Keshik ROCK

[KeiserSose]

OK this board has hekped alot. I'm moving up to the a mid range level after incorporating some new stuff gained from here.

One thing is before, I would wait til I had units I I deemed as attack worthy (Macemen and horse archers for example, sometimes waiting on Calvary).

I've really enjoyed playing with Genghis Khan the alst couple games and getting Keshik ASAP and then sending 3-5 stacked up and taking over any cities other civs put near my borders. No need to build settlers when taking over cities this way is there?

[Simplicity]

Keshik are probably one of the best UUs in the game, I think. Combine that with half-cost barracks for Genghis and he's one nasty opponent in the early game.

Cavalry are insanely powerful. I always rush to get that tech because it means free cities for a while.

[Vynd]

OK, I must be missing something. What is it that makes Keshik significantly better than plain old Horse Archers?

[Arrian]

All terrain costs 1 movement to enter. Jungle/Forest/Hills... don't slow them down at all. They're a real ***** to defend against. I hate them.

I played as Ghengis once... didn't like the traits much. But the UU was a nice toy.

-Arrian

[Vynd]

OK, so I am right that the only difference is that all terrain costs 1 to enter? That's what I remembered from my Mongol game. I was unimpressed then and remain so now. So they're slightly more manueverable. Big deal. I guess that makes it easier to do some pillaging without getting caught and killed. But if your goal is to seek out and kill enemy units and/or capture cities then this special ability makes virtually no difference.

[Arrian]

Indeed, for frontal assaults there are better UUs (the Praetorian comes to mind ).

-Arrian

[KeiserSose]

Well I'm very new to the game, but I've found themt o be very effective and good "quick strikers" in the early stages.

HAve not played using praetorians. They are UU's for what civ?

[Huskerfan]

Caesar - Rome.

[Simplicity]

Praetorians are good. You'd be insane to think otherwise.

But it takes a lot of time to get a Praetorian army to your neighbors. You ever read the book "Forever War"? By the time you get them there, your opponent has had time to build defenses beyond what you had when you built the men. You build a stack, he builds a stack. His stack is bigger because he had extra time while you were moving your pokey Praetorians across the map. Praetorians work best with close neighbors and a surprise attack.

Keshik, on the other hand, can bring the battle to the enemy immediately. They're also very good at getting barbarians outside your borders before they can strike.
Thus, you can build up some promotions pretty easily and keep your improvements secure.

[Arrian]

Str8, as against the 6 of normal swordsmen. Unlike swordsmen, they do not get a 10% bonus to city attack. They require iron, just like swords.

They're awesome (in SP, anyway - a good MPer with access to copper or iron could counter with a bundle of axemen and/or horse archers).

They're slow, it's true, but so are catapults (for siege and stack killing), spearmen (defense vs. horse) and axemen (defense against other melee).

-Arrian

[KeiserSose]

Keshik, on the other hand, can bring the battle to the enemy immediately. They're also very good at getting barbarians outside your borders before they can strike.

THIS is what I like. I can assemble a stack of 3-5 keshik, send them to attack a city while building another to send for reinfordements if I need to and it can still get there in time to make a difference on that current battle.

I also will position a couple keshik between a few of my cities on sentry duty. They can get to either city in case of barbarians or my opponant getting a unit or two through to me. This has enabled me to put more emphasis on building offenseive units (Keshik) and buildings instead of wasting time creating Archers to defend cities. I'm playing easier levels than many I'm sure, but I've gotten by with only a warrior in each city and Keshi roaming around from city to city for defense.

[Blake]

Since I don't think it's been said yet, Keshik's get +1 First Strike. This is a decent combat bonus, not huge, but it'll make a difference.

[Arrian]

Kinda like the Samurai. They get +2 FS?

-Arrian

[fed1943]

Well,if you like Keshik,but don't like Genghis'traits,give a try to Kublai.Just battle quicker than the Keshiks themselves not to get broken.
Best regards,

[Arrian]

I like Kublai's traits even less.

-Arrian