Can't build armies?

So I've played Civ3 on and off for years. What usually happens is I'll build a map, play for a while then get tired and quit. A couple years later I'll repeat the process. And it seems that every time I do this, the game has changed slightly. A couple new units get added, a couple things change, whatever, its all good.

However in the past building armies wasn't that big of an issue. Build the military academy and you're off to the races. However this time around I didn't build the military academy (I assume another civ built it first as it's not an option for me to build and I'm well past that on the tech chart).

Annoying, but not the end of the world. I have 2 leaders. And according to Civilopedia, if I have a Leader in a city, that city should be able to build an army - thus I should still be able to build armies at will (as long as I have 4 cities for each army). However even when I go to the city that has this leader in it, I still cannot build an army. I can turn him into an army, and then load him up, but other than fighting with elite units to get leaders, I haven't been able to build an army... and it's driving me crazy. Clearly I'm doing something wrong.

I have several hundred cities, 21% of the world area and 36% of the world pop. And yet I still can't build a damn army...

Idea's?


I think I'm playing version 1.22 (at least that's the number in the bottom left of the main menu). This was from a Steam install/download and I haven't loaded/installed any additional patches.

tiomat said:

However this time around I didn't build the military academy (I assume another civ built it first as it's not an option for me to build and I'm well past that on the tech chart).

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That is not relevant. The military academy is a small wonder. Every nation can build it once, in fact if you lose it you can even rebuild it where you like. The limitation is that you can have one per civilization.

Two further conditions however must be met. First you need to have military tradition, the tech that enables you to build cavalry. Second you must have had a victorious army. So you need to get a military great Leader first, make it into an army, fill the army with some proper units and let that army win an army. If you later lose that army is relleveant, the game remebers the victorious army. So it total it is:

1. You must not have the MA at the moment.
2. You must have MT.
3. You must have had a victorious army.

However in the past building armies wasn't that big of an issue. Build the military academy and you're off to the races. However this time around I didn't build the military academy (I assume another civ built it first as it's not an option for me to build and I'm well past that on the tech chart).

Click to expand...

The MilAcad is a Small Wonder, so every Civ can build one.

HOWEVER, apart from the MilTrad tech, one of the prerequisites for building your MilAcad is to have one of your Armies win a battle at some point during your Civ's history. I think the game-designers kind of expected that by the time a player learns MilTrad, he/she will have got at least 1 Army-victory under his/her belt. Even if that Army is long-since dead, you'll still become able to build your MilAcad at the end of the Mid-Age.

(The same applies to building the Heroic Epic SWonder: it also requires an Army-victory to build -- and completing it then gives you a greater chance of popping another MGL from subsequent Elite-wins.)

So if you want your MilAcad, you will have to send your Leader-built Armies into action.

EDIT: X-post with Justanick...

Ahh. That seems to have solved the issue. I had an army, but it doesn't look like I fought with it yet. I can now build the MilAcad. Thanks guys, this was really driving me crazy - I hate fighting with individual units.

I also want to play it please tell me some tips.

lizacarr said:

I also want to play it please tell me some tips.

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One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to learn how to play a better game is to read the games and stories played by experts. I learned so much from following succession games.

try the legendary games and stories first

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=47

most of the stories are great reads as well.