Things you never build...

[PieceOfMind]

On a side note, does anyone know if units heal faster in forts?

Just checked...

For the sake of calculating unit healing rates, forts act in the same way as cities do. I'll be going into it a little bit more indepth sometime in the near future. But yes, units heal at a rate of 20HP per turn in forts in your territory - the same as cities.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Other things I never build:
...
-Archer (unless I have no copper/iron/horses)

That's funny cos usually archers are almost the unit I build most. The reason I build them is because they're dirt cheap and they are useful for stacking up the happy faces in your cities while you run HR. Especially when a lot of whipping is going on. They also help deter opportunistic AIs I think.

I of course build a mix of the other metal based units but archers I just spam for happiness. I guess they're also not bad at city defense too!

 

[Lil_Yospeck]

"Especially when a lot of whipping is going on."


Thats another thing I rarely do and maybe its a tactic I'm missing out on, but I never change to slavery when I get Metal Working. I think I tried it once and got to chop happy and it really screwed me in the long run, so I've avoided it since then.

 

[IronCrown]

Thing is, if I have to defend against attacks on my cities then something is wrong. Because it means that the enemy can pillage my countryside. I prefer to counter-attack before the enemy actually reaches my cities.

Even if the enemy is too strong and I cannot dispel him, most of the time axes and spears are still better because they also defend decently and can go on the offensive when the situation has improved.

While archers are not useless, I usually hesitate to build them and rather wait for the double-strength longbowmen.

Sure, they're cheap happiness providers but I think it's better to build units you can use for a war when you don't run HR anymore.

 

[DrLaban]

I almost never build walls or castles. They plain sucked against the AI's tactics in the early versions of the game. Now I think they can be good in harbor cities; they are historical in that it's almost impossible to take them down pre- gunpowder, catapults barely scratch their surface.

Jails. I suppose I should build them more now and I really think they have always been good investments, it's just that I always down prioritize them.

Re windmills: I never built them from the beginning but I have grown to like them; pre- replaceable parts they are not that hot but after that I like them more than mines.

 

[sneaky]

Maybe a more interesting is, what do I build more since BTS?
Well, since BTS I started to build walls, castles, forts, jails, and more mounted units.

 

[chopstyx]

I always found that I never needed to build Musketmen either, cause riflemen came so quickly after. Hasn't that changed with BTS though? Though they gave knights and musketmen a longer shelf life?

And what is meant by forts turning tiles into a canal?

It means you can sail a ship through that tile. You know how you can build a city on a 1-tile wide peninsula, and then sail a ship in one side and out the other? Just like that.

marioflag - Do you not build windmills on grass hills? I rarely build anything else on them unless there's a resource there.

Castles: Rarely build them, they are obsolete too easily.

Nuclear plants: I've built them in 2 different games and both times I've had a meltdown, so I never ever build them now.

 

[aronnax]

Lets see,

Forts
Workshops
Explorers
Coal Plants
Nuclear Plants - Too many cities blew up
Spearmen - Never more than 3 in an entire game
Horse Archers
Taoist Missionaries
Mt Rushmore
Sam Infantry
Grenaiders - I have infantry when they have Grenaiders
Cannons - Delay steel so long and Rush artillery they exist for 4 turns

 

[Proteus]

Thing is, if I have to defend against attacks on my cities then something is wrong. Because it means that the enemy can pillage my countryside. I prefer to counter-attack before the enemy actually reaches my cities.

Can get problematic if the enemy are barbarians
They can get quite nasty, especially on huge maps with lots of fog of war
(unless of course you manage to be the civ that builds the great wall )

 

[Proteus]

marioflag - Do you not build windmills on grass hills? I rarely build anything else on them unless there's a resource there.

I´m not marioflag,
but I personally prefer my hills with mines.

 

[Onagan]

I never build Warriors. They are weak and useless.

 

[sneaky]

I sometimes build warriors as cheap fog busters. But almost never.

 

[RobertTheBruce]

On the knights subject, one good thing about them is that I can upgrade them to Cuirassiers (sp?) and later Cavalry, although Cavalry is not as good as it used to be.

Knights are very good against protective opponents. They can destroy pikes after a little collateral damage and they are immune to all those first strikes. Protective crossbows are a real problem for maces. The AI built a lot more pikes than xbows in Warlords but the ratio seems to be pretty even in BtS. The extra xp from stables saves a switch to Vassalage or Theocracy as well.

 

[LunaticSlave]

- I used to rarely build jails, but since bts i build em in almost every city, got addicted to espionage love it! About forts i build some now (used to never build any at all), especialy in enemy territory. I get a nice stack of units with city defender promos, get 2 to 3 workers in it and build forts inside the ai territory...then the dumb ai will send lots of his unist to try kill the troops you have inside the fort, major slaugther .

- I never build explorers, i prefer to use mounted units as medics.

- Rarely built the UN, mostly go for space victory, but since bts i try to get it everytime i can so i can force the damn ai have enviormentlism so im able to spread my corps for some nice (ai always is on mercantilism ).

- I build ironclads, but only as fishing boat defenders

 

[LlamaCat]

I almost never build walls and ironclads. I might build a total of 1-2 warriors in most games.

funny how people will explain perfectly good reasons to build things you never will. I guess that shows how dynamic the game is for all playing styles.

 

[Lil_Yospeck]

funny how people will explain perfectly good reasons to build things you never will. I guess that shows how dynamic the game is for all playing styles.

Very true. I'm definately giving the whole explorer/medic thing a go.

 

[Soneji]

It depends very much on the game length you play.

eg. Normal, I wouldn't build castles. Marathon, hell yeah.

I tend to leave the pyramids in the hope that it is built on my continent and will capture it later.

 

[TheLastOne36]

And what is meant by forts turning tiles into a canal?

Look on my Map. i could use it to get my ship through to the other side without going the long way around!

Here's a better map to show you what i mean!

Before there was a fort:

After a fort was built:

See why forts are useful now?

 

[jkp1187]

I try to build walls and castles in my coastal cities, especially if I have stone. The protection and culture are nice, but the extra trade route is a big incentive....and it only expires when you get FM, which means an extra trade route anyway.

I haven't built many explorers, although the Explorer-Medic idea sounds like something I should consider.

I rarely build Hermitage unless I'm going for a cultural win or I have a city that needs to generate culture to push-back foreign culture.

Pre-BtS, I rarely built forts. Now, they rock!

You know something else I almost never build? Temple of Artemis. It just never seems to work out for me. Plus, I can never remember if the trade-route bonus is just for that city or across-the-board for all cities....

 

[Soneji]

Nice Thelastone, good example there!

Have not built a canal yet myself..