With what unit do you like to explore, initially?

[Genghis Al]

I use worriors. Horseman are useless I never us them. All they are good for is to die, and thats all they do well.

[The Mad Monk]

I play at king level, and my first exploring unit is...a warrior. They're cheap, and you typically pull a horse or chariot out of a hut sooner or later. Besides, you want your first group of cities to be fairly close together, and since settlers move at the same rate, the rate of exploration is "good enough".

Another reason is that I always make a beeline for monarchy, so even the "easily researched" preq techs are out of reach for a while.

Mindeye: I play on huge, young worlds, where thick, continent-stretching forests are not uncommon, so yes, I find exploerer units to be very useful.

[Hasdrubal]

At the very early stages, I just use warriors. They are cheap and there won't be a unit available that can really hold it's own in battle anyway for quite a while to come. (What good is a phalanx if he stumbles across a village from which comes pouring a horde of barbs?). Horsemen vs. Warriors: for the price of one horseman, you can get two warriors. Combined, they have the same movement rate as one horsie, more if you consider that a horse more often than not can't move two squares a turn while exploring. Plus, all those warriors are great for martial law when they return from their explorings. After the initial stages, it really depends on the situation.

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Ceterum censeo Romanem esse delendam.

[mindseye]

I like to use a combination of Horsemen and Phalanxes for the exact reasons you noted!

This brings up another question - does anybody ever actually use the Explorer unit?

- Tim

[Hawkx9]

In the past, I'd always began by producing a settler, switching to horseman as soon as the tech became available (researching it first), but I've always been disappointed in its longevity. First of all, I enjoying playing on king level, so I don't need to produce warriors for riot control. Also, I hate losing units. If it's for a good cause, I'm cool with it, but I simply hate losing that first explorer (horseman) to a damned barbarian hut or over-zealous opposing civ. Granted, the horseman travels farther, faster, but the terrain never seems conducive to a "stroll across the plains." It's usually filled with ranges of hills, mountains, and other treacherous lands. Also, the horseman has no holding power if another civ is encountered. He cannot hold a bottleneck to keep the enemy from expanding.

As a result of all of this, I've been starting to use a phalanx as my first explorer. He's easily researched, costs the same as a horseman, and has much more staying power. He's much less likely to be killed by a stray barbarian (especially if on rough terrain) and can hold a bottleneck, temporarily at least, to keep the opposition from expansion. I tend to produce one explorer with my first three cities and am finding the "border guards" much more to my liking. Sure, it's a matter of taste, but isn't everything?

What do you think? What unit do you prefer?

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Peace