Offensive vs. Defensive units

Kind of a stupid question, but what are offensive units and what are defensive ones for different levels of the game? My first time playing, I was attacking with Spearmen, and didn't relaize why I always lost. Help me out! Also, how do you destroy enemies mines/improvements/etc.

Look at the A/D/M values (attack, defense, movement) - the higher the value, the better the unit in that attribute. Spearmen have attack=1, so they are weak. However, their defense=2 is good in the early game. Camp them in your cities, or use them to escort attack units.

To pillage AI improvements, your unit must be standing on them. When it is his turn to move, click the pillage icon - he will destroy all improvements on that tile.

Offense in chronological order:
Warrior/Archer/Swordsman/Knight/Cavalry/Infantry/Tank/Modern Armor

Defense in chronological order:
Spearman/Pikeman/Musketman/Rifleman/Infantry/Mech. Infantry

I also use artillery/boats/planes, but that's the way I go...

Originally posted by Maple
Offense in chronological order:
Warrior/Archer/Swordsman/Knight/Cavalry/Infantry/Tank/Modern Armor

Click to expand...

Thought I'd add the Offense upgrade paths (without special units) :

Warrior -> Swordsman
Archer -> Long Bowman
Horseman -> Knight -> Cavalry
Tank -> Modern Armor
Catapult -> Cannon -> Artillery -> Radar Artillery

And I won't use Infantry for attack, even though the AI flags them that way and will use them. Personal preference.

You probably always lose because you're reloading but didn't get the patch. CivIII keeps the outcomes of certain events - combat resolutions, good huts, spy missions, etc. for every turn - eg.:

- event 0001: outcome_01
- event 0002: outcome_07
- event 0003: outcome_04
.
.
.


Reloading does not affect the outcome because the outcome for these events are already predetermined at the beginning of the turn.

With the latest patch (can't remember the version no.) available at www.civ3.com new games come with the option to switch this ability on/off.

The other way would be either wait for the next turn and hope you get a better score for your events; or do something else (like spotting a goody hut, attacking something else, etc.) first, which effectively clears the current outcome in favour of the next one in the list.

hope I'm making sense.

Originally posted by Sanaz
I won't use Infantry for attack, even though the AI flags them that way and will use them. Personal preference.

Click to expand...

That's great; there is nothing wrong with it. Just remember, during the cavalry age, infantry have both a higher attack and higher defense than cavalry.

Originally posted by Maple


That's great; there is nothing wrong with it. Just remember, during the cavalry age, infantry have both a higher attack and higher defense than cavalry.

Click to expand...

Infantry is better at defense than cavalry, but in what sense is 6 bigger than 6 (offense for inf. and cav.)? Did you edit the units to have non-default offense values?

Originally posted by sumthinelse
Infantry is better at defense than cavalry, but in what sense is 6 bigger than 6 (offense for inf. and cav.)? Did you edit the units to have non-default offense values?

Click to expand...

Also, Cavalry will retreat, and by that time we're gearing up for Tanks anyway, so I don't much mind losing some of my Cavalry - I don't want to risk my Infantry which can still become Mech Infantry, and are really useful for a long time. I'll try getting some leaders from my Elite Cavalry before they become obsolete, but I do want some of my Cavalry to use in conjunction with Artillery to use the extra movement point over Tanks until we can get Modern Armor. Cavalry still get slaughtered by defending Infantry in a big city, so it depends on the situation, and how much I'm willing to risk. They can do pretty well against Riflemen, as long as you take out the top defender with Armies and then you soften them up with Bombardment.