ko-nus that cause collateral and withdraw...well GIII is almost unfair (but not quite, thanks to the need for 3 promos).

Boudica's gallics are very powerful. With a barracks, they are only 1XP away from GIII and 50% withdrawal is really powerful for city attack with an already strong swordsmen starting with CI. I rarely use the guerilla promos unless I'm playing Celtia. I'll give them more a of a try but from what I see, they are rarely great unless you can get to GIII.

 

[plasmacannon]

Yes, you last two finally mentioned it.
Celts Gallic Warriors with G3, but, you forgot they can get W3 too, so, it has 2 first strikes and it heals.
They are the only unit before gunpowder that can nulify all terrain bonuses of the defender except fort.
Stick a Great general on it and you have Leadership 100% xp gain (great for Boudica's Charasmatic trait) and Tactics 30% withdrawl for a total of for 80% withdrawl after G3's 50% is added in. As you keep fighting you give it Combat6 for the 25% bonus.
Great early unit.

Cho-Ku-Nu as mentioned earlier. The only non-seige unit in the game to cause collateral damage. Give him G3 and he gains withdrawl 50%, to keep earning more xp.
Give all of the Combat and Drill Promotions, for a strong early machine gunner type unit with 5-8 first strikes. Nice.

Similar strategy for the Samurai (starts with 2 first strikes and Drill 1).
All Combat and Drill promotions and Woods 3.
The only unit before gunpowder that can get woods 3 and Drill 4, for a total of 7-10 first strikes!
Slice and Dice.

Honorable mention to the humble scout.
With your early scout, give him combat 1,2,3, so, you can give him Sentry.
Upgrade him to an Explorer, which gains G1, W1 free, then, further upgrades goto W2 and G2.
If he is still alive, Medic 1, Combat 4, Combat 5, and Medic 2 to make him your stack's healer.
You probably need a Great General for all of that, but, who would want to waste him here?
Only if, you have the Great Wall, you are Cyrus and you have GGs to spare.

I've had 7 GGs in one game before finishing it, and I know that has to be low for the hard cores on here.

The obvious:
Numidian Calvary Conbat1 and Shock lets them take out the spearmen sent after it. More Combat is even better. Flanking 1+2 help it survive, and Charge for a higher base vs catapults.

Impi with W2 can move 4 tiles!

Always upgrade your Quechas to combat 2 before upgrading them to axemen, to keep their free combat 1 promotion. If you go Woods 2 and forget the combat 2 and upgrade it to axemen, you will lose the Combat 1.

Immortals with Combat5 and shock capture lots of cities.
Flanking 1+2, when, you get a chance later.

For everyone that attacks cities. Best Trebuechets are from Spain. Check Unrestricted leaders and then choose Churchill as your leader. He is Charismatic/Protective.
Cha effects all units including Trebs. Protective allows you to build your walls and Citadels quickly.
Barracks 3 xp, Citadels grant +5xp = 8xp or Trebs with City Attack 3 out the door. If you have Vassalage +2xp, and Theocracy +2xp and a GG +2xp for a total of 14xp easily achieved every game to destroy cities. Spend the extra xp towards Barrage 1,2,3 for more damage on those units.

I have found giving Shock to a spearman vs the AI, lets me actually attack the mounted in a stack.

Janissary's with Combat5 and cover to deal with pesky Longbowmen. Probably the best unit to place a GG on (or a tie with Gallic warrior and discusting Combat 5, City Attack 3 Preatorian)
Spec some out to have woods3 (to heal),
City3 to defend cities,
Hills3 to protect Iron + Gold mines.

Caravels with Flanking 1+2, to reach Nav 1+2, to more quickly discover the world is round, for an extra +1 movement. Makes destroyers sickingly fast.

Privateer get Flanking2, Nav2, Combat5

Skirmishers with City3 are almost a cheap Longbowman. Especially, with G2 on a Hill defending your city. and Combat 5 (if you can get it).