Unit promotions strategy guide?

[Mongrel79]

Hello again forum.
I'm relatively new to Civ IV and am really enjoying it but want to get a bit more in-depth. I often find myself rather arbitrarily conferring promotions on units, giving one drill and the other combat just to hedge my bets... Some are obvious like guerrila for lots of hills and woodsman for woodsy areas but I still feel I lack a bit of knowledge in this area.
Have been searching for a strategy guide on unit promotions and have found bits and pieces here and there but no handy overarching strategy on exaclty what advantages particular promotions confer, what combinations it's good to have and what jobs units with certain promotions are best at undertaking. Does such a thing exist? I'm playing BTS btw.
Cheers
On a side note, I think building uber-veteran units is one of my favourite bits of Civ4 - what's the maximum level of troop you've got coming out of your military city withg west point, two military instructors and military civics on?

 

[madscientist]

On a side note, I think building uber-veteran units is one of my favourite bits of Civ4 - what's the maximum level of troop you've got coming out of your military city withg west point, two military instructors and military civics on?

Right now I have 11 XP in the heroic epic city with units being built: a barracks (+3), west point (+4), settled great general (+2), theocracy (+2). Good for 3 promotion from a charismatic leader. I could add vassalage, one more great general, or the Pentagon for 4 promotions. Also I have drydocks with give another +4 to units built in this city. At this point I would usually use additional great generals to build the instruction building for 50% pop in military production.

 

[Polycrates]

With Cyrus or Brennus it's quite possible to be producing Combat IV/Commando Cavalry straight out of the Heroic Epic city (20XP). Those guys are incredibly dangerous....

But yeah to the main question:
It's often best to leave your units unpromoted until you have to use them, so you can tailor them to a specific situation. And it's generally good to have a bit of a mix. Here's a few general suggestions that may or may not be useful:

Axes/Swords/Macemen: City Raider I/II/III for your offensive punchers, with generally Combat I/Shock for defenders/field attackers.
On the other hand, if you're Aggressive, it can be worthwhile going for Combat I/Cover for attacking archery-only cities with single-promo troops.

Spears/pikes: Combat II/Formation. If you can only really do one thing, I figure you might as well do it properly. Or leave them unpromoted in a stack, and if your axes can't quite take the city, pick some appropriate promos and throw them last-ditch at the defense.

Mounted units: Flanking I/II can be VERY useful for softening tough defenders and still having a hope of surviving (especially for Horse Archers and Cavalry). Also in BtS for depriving their SoD of siege so that their attackers dash themselves uselessly on your undamaged defenders. Combat promos can be good for overpowering them with raw strength.
Horse Archers (or Egyptian War Chariots) with both flanking promos make good early siege substitutes before you get construction.

Defenders: City Garrison is great as long as you're only defending.
Drill promos can also be excellent, and they also allow you to counterpunch against weak attacking troops, but they're vulnerable against mounted units who ignore first strikes. I like to have a mix of CG and Drill.

Gunpowder: Generally Pinch, with some Drill thrown in for good measure.

 

[Mongrel79]

With Cyrus or Brennus it's quite possible to be producing Combat IV/Commando Cavalry straight out of the Heroic Epic city (20XP). Those guys are incredibly dangerous....

Aces. I might give Brennus a go next game...

 

[DaveMcW]

Never give newly-built units City Raider. Wait until they are next to an enemy city!

 

[slobberinbear]

Never give newly-built units City Raider. Wait until they are next to an enemy city!

Dave's terse reply (as usual ) is spot-on. There's a lot to be said for leaving your main battle units unpromoted until the specific need arises. Keeping your axes/swords/maces unpromoted means you can tailor their promotions to the task at hand: city-busting, open field battling, or defense. You can also do this with archers and other garrison units.

About the only thing I always promote right away are scouts and early scouting warriors (who usually get woodsman) and naval units. Leaving naval units unpromoted can be wasteful, as the movement speeds are so high that you can literally be attacked from out of nowhere and have no time to react and assign a promotion.

The list above with the various promotions is about what I do, with some additions:

Spearmen: Like many on the forums, I will make a spearman a designated medic unit, as spears are rarely involved in defending a stack.

Siege: For removing city defenses, City Raider I + Accuracy or Barrage + Accuracy works great. For city assaults (collateral damage), try City Raider I & II or CR I + Barrage. For inflicting collateral damage in the open field (i.e., for your city defender siege units), try Barrage I & II.

Naval: if you have a stack, try designating a medical unit. Ships can take a long time to heal, especially when a port is far away. If you have technological superiority, Drill is a great way to inflict damage without taking much back. If you have equivalent tech, the combat promotions are generic but can give you the edge.

Great General Units: if you decide to merge a great general, it's best to do it to just one unit so it gets all the XP. Most folks typically make the unit a super-medic (Combat I, Medic I - III, March) or a tough attack unit. If you go with an assault unit, make sure you take the Leadership promotion, which gives you double xp from winning battles. I will typically assign the general to a sword/mace unit and give him Combat promotions so that he can take on any foe in the field and aid in city assaults. You can also give him the woodsman promtions to make him a primo stack defender.

Remember that while the Combat promotions are somewhat boring at only 10% apiece, they are universal. This means that you get more bang for the buck taking Combat IV than by taking Combat I and Shock and Cover and Formation, not to mention the added healing bonuses, etc. granted by Combat IV and above. Your great general will be well-served by being a generalist (as it were), but your other units should be specialized city attackers, stack defenders, garrison units, and open field attackers.

Lastly, I would check out Sisiutil's strategy document, which has some good advice on promotions and stack composition.

 

[Mongrel79]

Thanks a lot - feel more confident with the promos now....

 

[JimT]

Aces. I might give Brennus a go next game...

Genghis might also be a good bet

Stables (+4) Barracks (+3) West Point (+4) Pentagon (+2) Civics (+4)
So 17xp without a GG for mounted troops