Surprising UU's

[Jason Fox]

Thought I'd hate the Zulu's Impi 'cause I have no need for early defensive units with speed. Wrong. Unbelievable for pillaging and, combined with horsemen, lightening fast attacks and occupying troops.

Babylon's bowmen are another, thought I'd never use them since I rarely make archers. Wrong again. Better defenders than spearman and more effective attackers than archers. Only problem is they don't upgrade to pikemen but they defend reasonably well into the Middle Ages.

Of course, both units tend to trigger an early Golden Age, which isn't ideal, but other than that I liked them more than I thought.

 

[chiefpaco]

I love using them too but my reasons are much like yours.

Let me provide another perspective. In my current game (first 1.21 game, Emporer), I was the Aztecs. Decent start, but right next to the Babyonians & Zulu. Around 1500BC, they team up & before I know it, my lands are flooded with Impi & Bowmen. Those are 2 suckers proved way too tough for my Jags. I retired before 0AD. (them getting the Iroquois & the Mounted Warrior on their side helped).

Both the Bowman & Impi have the offense/defense flags ON. For the AI, this resulted in Bowmen I could not attack or defend against well. It also resulted in some attacks from the Impi where a victory could have been obtained.