Zulu Strat: Stockpile Impi?

[Jerrymander]

Chariots can't get city raider.

--- <- statement he made
O <- your head

 

[CHEESE!]

Chariots WITH city raider. He is saying they are synonomous with each other.

However i dont agree. Chariots dont get free mobility!

 

[Gwynnja]

Chariots WITH city raider. He is saying they are synonomous with each other.

However i dont agree. Chariots dont get free mobility!

Chariots also don't pwn other chariots

 

[Jerrymander]

But they do pwn axemen, when they attack.

 

[Lord Chambers]

Chariots can't get city raider.

Is it deliberate?

 

[URSExelcior]

Why would you want Impis instead of Axemen?

 

[Virtual Alex]

They move 2 and have mobility?

 

[URSExelcior]

They move 2 and have mobility?

True, but Axemen have 5 compared to the Impi's 4, and 1 makes all the difference in early game wars.

Having one or two Impi's around for anti-mounted/pillaging is handy, but the bulk of my army will still be composed of Axemen.

 

[Monsterzuma]

The real power of the zulu is in their starting techs: hunting for the scout, agriculture for early improvements without delay. Combine the two for quicker AH teching.

Impi's are nice armed scouts that can capture workers. Good, but no substitute for axemen, IMO. All you get from the extra movement points is a flat number of turns you get to the enemies' cities earlier. The problem with saying that impi are equivalent to chariots is that they are 10 hammers each more expensive to build. That's 1.4 times as hammer-expensive.

Another thing: axeman versus archer in a 20% city on flatlands has a chance above 50% to win. The 50% mark is a huge combat efficiency treshold (both you need 1 less hit to kill, and you can survive 1 more hit), so the effect of the small increase in strength is at it's most impactful.

 

[D_almighty]

True, but Axemen have 5 compared to the Impi's 4, and 1 makes all the difference in early game wars.

Having one or two Impi's around for anti-mounted/pillaging is handy, but the bulk of my army will still be composed of Axemen.

I can't speak for the higher difficulties, but on Monarch at least I have won a 450 BC conquest victory using only Impi. Chop out fast-moving army, attack and capture several high population cities, whip those cities for more fast-moving troops, repeat.