IGN has ALL the info on ALL the new Civs! UUs, UBs first look at Wang Kon and Mehmed

[Qwertqwert]

Originally posted by monkspider
here is some info on the civs

Zulus
Shaka: Aggressive, Expansive
Impi: replaces spearman, +1movement, reduces movement penalty from terrain by 1.
Ikhanda: replaces barracks, more expensive to build but -20% maintenance.

Shaka takes over Temujin's old traits. Frankly the Impi seems pretty weak, but the Zulus more than make up for it with their incredible UB which is the most powerful of the UBs that we have seen so far IMO. The ikhanda should insure that once again the Zulus will be one of the Civs of choice for warmongers.

What does the -20% maintiance mean? I didn't know barracks had maintiance?

[monkspider]

Barracks will now be essentially cheap courthouses for the Zulus!

[Simplicity]

I like the new civs because they all lead toward interesting strategies. Brennus is going to be strong, as long as you remember to always settle his cities on hills. Always on hills, and your archers can laugh at invaders.

Carthage is going to be a MONSTER though. Numidian cavalry will be able to hold their own against spearmen (+50% vs. melee). With free flanking, they're one promotion away from Navigation 1, which will allow them to move, pillage, move. From barracks cities, it's just one more step to Navigation 2, which lets them move, pillage, move, pillage! Plus the one extra trade route... That's a lot of money... No mercantilism for them.

Once the Vikings get to the water, they become super coastal raiders. (This civ will make it really unfair to play Pangaea maps. :-) )

And the Zulus... well. Their unique building is kind of neat. Less maintenance is okay, if you've already won the game, I guess. I suppose they'll be the only ones who can catch up to Cathage's cavalry...

[Jaybe]

City maintenance, so it's like a mini-courthouse.

[Thedrin]

Originally posted by monkspider
Zulus
Shaka: Aggressive, Expansive
Impi: replaces spearman, +1movement, reduces movement penalty from terrain by 1.
Ikhanda: replaces barracks, more expensive to build but -20% maintenance.

Shaka takes over Temujin's old traits. Frankly the Impi seems pretty weak, but the Zulus more than make up for it with their incredible UB which is the most powerful of the UBs that we have seen so far IMO. The ikhanda should insure that once again the Zulus will be one of the Civs of choice for warmongers.

The Ikhanda replaces the barracks but is more expensive to build.

Say the Ikhanda is 30 production more expensive than the barracks - requiring 90 production to build (that may be a marathon figure) - and that a generic Zulu city is currently bringing in 5 production per turn.

Will the Ikhanda be completed in 9 turns or 18 turns? Is one of the effects of having the aggressive trait negated by having your unique unit replace the barracks?

Put another way, say Julius Caeser has the Organised trait and Augustus does not. Will Julius be able to build the unique building (assuming it replaces the courthouse) faster than Augustus?

[Provost Harrison]

A combination of that and the courthouse in the early game is going to be extremely potent for an expanding civ...

[Arrian]

Carthage replaces the Horse Archer with its own Numidian Cavalry. Though it only has a strength of 5, the Numidian Archer begins with the Flanking I promotion, giving it an extra 10% chance to withdraw from combat. As if that wasn't good enough, the Numidian Cavalry also gets an additional 50% bonus against all melee units.

Note the str5. It's still good, but I don't think it's a total monster.

-Arrian

[Autotropx Sox]

Well, the Zulu were almost always raited as among the worst civs in Civ3.

Yea, amongst new players.

On highly competitive MP games, the Zulu were an extremely tough match for a player to combat even with swordmen because of their ability to quickly invade your territory and set up on a mountain or hill. Against normal spearmen, you always had the time to maneuver yourself to prevent them from setting up on a mountain or hill, but with the 2 movement Impi, you literally could be surprised when they had two Impi on the mountain with your iron.

For the Zulu, the Impi was but one part of its overall strategy which was to expand while your enemy was bogged down fighting fortified Impi and protecting key improvements like iron roads (if they had any) and workers if they absolutely had to keep them out. You forced them to stagnate trying to expel you from their land while you made cities expanding towards theirs; a strategy which I suspect will be a part of the zulu strategy for Warlords.

Once again, with the Zulu, it is not about their UU totally owning you and destroying all your cities and units, but, it is slowing you down and forcing you away from your strategy while they expand and beat you to better units which will destroy all your cities and units.

[Arrian]

Classic "choke" civ. If that had been paired with better traits, oh my.

The Mali in CIV work decently for that... skirmishers are a PITA if they're forted on forest hills.

-Arrian

[Solver]

The Mali are my Civ4 favorites... two of my favorite traits, and a very solid UU. I play SP, however. Hmm, the Impi will probably be quite interesting vs. the AI.

[UnOrthOdOx]

Not only is the Impi once again well suited to employ a 'choke' strategy, but they now get mini-courthouses in the form of barracks to even help with the strategy further. The only real negative is you DO need copper as opposed to the Mali.

[padillah]

Ha!! Finally, Spiritual that starts with Mysticism! And he's Celtic (which I wanted to play anyway!!)

I gotta sit down. I'm getting light-headed.

Tom P.

EDIT: And Hunting so I can make scouts out of the gate (to find all the special city-sites first).

[Autotropx Sox]

The Celtic UU seems very underwhelming compared the Titan it was in Civ III. Not only that, but, Guerrilla is very much a limited promotion more suited for a turtle player or boomer, not an aggressor.

[Solver]

There has to be balance. Brennus has two great traits, it would not be good for balance is he also had one of the best UUs and UBs.

It's very situational, but depending on the geography, free Guerilla can be really helpful. And it's good for sieging enemy cities, you can stay in the hills and be quite confident of not being knocked down easily.

[padillah]

And if it was an aggressive civ I'd say you had a point... but it's not.

Spir/Char that starts with Myst is not a warmonger leader by any means.

(forgive my stupidity but what does guerrila I do?)

Tom P.