What is your most feared Unique Unit?

[Rambuchan]

OK this has been done before I know but it's always good fun and there hasn't been one for a while ( I checked the pages of Gen Disc and Strats Forums). It's always a hard one to answer and there are always great stories to be told.

Further I would like to highlight two things:

1) It seems certain UUs are fashionable at certain times. It'd be interesting to see how things have developed. For eg. I've recently found the Indian WE to be quite mighty (see 2) whereas I didn't have this opinion before.

2) In the tradition of Ision's reviews, certain UUs lend themselves well to the trait combo of a civ, what Ision refers to as their trait synergy. Eg. India's trait synergy amounts to a peaceful builder, their UU requires no resources. This means no need for early war to gain resources which enhances their infrastructure to war more effectively with their UU when they do. This is a good UU to trait combo synergy.

What revelations do you have about UUs that have altered your previous views? Do you follow the 'wipe them out before they get their UU' school of thought or do you manipulate them? Eg. I like to keep Byzantium in the game as when you sign them into an alliance their navy effectively becomes yours to hire and you don't have to build as many ships.

Also I've left out perrenial losers in these polls like the F15, the Carrack, Chasqui Scout. These can't be feared but do protest if you need to.
So without further ado - What is your most feared Unique Unit?

Chinese Rider
Class:Knight Shield Cost:70 Stats:4/3/3 Requires: Horses, Iron
Japanese Samurai
Class:Knight Shield Cost:70 Stats: 4/4/2 Req: Iron
Indian War Elephant
Class: Knight SC: 70 Stats: 4/3/2 + Extra HP! Req: Nada!
Aztec Jaguar Warrior
Class: Warrior SC: 15 Stats: 1/1/2 Req: Not a thing!
Iroquois Mounted Warrior
Class: Horseman SC: 30 Stats: 3/1/2 Req: Horses
Egyptian War Chariot
Class: Chariot SC: 20 Stats: 2/1/2 Req: Horses
Babylonian Bowman
Class: Archer SC: 20 Stats: 2/(1)2/1 Req: Sweet FA!
Russian Cossack
Class: Cavalry SC: 90 Stats: 6/3/3 Req: Horses, Saltpeter + Blitzes.
Persian Immortal
Class: Swordsman SC: 30 Stats: 4/2/1 Req: Iron
Zulu Impi
Class: Spearman SC: 20 Stats: 1/2/2 Req: Not a smidgen!
English Man-o-War
Class: Frigate SC: 60 Stats: 3/2/4 (3/1/2) Req: Iron, Saltpeter. Enslaves!
Hittite Three-Man Chariot
Class: Chariot SC: 30 Stats: 2/2/2 Req: Horses
Byzantine Dromon
Class: Galley SC: 30 Stats: 2/1/3 (2/1/2) Notes: Lethal Sea Bombardment - alright!!
Sumerian Enkidu Warrior
Class: Warrior SC: 10! Stats: 1/2/1 Req: Diddly Squat!
Mayan Javelin Thrower
Class: Archer SC: 30 Stats: 2/2/1 Notes: Enslave - hmm. Notes: no defensive bombardment.
Dutch Swiss Mercenary
Class: Pikemen SC: 30 Stats: 1/4/1 Req: Says nothing but I think you need Iron
German Panzer
Class: Tank SC: 100 Stats: 16/8/3 Req: Oil, Rubber
Roman Legionary
Class: Swordsman SC: 30 Stats: 3/3/1 Req: Iron
Greek Hoplite
Class: Spearman SC: 20 Stats: 1/3/1 Req: Nothing!
Spanish Conquistador
Class: Explorer SC: 70 Stats: 3/2/2 Req: Horses, all terrain as roads
Mongolian Keshik
Class: Knight SC: 60 Stats: 4/2/2 Req: Horses. Notes: No moutain and hill movement penalty.
Viking Berserker
Class: Longbowmen SC: 70 ouch Stats: 6/2/1 Notes: Amphibious mofos!
Celtic Gallic Swordsman
Class: Swordsman SC: 40 Stats: 3/2/2 Req: Iron
Carthaginian Numidian Mercenary
Class: Spearman SC: 30 Stats: 2/3/1 Req: Nuttin'!
Ottoman Sipahi
Class: Cavalry SC: 100 Stats: 8/3/3 Req: Horses, Saltpeter
Arabian Ansar Warrior
Class: Knight SC: 60 Stats: 4/2/3 Req: Horses, Iron
Korean Hwacha
Class: Cannon SC: 40 Stats: 12/1/1 Req: Saltpeter. Notes: Lethal land bombardment baby!

 

[thetrooper]

I fear those early high attack value UUs: Mounted Warrior, Gallic Swordsman, Roman Legionary, Persian Immortal. Of course they are resource dependent, but the AI seem to get the necessary resources in most games. It's hard to meet these UUs early on when you are grabbing land. If I have to choose one: Immortal.

 

[sabo]

Doesn't the Bowman have an attack of "4"? Or am I thinking of another game

BTW my favorite and most feared by me is the Panzer, they can gobble up small countries in a matter of a couple of turns.

 

[Mordack]

First - Immortal

Close Second - War Elephant

 

[eldar]

You have the cost of the Jag Warrior wrong - it's 15 shields in C3C, which dramatically reduces the effectiveness of the unit.

The UUs I fear most are the defensive ones, because they're the ones I can't avoid. Numdian Mercs or Hoplites make an Archer rush 50% more likely to fail. Swiss Mercs are like Muskets, but earlier, and twice as many.

The worst aspect of defensive UUs is that they will almost certainly kick off the GA of the Civ concerned, meaning you'll end up facing even more!

Hoplites would be most-feared, I guess, because Greece gets to build them from the off, and they're resourceless, and they cost the same as regular Spears.

I seem to have an unusually good record against Numidian Mercs, so they don't bother me as much (the cost factor probably helps).

I've had bad experiences with Swiss Mercs - I either kill the Dutch early, avoid them, or play as them

 

[thetrooper]

Doesn't the Bowman have an attack of "4"?

No - it's "2" for normal games.

 

[Rambuchan]

Yeah I guess I always have an inate fear of the early UUs too. The Immortal certainly comes to mind. Diplomacy is called for once they are in effect. For some reason the hoplites have never been a problem. I've done them with horsemen in numbers and with Egyptian War Chariots with ease. It's a numbers and retreating game with them I reckon.

As for irrational fears, I am always terrified of the Ottomans, Germans and Russians getting their UUs for example. But this fear never seems to be well justified. Russians still get minced as do Germans because they are lagging in tech and/or production by the time they get them. Unfortunately I've never let the Ottomans get to their Siphahi, so strong is my irrational fear of them.

 

[Tomoyo]

Let's see... I fear the Immortal, obviously...

But I also try to avoid attacking Greece or Carthage early on.

 

[MRick]

You got it wrong with the cost of the gallic swordman, it's 40 shields in C3C, it was 50 with PTW, but I think you talk about C3C since you included Hittites, Mayans etc...

I find the immortal the most scarry too... In my last game (everything random Monarch), I started very close to the Persians and I was given the Incas. Hopefully I found Iron Working form a goody hut very early (before Xerxes had it) and I was able to really out-expand the persians, Xerxes had only 4 cities and no way out to iron.

Thanks to Ision's review I knew how to take the best of the Incas, and I built many many cities. And yes the Incas are not so bad and their UU is quite usefull if handled correctly. In the hand of the AI, it's one of the less feared UU, but I managed to explore the whole continent (which revealed to be a Pangea) and get a lot of goody huts and also kill lots of barbarians villages for 25GP.

I kept my 2 elite Chasqui scouts until the very late Middle Age, when I needed to trigger My GA. I juste killed a lonely red-lined Longbow with one of the chasqui scout and I was it !

The Elephants are more scarry now in C3C because of the extra HP.
The Gallic Swordman and the Sipahi also for the biggest combination of attack/speed of their age.

The Panzer should also be feared for the same reason, but usually by the time it's available, Either the game is already lost, or it is OK. If it's ok the Panzer are not such a big problem.

 

[Virote_Considon]

Hmm... my no.1 fear is the Roman Legion

It SAYS 3.3.1, but it means 3.3*.1!!!

Countless times out in the open feilds of the Roman Empire did I sinle out a Legion with my Beserks. Countless times did I watch my whole Beserk army fall against the 'invincible' Roman Leions.

A joint effort of Hopplites, Panzers, Swiss Mercs, etc, I don't care. But another Roman war, and I'll be on the floor cradling myself out of fear.

But, saying that, my 6.3.1 Beserks all died, whilst my 5.3.1 Crusaders survived, so maybe it's the 6*.3.1 Beserks.

Or, just maybe, I can't control the Beserks.

 

[DS_Legionary]

I fear no UU, but if forced to pick the one I'd least like to be up against it would be the Greek Hoplite. They make artillery a necessity, not an option.

 

[Renata]

Berserks, even as badly as the AI use them. They make me modify my game more than any other unit out there.

Renata

 

[MeteorPunch]

Legions. Tough to kill and strong to kill you early. Of course if they don't have Iron... .

 

[Perfection]

The immortal is nasty. They come in and try to pound you down early.

 

[Peepers]

@Renata: I agee that the berserks keep me paranoid (thinking of COTM11 recently). Overall, the immortal is the one unit that threatens to end my game early (the same somewhat applies to the Byzantine dromon), unlike the Numidian merc or hoplite. So Persia would have to be the biggest PITA, and my next choice would be the Vikings.

Also note: under all difficulty levels, the Aztec jag, Sumerian Enkidu, and Greek hoplite are among the extra starting units for the AI. At deity, if I'm not mistaken, Sumeria gets 2 settlers, 3 workers and 12 Enkidu warriors out of the blocks!

EDIT: had a look at this on debug mode...deity Greeks got 4 warriors and 8 hoplite, Aztecs got 4 archer and 8 warrior, and Sumer only got 8 Enkidus-- they got gypped!

 

[AA-battery]

I fear those fast movement UUs, they come in like lightning from across the border and smash your roads and towns! :O

 

[eldar]

I fear those fast movement UUs, they come in like lightning from across the border and smash your roads and towns! :O

Aaaaargh, now I'm reminded of my wholly unexpected GOTM41 nemesis, the Conquistador! Darned things have 6 movement anywhere, anytime, so cities 5 squares away from the border aren't even safe if undefended (as I found out).

 

[catchsomezzz]

For me, it's the Berzerker -- no contest. The Vikings are aggressive and seems to love to sneak attack any non-defended or lightly-defended coastal cities or islands directly.

Since their ships have the extra movement point (or two if they also own the lighthosue). Many times, Viking ships can unexpectedly pop out of nowhere since the previous turn they were out of your line of sight.

This means that once the Vikings can build their UU... I often need to build more defensive units and leave them garrisoned in most, if not all, of my coastal cities... instead of normally leaving most of them undefended.

Note: Stationing bombard units to be able to damage viking ships before they reach shores is, for the most part, useless... if their ship is next to the coastline, chances are, their berzerkers have already amphibiously attacked the city.

Plus at this point in the game, I usually don't have much of navy yet. The few galleys that I do have, have less than 50% chance of sinking their ships, one on one (since water titles also have the 10% defense bonus).

So, any game that I have the Vikings as a close neighbors, I try to marginalize or eliminate them before they get Invention. Otherwise, any war with the Vikings in the middle ages could be costly.

The immortals would be my second pick.

 

[Choffy]

Russian Cossack 6/4/3
Good attack, Good defense, Retreat capability. You can't destroy them and they hurt.

Once, I have seen a stack of 100+ Cossacks (Russia had spent the game in peace building Cossacks ona Pange at Emperor level). I have not been able to stop them, though I have reloaded several times. Even try to burn my own cities, cut roads, leave cities empty to try to split Russian army in several stacks, sold everything to rush build military units...

 

[Scuffer]

Gallic swordsman. That extra movement point makes planning defence so much more complicated, especially so early on. You can have good offensive units pulling big holes in your fledgling empire within only a few turns.
Also agree with Renata, for me beserks means a complete change of strategy and vastly increased unit upkeep costs