Broken Impi

[Frondator]

Just discovered them now for the first time in three years of play. I am Rome on Prince and the Zulus steamrolled the Morroccans, the Americans, then a larger Iroquois with a good number of units, and now they are at my gates. We are at the beginning of the Industrial Era and I am behind them in tech, but I am moving to musketmen fast now because longswordsmen end up being equal if not weaker with all of the impi bonuses. This is a joke. This unit needs heavy nerfing if the game is ever patched again. My legions were on the losing end for the most part during exchanges. This is the most broken unit I have found. I can't believe it wasn't patched out of existence early on.

[ZeBunisher]

Originally posted by Frondator:

, but I am moving to musketmen fast now because longswordsmen end up being equal if not weaker with all of the impi bonuses

Impis get a 25% bonus vs gunpowder units.GG i guess.
Also:zulu are often the most dominant civ early on if they get to win their first few wars.But if they fail they can usually not archieve anything for the whole rest of the game.

[Frondator]

A trash civ. I am very disappointed. I am close to resigning and restarting with all the same civs chosen except with the Zulus replaced. The developers were out of their minds allowing this and then not fixing it. I feel like I am playing Civ IV with the way these cheap bastards are swarming me. And the worst part is that they just upgraded their scrub impis into super riflemen with all of those bonuses. The war I fought on King against the Ottomans during their sipahi/janissary period as the Romans wasn't this bad. I can't believe this unit hasn't been nerfed in all the years this game has been out.

[cerberusiv]

Same as any other civ, your melee units defend in favourable terrain backed up by ranged units to actually kill the impis. Learn to deal with them.

Once they have riflemen they can't build impis, new riflemen can't take the special promotions and upgraded riflemen lose the ranged first attack impis have.

Best solution is diplomacy. Get Shaka onside, keep your military up so he doesn't get ideas and he is one of the more trustworthy leaders.

I am not saying it is easy but it is not impossible, they are not just another civ and need particular attention.

[just.nuke.em]

Always bait the Zulus into wars with other, preferable ones with large armies. He has one of the highest incinations to go to war, so it usually don't take much.

[Frondator]

I know how to deal with them. Thank you for the advice though. They are still broken. He won't make peace now, so I am falling back and defending. They started across a continent from me, took out 3 civs including taking Washington with the Great Wall with ease, and have now taken a minor city from me at mid-game. I have never seen a civ on Prince like this. It is entirely due to their Impi being way overpowered. This is a broken unit. Even if the upgrades weren't transfered to the riflemen at upgrade time, it would still be extremely unbalanced.

[cuqeen]

I have played many games vs Zulu on normal difficulty. 90% of the times they are not a problem for me. I don't think they are overpowered at all. Probably the way you use to play is not the best vs Zulu or you just had very bad luck while playing that specific session (this can happen). If Zulu civ conquered many other nations, they are very powerful, any civ should be like zulu if was lucky enough to be in that position.

[Mustafa Kemal Atahayk]

Nah they won me 2 wars and made me the strongest civ. I had like 5 legions fully upgraded. Just play as Zulu. Tho ranged units such as canons and non gunpowder units such as Knight are going to kill them with ease.

[Frondator]

Yes, I know lots of you have "gotten gud" and found the game exploits, but that doesn't mean the Zulus are balanced. The problem arises because of the their ridiculous 50% maintenance reduction AND 25% reduced cost for promotions added to the fact that the impi can be spammed out with no resource cost after having been further upgraded at the Zulu unique barracks. And then these great bonuses get passed on to the riflemen.

[Mustafa Kemal Atahayk]

Originally posted by Frondator:

Yes, I know lots of you have "gotten gud" and found the game exploits, but that doesn't mean the Zulus are balanced. The problem arises because of the their ridiculous 50% maintenance reduction AND 25% reduced cost for promotions added to the fact that the impi can be spammed out with no resource cost after having been further upgraded at the Zulu unique barracks. And then these great bonuses get passed on to the riflemen.

I captured a lvl 15 city with a ptivater and an impi on Prince. Against Atila who had a better army. They are OP.

[Frondator]

Originally posted by EnderSRB:

Originally posted by Frondator:

Yes, I know lots of you have "gotten gud" and found the game exploits, but that doesn't mean the Zulus are balanced. The problem arises because of the their ridiculous 50% maintenance reduction AND 25% reduced cost for promotions added to the fact that the impi can be spammed out with no resource cost after having been further upgraded at the Zulu unique barracks. And then these great bonuses get passed on to the riflemen.

I captured a lvl 15 city with a ptivater and an impi on Prince. Against Atila who had a better army. They are OP.

In my game, they took city after city of the opposing AI with two impis and a trebuchet--no problems, even against resistance. Walled cities that were as large as 13 went down like flies. Opposing AI had no ability to deal with them. I agree with you completely. If the impi actually required iron, then that would go a long way toward fixing them.

[cuqeen]

Most of the games i played, Zulu were not one of the most powerful civs. I almost always play random games with large-huge maps, many civs and city states. And even when they were next to me, i was able to defend and make them weak. I don't know what you are trying to prove. No civ is "balanced", every one has unique abilities. Play Monopoly for a "balanced" gaming.
Alexander of Greece is a much more fearsome leader for me, he made me totally lose some games. But i can't say he is "overpowered" or "not balanced", he is just unique and sometimes i can't play well enough to win.

[Frondator]

Originally posted by cuqeen:

Most of the games i played, Zulu were not one of the most powerful civs. I almost always play random games with large-huge maps, many civs and city states. And even when they were next to me, i was able to defend and make them weak. I don't know what you are trying to prove. No civ is "balanced", every one has unique abilities. Play Monopoly for a "balanced" gaming.
Alexander of Greece is a much more fearsome leader for me, he made me totally lose some games. But i can't say he is "overpowered" or "not balanced", he is just unique and sometimes i can't play well enough to win.

I have had games where they are dead early. Not this time though. Your hostility is unnecessary.

[lukebaird84]

I am currently playing as the Zulu with Impi and I will say that yes, they are overpowered, and I am happy to steamroll anyone who dares mess with me xD

[Frondator]

I believe it's a combination of their unique Civilization bonuses, their special unit, and their special building all working together. If those three things fire, then they will wipe the floor with opposing AIs. To tell if they are overpowered, it's best to look at how other AI civs do against them. I know they can be beaten; obviously very good players would never have trouble with them; but when they cream 3 civs in a row, one of which had the Great Wall, another of which had the largest number of cities and a strong army (Iroquois), and then give a decent human player great trouble even though I started all the way across the continent from them on Prince, then I get suspicious about balance issues. In 750 hours, I have never seen any other civ perform like this on Prince.

[Mustafa Kemal Atahayk]

Ghandi:Help me defeat Attila.
Me:Give us 10 turns.
I made 3 Impis and 2 privates.
I destroyed Attila on Prince.