Anyway, I noticed a thread on "Useless units"

Among them were: Trireme, Legion, Explorers...

Trireme: Oh COME ON! It's the earliest ship...it carries two units for three spaces, and it changes to a transport with Leos.
What's not to like? If you're on an Island, you can find another Island quickly....and another ship is a Loooooooong way away.

Legions: This one really burns my butt.
First off...Legions is simple to get.
A Legion is a 4, 2 unit, for 40 Shields.

It moves One Space.

Now....first off, it's QUICK. You can build Legions right off the bat, or with One advance. Iron Working. If you start with bronze working, you can Build Legions within 10 turns.

Secondly, they have the ability to take a beating. A veteran Legion can take an attack from an Archer, and win. They can counter-attack, and kill a veteran Warrior behind a city wall.

"But...why not use an Elephant!?"
Well...Yes, Elephants are good, in SOME situations. An Elephant is capable of Moving twice the distance as a Legion, and hitting as Hard. So a Herd of Elephants will win....right?

Well....Unless there's, say, a forest in the way. Or a Mountain Chain.
All of a sudden, your Elephant is moving slowly...and WOW! He also is a sitting duck for enemy legions, Elephants, Archers, etc.

Now....same situation:
Legion tromps into a forest...DARE someone to attack you.
2+1+1=4 defense... And that's without and kind of defensive action. A Legion can shrug off an Archer, and have an even chance of stopping an Elephant which attacks.

Now....Let's say you have an Enemy Kingdom, with City walls, and three Phalanx behind it.

Chances are you want Catapaults. And, of course, an escort to keep some wwarrior from trashing your expensive Unit.

Now....Total Cost: Catapault+Phalanx=60 shields.

And the Phalanx can't attack.

Legions are quick, if you're on an Island with an Enemy, they might be your only hope.

If your enemy doesn't have city walls, then a Legion can take it all on it's lonesome.

(Vet Legion: Att 6, def: 3)
(Phalanx: 2+1+1=4...No defenses..)
AND you don't need an escort.

Once a Legion takes a place, generally it stays there.
I love having my Legions move through forests, over hills and mountains. If the enemy dares to attack they lose a Unit, and I continue moving at base speed.

In conclusion:
Use elephants if you have an enemy who has nothing but plains between you and him. Use a Catapault/Phalanx combo for taking down heavy defenses. Use a whole bunch of Legions if there's any kind of rocky terrain, and your opponent can put up a fight.

I agree, legions are good. They are the first barbarians to appear that make me worry about defenses. I suspect many apolytoners hate them because knights are as good and twice as fast. However, like most units, there is a time and place for them in almost any game.

and a better way to attack would be with a legion protecting the catapult.
resulting in the legion withstanding the intial blow.... the cat attacking and then hopefull the legion taking the city and healing himself or attacking as well
or for the same price two phalanxs and a cat.... in case your attacked twice by the defender as you mosey up to the city preferably on good def terrain of course

Barb legions freak me out though

quote: Among them were: Trireme, Legion, Explorers... Trireme: Oh COME ON! It's the earliest ship...it carries two units for three spaces, and it changes to a transport with Leos. What's not to like? If you're on an Island, you can find another Island quickly....and another ship is a Loooooooong way away.

I have to agree here fully. I love triremes, in fact I finished a load of games with no better ship. I call the period between triremes and Lighthouse/Navigation "the age of the brave sailor". I lose quite a few on exploring. What AI fears most? A trireme with two crusaders on board...

I rarely build legions but...

quote: Once a Legion takes a place, generally it stays there.

quote: Originally posted by War4ever on 05-08-2001 07:16 PM many times a horse can kick a legions ass in open terrain......

I once had a border city surrounded by open terrain. It's single defending horseman took on all attackers for centuries. Horsemen have almost even odds against legions in the open.

While I must admit to being scared of approaching legions, usually some other unit fits the bill better when I'm deciding what to build.

For defense, my border cities usually already have one or more phalanxes and warriors so I don't need the legion's 2 def. If I want a counterattacker, I'll chose a catapult for power or a horse/elephant/crusader for speed. Two movement units can zip in and protect other nearby cities as well as their home. They can also chase down barb leaders left after an unsuccessful barb attack. I'll have to change my mindset and try East Street Trader's diplo defense some day.