Felt it would be spoilerish in Dantski's thread re HA vs IW:
HAs give speed of attack & forking chances, and units that are useful long term (cat flanking, zone defence). In comparison, swords give the defender an extra turn's emergency whipping in the only city they can target. Whilst a spear has a greater advantage over an HA than axe vs sword, it's marginal and far outweighed by attacking (at least) one unit fewer. If the attacker can fork, then the defender may even have to sacrifice the less city to hold the better one.
antisocialmunky Wrote:Can you elaborate for us lurkers Swiss?
HAs give speed of attack & forking chances, and units that are useful long term (cat flanking, zone defence). In comparison, swords give the defender an extra turn's emergency whipping in the only city they can target. Whilst a spear has a greater advantage over an HA than axe vs sword, it's marginal and far outweighed by attacking (at least) one unit fewer. If the attacker can fork, then the defender may even have to sacrifice the less city to hold the better one.