Use of Scouts vs military units

[snafuc4]

Is there a positive probability advantage in popping huts with Scouts or Explorers as opposed to military units?

In previous games (all the way back to Colonization IIRC) there was; I'm not sure if that holds true for Civ3 & CIV

[Quillan]

I'd say there is. Scouts and explorers cannot get a bad result from a tribal village. The worst result you can get is a map of an area you've already explored.

[Nacht]

Civilopedia > Units > Scout > "Better results from tribal villages"

[padillah]

Originally posted by Quillan
I'd say there is. Scouts and explorers cannot get a bad result from a tribal village. The worst result you can get is a map of an area you've already explored.

No.

I've popped a barb with a scout before... on Warlord level. So it can be done. It's just, like Nacht says, it's harder.

Tom P.

[Randolph]

It would be interesting to see exactly what the odds are at various difficulty levels. I’m starting to dislike huts in general, it seems to add an additional level of arbitrary difficulty to a game that already has more then enough (namely from starting locations). Sometimes I’ll get two techs from two huts, other times I’ll pop five huts and have nothing to show for it but some useless maps and a little pocket change. I know I can turn them off, but I would prefer that they existed, just with more balanced outcomes.

[rah]

Originally posted by padillah


No.

I've popped a barb with a scout before... on Warlord level. So it can be done. It's just, like Nacht says, it's harder.

Tom P.

Usually play all SP games at Monarch and MP games at noble and have never ever gotten a barb using a scout. Were you playing a scenario?

Anybody else?

Someone posted the XMLs that show the percentages for the different levels somewhere.

[gdgrimm]

Scouts and explorers will not generate 'bad' results.

Then again, I play mostly Noble/Prince with Raging Barbs, and I find it rare for a Warrior to pop a bad result. At least, not until later when Barbarians are showing up all over the place anyway. At that point, your scout has already been killed, and your warrior popping a couple more Barbs won't affect anything. By the time your Explorers become available, all huts are guarded and your Explorer can't pop them anyway.

[padillah]

Nope, I have yet to win the game so I'm staying away from scenarios for now.

I don't think I did anything special to make it happen, and don't misunderstand... it happened ONCE.

I had a bad habit, of quitting and starting a new game if I lost a wonder, for a while but I don't do that any more.

It's probably just exposure that tipped the scales for me.

Tom P.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Randolph
other times I’ll pop five huts and have nothing to show for it but some useless maps and a little pocket change.

The 'pocket change' can be turned into tech, though, once expansion or unit costs start to appear. It doesn't seem as nice as a free tech leaping out of the screen, but at least you get to choose the techs you get quicker.

Also, getting Masonry (or even Bronze Working) from a hut can spoil Great Person Slingshots.

Maps suck though, I agree. If they at least showed their whole area instead of leaving spotty bits where a resource might be, so you have to go and scout it anyway, they might be less of a bummer.

[Randolph]

But by the time you’re able to cash in your cash it only makes a fraction of a tech, and advances aren’t as time sensitive. I haven’t mastered the great person slingshot business, so maybe I’m underestimating the down side.

[Quillan]

I like getting money. If I can build up a couple hundred gold in the treasury, I can run 100% science for some time after maintenance costs appear. That saves a lot of research time. Techs are the best, but then again I don't generally play a philosophical civ which is really needed to work a GP slingshot, so I can't mess it up. Maps are great when they show you territory you haven't explored, especially when they reveal another hut or two. However, the single most frustrating thing for me is to pop a hut and have it give me a map that reveals nothing at all, because I've already fully explored the area.

[dzaffrann]

Scouts are a unit I have generally underestimated in every version of Civ, up to and including 4, but I think I'm finally getting wise to them. They do tend to get better results although barbarians off of warriors are rare as well, in my experience.

Cash is definitely a plus, I agree - I end up deficit spending off of saved reserves while I get early techs.