Ansar Warrior - tough to grade?

metalhead · November 8, 2002, 10:59

So far, using this dude has proven most triumphant. At first glance, it is easy to say (like I did), what's the deal? A Rider with one fewer defense point, for a measley 10 fewer shields? 70 v 60 doesn't seem like much of a savings, and the Arabs seem to get a bum deal on their UU. In reality, neither change seems to make a huge difference.

The real benefit, as with the Rider, is the 3 movement. They do make putting up new defenses in captured cities a bit harder, but the speed makes the lowered defense nearly irrelevant, as a swift blitzkrieg will cripple or destroy all but the strongest of opponents before they counterattack. The lowered cost will allow for you to build them 1-3 turns quicker in cities that can afford them, more like 2-5 turns quicker during the GA. Not a huge deal, but can give you a small offensive edge.

Overall, I'd say a useful UU, definitely an upgrade from the Knight, and the slight benefit from reduced cost balances nicely with the lowered defense, which really doesn't affect the use much. A very good UU, on par with other knight-replacement UUs

monkspider · November 9, 2002, 00:30

I agree the Ansar is pretty good, it's even better in the beta-tester mod, as there it now has blitz.

badman · November 9, 2002, 05:46

I haven't got PtW yet but I think that a GA doesn't increase the difference of turns till completion but decreases it.

Solver · November 9, 2002, 07:39

I am currently playing my first game that I started in PtW, not continuing an old one, and I'm playing it with the Arabs. Settings are Huge map with 16 civs, and I'm waging quite some war. And yep, Ansars are good - first I went off with like 20 Medieval Infantry to punch the weak civs (love the guys!), but how quickly can Ansars move over to where they are needed, I love it. Besides, they can actually retreat if attacked by enemy Knights. The cost thing is also nice, and they're right in time for a good Golden Age, IMO.

Bambul · November 9, 2002, 17:21

Actually I think that units with movement of 2 or more do not retreat when fighting other units of move 2 or more. So MA will never retreat against MI, even though they have a higher movement (3 vs 2).

Theseus · November 9, 2002, 21:19

Right... and Ansar retreats from Knights? Is this the case?

vmxa1 · November 9, 2002, 22:08

I ran one game with arabs and never retreated from any knights tha I recall. I won;t swear it never happened tough. Mostly the knights just died.

nbarclay · November 14, 2002, 22:06

I just had an interesting thought about the new 60-shield knight substitutes. Even after they stop being all that useful as attackers, they make slightly cheaper prebuilds to upgrade to cavalry than conventional knights do (although the upgrade cost itself is higher).

Nathan

DrFell · November 14, 2002, 22:14

3 move units don't retreat from 2 move units.

Ansar warriors sound very tough indeed. I do think they should have swapped the stats with Keshiks though, or make Keshiks a longbowman replacement.

player1 · November 15, 2002, 07:43

Ansar are OK!

Their high movment offsets low defense since you can becuase of higher movability you can be in poisitions which make you less vunarable.

Now, UU should be compared to all other UUs, not just one (riders).

Comapred to the whole it's prertty good UU.

jshelr · November 19, 2002, 15:14

The best thing is that this UU is attached to a religious civ. Why ever would you want to play China again??

Jawa Jocky · November 19, 2002, 15:27

Because they are industrious.

statusperfect · November 19, 2002, 15:41

Because they are militaristic.

vmxa1 · November 19, 2002, 16:02

Amen mil/ind + riders not too bad.

Catt · November 19, 2002, 16:07

Quote:

Originally posted by jshelr
The best thing is that this UU is attached to a religious civ. Why ever would you want to play China again??

I see this comment as a shrewd attempt at inducing Arrian to break down and buy PTW.

Catt

Jawa Jocky · November 19, 2002, 16:40

I would think the balance that the Medevil Inf. brings to the game would be enough to convince anyone that PTW is worth the $. Or how about the incredible tweaks to the AI? Or some of the new civs? There are so many reasons to buy this expansion pack.

Brizey · November 19, 2002, 17:44

I agree. Med. Inf. and Guerilla really help. Without them, I would only build the swordsman UU's, never plain swordsman. Way better to build a horde of horseman. Now, I build a few swordsman to crack nuts a bit too tough for my horsies.

vmxa1 · November 19, 2002, 18:40

Certainly adds an extra option. I use to make only the min swords as they were dead end, now I do not mind as they can be upgraded and the archer is another, I hated to make if not doing a rush. Now they can go beyond longbow, so it is not a waste.

Theseus · November 20, 2002, 04:56

I'm with Catt.

Arrian, you are now a product development 'issue.'