Three-man Chariot = Godly UU

[punkbass2000]

Dom, your points are valid, but I still believe that the JW is a great UU. I never suggested the JW was 'the best' UU or some such, however. I was merely giving an example in response to Diss' statement that it is no match at higher levels, which it clearly is. I also was not suggesting that Boogaboo be emulated. Whether or not the Aztecs are a good builder civ is a non sequitar, Diss.

[JeffS]

Originally posted by Solomwi
You're right that in your own territory, it will be cost effective. For the purposes of the comparison, I was assuming neutral territory, where roads will just enhance the MW's advantage. On the terrain issue, again assuming neutral territory with no roads (not really uncommon in the era we're discussing), I would just forego the potshots and still keep just outside your range even on the roughest territory. You're absolutely right that the AI does a poor job of using fast units, btw. The only point I wanted to make was that it's a very limited strategy in its effective situations, not that it should be abandoned altogether.

For the record, I'm also a SP player. Most UU's are ill-utilized by the AI, though, so the only fair comparison is how a human would use them.

Solomwi:
It occurs to me that one defect with my "human waves of Warriors" strategy is the maintainence cost of all those units. Makes Feudalism look rather attractive, at least for a religious Civ who can get out of it easily when it becomes necessary. It also makes the extra income from Commercial and/or Seafaring look attractive. However, the speed with which Warriors can be produced does make for a nice "turn atvantage", as having one or two Warriors right now may be quite a bit more useful than a Mounted Warrior or 3-Man Chariot 5 to 10 turns from now.

I agree with you that the power of any unit depends on what your needs are at a given time and how you use the unit in a given situation. For example, Mounted Warriors or 3-Man Chariots would be less effective in the defense of a city close to the border (where they would be likely to be forced into a static defense) than in a situation where they could trade space for time and effectively use their hit and run tactics. They might also be very effective offensively where their speed allows them to "get there fustest with the mostest" (to quote Nathan Bedford Forrest) and concentrate rapidly, bringing overwhelming force to bear before the defender can gather his slow moving Warriors.

One of the things I like about this game is that there are so many ramifications to any question that even when I don't have much time to play, I can still get a lot of enjoyment from just thinking (and then posting so that others can set me straight if I go off the deep end with some half-baked idea).

All My Best,

Jeff Sutro

[Solomwi]

Agree completely. The beautiful thing about this game is there's a possible situation in which every unit shines (yes, even paratroopers).

Nice quote source, btw.

[Solomwi]

Originally posted by Modo44
That's precisely why this is best done with Jaguars, Solomwi.

Touche. Dunno how I missed this before, but you're exactly right. I'd just have to forego the potshots and hit full retreat mode, only entering high ground if I could do it on the second movement point, to avoid giving your Jags a turn to hit my stack full bore on their second MP. I do love those pre-C3C two turn Jags from the start using the forest gambit.