Yes, I definitely need this option. I hate it when non-proliferation gets passed -- because then my only option is pretty much to wait for Stealth Bombers.
I find this hilarious (in a non-mean way) as I rush to pass non-proliferation when doing a Domination game. I don't care about using nukes of my own very much, but I *really* don't want to be nuked repeatedly by the AI.
I wish I could get rolling with planes. I frequently try, and almost as frequently fail. I can almost never get going before the enemy has Mobile SAMs.
Well, Mobile SAMs aren't the end of the world in the first place...and if you're relying solely on planes then yeah, that's a problem. But Rocket Artillery with Mobile SAMs for AA/melee? I can conquer the land with those two units alone. Add in a Fighter or three for vision/AA/sweeps AA and Bombers to pick off units (130 ground attack with 10 range vs 80-90ish for Rocket Artillery with 3-4 range) or help bombard cities? Those four units are pure gold.
I'm actually tempted to go back to your Ethopia save and see I can pull off a Domination Victory. I don't know if I can, though -- basically you want to be either ahead on tech or have a swathe of lands already conquered at that point (or both!). The problem isn't conquering the AI eventually, the problem is doing it before the AI launches.
To me, this is one of the more immersion-breaking aspects of the game. Should not the AI think twice about nuking his own citizens?
Well, they're NOT his citizens any more! DUH! YOU'RE SO STUPID!
This is an excellent point, one that I had not considered before. It really disproves the idea that units represent multiple troops. Actually, air carriers would be single units as well. Maybe this applies to all naval units? Nuts, I like the game less now!
Uh...
A, most units explicitly already show multiple troops. The Atomic Bomb is one of few exceptions because, y'know, you're LITERALLY dropping one Atomic Bomb. That's kind of the point of nuclear weapons, you don't need to drop hundreds on your target with squadrons of aircraft.
B, an aircraft carrier (at least the US ones) are over 1,000 feet long and can have 5,000+ people on board. A Missile Cruiser is still 400ish people.
C, keep in mind the difference between personnel and equipment. If (and I'm basically making these numbers up, don't read too much into the exact values) an Infantry unit represents 1,000 soldiers...a Rocket Artillery unit does NOT represent 1,000 MLRS units. Probably more like 10-50 pieces with 3ish crew per piece. Mechanized Infantry (like the
M2 Bradley) might cost 3 million dollars per vehicle...while a single nuclear submarine (like
this one) might cost 2.7 BILLION dollars. In other words, you could buy about 1,000 M2 Bradleys for the cost of 1 Nuclear Submarine. And even in the Ancient Era, a single Trieme had 200ish sailors in addition to the cost of the ship itself.
The game does not reflect this.
