which is the most game breaking unit?

[King_Henry]

Maybe the mention of the catapult was useless, but I did have a use for it. I used it as bait to lure out my opponnents units. And I got the guy back every time.

[badams52]

Used your catapult to draw out the AIs offensive units. I find that the AI won't use his defense to take catapults or workers. So instead of killing the AIs weak-defending offensive units inside the cities, you draw them out. Interesting.

[badams52]

I'd say cavalry, but I always hate having 30-40 cavs left over once tanks roll out. That's when my cavs become improvement rushers.

[Pyrodrew]

Cavalry. Not only for Cavalry's speed of 3 which is huge, but because when Cavalry appears that make them even more powerful...

Railroads (zip zoom tidal wave)
Factories (quicker and more and more)
Mobilization (yikes!)
Democracy/Commun. (which ever you prefer)

[Theseus]

Originally posted by Stuie
Doh! I forgot about musketmen - that's a defense of 4. Still, 6:4 is a pretty good attack ratio for the cavalry, and they can retreat which makes it better than Swordsmen/Spearmen (3:2).

But with Cavs you'll often you'll be attacking cities, lessening the offensive advantage.

I've said it before: Swordsmen, upgraded en masse and in sufficient number, are effectively unstoppable. Played in an extreme manner, the game is over before it even gets going (but that's just not fun).

[Panag]

hi ,

we really are peacefull , no-one talks about the nuke's , ......

those tacs are great with a range of eight , so are cruise rockets , ......

always fun to "switch" the changes of the terrain off , ....

and watch those cities die slowly under the pollution , ..... or see the frantic efforts of the AI to clean it up , ......



have a nice day

[Mad Bomber]

i think that the Cavalry is the unit that wins the game, the later units are for mopping up. If you can't get an up in the cavalry phase of the game, it becomes an uphill battle the rest of the way.

[Dis]

It depends on the difficulty level

On warlord I could easily win the game with horseman. Horseman is the first fast unit (aside from uu's). Fast units are very deadly.

[campmajor!]

Originally posted by Mad Bomber
i think that the Cavalry is the unit that wins the game, the later units are for mopping up. If you can't get an up in the cavalry phase of the game, it becomes an uphill battle the rest of the way.

Well that is not quite true. If by the time cavalry is the best attacking unit and you miss on it because of lack of tech, and you later on catch up, you can then use modern armour to set things straight!

The modern armour rules! But if you're up against mech.inf. it will still be a matter of greater numbers...
But that goes for all units.....

[DrSpike]

A lot of knights can be had very early on through upgrades.......this is the first unit that is overpowered against the comp.

[CiverDan]

I think any 3-movement unit, where cav or any of the UU's can be a game breaker. These units allow to to attack most cities directly without worrying about counterattack before reaching the city. The extra movement also allows you to set up your invasion quicker and means you need less units to defend your empire.

[sabrewolf]

[edited: i didn't read the post exact enough, sorry]

[Mad Bomber]

Originally posted by CiverDan
I think any 3-movement unit, where cav or any of the UU's can be a game breaker. These units allow to to attack most cities directly without worrying about counterattack before reaching the city. The extra movement also allows you to set up your invasion quicker and means you need less units to defend your empire.

True enough, but cavalry is the first 3 move unit which is what makes them so effective, you can easliy sack five or six cities per turn with them. With MA you will be running into MI's usuallly in metros. While they will win eventually the casulties are too high without bombardment before hand. This slows the attack considerably. Also by the time of MA's the game is usually won, any warfare after tanks is usually a mop up operation. the cavalry phase is usually the timeframe where I start to dominate, this continues into the transititory period of tanks and flight. It is rare that meaningful warfare (warfare in which the outcome is not already determined) is seen in the modern age

[Redstar]

you sure you guys aren't talking about about tech leads rather than game breaking units?

on an even tech level by the time you have cavalry you also have rifleman. I have found that the rifleman wins more than the cav.

On an even tech level...the modern tank is the MOST powerful unit...(still not long after mts come tactical nukes,,,
just 3 of them can usually wipe out a 100 stack of anything).

those samurai are VERY scary indeed!

[Pyrodrew]

Redstar - I made a similar comment, but along different lines.
I can wipe out opponents with the same tech level (riflemen defense) fastest with Cavalry. No tech lead, it is the tech innovations. With roads, 30 cities make 30 units which take some time to assemble. With railroads, you have 30 units able to attack a city that turn. Factories and a better government allow for mass production & more units. In fact if they have the same tech level it is sometimes easier as the pre-built railroads in cities I conquer to allow me to dive in deeper faster. This might be 1 reason we have seen some mod designers drop Cavalry's speed to 2 & leave tanks alone. Tanks are stronger, but so slow they are stuck sitting in enemy territory vulnerable to attack & causing war weariness.