Pegasus - The Most Useful Unit of All

Pegasus

Cost

2800 wood

360 stone

80 silver

180 favor

20 population

Attack - 100 sharp (comes out to 5 sharp attack per pop. - as bad as a swordsman attacking)

Speed  - 35 (for a unit speed 1 world, 70 for a speed 2 world, etc.)

Booty - 160

Blunt def. - 900 (45 per pop.)

Sharp def. - 250 (12.5 per pop.)

Distance def. - 300 (15 per pop.)

As can be seen from the stats, it is the fastest, cheapest, and strongest units in the game. Its speed can get you there faster than anything else. They are cheap to rebuild, and their strength compared to any other unit in unmatched. What makes them even more enticing is that they fly.Yes, I said fly. Meaning, you don't need transports. Meaning, all available population can be put into more pegasus creating an even bigger nuke.

Ideally, I prefer to use my pegasus as the ultimate defensive sniping force. What with their speed, awesome defensive capabilities, and the potential to build a massive nuke, these "flying horses" are the best for sniping incoming CS's. Just so that its completely clear, I'll say it again. Pegasus are NOT meant for attacking.  (except for harbor checks, but I'll get to that later)

Personal Survival Tip/Trick - If you are in a high combat zone, dedicate a city a little to the rear (but not to far away) to building a pegasus nuke. At the same time, convert all your cities to worshiping Athena. By doing this, you can snipe any CS that is incoming without having to change your god and waste favor. As I've already said, Pegasus are the best units for sniping a CS... they are the fastest unit in the game, cheapest defending unit to build, and the best defending unit in the game. Combine these three stats together and you have one awesome killing machine. But I will warn you.... you must decide when you start building your pegasus nuke whether it will be reserved for just sniping CS's or for actually helping defend against the attacks that will show up before the CS lands.

If you choose to use them for active defending duty, I can in no way promise you that they will still be alive when the CS lands. If, on the other hand you want to make absolute sure that the CS won't land, don't send the pegasus to defend against the other incoming attacks if you can help it and get them to land as support as close to the CS as possible. Though I said it before, I'll say it once again. DO NOT use pegasus for breaking sieges. I've seen hundreds of pegasus go down in attempts to breaks siege, and it DOES NOT WORK. Just look at their stats..... though their attack may look okay, you must count in the population they take up. When we do, 100 sharp attack divided by 20 population comes up to 5 sharp attack per pop. That is the SAME attack value as a swordsman. (I would hope by this point that you know that in all cases, swordsmen are NOT to be used in attacks)

Personal Trick - Instead of building Manticors to do off island harbor checks for you, build several pegasus. Not only are they faster, but they are imensely cheaper both resource and favor wise than manties. The point in your harbor check isn't to kill things, but to just check the harbor and see if its worth attacking (i.e. stacked with biremes) so the attacking value isn't important, but the cost is very important as it adds up quickly. Even with a full nuke of some kind, it will take less than 80 population to do a harbor check. (probably from 70-75) So, all you have to do is build 4 pegasus and there you go. Also, 10 pop. less than 2 manties. As an added bonus, you can also used these small numbers of extras in the event of needing extra chances to snipe an incoming CS. Very rarely will you be able to consistently put your pegasus nuke into a space of 2-3 seconds to snipe the CS. So add to your chances of landing something in that small space by sending your 4 pegasus  from various cities. Sure, they aren't doing what they were built for, but, if they save your city, it was worth it the chance. :)