Archers, what are with these things?

[Neekirul]

I just got the game, and am wondering how in the world you are supposed to counter archers in the early game? They consistently take out any other unit , attacking or defending. Not even fortified spearmen in cities seem to be able to kill them.

Is there any option other than just creating nothing but archers?

[Zachriel]

Re: Archers, what are with these things?

Originally posted by Neekirul
I just got the game, and am wondering how in the world you are supposed to counter archers in the early game? They consistently take out any other unit , attacking or defending. Not even fortified spearmen in cities seem to be able to kill them.

Is there any option other than just creating nothing but archers?

Are you starting the wars? Most of the time, the AI won't declare war as long as they are still expanding.

In any case, Horsemen are effective against Archers.

[arslankhan]

All archer Armies are pretty lethal in the early game. Theyre especially useful for taking bites out of an enemy stack besieging a city.

[Neekirul]

I tried horsemen, they got butchered. Didn't even do 2/3rds damage.

I was pretty much forced to start the war, the AI pretty much cut me me off on a tiny strip of land.

[alva]

Those weren't bowmen instead of normal archers, were they?

Make use of their bad defensive value..even warriors can do the trick here

[Neekirul]

Nope, these were the run of the mill archer.

[Dominae]

Are you playing Civ2?

[Dis]

archers are easy.

but you are going to have to learn strategy.

namely if you are using horsemans stage them on hills mountains with spearman defendind the stack. Then you attack archers out in the open (not on mountains or hills).

This can be diffucult to explain. But try to learn the defensive value of terrain and use it to your advantage. DO NOT let the enemy ai creep up to your cities and perch themselves on a hill right next to your city. You will be in a world of hurt if you do that. The key is too knock out their armies before they approach your cities. And knock them down in flat terrain when at all possible. And if you can get Iron working and connect to that resource, then you could use swordsment to knock out any straggler archers in tough terrain.

[ktaek]

Are they veteran/elite archers vs. regular units?

The experience level makes a huge difference. Military + barracks civ turning out archers will crush ordinary spearmen/horsemen.

[alva]

I'd rather have reg horsemen then elite archers. (unless there is absolutely no way avoiding the battle to take place in mountain tiles)

[Jamski]

Build lots of archers yourself, and try to make it so you never move next to an enemy archer, instead make them move next to you. Then you have the advantage.

Or, build a big stack of archers (10ish is good for early game) with 2 spearmen. Now go and do to them what they are doing to you. AND BUILD THOSE BARRACKS !

Or, set "archer traps" with a worker. The AI will always take an undefanded worker, and in doing so will leave units in vunerable (sp?) positions. I'm sure you can think how to use this one.

If used properly archers can win the game (i.e. put you so far ahead that you are coasting for the rest of the game) for you. IF used properly...

Wishing you much archer fun.
-Jam

[The Pioneer]

I never really use Archers in my games, I either go for horsemen or swordsman.

So long...

[Jamski]

Originally posted by The Pioneer
I never really use Archers in my games, I either go for horsemen or swordsman.

The advantage that archers have over the above two units are´:

1.) No resources needed.
2.) You can build them sooner.
3.) You can build more of them quicker.
4.) YOU CAN BUILD THEM SOONER !

If you can attack with archers against warriors, you have better chances than with swords v.s. spears. And archers upgrade to longbows, probably the most cost-effective unit in the game.

I'm gonna get flamed now..

-jam

[The Pioneer]

Oh, I know that there are advantages but I still do not use them. On the other hand, I love marines although they have a lot of disadvantages and are expensive. It may be unreasonable but I still prefer some units over others.

So long...

[Jamski]

Sure, marines are cool, but for me they are one of the "fun" units that make Civ so replayable. However I find archers are one of the _essential_ units. I couldn't imagine playing without my early archer rush to get some cities and tech. But perhaps you prefer to wait and hit them with the horsies ?

-Jam