Why upgrade cost 0 for GG settled Warrior?

[gavenkoa]

Why did upgrade cost 0 for GG settled Warrior?

I had Warrior with Woodsman 2, settled GG for Woodsman 3 and after discovery of Iron Working I see I can upgrade that unit for free to Axman and doing that cost me 0 and all promotions were kept.

I saw here https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Upgrade_(Civ4) that GG progress won't be lost during unit upgrade:

• it has its current experience decreased to 10, if it has more than that (exception: not if it has a merged Great General)

Originally I decided to upgrade Warrior to get two Medic promotions to Woodsman.

I am using v1.2 BULL dll.

 

[gavenkoa]

Oh, I've read provided article more carefully:

https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Upgrade_(Civ4)

Upgrading a unit with a merged Great General is always free.

Are there any special strategies around this?

 

[drewisfat]

Not that I know of, besides that early wars can give you a couple free units for later wars.

Unfortunately it's usually NOT worth it to take the free upgrade on supermedics, because the whole idea is you don't want those to get attacked.

 

[6K Man]

Yes. As Drew said, don’t upgrade super medic units.

The last thing you want is for your medic to be fighting (unless it’s a 99.9% battle, mopping up) in case you lose it and the attached General. Your W3 Axeman might end up defending if your stack is on a Forest or Jungle.

Otherwise - be careful about upgrading 2 move units (like Impis) to 1 move units. A 2 move healer is more important (can travel with your mounted stack) than a slightly stronger healer.

And if you start with an early GG and upgrade a General-led unit across unit categories (e.g. Mounted to Armor or Helicopter, or Melee to Gunpowder), you can get units with promotions that aren’t normally available to them.

 

[Tobiyogi]

In my experience Super medic chariots are great as they already have 2 moves and it's very unlikely they must defend. Besides that they can help clearing up a stack and still collect more EPs. So with more EP, I would give them +1 move so they can travel with mounted units and still pillage or destroy strategic roads/resources. Also love the +100% EXP from combat that is only available to GG and that is often my first choice for a GG other than the medic.

 

[Centimus]

And if you start with an early GG and upgrade a General-led unit across unit categories (e.g. Mounted to Armor or Helicopter, or Melee to Gunpowder), you can get units with promotions that aren’t normally available to them.

Sure. I'd just like to add that "orinary" units also keep promotions that are unavailable to their future counterparts. My favorite is to upgrade experienced Berserkers to Mech Infs, as the former unit starts with Amphibious and also has access to CR...

 

[Fippy]

I always disagreed with not upgrading super medics
Units with +1mp (compared to main stacks) are great for taking out weak roamers, or as backup if a city attack could get close.
Since they have only 1 combat promo, you can always have stronger units with them.
For some reason peoples often sound like the world ends in the rare case that one gets attacked ~~

 

[gavenkoa]

So with more EP, I would give them +1 move so they can travel with mounted units and still pillage or destroy strategic roads/resources

Great tip!

I tent to use mounted units for their +1 move too. But I like to keep one with Sentry (which requires extra Flanking 1) for +1 visibility range. Although Sentry may look redundant with +1 movement... but after Medic 3 I see no useful promosions for mounted Medic... expect now suggested extra +1 move ))

 

[gavenkoa]

Units with +1mp (compared to main stacks) are great for taking out weak roamers

I though about upgrading to upper threshold for Medic to attack stack for extra experience. Medic Warrior with 2STR has good (99%) odds only if say opponent STR is 2/1.8 ~= 1.1STR. For later game with units of 6/8/12/15 STR it's near the dead unit with 5-10% of health... Siege units lower heals up to 25%/15%. Not in a lower 5% range...

https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Collateral_damage_(Civ4)

 

[gavenkoa]

Units with +1mp (compared to main stacks) are great for taking out weak roamers

Good point. It is not a problem to carry attack against a stack when your units stay all in a stack but the last kill means you expose your moved unit to be killed or you should weaken half healthy stack to protect it.

 

[rah]

If I lose a few GG no biggie. I'll make a few for city busting with CR3 and give them movement so they can move with your mounted. I very rarely settle them since I'm likely to take an enemy cap that already has a few settled there. You don't need more than 4-5 medics and you can afford to lose one or two. I'd rather have stronger troops. You never know when you're going to need that one more unit to finish off a city or a stack. You can take some care if you're moving into a situation where you're going to be attacked.

 

[zoiks]

Sure. I'd just like to add that "orinary" units also keep promotions that are unavailable to their future counterparts. My favorite is to upgrade experienced Berserkers to Mech Infs, as the former unit starts with Amphibious and also has access to CR...

Upgrading CR swords and heavy footmen to riflemen is ridiculously overpowered. I usually beeline to rifling and hope that one or two AIs haven't got gunpowder for a walkover. They don't seem to prioritise it.

 

[gavenkoa]

I very rarely settle them since I'm likely to take an enemy cap that already has a few settled there.

Heroic Epic city deserves GG. Also each settled GG produce +3 bpt with Representation + science multipliers.

 

[rah]

Maybe one, but not more. If you've got 20 cities cranking troops that HE city only represents 10 percent of your troops so I don't worry about settling too many. Having those 4 double move CR3 rifles (and one strong defender) moving with my Cav is more important.

 

[gavenkoa]

Having those 4 double move CR3 rifles (and one strong defender) moving with my Cav is more important.

Please explain what is Cav (https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Cavalry_(Civ4) ??) and who can be strong defender (with 2 moves too??)?

 

[rah]

Cav=Cavalry My two move strong defender is a melee unit that I've attached a GG to and gets freely promoted up the ranks. Go up the combat route till you can get march and he turns into a reliable defender. (and of course movement)