robcheng
Sleep-deprived Addict
Since I did the one for civ3, I figured I do one for civ4 too, especially since CR was kind enough to post the stats so
Note that the only abilities that the Standard Marine doesn't already have are the 1-2 First Strikes and March promotion. The free March promotion is actually quite cool, because the unit can heal while moving. I'm less enamored with the first strikes for this unit (and similarly for the Samurai UU) mostly because I find it frustrating to not be able to improve upon them with additional promotions (only bow-based units can add first strikes via promotions). Although balanced, the real issue with this late-game unit is that unless you are playing a industrial/modern/future start, you will probably already have won or lost by the time you can build them.
This is a very good unit. Not only is it a resourceless unit (camels are ubiquitous, right?) but it gets a nice base withdrawal of 25%, with the ability to increase this to 55% through flanking promotions (note neither normal knights nor horse archers have a base withdrawal, so their max. would be 30% with both flanking promotions). A little confusing to call it a Camel Archer though, since it replaces the knight not the horse archer.
There are two main uses for the Jaguar Warrior. First, its resourceless nature makes it a good early rush unit (although the Aztecs don't start with mining, iron working is still just three short techs away, and you don't have to find, settle near, and hook up iron, which saves you a lot of time if you are planning an early rush (if your target has access to copper for axemen it's already going to be a challenge; if you give your target time to get city walls up you can forget about it). Second, its jungle bonus makes it a good defender in that terrain -- fill up on Woodsman promotions and you can end up with +75% jungle/+50% forest as well as the double-movement in those terrains, although a smart opponent (and the AI counts in this regard) will typically go around a fortified Woodsman II-promoted JagWar in jungle/forest tiles rather than attack it.
A fun unit that starts with 2 first strikes (5-8 first strikes with all four drill promotions!) and the nice bonus of a decent amount of collateral damage (half as much collateral damage as catapults, with slightly less maximum damage). To be clear, this unit does not bombard city defenses like catapults can, it just causes damage to multiple units in the target stack. One of my favorite UUs, plus Qin has one of my favorite trait combos.
This unit has a higher combat strength compared to the standard chariot, plus the extra bonus of ignoring first strikes, which makes them good at attacking archers. A very nice unit, but one which suffers from a relatively small window of usefulness, since most people will get archery relatively early for city defense, so you're really only one tech away from the superior horse archer unit.
The powerful Redcoat has a +2 combat strength compared to standard rifleman, but the extra +25% vs. gunpowder units makes this effectively a 20 strength unit, since most of the non-obsolete units it will encounter will be gunpowder units. In particular, this makes Redcoats superior to the normal rifle-killer, the Grenadier (which is an effective 18 strength against riflemen). A very solid unit, which is really only vulnerable to cannons in the industrial era.
The early-industrial version of the Impi. With guerilla and/or woodsman promotions, can be a devastating pillager. The only thing that keeps this unit from being overpowered is that Musketmen in general are not all that formidable, since knights can be effective against them (in fact, pikemen are still better versus knights than muskets), and grenadiers at 12 strength are only one tech away from muskets.
The "only" advantage this unit has over the standard tank is the +50% vs. armored units. Of course, that bonus is enough to leave the battlefield littered with the smouldering wreckage of opposing tanks.
A solid unit, the Greek Phalanx is the ultimate horse-killer, but are vulnerable to axemen (even if they are shock promoted, they are at a 6.25 to 7.5 disadvantage). But just as Xerxes discovered at Thermopylae, you don't want to meet these guys in the hills, particularly if they are guerilla-II-promoted (+55% hill defense).
With the bonus against archers, this is the ultimate early cheese-rush unit. Spam Quechuas from your capital and stream them at a neighbor. Better hope you catch them by surprise though, because the counter to Quechuas is just spamming warriors to defend (much more cost effective than archers versus Quechuas, plus they get a 25% bonus to city defense). If you chose not to rush with them, they can still be useful as defenders, but you tend not to see the AI use archers on offense much.
Surprisingly maligned in most of the posts I've read, the Indian Fast Worker is perhaps the most powerful UU in the game, with an essentially unlimited lifetime. Faster improvement of tiles (since they can move and improve tiles in the same turn where standard workers would waste a turn just on the move) makes a huge difference in early infrastructure as well as forest-chop-driven construction of wonders. If you're daring (and not on raging barbs) you might even try using some fast workers to explore -- they're faster than scouts! Plus, workers captured by India automatically become Fast Workers! (note the converse is true -- fast workers captured by other civs turn into normal workers)
The only bonus this unit gets is the aforementioned un-improveable-by-promotions first strikes. Bleh. But at least the animation is pretty cool.
A decent UU, particularly good at city or hill defense, especially with the appropriate promotions. Has a good lifespan too, since longbows are quite a ways down the tech tree from archers. Also play a mean battle horn.
An excellent assault unit which can cut through forests, jungles, and hills effortlessly to descend upon unsuspecting cities. Use them in sneak attacks for best effect. Note neither keshiks nor horse archers get a base withdrawal chance, so I'd save those promotions for the combat line.
The best retreater in the game, Immortals can be promoted up to a 60% withdrawal chance (historically accurate because Immortals were named for their rapid replaceability, not individual toughness). Note withdrawal is implemented as a last second save from what would otherwise be a killing blow by the defender, so this maximizes the damage units can do before they withdraw. I like these better than War Chariots just because so many of them can survive a losing battle then retreat to heal. 'Obsoleted' by the horse archer, although the latter has no base withdrawal.
The BMOC (Big Men of CIV?), Roman Praetorians (or little 'prats' as I like to call them when someone else is about to crush me with them) are unmatched in the ancient era. Fortunately for the rest of us, axemen have a decent chance of standing up to them (7.5 vs 8) but if you are without metal, say goodbye (actually, this is true even if Rome isn't your enemy, as undoubedly someone with horses will come wipe you out).
The Russian Cossack has +3 strength over standard cavalry as well as a bonus +50% versus mounted unit, meaning it rules the field until armor arrives on the scene. Its improved strength means it stands a better chance against rifles which are usually the bane of cavalry. And it makes cannonfodder out of cannons. Oh, and cavalry upgrade to gunship helicopters 'cuz that's today's modern (air) cavalry. Hey, that's the rationale, didn't say I agreed with it.
The 50% bonus versus Melee makes the Conquistador much less vulnerable to polearm-based units like spears (15 vs 8) and even pikes (15 vs 12). Unfortunately, this bonus is short-lived as muskets are only a tech away and while they can still be effective against them, they are no better than standard knights versus muskets.
Civrules said:
Note that the only abilities that the Standard Marine doesn't already have are the 1-2 First Strikes and March promotion. The free March promotion is actually quite cool, because the unit can heal while moving. I'm less enamored with the first strikes for this unit (and similarly for the Samurai UU) mostly because I find it frustrating to not be able to improve upon them with additional promotions (only bow-based units can add first strikes via promotions). Although balanced, the real issue with this late-game unit is that unless you are playing a industrial/modern/future start, you will probably already have won or lost by the time you can build them.
Civrules said:
This is a very good unit. Not only is it a resourceless unit (camels are ubiquitous, right?) but it gets a nice base withdrawal of 25%, with the ability to increase this to 55% through flanking promotions (note neither normal knights nor horse archers have a base withdrawal, so their max. would be 30% with both flanking promotions). A little confusing to call it a Camel Archer though, since it replaces the knight not the horse archer.
Civrules said:
There are two main uses for the Jaguar Warrior. First, its resourceless nature makes it a good early rush unit (although the Aztecs don't start with mining, iron working is still just three short techs away, and you don't have to find, settle near, and hook up iron, which saves you a lot of time if you are planning an early rush (if your target has access to copper for axemen it's already going to be a challenge; if you give your target time to get city walls up you can forget about it). Second, its jungle bonus makes it a good defender in that terrain -- fill up on Woodsman promotions and you can end up with +75% jungle/+50% forest as well as the double-movement in those terrains, although a smart opponent (and the AI counts in this regard) will typically go around a fortified Woodsman II-promoted JagWar in jungle/forest tiles rather than attack it.
Civrules said:
A fun unit that starts with 2 first strikes (5-8 first strikes with all four drill promotions!) and the nice bonus of a decent amount of collateral damage (half as much collateral damage as catapults, with slightly less maximum damage). To be clear, this unit does not bombard city defenses like catapults can, it just causes damage to multiple units in the target stack. One of my favorite UUs, plus Qin has one of my favorite trait combos.
Civrules said:
This unit has a higher combat strength compared to the standard chariot, plus the extra bonus of ignoring first strikes, which makes them good at attacking archers. A very nice unit, but one which suffers from a relatively small window of usefulness, since most people will get archery relatively early for city defense, so you're really only one tech away from the superior horse archer unit.
Civrules said:
The powerful Redcoat has a +2 combat strength compared to standard rifleman, but the extra +25% vs. gunpowder units makes this effectively a 20 strength unit, since most of the non-obsolete units it will encounter will be gunpowder units. In particular, this makes Redcoats superior to the normal rifle-killer, the Grenadier (which is an effective 18 strength against riflemen). A very solid unit, which is really only vulnerable to cannons in the industrial era.
Civrules said:
The early-industrial version of the Impi. With guerilla and/or woodsman promotions, can be a devastating pillager. The only thing that keeps this unit from being overpowered is that Musketmen in general are not all that formidable, since knights can be effective against them (in fact, pikemen are still better versus knights than muskets), and grenadiers at 12 strength are only one tech away from muskets.
Civrules said:
The "only" advantage this unit has over the standard tank is the +50% vs. armored units. Of course, that bonus is enough to leave the battlefield littered with the smouldering wreckage of opposing tanks.
Civrules said:
A solid unit, the Greek Phalanx is the ultimate horse-killer, but are vulnerable to axemen (even if they are shock promoted, they are at a 6.25 to 7.5 disadvantage). But just as Xerxes discovered at Thermopylae, you don't want to meet these guys in the hills, particularly if they are guerilla-II-promoted (+55% hill defense).
Civrules said:
With the bonus against archers, this is the ultimate early cheese-rush unit. Spam Quechuas from your capital and stream them at a neighbor. Better hope you catch them by surprise though, because the counter to Quechuas is just spamming warriors to defend (much more cost effective than archers versus Quechuas, plus they get a 25% bonus to city defense). If you chose not to rush with them, they can still be useful as defenders, but you tend not to see the AI use archers on offense much.
Civrules said:
Surprisingly maligned in most of the posts I've read, the Indian Fast Worker is perhaps the most powerful UU in the game, with an essentially unlimited lifetime. Faster improvement of tiles (since they can move and improve tiles in the same turn where standard workers would waste a turn just on the move) makes a huge difference in early infrastructure as well as forest-chop-driven construction of wonders. If you're daring (and not on raging barbs) you might even try using some fast workers to explore -- they're faster than scouts! Plus, workers captured by India automatically become Fast Workers! (note the converse is true -- fast workers captured by other civs turn into normal workers)
Civrules said:
The only bonus this unit gets is the aforementioned un-improveable-by-promotions first strikes. Bleh. But at least the animation is pretty cool.
Civrules said:
A decent UU, particularly good at city or hill defense, especially with the appropriate promotions. Has a good lifespan too, since longbows are quite a ways down the tech tree from archers. Also play a mean battle horn.
Civrules said:
An excellent assault unit which can cut through forests, jungles, and hills effortlessly to descend upon unsuspecting cities. Use them in sneak attacks for best effect. Note neither keshiks nor horse archers get a base withdrawal chance, so I'd save those promotions for the combat line.
Civrules said:
The best retreater in the game, Immortals can be promoted up to a 60% withdrawal chance (historically accurate because Immortals were named for their rapid replaceability, not individual toughness). Note withdrawal is implemented as a last second save from what would otherwise be a killing blow by the defender, so this maximizes the damage units can do before they withdraw. I like these better than War Chariots just because so many of them can survive a losing battle then retreat to heal. 'Obsoleted' by the horse archer, although the latter has no base withdrawal.
Civrules said:
The BMOC (Big Men of CIV?), Roman Praetorians (or little 'prats' as I like to call them when someone else is about to crush me with them) are unmatched in the ancient era. Fortunately for the rest of us, axemen have a decent chance of standing up to them (7.5 vs 8) but if you are without metal, say goodbye (actually, this is true even if Rome isn't your enemy, as undoubedly someone with horses will come wipe you out).
Civrules said:
The Russian Cossack has +3 strength over standard cavalry as well as a bonus +50% versus mounted unit, meaning it rules the field until armor arrives on the scene. Its improved strength means it stands a better chance against rifles which are usually the bane of cavalry. And it makes cannonfodder out of cannons. Oh, and cavalry upgrade to gunship helicopters 'cuz that's today's modern (air) cavalry. Hey, that's the rationale, didn't say I agreed with it.
Civrules said:
The 50% bonus versus Melee makes the Conquistador much less vulnerable to polearm-based units like spears (15 vs 8) and even pikes (15 vs 12). Unfortunately, this bonus is short-lived as muskets are only a tech away and while they can still be effective against them, they are no better than standard knights versus muskets.
