SeismoGraf
Warlord
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2009
- Messages
- 169
Thanks for your answer CanuckSoldier. I'll certainly consider joining a Civ5 league for the community and other advantages. It is a bit early to know how the new MP will be and maybe ST is not as bad, as I imagine. You certainly have a lot more MP experience than me.
Just one sentence suprised me a bit. At first sight it seemed obvious, but after a bit of thought I am unsure, if it is true:
First thing to come to my mind was the very early game, rush situations. When all the military you have is 3 or less units, one or two bad combat outcomes could be fatal. Either lose immediately or be crippled to a point, where winning becomes impossible. Probably in Civ5 this will be less of a concern, because cities have combat strength on their own.
How could losing a single unit turn the tides of battle in a decisive way? Carriers! A carrier can hold up to 3 aircraft and battles between two fleets composed of 1 fully loaded carrier should be very common.
Losing one carrier with 3 aircraft on board is a huge setback. Consider following scenario:
Two opposing fleets, player A and player B, each with one carrier plus escort. In this example the escort is 3 destroyers, but it could be 2 subs and a battleship or anything not too numerous.
In a SP game with player A to move, he would probably feel very confident. First, snipe the carrier with ranged or "melee" attacks of 2 or 3 destroyers. Then unleash the power of your airforce on the destroyers of player B. And last, the most important step, retreat the carrier, so the enemy can no longer attack and destroy it.
Player B will have lost 1 carrier, 3 aircraft and suffered 3 aerial attacks. Now he is fighting with at maximum 3 (damaged) units against 7 units. He should retreat or lose his entire fleet. Retreating may not be an option.
Above example is symmetric, so if it was player B's turn, he can do the same to player A. Ok, that was for Civ in SP mode, with consecutive turns.
Now comes my concern about MP with simultaneous turns. Lets say I've played for 2 hours, made it into the modern era and a new turn begins. For whatever reason I divert my attention from my navy for 5-10 seconds. In above image the two navies would not see each other, except via recon missions or the like.
For example, I fight a millisecond battle to retreat my 3 tanks I have under fire elsewhere, before the enemy can destroy them. Or I have promised an ally immediate help at the start of the turn on another front.
My enemy (player B) moves one of his destroyers and sees my carrier. He attacks the carrier with everything he has, destroys it and maybe retreats his own carrier. Player B will probably annihilate my whole navy.
Whether he used his destroyers in suboptimal way does not matter, as long as he sniped my carrier before I could react and has his own carrier safe before I can counterattack.
Losing one's whole fleet looks like a plausible reason for losing the game.
Just one sentence suprised me a bit. At first sight it seemed obvious, but after a bit of thought I am unsure, if it is true:
But good MP players never put themselves in a position were a bad single battle loses the game. [...]
First thing to come to my mind was the very early game, rush situations. When all the military you have is 3 or less units, one or two bad combat outcomes could be fatal. Either lose immediately or be crippled to a point, where winning becomes impossible. Probably in Civ5 this will be less of a concern, because cities have combat strength on their own.
How could losing a single unit turn the tides of battle in a decisive way? Carriers! A carrier can hold up to 3 aircraft and battles between two fleets composed of 1 fully loaded carrier should be very common.
Losing one carrier with 3 aircraft on board is a huge setback. Consider following scenario:
Two opposing fleets, player A and player B, each with one carrier plus escort. In this example the escort is 3 destroyers, but it could be 2 subs and a battleship or anything not too numerous.
In a SP game with player A to move, he would probably feel very confident. First, snipe the carrier with ranged or "melee" attacks of 2 or 3 destroyers. Then unleash the power of your airforce on the destroyers of player B. And last, the most important step, retreat the carrier, so the enemy can no longer attack and destroy it.
Player B will have lost 1 carrier, 3 aircraft and suffered 3 aerial attacks. Now he is fighting with at maximum 3 (damaged) units against 7 units. He should retreat or lose his entire fleet. Retreating may not be an option.
Above example is symmetric, so if it was player B's turn, he can do the same to player A. Ok, that was for Civ in SP mode, with consecutive turns.
Now comes my concern about MP with simultaneous turns. Lets say I've played for 2 hours, made it into the modern era and a new turn begins. For whatever reason I divert my attention from my navy for 5-10 seconds. In above image the two navies would not see each other, except via recon missions or the like.
For example, I fight a millisecond battle to retreat my 3 tanks I have under fire elsewhere, before the enemy can destroy them. Or I have promised an ally immediate help at the start of the turn on another front.
My enemy (player B) moves one of his destroyers and sees my carrier. He attacks the carrier with everything he has, destroys it and maybe retreats his own carrier. Player B will probably annihilate my whole navy.
Whether he used his destroyers in suboptimal way does not matter, as long as he sniped my carrier before I could react and has his own carrier safe before I can counterattack.
Losing one's whole fleet looks like a plausible reason for losing the game.