Some Things I've Learned About Unit Merging (No Spoilers, I Think)

[Falkeep]

Some things that I have learned about units through my current playthrough are below. I don't know if any of these are common knowledge or not but, one the off-chance they aren't, I wanted to share them.

If you merge units, the whole new unit has all of the accumulated bonuses / achievements of the component units. However, upgrading in an encampment does NOT give the % bonuses of that location if a unit does not already have them (which I think it should give them if you choose to take the time top move them to an encampment or harbor district rather than upgrading them in the field.). So, if you want units to have all the bonuses of Barracks, Armory, and Academy, just build one new unit with those bonuses and merge it into your Corps / Fleet / Army / Armada. They can be merged anywhere to get those bonuses for the larger unit. Also, as long as any one of the units that you are going to urge has at least 1 movement point left, you can merge them when they are nest to each other, but the merging has to be done by a unit with movement points.

Also, if one of your units that you merge is named then the merged unit keeps that name (I don't know yet what happens if you merge two named units together). So, merge the prestige uints with raw (unpromoted) new units for the combined unit to keep that status.

Today, I'm going to test building two new units and giving them different promotions (one will get the No Woods Travel Restriction bonus and the other will be given the No Hills Travel Restrictions bonus, for example) to see if the new unit gets both promotions when they merge. I'll let you know how that goes.

If you have the time and ability, utilize any natural bonuses from wonders on your game map. As I've said before, the map I have now, has The Matterhorn, The Giant's Causeway, and the Fountain of Youth on my home home land mass. So, I've been running all of my units to all three places for those bonuses. What I've figured out now about merging would seem to indicate that I just need one unit with one of all of those bonuses to get them combined for the merged larger units.

Siege Engines are NOT eligible for bonuses from wonders or promotions. I know because I ran my free Battering Ram I got from building The Statue of Zeus and ran it to all three wonders, but nothing. Since they are upgradable (eventually to a Supply Unit) I think that they should at least be able to get the travel restriction bonuses / promotions since they are designed to travel along with combat units. I have not had them in a battle, so I don't know if they are incrementally damageable (not just from combat but also from natural disasters like storms or eruptions) or healable (i.e. are they "one shot and its over" or even if they are captureable like Settlers and Builders), nor do I know if they are mergable. I guess I'll build another one today and test that out.

In any case, good long-term strategic planning ahead for when you get the capability to merge units could give you combined units that are greater than the component pieces. Again, I'll report any new information I get.

[grognardgary]

I never build more than one or two encampments and that's almost entirely because of Alhambra and the pottery army that grants a bonus level to all currently existing units.

[Falkeep]

Originally posted by grognardgary:

I never build more than one or two encampments and that's almost entirely because of Alhambra and the pottery army that grants a bonus level to all currently existing units.

Okay, but the thread topic is about merging units. And I've just tried combining units with two different promotions and the combined unit ended up with both promotions. So, strategically, you can use mergers to build units that are not just bigger than the component pieces but that are also better promoted than the individual units.

[fsupple1]

Will try merging two units with different promotions to see what I get. Will advise.

[Falkeep]

Okay, I tried merging an experienced unit with a new one that had a free promotion that hadn't yet been selected. Rather than the experienced unit getting an additional promotion to pick (the experienced unit had 5 promotions) the available promotion slot just went away. Also, I tried a newly built unit with a promotion slot that hadn't been picked and merged it with another unit that had no available unused promotion slot (i.e. -- the first time, the unit with no available promotion slot absorbed the unit with one unused promotion slot while the second time the unit with the unused available promotion slot absorbed the one with no available promotion). Either way, the unused available promotion slot disappeared. So you are neither hurt or benefited merging a unit with any unused promotion slots.

Me? I would still take the promotion even if the other unit already had what I could get rather than leave it unused on the table. Also, even if you need the merged unit fast, if you take the promotion (which ends it's turn) as long as the other unit has any movement points, it can still absorb the one with no movement points. So, you only lose one turn to move that way rather than two turns you would lose if you promoted the unit one turn and then had it merge with the other unit the next turn. Does that make sense?

[grognardgary]

Originally posted by Falkeep:

Originally posted by grognardgary:

I never build more than one or two encampments and that's almost entirely because of Alhambra and the pottery army that grants a bonus level to all currently existing units.

Okay, but the thread topic is about merging units. And I've just tried combining units with two different promotions and the combined unit ended up with both promotions. So, strategically, you can use mergers to build units that are not just bigger than the component pieces but that are also better promoted than the individual units.

Not a problem pretty much what the in game wiki describes you also commented that the encampments don't add anything to the merger process and I was simply agreeing that ecampments don't really add a whole lot to the game and by and large have been greatly nerfed over what the were in four and five.

[plaguepenguin]

Merge units with different promotions and the resulting corps or army gets all the promotions that all the merged units had as individuals.

The ram-tower-medic-supply train line are not classified as combat units, but rather as support units. They have no combat strength, so neither attack nor defend on their own, and can't heal, because they take no damage from any combat a unit they are stacked with engages in. They are eliminated if your units enter the hex they occupy, though barbs can capture them.