Recently, I got the idea to talk about what types of troops the creators of Sid Meier’s Civilization took as the basis for their units, and how they changed in different parts of this series. This is the second part in which I will try to take into account the mistakes of the previous one. Link to the first part: Part 1.
. Disclaimer . I have not played many parts of this series, so my opinion is not an expert and not the ultimate truth. Objective criticism is accepted.
Warrior is an extremely general concept. It can mean an extensive list of concepts – from berserker to navy seal. But in Civilization (in all parts) this word means the militia of the ancient world (in the very first Civilization it was even called the same).
Militia in Civilization are city dwellers who have picked up improvised tools that can be used as weapons. They don’t fight very well, because they don’t know how, but they cost practically nothing to the ruler.
The militia in history initially looked exactly the same as in Civilization, in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages it became the backbone of the army, in the New Time and beyond it remained a good substitute for the army, if there is nothing better.In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, the basis of the army were free citizens of the city who had enough money to buy weapons – in fact, it was a militia, and the difference with Civilization is noticeable – they fought better than some professionals. In the Middle Ages, the emphasis shifted a little – the basis of the army were professional mounted warriors (knights), and the militia was just an addition, but the difference with Civilization is still noticeable – they are not armed with anything, so they can oppose something to professional warriors. After the invention of firearms, the militia practically became a thing of history – they are used only if they desperately need to defend themselves, and there is no army nearby.
The result is that militia have been used at all times, but the militia shown in Civilization is the most primitive type of troops: people who picked up everything that could pass for a weapon and went to war with it. Therefore, it is objectively the weakest unit, which cannot be fought particularly well. Later versions of the militia in Civilization are represented by other units.
In all games:
The warrior is the weakest unit in the game, in most parts it is given from the very beginning. Used to protect settlers and workers from barbarians and other players, and for the possible capture of them.
Differences in different https://iwonvegascasino.co.uk/bonus/ parts:
Sid Meier’s Civilization 3 Can be a starting unit. Replaced by the warrior Yenkidu among the Sumerians, and by the jaguar warrior among the Aztecs.
Sid Meier’s Civilization 4 Can be a starting unit. Adds protection to the city. Replaced by non-Quechua among the Incas
Sid Meier’s Civilization 5 One of the starting units, as in the sixth part. Replaced by the Moai Warrior of Indonesia and the Jaguar Warrior of the Aztecs.
Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 Does not require gold for maintenance. Has a bonus against anti-cavalry units.
Archer
The bow is the most effective throwing weapon, it appeared more than 10 years ago (therefore it is strange that in Civilization it appears after the warrior, but this can be explained by the appearance of bronze tips and balance issues). It was originally created for hunting and war, simultaneously in different parts of the world.
There are two types of bows – traditional and modern or compound. We will not touch on modern bows here, this is not related to our topic. Traditional bows are divided into conventional bows (essentially just a stick with a string stretched across it) and composite bows (bows created from various parts assembled locally). Archers are armed with traditional regular bows.
Archers are a great addition to main troops. They weakened the enemy troops before attacking the rest of the army, and supported it during the battle. Archers are also ideal for defense: you take a higher position, preferably in fortifications, and the enemy will lose most of his army before reaching you.
In all games:
The Archer is a good defensive and sometimes offensive unit in the early game. Until the last two parts of the game he did not have a ranged attack. Great for city defense.
Differences in different parts:
Sid Meier Civilization 1.2 Not a bad unit, has a good attack, but weak defense, so for effective use it is worth leaving cities to defend.
Sid Meier Civilization 3 The same as in the first two parts + replaced by the Babylonian Archer at Babylon.
Sid Meier Civilization 4 Gives +50% defense to the city and gains +25% defense to the hills. Has 1 first strike. Until the advent of longbowmen, this is the best unit for defending cities. Replaced by Babylonian archer in Babylon, and skirmisher in Mali.
Sid Meier Civilization 5 Can shoot two cells, making it an ideal unit for clearing the map of barbarians early in the game. At the same time, due to the fact that the archer is very weak in close combat, he should be placed on the hills and try not to let melee units get close to him. Replaced by the Akkadian archer among Babylon and the slinger among the Incas.
Sid Meier Civilization 6 In Civilization 6, the archer is not the first ranged unit, and the second, after the slinger. It has greater melee strength, greater ranged strength and most importantly, greater radius (2 vs 1). With the support of warriors, you can recover from capturing neighbors at the very beginning of the game. The most common strategy is to build a lot of slingers, and then upgrade them all to archers, and try to demolish the nearest neighbor. Replaced by the pitati archer in Nubia and the hulcha in the Maya.