Immortal Imbalance

[Drefsab]

Can't stop the Immortals, Persia's my favorite Civ.

[Theseus]

As Arrian and Mike Meyers say:

Smooth as butta.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

The only way to stop them if the computer is Persia is to take their iron. Unfortunatly, the AI knows where all the resources are, so actually it would be very hard.

[Playa del Carmen]

I stopped playing Germany when I discovered the immortals.


Mmmmm, Immortal....

[dnassman]

I only play Persia as well. Love those Immortals. They do so much damage. I just pump them out until they are all over the place. Can conquer the world with them and get an early conquest victory on even a standard sized Pangea map.

[Flip McWho]

same here. i love the persians. can't play nething else. the only thing that annoys me is the early Golden Age, but oh well can live with that.

[Harovan]

Immortals against the AI are powerful, no doubt, although I play only occasionally with Persia and never finished a game with them. But their weak point is their defense value. A human player, who has well-placed and veteran swordsmen and horsemen, will stop an AI attack even with immortals. Xerxes surprised me only once with a stack of 30 units, mostly immortals and horsemen. After this disaster, I knew what I have to do if I have him as neighbor. Immortals taste good, I like them medium.

[Jethro83]

Persia are a parasite that must be wiped out quickly. However, since the immortal is so tough on the attack, you need to kill it before it can strike you.

I've wiped out most of Persia in the ancient era before, even though they did have immortals. I don't really think they're so imbalanced. You just need to approach them with much more caution, and hit first. Then they're dog food.

[vondrack]

I do not think that Immortals are imbalanced... they are powerful as an offensive force, but they are rather weak when it comes to defense (matching just spearmen). Sir Ralph is putting it right saying that well placed swordsmen and horsemen are able to stop or seriously weaken even a powerful attack before it reaches any city of yours. It is important to have the front line cities well fortified (barracks, possibly walls...)... and if the terrain permits, fortresses help things, too... PLUS a well "roaded" battlefield. It is vital that you inflict as much damage to the advancing hordes of Immortals as possible, while being able to retreat back to the safety of a city improved with barracks (defended by several veteran spearmen). Having roads everywhere, even your swordsmen gain the mobile advantage over the Immortals.

I have played several games as Hammurabi (Babs) recently and have always ended up close to that Xerxes guy. At one time he will always go to war... He will, I know that for sure now and I do plan for that. In my current game, I have been able to repel his attack while suffering very acceptable losses on my side. He himself later offered peace... I noticed the AI underestimates the defensive weakness of Immortals a bit, as they are seldom supported by the cheap spearmen that would be able to save the invading corps from my initial counterattack, even if at the expense of their own lives...

Fighting Persian Immortals, hit and run tactics work. Never let them hit in full power and large numbers. Oh, yes... and do not really try to invade Persia until Immortals become obsolete or unless Xerxes lacks iron... Immortals will easily crush whatever you try to send into their territory...

A fine civ to play against Persia are Greeks - their Hoplites, especially veteran units, are a good match for Immortals, when fortified behind walls or placed in a well-defendable terrain.