I think i figured out the game's perfect army - in terms of both most effective civilization and leader choice, and also in terms of army composition and strategy for BtS. Here's the essentials of it.
Civ: Ethiopia (of all things, eyah! %) ). Leader: Genghis Khan.
And for strategy, it's
Hopefully, i didn't miss something important. But if i did, please point it out. And, I am particularly interested if someone already played this civ / leader combo, and/or tried a strategy anyhow similar to what i described.
Civ: Ethiopia (of all things, eyah! %) ). Leader: Genghis Khan.
Spoiler Because: :
- Genghis' Imperialistic trait significantly helps with one of main problems of "conquest" way of playing: the eternal dilemma of "make war or development?". It helps by accelerating early-game development via -50% Settler building cost; this may seem little, but it's huge. Works this way: every few turns which were saved extremely early by having that "next" Settler rolling away sooner - makes everything which that new city will do to happen that few turns earlier, too. Among which things - will often be creating new Settlers, too. Which by itself also happens few turns after, again, making that "3rd" city to pop up "twice" sooner already. Etc etc - the thing escalates, resulting, by mid-game in way many more turns available to build armies. Which then go out sooner and conquer more cities sooner, - etc. And they have easier times doing it - because sooner means there's less enemies there, too. I.e., this little "-50% Settler cost" - is one big-deal "snowballing" effect, and one which is just perfect for a warmongering playstyle;
- ethiopian unique unit, Oromo Warriors, - are affected by Genghis' Aggressive trait, meaning that they get Combat I, Drill I and Drill II for free upon creation by this civ. Which means, this civ's Oromo Warriors with 17+ XP - can have Combat IV + Commando + Drill 2 already! Moving through enemy lands with roads by 3 tiles per turn, which is 1.5 faster than Mounted units. That's massive on its own - yet these are also hell deadlier than whatever else in early-gunpowder era, too. And yet, these can be mass-produced quite very early by this civ:
- early on, GGs are generated often, but with Genghis' Imperialistic trait, they are generated even twice faster. With +3 XP from Barracks and +4 from Civics, this civ will need five GGs installed into one of oldest cities with the most potential for production - to build 17 XP Melee and Gunpowder units. And since it doesn't take long to generate 2...3 GGs in a usual game, and with Ghengis making it 5 in the same amount of time / combat - it doesn't take long to start building those "on steroids" Oromo Warriors, too;
- Combat and Drill promotions at significant levels dramatically enhance each other due to how combat is calculated in the game. I.e., Drill IV + Combat IV is far more deadlier than a mere sum of bonuses of those promotions. And those neat Oromo Warriors also get +1 extra First Strike on top of free Drill I and Drill II, making its 2-3 First Strikes right off the barracks, at 17 XP! At Drill III, a regular unit gets 1-4 First Strikes total - which same on average, but a bit worse, because it's less reliable (can be just 1 in any given combat). This is how Oroma Warrior descrived above, at 17 XP, have roughly "Drill 3.5" equivalent, so to say. With Combat IV in the same time. For a nothing-special unit, of a nothing-special civ, to reach that amount of extra deadliness - they'd need 4 levels for Combat promotions, 4 more for Drill promotions, and 1 more for Commando (essential for efficient - quick - offensive campains). That's 9 level-ups (82 XP total, or 65 extra combat XP for a unit made with 17 XP barracks). Getting 65 XP by fighting with regular units - takes _forever_, but this civ just builds those monsters in their droves. Nuts;
- Combat and Drill promotions are universal: they help much in both defense and offense. This allows to quickly shift roles of this army: whenever sudden need to defend occur, same bunch which was capturing enemy cities - can dig in and defend perfectly well;
- Massive further potential: very 1st in-field level up gives Combat V, which few units normaly get - and it comes with a built-in Medic I equivalent for the unit itself. When many / most of them have it and there's a normal Medic in the stack, we get almost double healing speed. Less turns healing = more turns fighting. Better yet, late-game, Oroma Warriors end up upgraded to Mech Infantry, and keep those free Drill I and Drill II promotions they got - plus they get March added for free, too! Since Mech Infantry "starts" with it, it's given for free upon upgrading. Combat V + March = almost double amount of healing in enemy lands without any need to stop for healing. Very effective. Just at 26 XP, which by late game, lots of those units will have easily. Supreme mobility on enemy roads, too - Commando on Mech Infantry is 6 tiles through enemy territory. True Blitzkriegs become easily doable vs any enemy;
- Imperialistic trait will keep producing extra GGs after main army-producing city was buffed with 5 of them. Those further GGs can then be used to create the hardest-hitting City Raider units in the game: no, it ain't Modern Armor, you know. It's this:
-- any Melee unit which took all three City Raider promotions (which give +75% city attack strength and +10% vs Gunpowder units), then
-- got a GG attached to it (with full +20 XP gained upon it), then
-- got upgraded to Gunpowder era unit (to Rifleman > Infantry > Mech Infantry; having a GG attached - prevents XP loss when above 10 XP); then
-- got further promotions: 1st Leadership, then Combat IV (with that free Combat I from the start) + Commando, then Woodsman and Drill upgrades. Leadership's double XP gains from combat help a lot with this.
Depending on game's speed and map size, those "GG City Raider" units - may end up as far as being Mech Infantry with City Raider III + Combat VI + Drill IV + Woodsman III. This equals +150% strength vs cities (even +160% when it's any Gunpowder unit defending that city) - and with 5-8 First Strikes on top! And on a Mech Infantry, with its free March (which is one promotion Modern Armors can't ever get), plus +10% healing from Combat V and +15% healing from Woodsman III - those GGs will heal on the go like crazy, too, thus staying topped-off. Which means it's nearly every attack they do - is with their full 32 strength being buffed up by that 150%+, i.e. to 80+. And 5-8 First Strikes - is 1 full First Strike more than fully promoted City Raider Modern Armor units have, too - because Modern Armor can't have Woodsman III with its 2 First Strikes. End result is, assuming we're able to keep one or few such "City Raider" units progressing through the game (and not have them die): an army of "expendable and on steroids" Oromo Warriors / Infantry / Mech Infantry with one/few GG units which just slice enemy city defenders into tiny little pieces.
- ethiopian unique unit, Oromo Warriors, - are affected by Genghis' Aggressive trait, meaning that they get Combat I, Drill I and Drill II for free upon creation by this civ. Which means, this civ's Oromo Warriors with 17+ XP - can have Combat IV + Commando + Drill 2 already! Moving through enemy lands with roads by 3 tiles per turn, which is 1.5 faster than Mounted units. That's massive on its own - yet these are also hell deadlier than whatever else in early-gunpowder era, too. And yet, these can be mass-produced quite very early by this civ:
- early on, GGs are generated often, but with Genghis' Imperialistic trait, they are generated even twice faster. With +3 XP from Barracks and +4 from Civics, this civ will need five GGs installed into one of oldest cities with the most potential for production - to build 17 XP Melee and Gunpowder units. And since it doesn't take long to generate 2...3 GGs in a usual game, and with Ghengis making it 5 in the same amount of time / combat - it doesn't take long to start building those "on steroids" Oromo Warriors, too;
- Combat and Drill promotions at significant levels dramatically enhance each other due to how combat is calculated in the game. I.e., Drill IV + Combat IV is far more deadlier than a mere sum of bonuses of those promotions. And those neat Oromo Warriors also get +1 extra First Strike on top of free Drill I and Drill II, making its 2-3 First Strikes right off the barracks, at 17 XP! At Drill III, a regular unit gets 1-4 First Strikes total - which same on average, but a bit worse, because it's less reliable (can be just 1 in any given combat). This is how Oroma Warrior descrived above, at 17 XP, have roughly "Drill 3.5" equivalent, so to say. With Combat IV in the same time. For a nothing-special unit, of a nothing-special civ, to reach that amount of extra deadliness - they'd need 4 levels for Combat promotions, 4 more for Drill promotions, and 1 more for Commando (essential for efficient - quick - offensive campains). That's 9 level-ups (82 XP total, or 65 extra combat XP for a unit made with 17 XP barracks). Getting 65 XP by fighting with regular units - takes _forever_, but this civ just builds those monsters in their droves. Nuts;
- Combat and Drill promotions are universal: they help much in both defense and offense. This allows to quickly shift roles of this army: whenever sudden need to defend occur, same bunch which was capturing enemy cities - can dig in and defend perfectly well;
- Massive further potential: very 1st in-field level up gives Combat V, which few units normaly get - and it comes with a built-in Medic I equivalent for the unit itself. When many / most of them have it and there's a normal Medic in the stack, we get almost double healing speed. Less turns healing = more turns fighting. Better yet, late-game, Oroma Warriors end up upgraded to Mech Infantry, and keep those free Drill I and Drill II promotions they got - plus they get March added for free, too! Since Mech Infantry "starts" with it, it's given for free upon upgrading. Combat V + March = almost double amount of healing in enemy lands without any need to stop for healing. Very effective. Just at 26 XP, which by late game, lots of those units will have easily. Supreme mobility on enemy roads, too - Commando on Mech Infantry is 6 tiles through enemy territory. True Blitzkriegs become easily doable vs any enemy;
- Imperialistic trait will keep producing extra GGs after main army-producing city was buffed with 5 of them. Those further GGs can then be used to create the hardest-hitting City Raider units in the game: no, it ain't Modern Armor, you know. It's this:
-- any Melee unit which took all three City Raider promotions (which give +75% city attack strength and +10% vs Gunpowder units), then
-- got a GG attached to it (with full +20 XP gained upon it), then
-- got upgraded to Gunpowder era unit (to Rifleman > Infantry > Mech Infantry; having a GG attached - prevents XP loss when above 10 XP); then
-- got further promotions: 1st Leadership, then Combat IV (with that free Combat I from the start) + Commando, then Woodsman and Drill upgrades. Leadership's double XP gains from combat help a lot with this.
Depending on game's speed and map size, those "GG City Raider" units - may end up as far as being Mech Infantry with City Raider III + Combat VI + Drill IV + Woodsman III. This equals +150% strength vs cities (even +160% when it's any Gunpowder unit defending that city) - and with 5-8 First Strikes on top! And on a Mech Infantry, with its free March (which is one promotion Modern Armors can't ever get), plus +10% healing from Combat V and +15% healing from Woodsman III - those GGs will heal on the go like crazy, too, thus staying topped-off. Which means it's nearly every attack they do - is with their full 32 strength being buffed up by that 150%+, i.e. to 80+. And 5-8 First Strikes - is 1 full First Strike more than fully promoted City Raider Modern Armor units have, too - because Modern Armor can't have Woodsman III with its 2 First Strikes. End result is, assuming we're able to keep one or few such "City Raider" units progressing through the game (and not have them die): an army of "expendable and on steroids" Oromo Warriors / Infantry / Mech Infantry with one/few GG units which just slice enemy city defenders into tiny little pieces.
Spoiler pretty straightforward :
- before Gunpowder, there are two priorities. 1st, rapid expansion at the limits of available happiness / health / non-occupied space, avoiding conflict with AIs. 2nd, getting Gunpowder tech ASAP. Have one or few Melee units fight barbarians / animals, get to 10 XP and grab City Raider III - those will become "the best City Raider units of the game" which i described under previous spoiler. Keep 'em alive;
- early Gunpowder phase: chug out enough Oromo Warriors to beat some suitable-victim neighbour AI, and do so. Their XP does not matter yet, as they are awesomely deadly even at 2 XP at this stage, and become even much deadlier with a few XP points gained from combat. Put GGs generated by this war to the best-potential-for-production city. Make peace before unacceptable consequences would happen (too much war weariness, etc), or destroy 'em outright if feasible. If that war did not generate 5+ GGs - do another one soon, until main city's barracks get 5 Great Military Instructors installed. Then, build good bunch of Oromo Warriors - those, together with GG City Raider unit(s), will form "the tip of the spear" for the rest of the game. Make sure those Oromo Warrios and GGs only attack when it's 99.9% chance to win; if it's less, then apply more Siege Weapons damage to enemy city 1st, and of course, zero those cities' defense 1st, too. If still not enough (only possible when AIs are _far_ ahead in tech) - then use later-built "cannon fodder" Riflemen / Infantry to take out the toughest enemy defenders 1st, and only then attack with formerly-Oromo-Warriors and City Raider GGs, once they can attack with that 99.9% chance;
- mid-Gunpowder phase: Rifleman / Infantry times. Upgrade existing Oromo Warriors to those unit types; they'll keep all their numerous promotions, and even while their XP will reset to 10, they pretty much already got all they need anyway. Obviously, upgrade City Raider GGs to those types, too - and being GG units, these will keep getting more and more level-ups further on, scaling up "ahead the curve" of the usual-expected potency of offensive unit types. Then, have these upgraded units to defeat enemies (both inside enemy cities and anywhere nearby) with 99.9% chance of success, unless it's something _really_ important fight. If need be (higher difficulties, etc) - support these "forward, extra deadly" units with Siege Weapons, Bombers (once avainable), Ships (where applicable), and "cannon fodder" freshly-built Riflemen / Infantry. The latter won't have free Drill I and Drill II which Oromo Warriors get, but they will still have free Combat I. Meaning, at 17 XP Barracks, those supporting troops will still have Combat IV + Commando right upon creation, allowing them to keep up with the 3-tiles-over-roads speed through enemy lands. Also, if some Oromo Warriors built during early-Gunpowder phase were placed to defend some of our cities - now, we can gradually replace them there with newly built Riflemen / Infantry, and send extra "originally Oromo" deadly troops to our offensives, hence either increasing the size of our "tip of the spear" - or, if things went real tough (Deity, etc), replacing combat losses among our "originally Oromo" forward army;
- late-game: beeline Mech Infantry. Don't bother getting Mobile Artillery nor Stealth Bombers - those are too lengthy investments relative to quite little extra siege damage these provide. Regular Bombers will do alright no matter the losses (if it's any heavy air interception from enemies). While getting Mech Infantry is real huge: doubling the speed from 3 to 6 tiles in enemy lands is extremely powerful. Plus extra base combat strength being multiplied by all those tasty promotions. Plus Mech Infantry comes with that free March and with 20% aircraft interception chance. The latter may seem small, but when it's many Mech Infantry units rolling in, often from all sorts of directions - it ain't small and helps our Bombers a great deal. Sort of everything comes together in a perfect way, once it's large number of Commando Mech Infantry doing the offensive.
- early Gunpowder phase: chug out enough Oromo Warriors to beat some suitable-victim neighbour AI, and do so. Their XP does not matter yet, as they are awesomely deadly even at 2 XP at this stage, and become even much deadlier with a few XP points gained from combat. Put GGs generated by this war to the best-potential-for-production city. Make peace before unacceptable consequences would happen (too much war weariness, etc), or destroy 'em outright if feasible. If that war did not generate 5+ GGs - do another one soon, until main city's barracks get 5 Great Military Instructors installed. Then, build good bunch of Oromo Warriors - those, together with GG City Raider unit(s), will form "the tip of the spear" for the rest of the game. Make sure those Oromo Warrios and GGs only attack when it's 99.9% chance to win; if it's less, then apply more Siege Weapons damage to enemy city 1st, and of course, zero those cities' defense 1st, too. If still not enough (only possible when AIs are _far_ ahead in tech) - then use later-built "cannon fodder" Riflemen / Infantry to take out the toughest enemy defenders 1st, and only then attack with formerly-Oromo-Warriors and City Raider GGs, once they can attack with that 99.9% chance;
- mid-Gunpowder phase: Rifleman / Infantry times. Upgrade existing Oromo Warriors to those unit types; they'll keep all their numerous promotions, and even while their XP will reset to 10, they pretty much already got all they need anyway. Obviously, upgrade City Raider GGs to those types, too - and being GG units, these will keep getting more and more level-ups further on, scaling up "ahead the curve" of the usual-expected potency of offensive unit types. Then, have these upgraded units to defeat enemies (both inside enemy cities and anywhere nearby) with 99.9% chance of success, unless it's something _really_ important fight. If need be (higher difficulties, etc) - support these "forward, extra deadly" units with Siege Weapons, Bombers (once avainable), Ships (where applicable), and "cannon fodder" freshly-built Riflemen / Infantry. The latter won't have free Drill I and Drill II which Oromo Warriors get, but they will still have free Combat I. Meaning, at 17 XP Barracks, those supporting troops will still have Combat IV + Commando right upon creation, allowing them to keep up with the 3-tiles-over-roads speed through enemy lands. Also, if some Oromo Warriors built during early-Gunpowder phase were placed to defend some of our cities - now, we can gradually replace them there with newly built Riflemen / Infantry, and send extra "originally Oromo" deadly troops to our offensives, hence either increasing the size of our "tip of the spear" - or, if things went real tough (Deity, etc), replacing combat losses among our "originally Oromo" forward army;
- late-game: beeline Mech Infantry. Don't bother getting Mobile Artillery nor Stealth Bombers - those are too lengthy investments relative to quite little extra siege damage these provide. Regular Bombers will do alright no matter the losses (if it's any heavy air interception from enemies). While getting Mech Infantry is real huge: doubling the speed from 3 to 6 tiles in enemy lands is extremely powerful. Plus extra base combat strength being multiplied by all those tasty promotions. Plus Mech Infantry comes with that free March and with 20% aircraft interception chance. The latter may seem small, but when it's many Mech Infantry units rolling in, often from all sorts of directions - it ain't small and helps our Bombers a great deal. Sort of everything comes together in a perfect way, once it's large number of Commando Mech Infantry doing the offensive.
Quite the contrary, it's totally avoidable. 1st, if you're one of those folks thinking the RNG is rigged in the game: it's not. Speaking from experience and my knowledge of probability theory. 2nd, if you are _that_ worried about it: then you can make sure you only attack with GG units when it's _higher_ than 99.9% chance of victory. Which you can see when hovering over their potential targets: if it's says "99.9%", then don't attack; weaken the target (siege units, later bombers, etc) until it's ">99.9%". And 3rd, personally, i just prefer to make them replaceable: instead of having one or two - and myself, usually playing Huge maps, - i plan and go for 4...5 at least (by mid-late game). One or two of those may die if i'm really unlucky; but all 4...5, at 0.1%-or-less odds per fight? Astronomically unlikely. And even if it'd happen once in a lifetime - it ain't like those GG City Raiders are required for this army to work. They just speed up things some good deal, in many cases. Can totally still Blitzkrieg AIs left and right mid-late game with those Commando Oromos > ... > Mech Infantries, anyway - it'd just require some more of those produced and used for offensives;
