Warcraft II Unit Analysis
This page does not describe the statistics of each war2 unit, as some similar pages do, but rather give various strategies to use with each unit, and what the units are generally used for. As before, I will use the human example in order to save typing.
Peasants/Peons
Peasants are the keys to winning. No two sides about it. They do it all: mine gold, chop lumber, build buildings, repair buildings (and transports), and can even defend themselves in a pinch. These are what you are protecting, in essence. All other units exist for the benefit of these. And get as many of them as possible.
Did you hear that? Get as many peasants as possible. There is no such thing as too many.
Footmen/Grunts
You'll probably end up building more footmen than any other type of unit. These are the straightforward bastards: just point, shoot, and kick ass. Build these from the beginning, as soon as you can. And keep building them until you get knights. Upgrade them. And Try and maximize how many you can build.
Click A HREF="http://users.mdn.net/gregshaf/grunts.jpg">here to see what I do on weeknights when the ISP goes down. (Man that is a lot of grunts!)
Archers/Axethrowers/Rangers/Berserkers
These are not as good as some would think they are....a lot of people build them only because they get bored with footmen, but don't do this. Footmen will mow down archers. And trying to find a "Perfect" position for them to attack without being attacked just isn't worth it. About the only place I use these are to take on gryphons. Archers will mow through gryphons, if you have enough of them. One game I took out 20+ dragons with only 9 or so rangers, upgraded all the way. This is because 9 shots from fully upgraded rangers will take out a gryphon/dragon. I only build these for air defense.
Ballistas/Catapults
These units are wildcards....they are one of the toughest units to use correctly, but when they are they can be extremely powerful. I'm still not sure of all their possibilities; they rule against anyone who walls themselves in, and against towers, as well as to keep pesky ships away from your island. But man, they are so defenseless against
ANY
sort of land attack. I once took out a catapult with
1 PEASANT!!! 1 PEASANT!!!
but they are really good if you can protect them. The kicker for me is that they take so long to build...so I almost never use them. But I have almost gotten my butt kicked solely because of them. Only build them if you know what the hell you're doing.
Knights/Paladins
I've decided to make a distinction from the human side and their orc counterparts, because knights and ogres are so different....once you upgrade them into paladins and ogre-mages at the church and the altar of storms. Ogres are better...because bloodlust is better than healing. Bloodlusted ogres mow through knights before they get a chance to heal. Who gives a rat's ass about "longevity" or whatever the hell it is that people use to say healing is better than bloodlust. It isn't. See my spells page for more details. Anyway, what you want to do with knights is get them early, as soon as your resources can handle the upgrade to keep and the extra 200 gold and 100 lumber per unit that the knights require. Only practice can let you determine this. But these are much more effective than footmen. However, I usually don't ever even build a church unless I'm playing against death knights and want excorcism.
Ogres/Ogre-mages
As the orc equivalent of knights, you might think that the strategies for ogres are the same as those for knights. WRONG!!!!! Let me put it this way...if you're hearing the "We're ready master!...I'm not ready!" for more than 15 units then you're not doing things right....GET BLOODLUST!!!! This means upgrading to fortress and building an altar, and getting bloodlust as soon as it is physically possible. Bloodlust is like a whole new unit that kicks the complete ass of any other unit. And don't just cast it on ogres...you can cast it on axethrowers if you're dealing with gryphons, or even grunts. (For a laugh, cast it on a peon and attack someone with it). The biggest problem of the human side is making up for bloodlusted ogres. There is almost no defense for these, (except more ogres with bloodlust).
Dwarven Demolition Squads/Goblin Sappers
These units probably aren't used enough....they take a hell of a long time to build and are pretty expensive. But man, they can be something to be dealt with. I once watched MadDawg play a game against a guy where he took him COMPLETELY off the map using almost nothing but demolition squads. I have seen one demolition squad take out 4 farms at once....this can literally cripple your enemy's entire operation. Use them against units. Keep them around for defense....1 or 2 demo squads can stop 9 bloodlusted ogres in their tracks if you get it exactly right. I don't use these like I should. If you're going to use these, and you should, get more than one gnomish inventor, because they do take forever to build. But they are worth it. They can blast through rocks...use them on High Seas Combat to blast through the rocks and attack your enemy without having to go via sea...or to get to a second gold mine in a pinch. I don't think many people really realize how useful these units are.
Gnomish Flying Machines/Goblin Zeppelins
These units have an understated value as well....you can't attack with them but you need them to attack, especially later in the game. Build as many of these as you need to watch your opponent's every move. If you can pinpoint your attack on the enemy's weak spots you just gained a huge advantage. Use these to know when an attack is coming...and to know when your enemy is mining a second gold mine. Recon is one of the big keys to the game.
Mages
Again, I'm making a human/orc distinction here. Mages are the reasons I choose humans over orcs most of the time....Flame shield, slow, invisibility, Blizzard and Polymorph are all extremely useful spells, especially when used in some nasty combinations...See
my magic page for details. I go for mages as soon as I can. And I don't stop pumping them out as long as I have the gold. The mage is, in my opinion, the most powerful unit in the game.
Death Knights
These units aren't quite as powerful as mages....when I'm orc, I don't go for these like I go for mages when human. Death & Decay, haste and death coil are useful, but these units aren't mages. They don't have invisibility or polymorph. They just don't rule like mages do. They are extremely succeptable to exorcism. I usually only build death knights, when human, when I have a lot of extra resources....bloodlusted ogres give more bang for the buck, in my opinion.
Oil Tankers
These are the peasants/peons of the sea. Vital to maintaining your oil supply, you need to build enough of these to keep your oil supply going. Since they don't build buildings (except for oil platforms) and only get 1 resource you don't need to get them in the numbers that you need peasants. But get enough of these to get excess oil as they are sometimes pretty easy to take out. I like to have four or more on 1 oil platform and I have plenty of oil.
Transports
Don't believe anyone who tells you different...transports are the most important units on sea levels. Sea battles are all and good, and you have to protect your shipyard with something, but you still have to take the game over with a land attack. Don't limit yourself to just one transport. That is such a newbie mistake. On extended games I like to have 4 or more. Fill them all full of knights and mages. And watch the enemy DIE. All you have to remember is that you must protect them and/or hide them....because they are weak. And always remember, you can repair them.
Battleships/Juggernaughts]
Battleships are the most powerful of the sea units...they mow through destroyers like nobody's business. They have the most powerful, non-spell attack in the game....two shots from a level 5 battleship will take out a cannon tower (this is why towers suck for water defense). Get more of these than your opponent and you're almost gauranteed sea superiority. And don't forget to upgrade them....it's expensive, but just as important as upgrading your land units.
Destroyers
These are a fun water unit to work with....not as good as battleships for some things, you still need to build these. Your first water unit should be a battleship, but don't slack on these. These are quicker and can take out transports better than battleships can...and nothing hurts more than losing a transport full of six mages. These can also take on dragons and gryphons...almost without getting hurt. If you landlock someone they're most likely to build gryphons....so start building these right away, with archers. They can't do much else, but taking out transports is so important, it's worth it to build these.
Subs/Turtles
I'll explain how I feel about these units using only kind words....THEY BLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are almost completely useless...they take only 1 battleship shot to wipe out and cost entirely too much to build. They are completely useless if your opponent has any flying machines at all...and even if they don't, battleships can still take them out...just look at where they are attacking from and use "Attack Ground." These are dumb units. I never build them anymore. Just not worth it.
Dragons/Gryphons
These are mostly worthless. They cost too much (2500 gold, enough 1.6666666 mages) and they just get wiped out too easily....archers, destroyers, and the polymorph and death coil spells, as well as guard towers, just have a field day with these. You can build up about 30 or so and wreck havoc with them, but only if your opponent has crappy recon....they only work if your enemy isn't ready for them. You can build these on sea levels if you're landlocked, but chances are you won't have enough gold to do much with them. Don't go for these guys. Go for magic instead. 2500 gold and an hour or so to get one. Just simply not worth it.
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