What's your opinion of the Peltast??

[cracker]

The peltast unit in Gotm21 represented a new and unique implementation of unit abilities.

By adding a 1 shot zero bombardment ability to the Peltast this effectively gave them 1 extra free shot at a strength of two whenever they where stacked with other units. It did not make then virtually undefeatable in many terrain situations as with the hoplite but perhaps it added some interest to the games.

Firaxis has not yet implemented any units with this ability combination but it seems that this is an ideal special unit ability that can help the AI compensate for its virtual lack of brain function to recognize special case strategic advantages.

What was you opinion of the Peltast as implemented in Gotm21 and how would you recommend that these unit abilities be used in future games or potentially implemented in the Civ3 Conquests expansion pack??

Choose the option in the pool that most closely matches how you feel even if there is no option that perfectly summarizes your comments.

 

[Sailorstick]

Just bumping the thread because no-one was able to use it when it was locked and people might not realise that they can actually vote now

 

[AlanH]

I mostly saw them as defenders, either in open ground or in cities. In that role they would consistently knock one hit point off my attacker with their bombard, even if they were not the strongest defender in the city. This meant it was not a great idea to attack with a 3 hp unit, but with healthy vet or elite knights I was able to take them on and win most times.

I avoided letting them attack me, as I quickly found that they could kill a hoplite or any lesser unit pretty consistently.

So I suppose the impact on my game was that they encouraged me to go to knights asap, and they further reduced my interest in hoplites. I tend not to build early defensive units much anyway, and actually only built hoplites in any quantity shortly before I reached Nationalism, as cheap wannabe rifles/infantry with SunTzu and Leo's to make upgrades easy and cheap. By that time the Minoans were ancient history.

 

[Takeo]

i enjoyed fighting against the peltast, it was a nice change. it would be interesting to add this bombard ability to the archer and longbow units.

 

[LKendter]

The Peltast hurt my game big time. I found an undocumented feature in that they had a zone of control. That may them stronger then I expected, as was a contributing factor in having to stop my first war with them. I think I could have hit the best date for 100K victory without the ZoC. If I had known this, I would have built a larger force before starting the war.

 

[rabies]

I am right there with LKendter. I knew it had zone of control, but I severly underestimated its capabilities. They were much stronger than I expected and it forced me to declare peace. Had I known know what I didn't then, I would have hit the Ottomans or even Germany much earlier and probably would have had my second core up sooner.

 

[TriviAl]

I rather liked the Peltast, would like to try the Minoans for an SP game. I underestimated them and my force of knights wasn't quite large enough - I bogged down in their mountains for many years - Think they were nastier, given the terrain they were in.

It would be an interesting ability to add to other units, although I think it would be too powerful at full strength for many units - Longbows, for example, should have a str bombard 2 attack rather than 4.

 

[Sir Bugsy]

Since this was my first GOTM and first Monarch game, I didn't pick a fight with the Minoans until I had Calvary. Mostly I watched them march through my area and fight the Germans.

 

[civ_steve]

I never saw the Peltast in action as an offensive unit, or in conjunction with offensive units. The big defensive stack of them in Knossos slowed my conquest of the Minoans down, but that was the only impact.

I think there are more interesting ways to use them, and it does add another dimension to the units in the game, but the Minoans in my game did not really press any advantages they might have had. (And then ... it was tooooo late!)

 

[Smirk]

I liked the unit in of itself, but the ZoC and bombard don't help the AI at all since it doesn't know how to use them.

For the most part in the gotm I just put my hoplite or swordman there in the way and waited for the pelt to attack. I took out a lot more of them this way. But my initial conquest was stalled, I went in with about 20 macers and took about 4 of his cities before I ran out of steam. Once I got knights they didn't fare too well.

Unrelated to any historical basis a 1/2 bombarding unit that is for defense only would be a much better balance, and the AI would use them where they are most effective with little thought.

 

[Yndy]

I think the Petalast is a very good unit for the AI. It has sufficient offensive capabilities to keep an eye on them and has a good defense in stacks. ZoC also increased defense as I often bypass AI units to go for my objective.

I estimated the power of the unit and consequently did not attack the Minoans before Cavalry. Actually, they attacked early but I only kept a defensive position in the first war.

 

[Norlamand]

I never went to war with the Minoans so I never had an opportunity to test the unit. The minoans were my allies in my conquest of the Germans and Russians. They didn't seem particularly effective as offensive units. The Minoans took only one town while I gobbled up all of Germany. I found them usefull because they siphoned off much of the German and Russia offense towards me. I guess in that they were quite effective as defensive units.

 

[sourboy]

Individually they were a non-issue, in stacks - they slaughtered my troops. This made me wait a few dozen turns before launching an assault on the Minoans due to the fear of stacked Peltasts in their cities. Luckily they never had more then 2 in a city, so I cut through them rather easily with my 20 cavalry per city attack...

 

[OneFastWarrior]

I took them out mostly with swords then eventually finished them off with knights, but it took 2 wars to do this. the 1st war was mostly border skirmishes.

 

[Karasu]

They were nice, I especially liked the bombard ability.

I didn't want to credit them as 'strong' units, and it's true that I ended up trashing the Minoans quite effectively.
But at the beginning they DID manage to kill a lot of Greek veteran units, esp. Swordies and Hoplites...

 

[IbnSina]

I was slow - waited until I was out of despotism to start a war, and maybe I got lucky with the RNG. In any case, the peltasts couldn't touch my hoplites, and my swords were pretty effective against them. Thus, they just seemed isomorphic to babylonian bowmen to my mind. Fun to watch, though.

 

[keiselhorn]

In my GOTM21, the Peltast didnt show up any of their features, such as Bombard and Army Carryover.

The idea and the intention were really nice, but they didnt make the slightest difference in my game. I was kicking them as if they were Spearmen.

And I even can't affirm that it was a mistake of the AI configuration, since the Minoans built considerable quantities of Peltasts in my game (Open).