Worst (non-unique) Unit in BTS

[Wiglaf]

The settler. OCC or go home

[johnmcd]

Machine guns are great! No collateral damage? Superb for defence!

[PLATO]

With the strength and capabilities of the destroyer, I have found the battleship to be fairly useless.

[Krill]

Battleships are the only units you can use to defend your resources from pillaging with, they can get collateral, and they will win the majority of battles against 1 and 2 star destroyers allowing you to give them the extra move (if so desired).

They add flexibility, so are far from useless.

[Hauptman]

Originally posted by PLATO
With the strength and capabilities of the destroyer, I have found the battleship to be fairly useless.

How are 40 and 30 the same in comparison? Sure battleships cant se subs, but the power is what you are after.

[#07]

And battleships are just cool anyway

[Jvstin]

Originally posted by Hauptman
And on machine guns... Yes Ive had games where they never fire a shot... but when they do, such as holding a newly captured city, they pay divedends. One of my favorite units hands down. Every city defense unit I build is a archer -> crossbow-> Grenadier (sometimes)-> MG.

A half dozen machine guns (with a few other units) saved my bacon when Shaka came calling in a war with a stack of several dozen riflemen and cavalry. The machine guns helped decimate his stack nicely and stave off the siege.

[rah]

Since I've never built one, I'd have say paratroopers.

Mobile sam and mobile artillary would be high on the list too since they come late and tanks and mobile infrantry serve the same purpose in my opinion.

[MoonWolf]

Machine gun is one of my favorites. MGs with all Drill promotions are awesome. Stack some of them on a hill and/ or forest in emeny lands with a medic and couple of other support units and whatch how the AI wastes their units at your wall of bullets. If they dare.

[MoonWolf]

Originally posted by rah
Since I've never built one, I'd have say paratroopers.

Their are great if you want to "secure" islands and don't have transports available (or want to use those ships elsewhere). Bomb the defences and units down and use the paratroopers to attack.

[Virulent]

Originally posted by rah
Since I've never built one, I'd have say paratroopers.

I build paratroopers just so I can watch their paradrop animation.

[rah]

Yeah, I probably should do it just to check out the animation. I should probably do the same thing with a nuc since I've never used one of them either.

[nbarclay]

I voted Stealth Destroyer because with the others, the worst-case scenario is that if I don't think they'll be useful, I don't build them, but the Stealth Destroyer actually renders a unit I find more useful - the regular destroyer - obsolete.

Looking down the list:

Battleship - The best "main combatant" naval unit available from Industrialism until Robotics, and just as good as the Missile Cruiser for many purposes even after Robotics. Great for sitting on resources to protect them; for escorting transports; and for intercepting enemy invasion forces.

Horse Archer - I pretty much never build them, but they offer an option for a reasonably powerful offensive unit if a civ has horses but not copper or iron. In AI hands, their fast speed increases the danger of being hit with a surprise attack, and makes it harder to defend against pillaging.

Trireme - Much better than galleys for fighting off enemy galleys.

Spy - A unit that's usefulness depends essentially entirely on how much players enjoy making use of the espionage mechanism, although it does have a secondary function of being able to look around rival territory without open borders (including during wartime). Personally, I don't build them.

Explorer - Basically useless on most map types.

Pikeman - Something I rarely build because it's so specialized, but it's the best unit available in its era for defending against an enemy that uses mostly mounted attackers.

War Elephant - A very powerful unit for its time for attacking stacks that don't have spears or pikes in them. It's enough of a niche unit that I don't build them all that often, but there are situations where they are useful.

Longbowman - A great city defender for the cost, and an enormous improvement in AI defenses. I generally only build them at times when I have the tech for them but not for macemen, because I like being able to use maces for offensive as well as defensive action. But I've fought against too many longbows not to respect their capabilities.

Knight - The most powerful offensive unit of its era. I rarely use them because my usual path through the tech tree limits how long their era will last and I prefer a peaceful style of play in that era. Also, their relatively high cost undercuts their attractiveness. But they definitely have their niche.

Musketman - I don't view it as a particularly clear step up from the earlier units, but it's not at all rare for me to build some between the time I get Gunpowder and the time I get Rifling.

Cuirassier - The main thing that limits this unit's value is the need to research (or trade for) Military Tradition. Also, its time of relative strength is short. It's certainly not a bad unit for its time and technology required, but I don't view it as worth delaying the discovery of Rifling to research Military Tradition, and once I have Rifling, I'd rather build rifles (or Infantry when they become available).

Privateer - The usefulness of this unit depends to a large extent on the map and on when AIs discover Chemistry (enabling them to build Frigates as a counter). If a player has a significant lead in discovering Chemistry, there is a period when privateers can rule the waves. And even after rivals have frigates, a privateer or two that stay in a player's home territory may be able to use a strategy of picking off weak units as they pass by and then retreating back into a player's cities to avoid counterattack. Attacks using privateers can gain a few extra points toward a great general during peacetime. And a peaceful builder who doesn't yet have a unit with enough experience to build the Heroic Epic may be able to get a privateer with enough experience. I'll also note that I've encountered a number of AI privateers, although the map type I've been using lately is rather odd. (Planet Generator script, larger-than-huge size, 20% land, and lots of islands makes for a style of game where naval operations are more important than on normal settings.)

Anti-Tank - I never use it because it's such a defensive-oriented unit. It's a lot like spears and pikes: it's good for defending against one particular type of unit, but if it attacks a stack with anything else in it, the other unit will defend and thus rob it of its bonus. It's not impossible for me to envision a situation where I might use it, but I haven't run into such a situation thus far. On the other hand, in AI hands, Anti-Tanks can be a useful supplement to city defenses.

Tactical Nuke - I never use it because I prefer a world without nuclear weapons. MAybe someday I'll be pushed into a nuclear arms race whether I want one or not, but it hasn't happened to me thus far.

Cannon - I don't use them a lot, but there are games where I find them very useful to batter down enemy defenses before I have air power or artillery.

Mobile SAM - I don't use them because I prefer to combat air power with air power, but in AI hands, it's definitely a step up from SAM Infantry.

Ironclad - I don't build them much because of their slow speed, limitation to coastal waters, and relatively short period of usefulness before oil-powered ships become available. But if enemy frigates or ships of the line are causing trouble before oil-powered ships are available, ironclads can be a useful counter.

Submarine - I almost never use them, but AI subs cause me trouble from time to time.

Machine Gun - Another unit that's defensive orientation limits how much I use it, but as previously noted, its immunity to collateral damage from siege weapons can be highly useful in some types of situations.

Paratrooper - It's not rare for me to build a few "para-medics" in my Red Cross city if I get Flight before Robotics (as I usually do). The theory is that parachute drops make it easier to keep up with tanks in order to heal them. (I'm not sure I've ever actually had the timing work out right to put that theory into practice, since mechanized infantry are my preferred medics after they become available.)

Marines - I've used them quite a bit in the past, but my current tendency is to use city raider tanks instead.

SAM Infantry - Another type of unit I don't use because I prefer to fight air power with air power, but AI SAM Infantry can sometimes slow down my air-supported attacks a little bit.

[Hauptman]

He just did what I was gonna do... shucks. So instead of posting another long reply... here's a short one...


Paratrooper: I have noticed a tendancy of the ai's that makes it attack any stack you put next to a city and ignore most others. So what happens is... You declare war, move up your attack stack, and drop 4 or 5 paratroopers on a hill (or forest if any remain) next to a city, and just watch the ai's waste arty on them, thus saving your 'real' force.


Ironclad: Seafood pillaging is the most anoying habits of the AI. It drives me nuts... And seeing as how my prefered tech path is straight to railroad it gives me a VERY long shelf life for the slow ironclad. Even after Combustion, having an ironclad sitting on a seafood will serve a purpose. When they attack your ironclad (by suprise) They get hurt, so then you send your real boats to kill the damaged ship... Or you see him coming and have a ready made ship in the area to imediatly upgrade then deploy.

Machine Gun: Anyone who doesnt like machine guns, has never used one. If you have seen them in action you love them. Now add protective to the mix, and you have a super unit (yes I know they are not gunpowder units). You simply build them as grenadiers then pay to upgrade them. I had brand new, fresh out of the box, City defense 3 with an extra +25% vs gunpowder and drill 1-2 at my most exposed cities I had just conquered. Needless to say, they never fired a shot. Noone dared attack them.

[couerdelion]

I think I voted Ironclad because of it’s lack of versatility. It’s only real use is as an strong escort but a raid up the cost but its speed limits this. For defending sea-lanes it is next to useless because galleons and frigates can stay in ocean tiles and move faster.

I was tempted by the explorer but these can be quite useful as sort of commando/scout. I think they are quite cheap for this sort of thing and given their promotion, can be quite difficult to dislodge.

The other one I was tempted to go for was the spy. I don’t know about everyone else but I find these to be expensive units and the cost benefit for their missions is quite limited. Standard units can pillage for free.