Units you skip altogether...

[TheMeInTeam]

The most common to skip are swords (unless doing a sword rush), grenadiers, ironclads, ships of the line, and anything later than nukes.

 

[2metraninja]

A repeated attack by 4 airships 3 or 4 turns prior to attacking a city with your SoD will save a lot of ground units.

It will save you nothing, as they heal the very next turn. Airships can deal up to 20HP damage and just staying in the city heals 25HP They are nice however for softening the defenders right before the storm.

 

[Choggy]

It will save you nothing, as they heal the very next turn. Airships can deal up to 20HP damage and just staying in the city heals 25HP They are nice however for softening the defenders right before the storm.

Well that's the theory, but in practice when Airships come along the AI generally has a mix of Grenadiers, Musket and Longbows defending their cities. Unless the AI has 4 or more garrisonned Grenadiers then you're going to hit the same unit more than once.

 

[strijder20]

Well that's the theory, but in practice when Airships come along the AI generally has a mix of Grenadiers, Musket and Longbows defending their cities. Unless the AI has 4 or more garrisonned Grenadiers then you're going to hit the same unit more than once.

Don't forget that the damage cap is at 20%, so you can't damage them for over 20 hitpoints, even if you hit them twice.

 

[oldskald]

I'm surprised at the lack of love for some units here (but each to their own!), but in particular privateers and gunships.

Privateers can basically support themselves and gain gold into the treasury whilst at the same time:

a) getting GG points and xp which can provide a highly promoted destroyer force later on, and

b) focus the AI on repeat builds of triremes/caravels/galleons to send to the slaughter rather than perhaps more productive builds.

Of course, their use is situational - being way back in the race for Chemistry would suggest that your privateers, once built, won't last very long.

As for gunships - well, what are you to do with all those highly promoted cavalry units once they are obsolete? They could be used as an internal police force/last ditch defenders. Or they could be upgraded to gunships, collected into a nice big stack, and sent to cause utter mayhem behind enemy lines. Their excellent movement can have them popping up all over the enemy's vital resources and getting out again, and their xp level (often level 5 or 6 if you were busy with your cavalry) can make them a real handful for enemy defenders. They also have the real potential benefit of focussing the AI on them rather than main invasion forces, or even paralyse an AI response. Not being a multiplayer kind of guy I don't know how folks there feel about them, but I can imagine that I personally would feel very uncomfortable about having a stack of gunships rampaging around my resources and lines of communication.

However, to get back to the more general point, I don't think there are any units I have never used. I would tend to skip grenadiers, but then again if I was at tech parity with Churchill I might think again. Of course, there is the argument of just building more siege - but siege won't actually take Churchill's cities, so I need some infantry types and grens would fit the bill against redcoats. It's all situational...

 

[Choggy]

Don't forget that the damage cap is at 20%, so you can't damage them for over 20 hitpoints, even if you hit them twice.

Very true.

I'm not sure the AI automatically heals units that are garrisonned in a city and are damaged from the previous turn by air units. I'm playing a game at the moment where I've been pounding away at garrisonned cities with Airships and the following turn they're still not fully healed. This isn't an isolated incident, it's happened in a few games I've played.

 

[2metraninja]

Maybe they move around for some reason. Moved units dont heal the same turn.

 

[uat2d]

I never build Ironclads. Others I always ignore are SAMs, Anti-tanks and Carriers.

 

[GGracchus]

SAM Inf, Anti-tanks, swords, grenadiers, mobile artillery, stealth bombers, ironclads, and ships of the line.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Maybe they move around for some reason. Moved units dont heal the same turn.

Some AI script units will move and others won't. Unless there's a risk of being shot down you might as well bombard some dudes (especially out of cities/forts) unless you have a better alternative that turn.

Gunships are great but generally late in the game to be game-changing. You could just build nukes instead, and cavalry take nuked cities pretty well!

 

[oldskald]

Gunships are great but generally late in the game to be game-changing. You could just build nukes instead, and cavalry take nuked cities pretty well!

Absolutely, and that is a totally valid strategy. I wouldn't really say anything in the modern era is game changing except nukes. Personally, though, I prefer playing without nukes - I like fighting conventional modern wars. In which case gunships make a very useful addition to the armoury. I was really reacting to the general thrust of "gunships suck" that I saw in some parts of this thread...

 

[2metraninja]

Yeah, using nukes against the AIs might be nice, but In many MP games I have been the people usually prefer to not open the Pandora's box aka Manhattan Project. Even if you nuke your opponents, they will strike back and then no one knows what can happen In MP nukes are the weapons of the poor - when they see no other way, they will try with nukes.

 

[s.bernbaum]

Absolutely, and that is a totally valid strategy. I wouldn't really say anything in the modern era is game changing except nukes. Personally, though, I prefer playing without nukes - I like fighting conventional modern wars. In which case gunships make a very useful addition to the armoury. I was really reacting to the general thrust of "gunships suck" that I saw in some parts of this thread...

I completely agree with oldskald. I nearly always ban nukes via the UN in my games that last until then (which is most, by my intent - I like the modern era). I am considering modding them out.

 

[JBryan314]

Yeah, using nukes against the AIs might be nice, but In many MP games I have been the people usually prefer to not open the Pandora's box aka Manhattan Project. Even if you nuke your opponents, they will strike back and then no one knows what can happen In MP nukes are the weapons of the poor - when they see no other way, they will try with nukes.

Sounds like North Korea and Iran. Lol.

I see a lot of people don't use privateers, but I have a lot of fun with them. Going around like pirates and pillaging and irritating other civs. I like it.

 

[sydhe]

Privateers can pick up quite a few general points, but you have to use them in groups.

I hardly ever build antitanks and musketmen, and have never built a nuke. In fact, I usually get the UN so I can vote them into nonexistence. I'll occasionally build an ironclad to eliminate my neighbor's caravels.

 

[r_rolo1]

Ironclads are somewhat more useful in 3.19, because they are a decent unit to use the patrol function ( basically the AI frigates can't resist a seafood that has no unit directly in top of it and that basically nullifies the ironclad disadvantages ).

On units I skip ... well, as I have almost 8 years of Civ IV in top, I am sure I've built all the avaliable units at least once. But I have admit I make very little of :

- Explorers
- SotL
- BtS Grenadiers
- Anti-tank
- SAM + Mobile SAM ( especially if I have MGs and mechs )
- Spears ( only the really basic anti mounted token unit )
- Ironclads

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Yeah, using nukes against the AIs might be nice, but In many MP games I have been the people usually prefer to not open the Pandora's box aka Manhattan Project. Even if you nuke your opponents, they will strike back and then no one knows what can happen In MP nukes are the weapons of the poor - when they see no other way, they will try with nukes.

It depends whether you can get them enough turns ahead of the opposition.

If you get 10-15 turns of building nukes when they can't, it's game over unless they've settled ON uranium...and even then retaliation against a civ that's nailed your best production centers isn't probable.

 

[AlternateIdent]

Grenadiers for me. Also anti tanks and ships of the line

I am the exact same way, although I often skip a navy all together, until I want to unload Modern Armor on a civ researching Horseback Riding

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Ironclads are somewhat more useful in 3.19, because they are a decent unit to use the patrol function ( basically the AI frigates can't resist a seafood that has no unit directly in top of it and that basically nullifies the ironclad disadvantages ).

On units I skip ... well, as I have almost 8 years of Civ IV in top, I am sure I've built all the avaliable units at least once. But I have admit I make very little of :

- Explorers
- SotL
- BtS Grenadiers
- Anti-tank
- SAM + Mobile SAM ( especially if I have MGs and mechs )
- Spears ( only the really basic anti mounted token unit )
- Ironclads

Spears are better when people do more dedicated 2move crap.

SAM are excellent when fighting a bit behind as they do own gunships and with intercept II have MUCH better odds of intercepting/shooting down enemy air power than machine guns (with a 70% chance, a decent stack of them can be RATHER obnoxious to bombard). Anti-tanks are marginal but they upgrade with the ambush promo and DO offer some stack D vs tanks if you're behind.

BTS grenadiers kind of suck on ancient starts, but TEAR the AI a new one on industrial lol. SOTL is too slow and out of the way to make serious usage usually.

I don't use a lot of explorers either though I build them now and then as super medics or as caravel drops if I forgot/lost a scout earlier.

 

[Ataxerxes]

I usually build one Explorer or two for Supermedic. Unless I'm Zulu or Aztec.

Haven't build a Ship of the Line. Think I built an Ironclad once. It's good for patrol but so slow.

You're missing out on Chariots. If I have horses I almost always build Chariots. My favorite rushing or patrolling unit.

Swords are rare. They come after Axes, the AI usually have Axes and the Swords do very little.

Stealth Destroyers I've never found a use for although I love regular Destroyers.

Haven't built anti-tank, SAM or guided missiles (I prefer units that stay with me). Although I think I'm just prejudiced against guided missiles.