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A Strategic Analysis of the Special Units (LONG)
A Resource- and Tech- Focused Analysis of Civ3 Special Units:
(Units sorted by earliest appearance in the game)
Aztec Jaguar Warrior (1/1/2): Warrior with an extra movement point. You start the game able to build them. Effectively gives you chariots for 50% off, without the need to discover the wheel or obtain horses. Provides you a greater range to capture workers/settlers and take over cities in the very early game, but their attack value is essentially negated by the discovery of bronze working by your opponents and the appearance of spearmen. With their 2 movement points, they are still useful for exploring, since unlike scout units they can actually defeat barbarians and capture encampments, and unlike chariots or horsemen they can cross mountains without roads (the value of scouts or explorers in general is negated by mid-game when everyone has already traded world maps with you and expanding culture borders have made barbarians on the continent pretty much extinct). Jaguar Warriors are good for players who like to be very aggressive in the early game and then live off of their early conquests by building temples and cathedrals to maintain/expand their early empire.
Greek Hoplite (1/3/1): Spearman with an extra defense point. Since Greece starts with bronze working, you can build them from the start of the game. Gives you the defense of pikemen before discovering feudalism (and the 18 ancient era techs you need before you can get into the middle ages to even research feudalism), plus costs 50% less than pikemen. Their 3 defense points makes them dominant defensive forces until your opponents discover iron working and a source of iron to make swordsmen, and even then they can more than stand their own. Fortified in a city, behind a river and/or in good defensive terrain like mountains, they can even give 4-attack immortals, knights, samurai, and war elephants a run for their money, so they are not really made obsolete until your enemies have discovered military tradition at the end of the middle ages and can throw cavalry or cossacks at you. Hoplites are ideal for players who like to focus on building, culture, diplomacy, and/or commerce.
Zulu Impi (1/2/2): Spearman with an extra movement point. Requires bronze working. Like the Aztec Jaguar Warrior, the extra movement point gives you extra range without requiring the wheel or horses. Unlike the Aztecs and Greeks, however, the Zulus don’t start the game with the necessary technology to immediately build their Impis, and if their neighbors are able to trade you bronze working, it means they already have spearmen that can easily defend against your roving impis. While still useful for exploration like the Jaguar Warriors (since Zulu scouts can’t take out barbarian encampments), Zulu Impis are generally not available to you early enough to quickly attack weakly defended enemy cities in the early game (though you could use them to capture enemy workers and escort them home more safely). The extra movement point is probably more useful in the context of allowing a mobile defense force, which could reduce the size of your standing army required to defend your land, assuming you have an adequate network of roads as well. Probably the best way to use the Zulu is to aggressively expand through building lots of settlers and/or attacking neighbors with your archers, then use your Impis to quickly reinforce these new cities.
Egyptian War Chariot (2/1/2): Chariots with an extra attack point. Requires the wheel, which Egypt does not start with, and a source of horses. Effectively gives you horsemen at a 50% discount, and before discovering horseback riding. Similar to the Aztec Jaguar Warriors, Egyptian War Chariots should be used in the early game to quickly take over neighboring cities and capture workers. Their 2 attack means that they are not obsolete as quickly as Jaguar Warriors, but on the flipside you have to wait until you discover the wheel (unless you are lucky enough to find Japan nearby and they are willing to trade it to you) which means you can’t use them as quickly either – by the time you have the wheel, the AI may actually have gotten around to defending their cities with more than a couple of warriors. The Egyptian War Chariots remain useful until the beginning of the middle ages when pikemen appear, but then you can always upgrade them to knights (unless you are the AI, in which case you will keep them around indefinitely, presumably to cause enemy Modern Armor gunners to laugh so hard they can’t fire straight). Egyptian War Chariots are, similarly to Aztec Jaguar Warriors, good for players who like to expand aggresively in the early game before settling back and building wonders to dominate culturally.
Babylonian Bowmen (2/2/1 – note that civ3.com originally stated 2/1/2, but is now corrected): Archers with an extra defense point (or spearmen with an extra attack point). Requires warrior code, which Babylon does not start with (although there are five civs that do start with it, so you have a good chance of trading for it before you could finish researching it yourself) but gives you a 2 defense unit without requiring bronze working. A nice two-for-one unit that merges the attack value of an archer with the defense value of a spearman, allowing you to get away with having a smaller standing army since you don’t have to maintain both offensive and defensive units. Unlike the Aztec Jaguar Warrior and Egyptian War Chariot, the Babylonian Bowman only has a single movement point, which makes them less useful for exploring or raiding other civs for workers. They can, however, be effective for more traditional, systematic wars (at least during the ancient era) since they can move into enemy territory to attack without requiring additional defensive units to guard against enemy counter-attacks. Babylonian Bowmen are balanced units, which can be used by players of any playing style (although the Babylonian civ overall is best at waging a culture war, with its cheap temples and libraries)
Iroquois Mounted Warrior (3/1/2): Horseman with an extra attack point. Requires horseback riding, a source of horses, and a good ignorance of history since Iroquois warriors didn’t typically use horses (a better unit in my opinion would have been an upgraded warrior or archer with 1 movement point but the explorer’s ability to treat all terrain – or at least forests – as roads). Gives you an alternative offensive unit to swordmen with a 3 attack rating even if you don’t have ironworking or a source of iron (and horses seem to be more plentiful than iron). A good assault unit in the ancient era, able to capture enemy workers and also attack enemy cities then retreat before getting killed (which makes me wonder if an army of Mounted Warriors is really that much better on attack than three individual ones…I guess it depends if there are any really strong defenders there are in the city since the army could throw all their hitpoints at the same defender). Their 2 movement points can allow you to conduct deadly offensives by maintaining a constant stream of Mounted Warriors who move back and forth between enemy cities and friendly territory to attack until they are down to 1 hit point and then heal until they are ready to attack again. It takes longer to obtain the necessary tech for the Iroquois Mounted Warrior than for the Egyptian War Chariot, but at least they don’t become obsolete when your enemies discover feudalism and start making pikemen (although you probably want to upgrade them to knights once you have chivalry). They aren’t truly obsolete until your opponents discover gunpowder and have musketmen defending their cities. Iroquois Mounted Warriors are good for players who prefer to build up their own territories a bit before going out and wreaking havoc among their neighbors (while enemy cities tend to be better guarded by this time, they are also bigger, so you get more when you capture them).
Roman Legionary (3/3/1): Swordsman with an extra defense point. Requires iron working and a source of iron. Similar to Babylonian Bowmen, but they can actually stand up to enemy swordsmen with a defense of 3, which you otherwise have to wait until feudalism to get. Roman Legionaries remain useful as defensive units much longer than they do as offensive units (knights are much better offensively once you have chivalry, but Roman Legionaries, like Greek Hoplites, can reasonably defend against any enemy units weaker than cavalry). Like the Babylonian Bowmen, Roman Legionaries are balanced units that lend themselves to many styles of play.
Persian Immortals (4/2/1): Swordsman with an extra attack point. Requires iron working and a source of iron (note that the Persians begin the game with bronze working). Terror of the ancient era, Persian Immortals offer the attack value of a middle ages knight much earlier than would otherwise be possible, and without needing horses. The 4 attack rating is particularly devastating in the ancient era, where most defenders have at best a 2 defense rating (in the middle ages, at least defenders have 3 defense pikemen to guard against enemy knights). Since they have a more down-to-earth defense rating of 2, neighbors of the Persian civ would be wise to remember the old adage, “the best defense is a good offense,” and make lots of horsemen and swordsmen to kill those Persian Expendables, I mean Immortals, before they reach can reach their cities. Persian Immortals are ideal for the scheming warmonger who will wait until they have begged, borrowed, or stolen ironworking and a source of iron before pouncing on friends and enemies alike with unrestrained glee.
Chinese Rider (4/3/3 – note the manual incorrectly states 2/2/2 and civ3.com still incorrectly states 4/4/3): Knight with an extra movement point (can also exert ‘zone of control’ to automatically attack passing enemy units, which normal knights cannot). Requires chivalry and sources of horses and iron. Gives you an extremely flexible and mobile unit in the early middle ages with a movement rating of 3 long before you can discover military tradition and the equally fast cavalry (and doesn’t require saltpeter). Make sure you have a good network of roads to use your Chinese Riders to maximum effect – quickly moving from one front to another to attack or defend against different enemies. Chinese Riders are also great for staging attacks deep into Indian territory to sack Delhi when your spies report that Ghandi is about to finish JS Bach’s Cathedral two turns before you do! The Chinese Rider can be very effective for players who are going for a non-military victory like winning to race to Alpha Centauri, since their extreme mobility means you can have a much smaller standing army to pay under republic or democratic governments, and you can devote that much more resources to science or building improvements.
Japanese Samurai (4/4/2 – note the manual incorrectly states 5/3/2): Knight with an extra defense point and no need for horses (they sure run fast for short people with wooden sandals!). Requires chivalry and a source of iron. Like the Babylonian Bowmen and Roman Legionaries, the Japanese Samurai are balanced units with the added bonus of having a movement rate of 2. Their defense of 4 can be obtained a bit earlier than with musketmen, since gunpowder is two techs away from feudalism instead of just one for chivalry (a lot earlier if you don’t have a ready source of saltpeter!) Similarly to the Chinese Rider, Japanese Samurai are an excellent mobile defense force that can allow you to get by with a much smaller standing army. Their 4 defense also makes them formidable attackers that are hard for opponents to counter-attack and their 2 movement allows them to retreat when the battle goes against them. The Japanese Samurai are one of the best special units for taking over the world during the middle ages (but if you’re not done by the time your opponents have calvary and/or riflemen you can forget it!)
Indian War Elephant (4/3/2 – note the manually incorrectly states 4/4/2): Knight that doesn’t require horses or iron (although they don’t seem to require elephants either, which is a good thing, since elephants in civ3 are apparently too busy being hunted for the ivory in their tusks). Requires chivalry. Like the Mounted Warrior (who gives you a 3 attack without iron) and the Japanese Samurai (who gives you a 4 defense without saltpeter), the Indian War Elephant gives you a 4 attack and 2 movement rating without horses or iron, although it doesn’t give it to you early in terms of technologies required. The whole advantage lies in not needing resources, which is a benefit you can’t really evaluate before the game when you are selecting a civ to play. If you get stuck in a territory devoid of horses and/or iron, then you are brilliant, but otherwise it’s a bit of a waste (sure, it can save you an extra resource or two to trade to other civs, but do you really want to give potential enemies iron if they don’t already have it?) The Indian War Elephant, while being one of the coolest looking special units, is also the least useful in terms of the unit bonuses it gives you. Maybe they should be 3/4/2 just to make them different (shouldn’t elephants be harder to take down than horses? …oh wait, I forgot they don’t require elephants!)
French Musketeer (3/4/1): Musketmen with an extra attack point. Good for their ability to taunt English knights (aka ‘empty headed animal food trough wipers’), but pretty much useless otherwise. As usual, the French are more interested in style than substance, with flamboyant feathered caps and knee-high flared boots taking the place of any useful bonus. Why would you waste a special unit by giving an extra attack point to a defensive unit that isn’t going to attack anything? Are they going to counter-attack knights that are attacking French cities? I would rather have the 4 attack knight attack my 4 defense musketman fortified in my city than venture out with my 3 attack French Mouse-keteer against the 3 defense knight with whatever terrain/river defense bonuses they would get. Why not just send my own knights out for counter-attacks? Oh well, I you can only expect so much from a pink-colored civ (pink, feathered hats, and knee-high stockings…hmm…)
Russian Cossack (6/4/3): Cavalry with extra defense point. Requires military tradition and sources of horses and saltpeter. I’m not really sure how much difference the extra defensive point really makes. Sure, it will give your cossacks even odds of defending against old Don Quixote, but it still isn’t going to save your ass if Lawrence of Arabia comes charging down the hill at you with his cavalry. In the context of a competitive game, having a 6/4/3 unit against opponents with 6/3/3 units just doesn’t seem like a big advantage. It’s too bad, since I think the Russian Cossacks look really cool too (why is it that the coolest looking units are the least useful?)
English Man-O-War (3/2/4): Frigate with an extra attack point. Requires magnetism and sources of iron and saltpeter. Helps you rule the seas, which depending on your world map may or may not be terrible important. More of a concern is the fact that this unit is made obsolete with steam power and the ironclad, which usually doesn’t come very long after magnetism, so the Man-O-War’s glory days may be short-lived. On the plus side, it has a cool name and it’s not as wimpy as those waste-of-a-perfectly-good-six-shields privateers (which should really be 2/1/3 to have a chance at taking out caravels and galleons).
German Panzer (16/8/3): Tank with an extra movement point. Requires motorized transport and sources of oil and rubber. Although the extra movement point doesn’t matter much for internal defense (moving from one front to another) since you probably already have railroads connecting all your cities by the time you get motorized transport, it does make a difference on offence, allowing you to blitz through enemy territory. The German Panzer is even better than the Chinese Rider at capturing (or more likely, razing) cities deep in enemy territory that are close to finishing an important wonder. It can also be useful for simply bypassing enemy lines and troop concentrations to strike at softer interior targets. The German Panzer remains dominant throughout the industrial ages, and even into the modern times until your opponents discover computers for mechanized infantry or synthetic fibers to build modern armor. Of course, you’ll never let them live that long.
German Panzers are great for the very patient warmonger who will dilligently remember every threat and incursion by neighbors during the ancient age so they can descend and exact a horrifying revenge in the late industrial age.
American F-15 (8/4/-, bomb: 4/6/2) Jet Fighter with extra bombing range and rate of fire, plus radar that allows them to see two spaces regardless of terrain, and precision strike capability that doesn’t work. Don’t bother with it until we get a patch that fixes interception and precision bombing.
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The unit that confers the greatest tech advantage is probably the Persian Immortal, who gives you a unit with an attack rating of 4 after only one tech advance (since they start with bronze working) instead of needing to acquire all 16 additional technologies to get out of the ancient era, plus 2 middle age technologies to get to chivalry and build knights. The Greek Hoplite comes in a close second, giving you a defense rating of 3 immediately (since the Greeks start with bronze working) instead of waiting for all 16 additional ancient era techs, plus feudalism. Coming in third is the German Panzer, which gives you a 3 movement tank with motorized transport, 2 industrial and 3 modern techs before synthetic fibers and modern armor. In fourth place is the Chinese Rider, which saves you 5 middle age technologies by giving you a 3 movement unit with chivalry instead of waiting for military tradition. The rest of the special units give smaller tech advantages, usually offering some unit capability just one or two techs before you could otherwise get it.
In terms of resource advantages, the Indian War Elephant saves you from needing to obtain both horses and iron to make knights, the Aztec Jaguar Warrior, Zulu Impi and Japanese Samurai give you 2 movement units without horses (the Japanese Samurai also gives you 4 defense without saltpeter), the Iroquois Mounted Warrior gives you a 3 attack unit without iron, the Persian Immortal gives you a 4 attack unit without horses, the Chinese Rider and German Panzer give you 3 movement without saltpeter and aluminum respectively, and the English Man-O-War gives you a naval unit with better than 2 attack without coal.
Considering the combined tech and resource advantages of the special units, the 'best' units are probably the Persian Immortal, Japanese Samurai, Chinese Rider, and (of course) the German Panzer.
(Units sorted by earliest appearance in the game)
Aztec Jaguar Warrior (1/1/2): Warrior with an extra movement point. You start the game able to build them. Effectively gives you chariots for 50% off, without the need to discover the wheel or obtain horses. Provides you a greater range to capture workers/settlers and take over cities in the very early game, but their attack value is essentially negated by the discovery of bronze working by your opponents and the appearance of spearmen. With their 2 movement points, they are still useful for exploring, since unlike scout units they can actually defeat barbarians and capture encampments, and unlike chariots or horsemen they can cross mountains without roads (the value of scouts or explorers in general is negated by mid-game when everyone has already traded world maps with you and expanding culture borders have made barbarians on the continent pretty much extinct). Jaguar Warriors are good for players who like to be very aggressive in the early game and then live off of their early conquests by building temples and cathedrals to maintain/expand their early empire.
Greek Hoplite (1/3/1): Spearman with an extra defense point. Since Greece starts with bronze working, you can build them from the start of the game. Gives you the defense of pikemen before discovering feudalism (and the 18 ancient era techs you need before you can get into the middle ages to even research feudalism), plus costs 50% less than pikemen. Their 3 defense points makes them dominant defensive forces until your opponents discover iron working and a source of iron to make swordsmen, and even then they can more than stand their own. Fortified in a city, behind a river and/or in good defensive terrain like mountains, they can even give 4-attack immortals, knights, samurai, and war elephants a run for their money, so they are not really made obsolete until your enemies have discovered military tradition at the end of the middle ages and can throw cavalry or cossacks at you. Hoplites are ideal for players who like to focus on building, culture, diplomacy, and/or commerce.
Zulu Impi (1/2/2): Spearman with an extra movement point. Requires bronze working. Like the Aztec Jaguar Warrior, the extra movement point gives you extra range without requiring the wheel or horses. Unlike the Aztecs and Greeks, however, the Zulus don’t start the game with the necessary technology to immediately build their Impis, and if their neighbors are able to trade you bronze working, it means they already have spearmen that can easily defend against your roving impis. While still useful for exploration like the Jaguar Warriors (since Zulu scouts can’t take out barbarian encampments), Zulu Impis are generally not available to you early enough to quickly attack weakly defended enemy cities in the early game (though you could use them to capture enemy workers and escort them home more safely). The extra movement point is probably more useful in the context of allowing a mobile defense force, which could reduce the size of your standing army required to defend your land, assuming you have an adequate network of roads as well. Probably the best way to use the Zulu is to aggressively expand through building lots of settlers and/or attacking neighbors with your archers, then use your Impis to quickly reinforce these new cities.
Egyptian War Chariot (2/1/2): Chariots with an extra attack point. Requires the wheel, which Egypt does not start with, and a source of horses. Effectively gives you horsemen at a 50% discount, and before discovering horseback riding. Similar to the Aztec Jaguar Warriors, Egyptian War Chariots should be used in the early game to quickly take over neighboring cities and capture workers. Their 2 attack means that they are not obsolete as quickly as Jaguar Warriors, but on the flipside you have to wait until you discover the wheel (unless you are lucky enough to find Japan nearby and they are willing to trade it to you) which means you can’t use them as quickly either – by the time you have the wheel, the AI may actually have gotten around to defending their cities with more than a couple of warriors. The Egyptian War Chariots remain useful until the beginning of the middle ages when pikemen appear, but then you can always upgrade them to knights (unless you are the AI, in which case you will keep them around indefinitely, presumably to cause enemy Modern Armor gunners to laugh so hard they can’t fire straight). Egyptian War Chariots are, similarly to Aztec Jaguar Warriors, good for players who like to expand aggresively in the early game before settling back and building wonders to dominate culturally.
Babylonian Bowmen (2/2/1 – note that civ3.com originally stated 2/1/2, but is now corrected): Archers with an extra defense point (or spearmen with an extra attack point). Requires warrior code, which Babylon does not start with (although there are five civs that do start with it, so you have a good chance of trading for it before you could finish researching it yourself) but gives you a 2 defense unit without requiring bronze working. A nice two-for-one unit that merges the attack value of an archer with the defense value of a spearman, allowing you to get away with having a smaller standing army since you don’t have to maintain both offensive and defensive units. Unlike the Aztec Jaguar Warrior and Egyptian War Chariot, the Babylonian Bowman only has a single movement point, which makes them less useful for exploring or raiding other civs for workers. They can, however, be effective for more traditional, systematic wars (at least during the ancient era) since they can move into enemy territory to attack without requiring additional defensive units to guard against enemy counter-attacks. Babylonian Bowmen are balanced units, which can be used by players of any playing style (although the Babylonian civ overall is best at waging a culture war, with its cheap temples and libraries)
Iroquois Mounted Warrior (3/1/2): Horseman with an extra attack point. Requires horseback riding, a source of horses, and a good ignorance of history since Iroquois warriors didn’t typically use horses (a better unit in my opinion would have been an upgraded warrior or archer with 1 movement point but the explorer’s ability to treat all terrain – or at least forests – as roads). Gives you an alternative offensive unit to swordmen with a 3 attack rating even if you don’t have ironworking or a source of iron (and horses seem to be more plentiful than iron). A good assault unit in the ancient era, able to capture enemy workers and also attack enemy cities then retreat before getting killed (which makes me wonder if an army of Mounted Warriors is really that much better on attack than three individual ones…I guess it depends if there are any really strong defenders there are in the city since the army could throw all their hitpoints at the same defender). Their 2 movement points can allow you to conduct deadly offensives by maintaining a constant stream of Mounted Warriors who move back and forth between enemy cities and friendly territory to attack until they are down to 1 hit point and then heal until they are ready to attack again. It takes longer to obtain the necessary tech for the Iroquois Mounted Warrior than for the Egyptian War Chariot, but at least they don’t become obsolete when your enemies discover feudalism and start making pikemen (although you probably want to upgrade them to knights once you have chivalry). They aren’t truly obsolete until your opponents discover gunpowder and have musketmen defending their cities. Iroquois Mounted Warriors are good for players who prefer to build up their own territories a bit before going out and wreaking havoc among their neighbors (while enemy cities tend to be better guarded by this time, they are also bigger, so you get more when you capture them).
Roman Legionary (3/3/1): Swordsman with an extra defense point. Requires iron working and a source of iron. Similar to Babylonian Bowmen, but they can actually stand up to enemy swordsmen with a defense of 3, which you otherwise have to wait until feudalism to get. Roman Legionaries remain useful as defensive units much longer than they do as offensive units (knights are much better offensively once you have chivalry, but Roman Legionaries, like Greek Hoplites, can reasonably defend against any enemy units weaker than cavalry). Like the Babylonian Bowmen, Roman Legionaries are balanced units that lend themselves to many styles of play.
Persian Immortals (4/2/1): Swordsman with an extra attack point. Requires iron working and a source of iron (note that the Persians begin the game with bronze working). Terror of the ancient era, Persian Immortals offer the attack value of a middle ages knight much earlier than would otherwise be possible, and without needing horses. The 4 attack rating is particularly devastating in the ancient era, where most defenders have at best a 2 defense rating (in the middle ages, at least defenders have 3 defense pikemen to guard against enemy knights). Since they have a more down-to-earth defense rating of 2, neighbors of the Persian civ would be wise to remember the old adage, “the best defense is a good offense,” and make lots of horsemen and swordsmen to kill those Persian Expendables, I mean Immortals, before they reach can reach their cities. Persian Immortals are ideal for the scheming warmonger who will wait until they have begged, borrowed, or stolen ironworking and a source of iron before pouncing on friends and enemies alike with unrestrained glee.
Chinese Rider (4/3/3 – note the manual incorrectly states 2/2/2 and civ3.com still incorrectly states 4/4/3): Knight with an extra movement point (can also exert ‘zone of control’ to automatically attack passing enemy units, which normal knights cannot). Requires chivalry and sources of horses and iron. Gives you an extremely flexible and mobile unit in the early middle ages with a movement rating of 3 long before you can discover military tradition and the equally fast cavalry (and doesn’t require saltpeter). Make sure you have a good network of roads to use your Chinese Riders to maximum effect – quickly moving from one front to another to attack or defend against different enemies. Chinese Riders are also great for staging attacks deep into Indian territory to sack Delhi when your spies report that Ghandi is about to finish JS Bach’s Cathedral two turns before you do! The Chinese Rider can be very effective for players who are going for a non-military victory like winning to race to Alpha Centauri, since their extreme mobility means you can have a much smaller standing army to pay under republic or democratic governments, and you can devote that much more resources to science or building improvements.
Japanese Samurai (4/4/2 – note the manual incorrectly states 5/3/2): Knight with an extra defense point and no need for horses (they sure run fast for short people with wooden sandals!). Requires chivalry and a source of iron. Like the Babylonian Bowmen and Roman Legionaries, the Japanese Samurai are balanced units with the added bonus of having a movement rate of 2. Their defense of 4 can be obtained a bit earlier than with musketmen, since gunpowder is two techs away from feudalism instead of just one for chivalry (a lot earlier if you don’t have a ready source of saltpeter!) Similarly to the Chinese Rider, Japanese Samurai are an excellent mobile defense force that can allow you to get by with a much smaller standing army. Their 4 defense also makes them formidable attackers that are hard for opponents to counter-attack and their 2 movement allows them to retreat when the battle goes against them. The Japanese Samurai are one of the best special units for taking over the world during the middle ages (but if you’re not done by the time your opponents have calvary and/or riflemen you can forget it!)
Indian War Elephant (4/3/2 – note the manually incorrectly states 4/4/2): Knight that doesn’t require horses or iron (although they don’t seem to require elephants either, which is a good thing, since elephants in civ3 are apparently too busy being hunted for the ivory in their tusks). Requires chivalry. Like the Mounted Warrior (who gives you a 3 attack without iron) and the Japanese Samurai (who gives you a 4 defense without saltpeter), the Indian War Elephant gives you a 4 attack and 2 movement rating without horses or iron, although it doesn’t give it to you early in terms of technologies required. The whole advantage lies in not needing resources, which is a benefit you can’t really evaluate before the game when you are selecting a civ to play. If you get stuck in a territory devoid of horses and/or iron, then you are brilliant, but otherwise it’s a bit of a waste (sure, it can save you an extra resource or two to trade to other civs, but do you really want to give potential enemies iron if they don’t already have it?) The Indian War Elephant, while being one of the coolest looking special units, is also the least useful in terms of the unit bonuses it gives you. Maybe they should be 3/4/2 just to make them different (shouldn’t elephants be harder to take down than horses? …oh wait, I forgot they don’t require elephants!)
French Musketeer (3/4/1): Musketmen with an extra attack point. Good for their ability to taunt English knights (aka ‘empty headed animal food trough wipers’), but pretty much useless otherwise. As usual, the French are more interested in style than substance, with flamboyant feathered caps and knee-high flared boots taking the place of any useful bonus. Why would you waste a special unit by giving an extra attack point to a defensive unit that isn’t going to attack anything? Are they going to counter-attack knights that are attacking French cities? I would rather have the 4 attack knight attack my 4 defense musketman fortified in my city than venture out with my 3 attack French Mouse-keteer against the 3 defense knight with whatever terrain/river defense bonuses they would get. Why not just send my own knights out for counter-attacks? Oh well, I you can only expect so much from a pink-colored civ (pink, feathered hats, and knee-high stockings…hmm…)
Russian Cossack (6/4/3): Cavalry with extra defense point. Requires military tradition and sources of horses and saltpeter. I’m not really sure how much difference the extra defensive point really makes. Sure, it will give your cossacks even odds of defending against old Don Quixote, but it still isn’t going to save your ass if Lawrence of Arabia comes charging down the hill at you with his cavalry. In the context of a competitive game, having a 6/4/3 unit against opponents with 6/3/3 units just doesn’t seem like a big advantage. It’s too bad, since I think the Russian Cossacks look really cool too (why is it that the coolest looking units are the least useful?)
English Man-O-War (3/2/4): Frigate with an extra attack point. Requires magnetism and sources of iron and saltpeter. Helps you rule the seas, which depending on your world map may or may not be terrible important. More of a concern is the fact that this unit is made obsolete with steam power and the ironclad, which usually doesn’t come very long after magnetism, so the Man-O-War’s glory days may be short-lived. On the plus side, it has a cool name and it’s not as wimpy as those waste-of-a-perfectly-good-six-shields privateers (which should really be 2/1/3 to have a chance at taking out caravels and galleons).
German Panzer (16/8/3): Tank with an extra movement point. Requires motorized transport and sources of oil and rubber. Although the extra movement point doesn’t matter much for internal defense (moving from one front to another) since you probably already have railroads connecting all your cities by the time you get motorized transport, it does make a difference on offence, allowing you to blitz through enemy territory. The German Panzer is even better than the Chinese Rider at capturing (or more likely, razing) cities deep in enemy territory that are close to finishing an important wonder. It can also be useful for simply bypassing enemy lines and troop concentrations to strike at softer interior targets. The German Panzer remains dominant throughout the industrial ages, and even into the modern times until your opponents discover computers for mechanized infantry or synthetic fibers to build modern armor. Of course, you’ll never let them live that long.
German Panzers are great for the very patient warmonger who will dilligently remember every threat and incursion by neighbors during the ancient age so they can descend and exact a horrifying revenge in the late industrial age.American F-15 (8/4/-, bomb: 4/6/2) Jet Fighter with extra bombing range and rate of fire, plus radar that allows them to see two spaces regardless of terrain, and precision strike capability that doesn’t work. Don’t bother with it until we get a patch that fixes interception and precision bombing.
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The unit that confers the greatest tech advantage is probably the Persian Immortal, who gives you a unit with an attack rating of 4 after only one tech advance (since they start with bronze working) instead of needing to acquire all 16 additional technologies to get out of the ancient era, plus 2 middle age technologies to get to chivalry and build knights. The Greek Hoplite comes in a close second, giving you a defense rating of 3 immediately (since the Greeks start with bronze working) instead of waiting for all 16 additional ancient era techs, plus feudalism. Coming in third is the German Panzer, which gives you a 3 movement tank with motorized transport, 2 industrial and 3 modern techs before synthetic fibers and modern armor. In fourth place is the Chinese Rider, which saves you 5 middle age technologies by giving you a 3 movement unit with chivalry instead of waiting for military tradition. The rest of the special units give smaller tech advantages, usually offering some unit capability just one or two techs before you could otherwise get it.
In terms of resource advantages, the Indian War Elephant saves you from needing to obtain both horses and iron to make knights, the Aztec Jaguar Warrior, Zulu Impi and Japanese Samurai give you 2 movement units without horses (the Japanese Samurai also gives you 4 defense without saltpeter), the Iroquois Mounted Warrior gives you a 3 attack unit without iron, the Persian Immortal gives you a 4 attack unit without horses, the Chinese Rider and German Panzer give you 3 movement without saltpeter and aluminum respectively, and the English Man-O-War gives you a naval unit with better than 2 attack without coal.
Considering the combined tech and resource advantages of the special units, the 'best' units are probably the Persian Immortal, Japanese Samurai, Chinese Rider, and (of course) the German Panzer.
awsome 
. nice job 
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