Best Unit in the game?

[Beefy]

Personally its gotta be the Spartan Hoplites.

They are just as hard as coffin nails!

They will just stand their and not run away even when flaming pots are landing on them. Even when cavarly charged from the back they will keep going!

GO SPARTANS

[The Stranger]

yep i'll go for the spartans too

[Kekvit Irae]

Spartans are my vote for best infantry, but I still stand by my Gothic Cavalry

[katank]

With the 1.2 phalanx fix, they are more deadly than ever. However, they still remain horribly vulnerable to missiles and die in droves when hit by archer fire.

I personally vote for the humble spear warband as best unit due to the low tech requirement and raw combat power derived for the cost. Also note that lack of a secondary means they always stay in phalanx.

[Wishazu]

i say spartans too. i disagree with the arrows thing, whenever i use greek hoplite troops they only suffer from archer fire if it is coming from their unprotected rear, anywhere else and my casualties are allways negligable. however, regular skirmishers using pila/javelins etc. are far more effective against a hoplite phalanx.

[Kaldhore]

I just did a test, custom battle 1v1
Huge Units
Spartan v Urban Cohort.

I did 4 tests

Long phalanx formation for Spartans
Short *Square* Phalanx
No Phalanx Formation
Phalanx till flanked then standard.

I played the spartans for each battle.
Urban Cohort won 3 out of 4 times, and even then the spartans were down to 25 men.

So although I'd like to agree that spartans are the best.....Looks like the Urban Cohort stands up pretty well.

[Kekvit Irae]

For raw statistical power, Spartans beat out nearly anything.
For power in numbers, you cannot beat the Spear Warband. That's how I conquered the world playing at Germania until I discovered the joys of the Chosen Archers and the Gothic Cavalry. A barbarian phalanx you can build right off the bat. Yummy.

[Craterus]

best spearmen=spartan hoplites
best infantry=urban cohort/bastarnae mercenaries
best cavalry=cataphracts/armoured elephants/ sarmatian mercenaries
best missile unit=pharoahs bowmen
best missile cavalry=horse archers
best general=eastern general

those are my opinions on the best units in the game, thats my dream army!

[Alien of Germania]

1. Spearwarband
2. Gothic Cavalry
3. Barbarian Cavalry and Choosen Axemen

think im playing with Germania too much ehehehe...

[Craterus]

maybe just a bit too much germania.. lol
i do like warband - they are resilient troops!

[Arrowhead]

best missile unit=pharoahs bowmen

How dare you! Have I not repeated, time and time again, that the FORESTER WARBAND is the best archer unit!


HAIL to all who choose Germania or Gaul!

[The Stranger]

**** you, the spartans rules (oh my go, here we go again)

[Craterus]

i prefer pharoh's bowmen, they wear armour as well and they have huge range!

[Lochar]

I havent played the customer battles much, and so far all I have played is the romans and now the selucids. Granted it was AI, but 2 milita hoplite units held their ground and decimated a spartan unit. I am still gearing toward the elite phalanx unit that selucid has so I havent gone head to head with other elite units yet.

Its funny tho as rome, I rarely if ever used town milita, but as selucid, it was the main componetn of my armies for awhile and while I have gotten levy pikeman and now the phalanx pikeman, they still exist in my armies as I cant bring myself to disband veteran units.



Altho I have noticed what gives rome its best advantage is wall combat, here the pikes cant be used as the secondary weapons just dont cut it.

[EvilNed]

Armoured elephants! Tremble as they run into everything and everyone and just let loose. They are like a hulky guy in jail: Everyone wants to be them, but noone wants to have them ontop of you.

[AntiochusIII]

Armoured elephants! Tremble as they run into everything and everyone and just let loose. They are like a hulky guy in jail: Everyone wants to be them, but noone wants to have them ontop of you.

Hannibal would've heeded this advice well before Zama.

For me...

Phalanx: Hard choice...Spartan are the best but my conscience says that I just love how a long, unbreakable Silver Shield line looks - so they get my vote.

Infantry: Urban Cohort! They can beat Spartans and stop Elephant charge! What a cheat the Romans get them.

Elephants: Yubtseb elephants. Look that the size of THAT!

Archer: Forester Warbands are best in stats...but I like how Pharoah's Bowmen looks. The only unit in Egypt I ever like.

Cavalry: Companions. They may not be as heavy as cataphracts but they are sharp like a blade when they cut through enemy lines...they look cool too. With the feature thing and all...

Missile Cavalry: Cataphract Archers. Why Parthia doesn't have them is a mystery. These world-conquering bane of Urban Cohort.

[katank]

i say spartans too. i disagree with the arrows thing, whenever i use greek hoplite troops they only suffer from archer fire if it is coming from their unprotected rear, anywhere else and my casualties are allways negligable. however, regular skirmishers using pila/javelins etc. are far more effective against a hoplite phalanx.

This is not true for Spartans. Regular hoplites have about 7 armor compared to Spartan's 3. The Spartans do have 2 HP but with 2-3 regular archers focus firing on them, they get decimated before they even hit the battleline.

Besides, even if they are still standing, they are a lot less tough since often they survive with only one HP remaining and are no longer supermen.

[Sam Adams]

armored elephants are clearly the best overall... they do everything and kill everything. They even batter wooden down doors for you!

failing that...

urbans. Not only are they tough, they get to throw two javelins and slaughter crap even before enganging. Plus they are way more mobile that phalanxs. Not quite as invincible on defense as a refused line of phalanxes supported by archers... but way way better on offensive and in cities.

[Shadar]

Tossup between Urban Cohort and Spartans.

however, in the end, i would say Urban Cohort. I've done testing that those two pila make a HUGE difference between winning and losing. add some really damn nice stats and you've got an almost unstoppable unit against most infantry unless heavily heavily outnumbered. Then they can still do decently well!

[Romeus Petrus]

Actually the Spartans will beat the urban cohorts every time if they stay in the Phalanx formation, and will pretty much beat anything else with or without the phalanx including heavy cavalry. I agree though, it is a tough call between the two.

[Craterus]

i like royal pikemen as well as Spartans...
sorry i take back what i said about the pharohs bowmen.. forester warband are indeed better! i haven't played with them as much as pharohs bowmen..

[Es Arkajae]

I have a soft spot in my heart for the mighty Spanish Bull Warrior.

It has only half the defence of an Urban but it has 2 hit points so it more than makes up for that, it has one less point of attack however with warcry it gets a big bonus (its +4 isn't it?) which is improved further in woods with another bonus. It also has a higher charge bonus (5 as opposed to 4).

Like the Urban it is fast, it has only slightly less stamina (good instead of very good) and it also has excellent morale.

It's also buildable much earlier than an Urban Cohort.

[Craterus]

they are really great mercenaries i agree... they aren't always availabel to recruit though

[Mikeus Caesar]

best infantry=urban cohort/bastarnae mercenaries

Those bastardized mercenaries are great!! Whenever i'm losing a battle, and i have nearly no men left except for a unit of bastardized mercenaries or their counterparts, thracian mercs, then they are just great for throwing in there and getting you a phyrric victory. They just carve through the enemy ranks. I once had a 37 man unit of them, and they killed half of a 300 strong rebel army. That is how good they are. They're almost as good as rodeo singers (rhodisian slingers).

[Wishazu]

This is not true for Spartans. Regular hoplites have about 7 armor compared to Spartan's 3. The Spartans do have 2 HP but with 2-3 regular archers focus firing on them, they get decimated before they even hit the battleline.

Besides, even if they are still standing, they are a lot less tough since often they survive with only one HP remaining and are no longer supermen.

i still dissagree mate,ive never played anything other than greece online(except for egypt once or twice) and as soon as the enemy sees my spartans they unleash everything they have at them(missile wise) and my boys allways shrug it off :)

[Es Arkajae]

they are really great mercenaries i agree... they aren't always availabel to recruit though

What?

Spanish Bull Warriors are a unique Spanish unit mate, they're not a mercenary unit.

[Craterus]

u can recruit a merc unit like them if you are in spain.. i forget their merc name... i think it's spanish mercenaries

[katank]

i still dissagree mate,ive never played anything other than greece online(except for egypt once or twice) and as soon as the enemy sees my spartans they unleash everything they have at them(missile wise) and my boys allways shrug it off :)

That depends on upgrades. Spartans are quite vulnerable to missiles as their defense skill is about 11 IIRC and they have crazy attack. They are practically invincible in melee but die to lowly archers.

In Macedonian campaign, I maul the Spartan hop with just the 2 starting archers. By the time they hit my lines, there was about 25 left (majority with 1 HP). Triple shot militia hop wall delayed them and then 2 peltasts threw in a volley, a quick cav charge and they were all dead. I lost about 1 unit of militia hops and that was it.

[Old Celt]

I think Spartans are the best overall infantry unit. People like to make comparisons to Urbans by saying they beat Spartans in 1 on 1 battles, but that doesn't prove overall effectiveness with multiple units in battle, and that's where it really counts. Skilled players can defeat Urbans with Spartans, and they do. Besides, Urbans are very nearly a fantasy unit. Yes there were some, but very few, and as far as I know, they were responsible for absolutely no major victories in real life combat. The Spartans were the real thing.

I hate to admit it, but probably the best overall cavalry unit is the stinkpot Desert Cavalry. They beat Praetorians and Companions, and even Cataphracts in actual battles. They aren't flashy or expensive, but they absolutely kill all other horse units except Head Hunting Maidens, which give them a close run. They aren't suited for attacking formed infantry, but they deal very well with other cavalry. That being said, I hate that they derive their advantages from inflated unit size and armor piercing weapons. And I hate the Egyptians, too!

I think Pharoah's Bowmen are the best archers. They have better melee stats than the middle or even top tiered infantry of many civs. They have excellent range, good morale, and are just generally very obnoxious. I hate the Egyptians! Foresters are okay, but Gaul rarely survives long enough to actually field them.

[Es Arkajae]

u can recruit a merc unit like them if you are in spain.. i forget their merc name... i think it's spanish mercenaries

Spanish Mercenaries are crap compared to Bull Warriors, you may as well compare Hastati to Urban Cohorts.

Methinks you have no clue what you're talking about mate.