The Germans
- Thread starter Ision
- Start date
Captain Murphy
Chieftain
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2003
- Messages
- 46
Great review of the Germans! They have long been my favorite Civilization, matching my playstyle nearly perfect.
planetfall
Emperor
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. Tactics is your call. Have fun.
PF
PF
Tomoyo
Fate
As much as I hate the Panzer, it has dug me out of many deep holes before that I play with Germany a lot. The panzer is also extremely helpful if you are trying to fend off an invasion of big stacks, and you have limited amounts of them, like trying for a space race. If you have enough artillery, thats three units killed per Panzer instead of two.
Zardnaar
Deity
Will the Hittites be your "worst" review since I know how they're your favourite civ and everything.
chancellor_dan
Prince
Great review:d. I bestowed Germany the honour of my first ever civ3 game...and can safely say i get more pleasure out of seeing my reich grow than any other civilisation
Why, oh why, mr churchill could we not have allied with he Germans and gone for moscow?
Why, oh why, mr churchill could we not have allied with he Germans and gone for moscow?
planetfall
Emperor
Kb2tvl,
Which is why the first tech Germany needs is pottery, for expansion. This is more important than tech for swords, no iron no swords.
On the iron issue, combined arms: horse,spear, archers, some catapaults can deal with swords. It is only a problem when med inf and pikemen come into play. No iron by then you are in serious serious trouble.
PF
Which is why the first tech Germany needs is pottery, for expansion. This is more important than tech for swords, no iron no swords.
On the iron issue, combined arms: horse,spear, archers, some catapaults can deal with swords. It is only a problem when med inf and pikemen come into play. No iron by then you are in serious serious trouble.
PF
scoutsout
Minstrel Boy
You can still put together a "poor man's army" in the Middle Ages... it's the "raison d'etre" for Longbows, IMO. In C3C Invention also gives you Trebuchets..or do the Trebuchets come in with Engineering? I can't remember, but if you're really strapped for resources you can go for those techs first and still do some damage.
planetfall
Emperor
True, but longbows offense of 4 seems weaker than med infantry of 4. It would be better if longbows cost 30 or 35 instead of 40. You need more defense with them than med inf. Translation, get friends to fight for you.
PF
PF
scoutsout
Minstrel Boy
Given the choice between MedInf and Longbows, I'd take the MedInf, sure. But the "poor man's army" is one that is raised when you don't have iron for MedInf or horses for Horsemen/Knights. Find a nearby resource, send some Longbows/Spears/Catapults or Trebuchets to go and take the resource. "Poor Man's Armies" are for grabbing resources, not continents...
...and yes, getting some help in the war is a good strategy...
As a general rule, if I find myself strapped for resources early, I'll raise that "PMA" in the ancient age with Archers and Spears, so I'm only facing spears and warriors in towns instead of pikes in cities...
2 points -
Bear in mind that the 40 shield cost of both units DOES in a sense equal itself out in spite of the MI having 1 more defense point - it does so because the Longbow does NOT require iron. Raising or lowering the cost of either unit can only be justified if one simply compares one unit to the other statistically without taking into account the 'context' of the unit in its totality.
Secondly, to build or not build Longbows once you DO have iron is not the point. Assuming you have a number of archers that you built previously - it is far more cost efficient to upgrade these units to LBs than to build MI from scratch.
All things considered, the longbow is an outstanding unit whos value on average is actually 'greater' than the MI - the ability to build a unit that hits with 4 attack factors in spite of not having the single most important resource of the game is tremendous.
Ision
Bear in mind that the 40 shield cost of both units DOES in a sense equal itself out in spite of the MI having 1 more defense point - it does so because the Longbow does NOT require iron. Raising or lowering the cost of either unit can only be justified if one simply compares one unit to the other statistically without taking into account the 'context' of the unit in its totality.
Secondly, to build or not build Longbows once you DO have iron is not the point. Assuming you have a number of archers that you built previously - it is far more cost efficient to upgrade these units to LBs than to build MI from scratch.
All things considered, the longbow is an outstanding unit whos value on average is actually 'greater' than the MI - the ability to build a unit that hits with 4 attack factors in spite of not having the single most important resource of the game is tremendous.
Ision
Pfeffersack
Deity
Another point about Longbows is the ability of performing defensive bombardment.This increases their value for defense, at least if they are in support role.
Baron Bohr
Chieftain
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2004
- Messages
- 8
I love the germans - I only play them and this analysis is right - they are slow at the start, but will be a powerhouse later on...
yoshi74
Tourist from Mars
For the longbows: When diggin out some real world parallels, Archers need a long time to get trained, so the relative high cost reflects this. The MI needs the 40 shields for weapon production and some training, the longbow needs a lot of training
Also the longbow isn't that weak in terms of defense. Alone, yes only 1 point. But when standing behind another unit the defensiv fire is a nice addition. Thats what the pike&bow tactic involves. So i think the longbow isn't much weaker then the MI on defence, when properly played. And therefor 40 shields are o.k.
Also the longbow isn't that weak in terms of defense. Alone, yes only 1 point. But when standing behind another unit the defensiv fire is a nice addition. Thats what the pike&bow tactic involves. So i think the longbow isn't much weaker then the MI on defence, when properly played. And therefor 40 shields are o.k.
Good review Ision 
As always right on the money.
I have always liked playing as the Germans, you are right about
the ebb and flow of different mid-game strats that can be very
fun as well as very frustrating. I also pick them alot due to
ancestry=French/German=LaRoque/Frederick= I attack myself
then surrender quickly. I enjoy reading all your reviews and
strat help, thanks for your time and effort.
As always right on the money.I have always liked playing as the Germans, you are right about
the ebb and flow of different mid-game strats that can be very
fun as well as very frustrating. I also pick them alot due to
ancestry=French/German=LaRoque/Frederick= I attack myself
then surrender quickly. I enjoy reading all your reviews and
strat help, thanks for your time and effort.
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