Unique Units

[Spiffor]

HAR HAR HAR.

[Spiffor]

More seriously, for the Mali, you could think of a specific feudal pikemen unit that fights better on hostile terrain. Or you can think of a unique feudal unit that integrates combined arms (The Battle of Kirina, from which the Mali empire was created, made full use of combined arms).

I don't think that knights are a good UU for the Mali, because they weren't that pervasive in the Malian tactics, and because there are way too many knight UUs already.

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Spiffor
I don't think that knights are a good UU for the Mali, because they weren't that pervasive in the Malian tactics, and because there are way too many knight UUs already.

Really? I'm certainly no expert, but from what my history books say, the Mali military was, like the Songhaian, based on imported horses to a large degree.

[Spiffor]

Well, the cavalry was probalby the most modern weaponry, but the tactics seemed to largely use archers and pikemen. At least, if the epics of Sundjatta (The Malian conqueror who created the empire in the first place) is to be believed. I have no knowledge of further wars fought by the Mali, and I have absolutely no idea as to how the Songhay fought.

[Last Conformist]

The core of the Songhaian army was cavalrymen mounted on steeds imported from Maghreb; the Empire made a point of controling the horse trade.

Songhai, incidentally, has the distinction of being the only large empire toppled by Moroccans; their cavalry was not much use against the Moroccan musketeers.

[Barinthus]

Re: Re: Unique Units

Originally posted by Xorbon
Some other ideas?

English: Redcoat (musket or rifleman replacement) or (Welsh) Longbows
Indians: (Nepalese) Gurkhas(?)
Malinese: Emperor's Guard/Escort(???) (based on the soldiers that accompanied Mansa Musa to Mecca)

...and you forgot

Greeks: Hoplite/Phalanx

Tsk! For England - i propose the Scottish fighting man - their empire was built on Scottish blood, aye!

[Kuciwalker]

They should make the Mali UU the Impi. And then rename the Mali to the Zulu

[Tattila the Hun]

F**** Soccer Hooligan for the english modern unit.

[Paddy]

would win a few battles against a main battle tank

[binTravkin]

Indians: Not War Elephants, I don't think. Any ideas?

How bout a "Sikh Warrior"?

(the sikh were elite warriors in Deli sultanate and later Mughal Empire IIRC and they're well known thru history for their high skills and usage of weird weapons. "Chakra" is one example - the ring with gilette-sharp outer rim.)

Russians: Cossack? MiG? Strelets? Boyar?

Boyar is not a warrior, but a name of social group. Kinda "knight" in medieval Europe.

Strelets's were only a mass of cannonfodder.

MiG was good indeed, but not so good to be on level with F15, also there's a tendency to not have "special" units of exactly the same kind for 2 nations.

T-34 would qualify almost as good as German Panzer, but as Panzer is more recongisable, I think we can forget about it.

Cossacks are a good thought, but they didn't achieve so much than most of the other unique units.

Remember that USSR's mobile nuke platform?
I've never seen U.S. had something similar and even if it did, it did not have so many ways of application.
In the Kuwait War at 1991 iraqis used them IIRC (or at least tried) for SCUD missile launching (not nuclear though).

Also, returning to the topic of aircraft, there were several good models by USSR in WW2, like IL-2 (recognisable for it's wast anti-tank ability and simple-and-easy-to-maintain design.).

[Terra Nullius]

Originally posted by Tattila the Hun
F**** Soccer Hooligan for the english modern unit.

special ability: upgrades from swordsman to med inf to sas
do we get sean connery as a great leader??

Originally posted by binTravkin
How bout a "Sikh Warrior"?

Russians: Cossack? MiG? Strelets? Boyar?

no!... the c.c.c.p.a!!!

*lebensraum scales new heights of lameness

[Alexander I]

A Russian mobile nuke platform would be really cool. Haven't seen anything like that in a civ game before.

[binTravkin]

Yes and that would also be able to launch conventional missiles before nukes and also it would be quite of an all-terrain vehicle (jungle? no problem!).

[akulla]

Sweet.

[sophist]

"Sikh Warrior" isn't really sensible as a unit, as there weren't specific units of Sikhs trained in some Sikh-specific fashion. The Sikhs have a long and distinguished martial history, but that's not the same thing.