(P)REVIEWS - Civilization IV: Warlords Review by Solver
New Trait Ratings (Page 3)
My favourite part of the Protective trait, though, is the Crossbowman
unit. With a free Drill I, it becomes very potent when promoted along the Drill
line. First strikes generally give a greater advantage if otherwise the combat
odds are in favour of your unit or even. Crossbowmen have odds well in favour
of them vs. melee units, and generally good odds out in the field. Promoting
them with further Drill promotions makes Protective Crossbowmen very good field
units indeed.
On defence, Protective becomes even more powerful if coupled with
Charismatic. It can mean City Garrison III + Drill I at 5 XP, and, say, Drill
II at 8 XP. Those are some wickedly good defenders. Churchill has this trait
combination, and if he’s your selected target for an early expansion war, be
sure to bring more troops!
Gunpowder units also receive these two free promotions. City Garrison
doesn’t hurt, of course, particularly if you are actually going to use some
Musketmen or Riflemen to defend cities. I find that it happens often enough,
even if only for a few turns in a newly conquered city. Drill I, though, only
gives gunpowder units a chance at one first strike, without access to further
Drill promotions. Not really a significant bonus then, but still gives your
units a slight edge.
Cheaper Walls and Castles is no groundbreaking bonus. Walls are already
pretty cheap, but they are more useful in Warlords, too. Walls are required to
build Castles, and Castles now give +1 trade route. Depending on the city and
the general situation, it can be a fairly good boost of commerce. In the
original Civ4, I would rarely build Walls, only in cities I was sure would be
attacked, and almost never built Castles, particularly given how soon the
arrival of gunpowder units made them obsolete. In Warlords, however, I will
build Walls more often, to gain access to a Castle later. After all, having one
in each city provides a bonus to economy equivalent to running Free Market. If
you are Protective, you should probably take the time to build those Walls and
Castles now.
My bottom line for Protective is, it’s a fairly situational trait, and
one that you actually have to try to make the most use of. The rewards are
worth it in the end, though. [ ... Previous Page | Next Page ... ]
