Feodor Ardent
Grizzled 'ol Civ Veteran
While it is quite possible for artillery to kill an INDIVDIDUAL or any number of individuals on a battlefield, the lesson of the last century of warfare is that it is almost impossible for bombardment to kill any land UNIT unless that unit is dumb enough to stand up, stand still and let itself be killed. The still-plowed up terrain of the Western Front from World War I and the current topography of Vietnam are the best evidence. It happens most often when the opposing unit is attacking, and, unfortunately, the game mechanics of Civ made killing an attacking unit with artillery virtually impossible.Feo, I agree with you partially in theory. However, you can't deny that it is dumb that at least later-era arty units can't kill. I mean, think about it. In Civ3, you can pound a single Warrior with enough carpet bombing to level a city, and he still won't die! Obviously, if you are dropping bombs on an enemy formation, after a while you will drop enough to either kill all its soldiers or destroy its cohesion, eliminating it entirely from the battle (killing a unit in Civ terms.)
I am quite in agreement with you with regards to land and air units. When I first tried Civ III and discovered that you couldnt destroy ships with aircraft, it was a real jaw-dropper. Makes no sense of any sort. My wife hates military history (plays all her games for cultural and diplomatic victories) and even she noted how stupid that was.Likewise, if you fire heavy guns at an enemy ship (be it the big guns of a battleship or shore-based anti-shipping guns) you will eventually sink that ship when you hit it enough times. Yet in Civ3, you can do no more than damage these units!