alternative war idea i just considered

[shawntown]

hey all...been gone like a week, and haven't played in that time either...but for those of you who've helped me before with advice and such, i'm still in my first civ3 game as egypt its 1730 AD and there're only two civs left, me and france (i kicked everyone else's butt...wahoo!! on chieftan, but whatever it felt good)

my question is this: france is on another continent and, from what i've seen so far, keeping pace with me pretty well in all areas except they don't have the musketeer yet, and so, since i'm ready to attack (right now we're at peace), instead of sending over loads of ships and risking losing (since i think their military is about the same size, and plus defenders get that damn bonus..ughh), why not send over say...three or four ships full of cavalry, and just run amuck all over their continent, pillaging EVERYTHING and not attacking units...

this way, i figure maybe i can just sort of suffocate them economically/population-wise/moblity-wise, etc...then send over the real force to whipe them out (once i've built it)

do any of you guys ever use this sort of strategy? if so, what specific types of tactics do you like to use to make it most effective? i just figure, since france is the last AI, i don't care about keeping/taking over their country...i just wanna end this game and move on to myh new one!

thanks guys.

[gmaharriet]

My favorite way of taking over another continent at lower levels of play is to build lots of carriers and bombers. You can bombard their cities down to pop 1 and kill all the defenders and just waltz in to take the city with a 1hp warrior if you like. Of course you need better units to fight off the counter-attack, but your bombers can take out their roads, resources and lux, which weakens their ability to attack you.

Be sure to bring workers along and rush a harbor in the first city you take so you can build rails in your conquered areas to speed you to the next victim, while your bombers continue to weaken them.

The key is staying way ahead of them in tech, and this works well clear up to Regent level. I haven't tried it in Monarch yet, since I'm trying new things in completely different areas...like managing raging barbs (and doing poorly at it too ). Really HATE barbs!!!

[shawntown]

i'm not technologically close to really being able to effectively bombard yet--i don't think anyway, since i'm researching steam power right now, and will have that in two more turns.

i do have three different types of ships though. i built a couple frigates (they bombard but don't carry troops i think, if i recall correctly) and privateer (just built one, to see if it was worth it...i was gonna secretly take out france's ships without declafring war--i think the privateer keeps my identity masked, right?--but apparently, france hasn't built one darn ship yet!! i swear, harriet, the AI seems SO, SO stupid at times...its on chieftan though, so....) and there's one other ship i got a couple of that can carry troops (3 units at a time, i think)...i think its the galley, but it might be the next one up from galley, i forget.

how do you know which ships can carry troops and which ones can't BEFORE you build them? i thought i was gonna be able to carry troops over for invasion wioth my frigate and then use the same frigate to bomb 'em, but that doesn't seem to be possible (i couldn't load any troops on it).

also harriet, while i do appreciate your advice and i do like your idea (and will certainly use it when i get the chance), you didn't really answer my question.
is my "invade/pillage/wait for my enemy to shrink and suffocate and collapse" strategy a good one? got any ideas for specific tactics for that strategy?

[The Omega]

It's actually a pretty good strategy. I just slaughtered my enemy's in teh Sengoku scenario doing that.

And to check to see if the ship transports units before you build it, right click on the icon of it in unit icon in the build queue, and it'll bring up the units civiclopedia entry.

[gmaharriet]

you didn't really answer my question.

Yeah, I know. It's because I'm not very good at warmongering and have trouble enough taking out the AI's early on my own continent. My first several months playing the game at Warlord, I abandoned games completely if it looked like I was gonna have to fight. *insert scared peacenik smiley here* I'd usually only fight after being attacked without provocation, and then get angry and retaliate...hence the later age wars for me.

I'm getting better at being aggressive (now playing Monarch and Emperor levels), but I've never tried what you have in mind. I'll be interested in reading replies from others and in hearing about what results you get if you try it. Be sure to bring some of your best defenders along to absorb counter attacks at whatever toehold you establish, preferably landing on a mountain for best initial defense.

If you have any full-health armies, you can land them and the AI will ignore them completely and not attack. They can pillage at will.

[shawntown]

i want an army SOOOO bad dude...i see you guys talking about them all the time and how good they are for various combat purposes/maneuvers. but i simply can not get one!! i have gotten various units up to elite status--from fighting barbarians usually--but no unit, not even ONE, has ever made that final leap up to "leader".

since there're are only two ways to get an army in civ3 (and one of those building options requires you to have already had a victorious army, i believe), i think that sucks. i think it is WAY TOO HARD to actually achieve the "feat" (and i don't use the word "feat" lightly here...its friggin hard) of acquiring an army.

not that i've ever needed one that badly...i just want the experience. plus, as i play more civ3 and my skills and experience grow, i'll of course be moving up in difficulty level. at some point, i'm going to need an army or three, aren't i?

[Twonky]

First of, what version are you playing? Armies are only effective in C3C, in PtW and Vanilla I´d rather spend my leader on rushing one of those precious wonders.
As to the RNG, do you know that only an elite win vs. the AI is able to spawn a MGL? Wins vs. barbs cannot do that. The chances for that happening are iirc 1/16, which improves to 1/12 with the Heroic Epic.
I for one just recently had very good luck luck on leaders though. Three consecutive elite wins gave three MGLs! Maybe I used up all the luck? Just remember to use the MGL soon, as you can only have one at a time.

Edit: You can see the stats of ships in the Civilopedia, including their transport ability. While you can attack with a privateer without declaring war, you´ll suffer the attitude hit nonetheless. The AI goes freaking wild on sinking them, though, and will send all ships available after them. So they are useful for luring the enemy away.
I don´t like the pillaging tactic. Single units astray in enemy lands will be picked off unless they have superior defense. If you can pillage strategic ressources, now that´s a good one. Else I´d rather use the units for conquest, especially on lower levels.

[gmaharriet]

Originally Posted by Twonky

do you know that only an elite win vs. the AI is able to spawn a MGL?

Yep, Twonky's right. You can get promotions against barbs up to and including elite, but never leaders from barb fights. It's a good plan to use regulars against barbs until they're promoted to elite, but then protect them until they're ready to fight an AI. Once you start fighting the AI, the use your elites as much as possible if the odds are reasonably in your favor for "leader fishing".

The luck on leaders seems to run in streaks and depends on the RNG (random number generator). Sometimes you'll get several leaders and other times none for long periods. Just keep playing and your luck will change.