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Aeson
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orangesoda
Nov 2001
time: 22:18
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I play expansionist civs often. Obviously the larger the landmass, the more important the Expansionist trait becomes. I like to play on Huge maps. These are the uses I've found for a Scout. Many of them apply equally as well to smaller maps.
1. Goody Huts. Expansionists get better results from the huts, and more of them. Can mean every ancient era tech + settlers on some maps, on others it doesn't help at all.
2. Exploration. Find the layout of the map early on. Meet the other Civs. Very helpful in forming a strategy early on. On some maps this makes Expansionists worthwhile just on it's own. In a couple of games I have played, building the Great Lighthouse was the most important decision. And knowing I was on an island early on made that possible.
3. Pillaging. You can pillage any improvement outside the AI's borders. In the early game this can slow down their expansion a bit. They keep rebuilding the road.
4. Pre-emptive pillaging. Scouts can stay in AI territory for a long time, usually more than 40 turns before they have to be removed. The length of time the AI will wait to demand that you withdraw them seems related to power. If a Scout is sitting on a resource, the AI can't build roads on it. It's possible to keep everyone on your landmass without Iron this way. Very powerful, if not exploitative. In some situations you can hold the AI's Gunpowder or Horses too. Usually the AI has roads there before anyone can see them though.
5. War time diversions. The AI love chasing around "defenseless" units. As a scout has a good movement rate, the AI has trouble catching them. I've fought "Scout only" type of wars, where my Scouts had the AI's troops running around in circles until they were ready to surrender. If the AI doesn't have Horses (or Jags), you can pillage at the same time. Pillage, Move, repeat. Of course this works best on the fringes of their empire, and away from roads used for troop movement.
6. Restricting AI movement. As I mentioned previously, Scouts can stay in AI territory. They can be used to block major traffic areas, say an isthmus that divides the AI's empire. Also you can head off AI Settlers, allowing yours to build on the prime city sites first.
7. Scouting AI troop movement. With Scouts inside the borders of AI territory, a sneak attack is easy to notice coming. Especially useful in the Ancient Era, when a line of units will be seen trudging their way towards you.
8. Restricting AI attacks. Usually the AI won't declare war until their first troops are near their objective. If you use your units to block the AI's stacks of troops from moving towards your cities, they never get a chance to declare war. Scouts work best as they are cheap, and can even block stacks of Horsemen/Knights. 3-6 Scouts can keep a huge number of AI troops at bay. The AI sends all it's troops in the same line most of the time. A few more are needed to keep 2 movement troops from slowly making headway.
Overall I find Scouts to be one of the most cost effective units in the game. Only Settlers, Workers, and Captured workers are more valuable. I'm sure Explorers offer many of the same advantages, just not early on when they are most useful.
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30-03-2002 21:14
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