Worst Unique Unit

[qwertz]

Jaguars are way cool. They are only three promotions away from being super medics with forest3medic1. Thats pretty much as good as medic3 and you don't need to burn a great general.

With forest2 they are highly mobile pillagers. And since its a promotion they keep it when they upgrade to maces.

They can be usefull in certan situations, but they are the only UU that has a clear disadvantage over its base unit (except those +5 for preatorians) and that is in often worse than the base unit.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Like everything else, it depends.

My style of play usually ends games before the modern era, so the modern Navy Seal units rarely come into use.

I voted Navy SEAL too. Never used them. Late era normally means space race victory for me.

Jaguar Warriors can also be useful if you're unlucky with resources and need to rush a neighbour. They aren't the strongest UU certainly but Monty has useful traits and a decent UB.

 

[Florian]

I got my Knights destroyed out of my protected stack by these Ballista Elephants. I have a healthy respect for these horse killers.

Sure, every UU shines in just the right situation. But how many games do you have to play as the Khmer before that situation presents itself?

 

[qwertz]

After that I think the Dutch and Portugese UU is pretty week simply because they are naval units.

Ever playde at terra man as portugese? on that map they are so OP, it isn't even fun.

 

[madscientist]

Ever playde at terra man as portugese? on that map they are so OP, it isn't even fun.

Good point on the terra map. I don't play it so I forget it is there.

 

[Philo_Beddoe]

I'd prefer it to be a bit stronger - not just having the resourceless bonus but an actual advantage. So its still a weak UU.

It does have an actual advantage, it gets a base 15% withdrawl chance, that regular knights dont get.

 

[madscientist]

Someone doesn't like Panzers? SOmething wrong with a German Blitzkreig??

Oh, how come Prats are not on the list???

 

[Supr49er]

Sure, every UU shines in just the right situation. But how many games do you have to play as the Khmer before that situation presents itself?

I've only played the Khmer twice and did not get any elephants either time.

But it seems whenever I fight the Khmer, they always have Ballistas.

 

[Pe Ell]

Ballista Elephant. Sure it's a neat ability every once in a million but ivory is so rare they almost never get to see action anyway. Pointless UU imho.

 

[Molybdeus]

The thing about Ballista Elephants is they are actually pretty good if you can manage to get ivory, but if you don't have it you don't lose anything. Meanwhile the Jaguar is decidedly worse than a normal swordsman when they aren't in jungles. You need a lot of XP to qualify for Woodsman III, and it's more likely in the early game that you will be attacking a city with a lightly promoted unit than a heavily promoted one.

Oh, how come Prats are not on the list???

There are only 25 options on polls, so I thought it wise to not include units like Redcoats and Praetorians that shouldn't get any votes anyway.

 

[oyzar]

It does have an actual advantage, it gets a base 15% withdrawl chance, that regular knights dont get.

25% withdraw chance... I voted navy seal cause it replaces a unit that is hardly used in most games anyways...

 

[Porphyrius]

War Chariots and Quetchas are possible candidates???

I'd be very surprised if they get any votes.



Anyway, theres quite a few candidates for me. Keshiks, Ballista Elephants, Carracks and Jaguar all prove quite useless in most situations. However Carracks and Jaguars have a really potent use in the right situation.



The real candidates for me are Bowmen and Phalanxes because they retain non existing practical bonuses on top the normal unit in all situations.
Now the bonus is there in theory it just wont matter cause its practically redundant.

Bowmen gets a small bonus vs melee. In practice normal archers are allready better than warriors anyhow and a bowman still loses to an axe unless it defends with an extra bonus of 20%. It thus has a very limited defensive use vs axe IF one cant get axes himself.

Still, a phalanx is somehow worse. Now one can argue it gets a hefty bonus vs its only counter and thus is the dominant unit in the classical era.
This is theoretical crap again however. In practice a reasonable player that can field phalanxes can and will also field spears. A 3-4 to 1 phalanx/spear group will get virtually no bonus over one with mere axes. And ofcourse the typical counter used by the AI is axes that stand quite nicely even against phalanxes. Conclusion: a bonus with ultra limited scope and practically zero effect.

Therefore, phalanx gets my vote especially considering they stand for the core component of Alexanders invincible at their era armies that were used in the most awsome conquest in history.
Obviously game designers disagree as they nerfed them in BTS. Perhaps i am missing the obvious but i just dont see how str 5 spears are as good as pre nerf redcoats/cossacs. Maybe they thought they are too much a threat to HA. ...

 

[madscientist]

Camel archers are funny units.

If you are missing horses (as in the RPC game) they are useful only to suicide against enemy stacks and try to take out the seige units with flanking damage. Otherwise you build alot and they are obsolete and unupgradable once you get military tradition.

If missing only iron, they can be upgraded to Crussairs and cavalry and pose a serious threat to your opponents.

They are the strongest of the resourceless UUs. A belowe average UU IMHO.

 

[Gooblah]

Ballista Elephants are good only for Multiplayer games, OR if the opponent has a Mounted UU. When they are in play, between Construction and Guilds, most players won't build many. The Horse Archers and Chariots (albeit HAs will be more prevalent) and their replacements can be taken down by 1 or 2 Spears at most, which makes it more hammer-efficient (I believe, can someone correct me on this if I'm wrong) to build Spears instead of BEs.

Also, I'm surprised at how many votes the Jaguar and Fast Worker got. The Jaguar is quite powerful on maps where the fighting is near the equator, and doesn't require special city planning (i.e in consideration of resources) to build. It has defensive bonuses in forests and jungles, and the same strength as a Swordsman. Plus, Monty is Aggressive, which means that it also gets Combat I. With a Barracks, that means it can grab City Raider I, Combat II, Cover, Shock, Pinch, Medic I, or Woodsman II right off the bat. The Fast Worker is the only UU in play for the entire game. It can build improvements faster, which is crucial for quick and efficient troops and cities. It is a solid unit that, when used properly, can change the way a game is played.

 

[duende29]

I think the Landsknecht should be on that list and not excluded. I only find them useful as multi-defense for stacks or cities, because on the offence you will be using Maces, and they both have the same attack against melee without promotions (12) but you need to bring higher base attack units for attacking cities. Plus a Combat 1 Shock Mace wins against a Combat 1 Shock Landsk (14.8 vs 14.1). Good on paper, bad in practice.

Samurai SHOULD be out of that list, since I doubt anyone finds them lacking in any department. People usually rank them among the best UUs.

I voted Jaguar however. I think they should have kept them as a 6 base attack unit like the Gallic, so they'd be cool to have since they'd be resource-less too, not just taking 5h of their cost. And I think the Gallic should have another additional trait, like free strike for example, or Guerrilla 2 (1 prom short of 50% withdraw and 25% hill attack, for the hill cities) to compensate.

And on the 1st page someone said Holkan? WTH? Those guys are cool. Sure they're not the best, but they're anti-archer resource-less spearmen that come at a critical time from very useful techs. And they last till medieval times.

 

[Molybdeus]

The Jaguar is quite powerful on maps where the fighting is near the equator, and doesn't require special city planning (i.e in consideration of resources) to build. It has defensive bonuses in forests and jungles, and the same strength as a Swordsman.

Swordsman is strength 6, Jaguar is strength 5. I think they should lose the free Woodsman and gain 1 Str.

I don't like Landskneckt either, but enough people lionize them that I thought they should be taken out of the running.

 

[King of Town]

G warriors suck hard. At least jaguars can be super medics. Some of these votes are amazing. Who doesn't like a cossack? I like any unit that doesn't need a resource. Nothing like the people you are playihg with pillaging your copper and you still being able to make dog soldiers. Or camel archer for that matter. I played with ballista elephants. I loved them. The AI can go over board with mounted units and those things demolish them out of the stack very quickly. People are surprised by that civ sometimes, I don't know why they are very easy to play with.

 

[KezzSim]

i would have to say the Janissary...
after what happened...
took soooo long to finally get gunpowder....
i Went to war with Mansa Munsa, thinking i could easy capitulate him, he was an epoch or two behind me, and his bowmen + Catapults appeared at my borders.
naturally, i sent a WHOLE Bunch of Janissary's at 'em, thinking my Awesome Gunpowder-ness could totally PWN him. i was very wrong...
IT TOOK 3 JANISSARYS TO KILL ONE CATAPULT, AND AT LEAST TWO FOR AN ARCHER!

at least it was funny, my computer screwed up and one of my units kept shooting the ground instead of the enemy, then one of my janissarys held up his firearm right to the archers nose, fired, and the archer wasn't even scratched...
(i need a new graphics card..)

i lost that game (I stopped playing when it got too weird)

the janissary couldn't of been that great of a unit, didn't they revolt in 1822?

 

[Andvare]

Starting this argument again. Tha Balista War Elephants is the most absolutely useless UU in the game. A stupid ability for a rare unit.

After that I think the Dutch and Portugese UU is pretty week simply because they are naval units.

After the dumb Balista elephant I think the haiwcha which took a serious nerve in BTS. It is essentially a defensive unit now, when you bring it to assault a city it's typically barraging or attacking longbows.

The Dutch UU is marvellous in MP. Just sail around with a couple loaded with attack units, and find your opponents weak spot (humans do tend to defend their cities rather poorly). Make surprise attacks, and cripple your opponent.

But, of course, naval units are heavily dependant on map type. Fantastic on some, useless on others.

 

[The Rook]

Someone voted for the Fast Worker???

Well I suppose even a Ballista Elephant would beat it, although it would have to catch it first...