So what do I need to un-grey Her.Epic / West Point ?

[Garth Vader]

I usually attach the general to a unit I have got to Woods3 by fighting barbs first, then it's pretty fast to get to heal3.

[Ming]

That's my typical game plan for my wandering warrior these days. Get him to 10 experience points via barbs to get a woodsman III unit. That gives me a solid healer to use for my first war against a real opponent. I usually pay for the upgrade to axeman after he's got the 5 free animal experience points IF I have the money, so that the last 5 against barb unit is easier and not as risky. But I have never added a great general to one before... I might try that.

[Willem]

For BTS, I believe the WP requirement was upped to the next level so adding a GG to a green unit is not enough anymore. (at least on the most recent patch)

That's correct. You need to attach one to at least a level 4 unit in order to make it to the level 6 that West Point needs. So you need to have a unit that's seen at least a bit of action first.

[Willem]

A woodsman III unit heals all units in the same square at +15%. In combination with a heal III promotion, you get a super super healer

And Heal 3 can only be given to a unit if you attach a Great General to it. It's not part of the normal update tree.

[Chemical Ollie]

I normally try to manage my GGs to get units with city attack 3 in the early game and units with 4* and "commando" in the late game. That will keep my advance rolling. But this thread has given me some new ideas.

[Theben]

I managed it once when I was aggresive (start with 10%), used a Great General to get him heal 1,2,3, plus woodsman 1, and then 6 more experience gets you 26, and then only 11 more to 37 so you can get woodsman 3.

Explorer with Red Cross.

Kinda late tho. But if you're charismatic you don't have to wait.

[sorinache]

WP - a wonder too far

I never use a GG as a warlord, it is easy to get to Level 4 exp with an attacking unit like a city raider swordsmen or maceman, by using catapults to reduce city defences and defenders with bombardment and collateral damage. Increasingly the build time for the West Point seems in my opinion not to make it worthwhile unless one has plenty of spare hammers not needed for other stuff. Heroic Epic should be built as soon as possible in a hammer heavy city though.

I tend to agree with you on WP - I need an unit with 26 XP (that's a lot) and then the WP will cost me 800 hammers (I don't have stone, unfortunately) ! The cost is so big, the wonder becomes almost irrelevant - there are better ways to spend those hammers, IMO (especially if it's 800 instead of 400, with stone)

[rah]

Yes, there are games where I never got around to building WP. When I do build it, it's usually when I'm x number of turns before finishing researching a key mil tech and figure I have a few turns to build something besides more units.

[Theben]

It would seem strange to use a GG towards obtaining West Point when just dropping the GG in a city gets you 1/2 of the same benefit immediately.

[rah]

But you can't ignore the added benefit of the warlord. Yes, it's only one unit but if it's a triple healer, it means considerably less heal time for you rSOD when it's on a roll. Winning in civ is all about shaving turns.

But to you point directly, I partially agree, but it's all about getting your military city up to the point of putting out triple promoted units. If you're not warmongering, you won't get that many GGs till later. Using one GG and building WP is like paying 800 hammers (or less depending on what bonuses you've got) for another GG. Some will think that's a fair trade.

[sorinache]

A woodsman III unit heals all units in the same square at +15%. In combination with a heal III promotion, you get a super super healer

How come ? Is this documented somewhere is it something you have to discover by yourself ? I never took this promotion path because the Woodsman I and II seemed useless (defense bonus on forest and jungle, both of which I chop away as soon as I can get to it ...)

I'll try it in my next game though

[wodan11]

The Woods III promotion is documented in game.

[Garth Vader]

But you can't ignore the added benefit of the warlord. Yes, it's only one unit but if it's a triple healer, it means considerably less heal time for you rSOD when it's on a roll. Winning in civ is all about shaving turns.

It's also fun. I always use my first 2 GG's on warlords. One a super healer, one a super city raider. They travel together in my main SOD and I like to see how uber I can get them.

[Theben]

How come ? Is this documented somewhere is it something you have to discover by yourself ? I never took this promotion path because the Woodsman I and II seemed useless (defense bonus on forest and jungle, both of which I chop away as soon as I can get to it ...)

I'll try it in my next game though

Woodsman is the FIRST promotion many (including myself) get, b/c woods II allows faster movement thru forests/jungles. So it makes for a strong scout with your starting warrior.

In addition Woods III gets +2 1st strikes and that's on any terrain.

[Blaupanzer]

Guerilla III has similar effects in healing and in attacking hills tiles. This information is available in the BTS in-game civilopedia, but I'm pretty sure I heard about it here before I saw it documented in the BTS docs.