When do you use Musketmen?

[duende29]

I only mass them as Ethiopia, and not even to attack with them, but to upgrade 'em to +Drill2 Rifles

Drill3 Rifles? O bby!

 

[Navarre]

I play on Marathon to make the lifespan of units longer, and musketmen are really cool once you're used to them. No counter, no promotion against them : if you get them soon enough, your opponent can only rely on knights to stop them until Military Science hits the scene. If he doesn't have horses, he's screwed. And even with knights, you just throw in some pikemen and give your musketmen Combat II and the promotion versus mounted units, and you can take empires down before MS changes the odds.

I've even found a use to Musketeers, which I tought to be the worst UU of the game : a stack of 4 running in your enemy's empire and camping on the horses resources will prevent him from getting knights, and they will defeat pretty much anything else attacking them, unless your enemy is ready to sacrifice a lot of troops to take your cheap Musketeers out. Besides, if you fight far away from home, they're good reinforcements and garnison troops for all your conquered cities.

BTW, another advantage : musketmen are resourceless. And if like me you're doomed to always lack 2 resources out of 3, that's really cool.

 

[King Flevance]

And even with knights, you just throw in some pikemen and give your musketmen Combat II and the promotion versus mounted units, and you can take empires down before MS changes the odds.

This is the tactic we are using in a hotseat team game I have going on. Combat 2 muskets with anti-mount promotions will give you around a 76% chance of victory vs. knights. And it only takes 1-2 kills at those odds to get combat 3.

I've even found a use to Muskeeters, which I tought to be the worst UU of the game : a stack of 4 running in your enemy's empire and camping on the horses resources will prevent him from getting knights, and they will defeat pretty much anything else attacking them, unless your enemy is ready to sacrifice a lot of troops to take your cheap Muskeeters out.

That's a nice tactic. I may have to remember that when I get to play the french next.

 

[AfterShafter]

Muskets with strength of 9 are wimps. I've modified the musket class of units to 10 strength and use them. I also build Pikes to help protect them from horse (as is historical until bayonets were invented).

To partially compensate for the strength increase, Grenadiers also get a slight attack bonus vs. Muskets.

I think at 10 strength you need to protect horse from musketmen

 

[Bushface]

I never train Musketmen: playing as I do at Normal speed, their functional span is short, and I find Longbowmen sufficient as defenders.
But why aren't Musketeers mentined in the poll ? They make a useful attack unit with their movement of 2.

 

[Navarre]

Combat 2 muskets with anti-mount promotions will give you around a 76% chance of victory vs. knights. And it only takes 1-2 kills at those odds to get combat 3.

And they're cheap to promote to riflemen. Riflemen with Combat II or III and promotion against mounted units makes you pretty immune to cavalry for the next age.

That's a nice tactic. I may have to remember that when I get to play the french next.

Here's another : send some spies with them or just before to revolt cities while you're attacking, and skip the siege units. You'll have SoD with 2 Movement able to defend the conquered cities. Conquer a city, heal while new Musketeers arrive, rinse and repeat. Running Theocracy and Vassalage, your enemy only having macemen or longbows to defend, you'll cut in an empire like a hot knife in butter with very few casualties on your side.

 

[Cabay Jet]

I build musketmen only when my enemy has Combat 2+Shock promoted knights running around that chew up my pikemen like there's no tomorrow to detract from their +25% melee bonus.

 

[Reggie]

I only play Marathon, but even then i find Musket's to short lived to be worth build. So i build just one while i am Teching for Rifleing. Usually Gunpowder comes after the first major War, in the Phase where i get my Economy back on track and build the new Citys up, and get the latest buildings in my core Citys...

 

[Cytral]

I build them on any other speed then quick.
and I usualy beeline for assembly and then rifling

 

[jimbob27]

I use them all the time. I play marathon, so they have a big period of usefullness.

I think the thing people are forgetting, is although they're not the most powerful unit..... you get them at a time when your economy is well developed enough to do some serious city-taking.

During earlier eras, expansion is usually slowed by your economy, however by the time musketmen are available your economy should be sufficiently developed to take a lot of AI cities.

You basically have a trade-off. Attack with weaker musket units as soon as your economy is able to support lots of cities....... or wait, and let your economy stifle a bit, whilst you're teching towards cavalry, grenadiers or rifles.

 

[Llacheu]

I once built a number of musketmen for one very good reason : I got the quest for it, and got a Golden Age as a reward for owning the Taj Mahal

 

[Cytral]

?

doesn't the Taj give you an golden age?

 

[LemonJello]

I build muskets if I'm in deep poo and need a unit to beat back an invasion or some city defenders on the borders. Otherwise, I keep using maces/longbows/pikes until rifling and then the troops start getting churned out.

So, really, they're a unit of last resort/desperation for me.

 

[Llacheu]

?

doesn't the Taj give you an golden age?

You got the Golden Age once the Taj MAhal is done, yes.

But if you then get the quest to build the musketmen, and complete that quest, you get a new Golden Age (other rewards for the quest are a lumpsum of gold if you are under the vassality civic, or all musketmen get the promotion vs gunpowdre unit)

 

[Stolen Rutters]

I use muskets when I beeline to Liberalism and need a military advantage quick. Gunpowder as the free tech helps helps me jump ahead when everyone else is piling on the ranged units, or anti-mounted units, and I need something to counter before cuirassiers and rifling.

 

[Draknith]

I will generally build three right away, and name them character names for my "three musketeers." After that though, I'll build a few divisions (three units) of muskets just to suppliment my pre gunpowder army.

 

[MrCynical]

I rarely use muskets, except maybe as emergency city defenders. They don't seem to have a significant edge over the maceman/pikemen/crossbowmen era units, and they lack any specialised role to excel in. Even in marathon mode, Rifling is generally on the horizon, so I'll wait for that. I prefer to be building city raider maces while I still can, and then upgrade them, than muskets which can't get CR.

 

[Ormur]

I've never really used them. I tend not to go to war at the time that they are available so I only build them as a defensive unit for new cities before the rifleman becomes available, that is to say not very often.

 

[Gypsy1220]

Like was said by llacheu, I only build muskets when I get the quest-I always beeline for rifling/assemby line for infantry so even on marathon they are not useful for a long enough period...plus they come at a time when I generally have lots of other options to build in my cities (financial & lightbulb buildings)

 

[KMadCandy]

i only make them if i'm zara or if i get the 8 muskets quest. mehmed if i have a big tech lead.

You got the Golden Age once the Taj Mahal is done, yes.

But if you then get the quest to build the musketmen, and complete that quest, you get a new Golden Age (other rewards for the quest are a lumpsum of gold if you are under the vassality civic, or all musketmen get the promotion vs gunpowdre unit)

i was building Taj, and while making it i got that Guns and Butter quest. i made first to finish Taj first, and then pumped out 8 muskets during that golden age which got me a free second GA .

the silly thing was that beforehand, i got a random event called Smokeless Powder which already gives all musketmen free pinch. i think i got it like 5 turns after learning gunpowder, hadn't made anything requiring it yet. and i wasn't in vassalage. so if i didn't have Taj, none of the options would have done a darn thing for me .