Upgrade obsolete troops or build anew?

[Bostock]

Seriously, a mediocre production city popping out marines in 1 turn? That's crap. AI bonuses are silly.

"I hate it when I give the AI bonuses and then it turns around and makes use of them. How dare it!"

 

[LucyDuke]

Under most circumstances, it seems like I can just replace and eventually disband obsolete troops, since the gold cost of upgrading them is far more than the hammer cost of building a new one. Am I missing something?

Except for long stretches of peace, I almost never disband troops. Even really crappy ones make fine suicide attackers.

 

[drlake]

Except for long stretches of peace, I almost never disband troops. Even really crappy ones make fine suicide attackers.

That seems like it could be counterproductive, since it gives the opponent troop experience for minimal gain. I suppose as long as the enemy unit gets killed by later attacks it wouldn't matter, but I don't see why I would want to make low odds attacks like that.

 

[Sincro]

If I am strapped for gold per turn, my usefully promoted units will be kept for future upgrading, while all the rest will be sacrificed, usually right down to what's necessary for happy caps. The exception is leftover siege, which I never destroy for any reason. Leftover mounted units are nearly in the same category for me.

If I am not strapped for gold per turn, I keep all those leftovers and position them to move in after I have taken cities to prevent revolts.

 

[LucyDuke]

That seems like it could be counterproductive, since it gives the opponent troop experience for minimal gain. I suppose as long as the enemy unit gets killed by later attacks it wouldn't matter, but I don't see why I would want to make low odds attacks like that.

I only use them in big stacks where I'm confident I'll be able to kill off the target in the same turn. Otherwise, I totally agree with you.