Aircraft Carriers
- Thread starter crouchy
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2010
- Messages
- 16,937
In a few instances I built them as aircraft ferries. I've never used one in anger.
crouchy
Chieftain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2018
- Messages
- 59
They just feel like a sort of half-baked unit right now to me. Carriers are the cornerstone of naval power but it doesn't feel like it in Civ. They don't seem to carry enough weight.
f I sail a carrier by an unfriendly Civ they should sit up and take notice.
Right now they are only useful taxiing aircraft to colonial cities.
f I sail a carrier by an unfriendly Civ they should sit up and take notice.
Right now they are only useful taxiing aircraft to colonial cities.
DemonMaster
A.K.A. Fenhorn
Sometimes, but mostly for transport planes between continents. The main reason I don't build them is that the AI never uses it. Now when I have seen several AI carriers, I might reconsider.
One change FXS should do is to let the carrier earn 1 xp (or something like that) for every mission its planes does, so the carrier can level up.
One change FXS should do is to let the carrier earn 1 xp (or something like that) for every mission its planes does, so the carrier can level up.
Council 13
Chieftain
I love how they have a promotion tree that you can basically never even use. Agreed - they are so important in modern warfare yet so underwhelming in civ 6.
Disgustipated
Deity
I built them in one of my games because I have no coal, oil, or uranium to build anything else. 
And I even used it offensively to attack a sub. And of course I had no planes on it.
And I even used it offensively to attack a sub. And of course I had no planes on it.
Trengilly
Warlord
Honestly, my first thought was "There are aircraft carriers in Civ6?" No I've never built them. Heck I've only ever built biplanes a couple of times and that just for the eureka
Midgardsormr
Warlord
I tried using them one game a while back, but they kept leaving my planes behind stuck on a water tile from which they couldn't be launched. I didn't notice until several turns later and had to sail back to pick them up. And once I got them to the theater the bombers weren't really as useful as I'd have liked, anyway. Battleships/Missile Cruisers are a much better investment.
Tech Osen
Emperor
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2016
- Messages
- 1,941
If those were your concerns you might want to try again. They fixed the carrier bug and they seriously buffed bombers (and fighters). Carriers are still only very situational but they do work. The not getting exp for promotions is their biggest flaw.
Midgardsormr
Warlord
I'll give 'em another try soon, then. Thanks!
ggmoyang
King
Talking about carriers, why do they need to fight by themselves to gain XP? Firaxis didn't fix this over several games :/
Sostratus
Deity
Right now, Carriers do not gain additional air slots when put into fleets/armadas. A bit silly. The newly buffed air units kind of make up for it, but still - what are the extra ships doing, exactly?
I like this.
I'm glad that they at least fixed this annoying deployment issue. However there seem to be some fundamental problems regarding carriers acting as an aircraft base. Combining two existing carriers into one fleet is not possible although you can hard build fleets and armadas. I suppose that combining two carriers carrying aircraft could lead to strange problems.
I used one in a recent game where I went for scientific victory as Pacha and had some disputed with the Netherlands to sort out. I used it offensively with jet bombers and after the air units buff it was a good way of projecting power - the opponent had one fighter which I shot down at the beginning of the war so I could rain destruction on them freely.
But yes, carriers should definitely get experience for air missions carried from their decks so the promotion tree is useful!
But yes, carriers should definitely get experience for air missions carried from their decks so the promotion tree is useful!
Disgustipated
Deity
On the TSL Earth map I often take the loooong route up by Norway for that natural wonder to promote them that way. They only need one promotion (+1 air slot). 3 aircraft is usually pretty good. I often have 2 carriers anyways since I only ever build them with Venetian Arsenal. I just love that wonder, I'm not going to try to type the name here from memory. You don't see it too often on random maps though.
You don't see it too often on random maps though.
Disgustipated
Deity
Had a great use of aircraft carriers in my 500 turn score victory game. Obviously carriers aren't particularly useful if you are going to get a culture win at or before turn 250. I urge everyone to try one 500 turn score victory game (disable all other victories). Obviously you are going to want to engage in late wars, don't friend everybody! That would be extremely boring pressing end turn all the time. It's worth it to see some late unit action.
GDR's by themselves really aren't all that. No matter how strong they are, they only get 1 attack per turn. This is where carriers, and jet bombers shine. Obviously this is more useful on continents or water maps. In my particular case it was a continents huge map. My mission? Just liberate city states in the late game. I only had enough uranium for 1 GDR. So I really needed support units. And carriers fill this role. I have found attacking cities with jet bombers foolish as they are instantly shot down by jet fighters. But jet bombers are quite effective for eliminating enemy troops in the field. I thought jet fighter deploy mission covered a certain area, but either I'm mistaken or the AI doesn't get this. As I said, GDR only gets 1 attack per round, use those carriers and jet bombers to obliterate enemy armies out in the field. I wouldn't have been able to accomplish my mission of liberating city states without carriers. I liberated all the city states from China and India (Chandragupta) by the end of the game. They had reconquered a couple, and I liberated them again. Thankfully neither one had enough uranium to field GDR's (the AI stupidly builds nuclear power plants and lets them melt down), though I could have handled 1 with no problem. I admit, had I faced Russia and their 15 GDR's, I would have been hurting, but Russia was my military ally. So choose your wars wisely. But keep in mind jet bombers are effective against GDR's. I know because my GDR was taken to about 25% health from one attack from a jet bomber.
GDR's by themselves really aren't all that. No matter how strong they are, they only get 1 attack per turn. This is where carriers, and jet bombers shine. Obviously this is more useful on continents or water maps. In my particular case it was a continents huge map. My mission? Just liberate city states in the late game. I only had enough uranium for 1 GDR. So I really needed support units. And carriers fill this role. I have found attacking cities with jet bombers foolish as they are instantly shot down by jet fighters. But jet bombers are quite effective for eliminating enemy troops in the field. I thought jet fighter deploy mission covered a certain area, but either I'm mistaken or the AI doesn't get this. As I said, GDR only gets 1 attack per round, use those carriers and jet bombers to obliterate enemy armies out in the field. I wouldn't have been able to accomplish my mission of liberating city states without carriers. I liberated all the city states from China and India (Chandragupta) by the end of the game. They had reconquered a couple, and I liberated them again. Thankfully neither one had enough uranium to field GDR's (the AI stupidly builds nuclear power plants and lets them melt down), though I could have handled 1 with no problem. I admit, had I faced Russia and their 15 GDR's, I would have been hurting, but Russia was my military ally. So choose your wars wisely. But keep in mind jet bombers are effective against GDR's. I know because my GDR was taken to about 25% health from one attack from a jet bomber.
Moral support.
I did once extensively in my Greece game to project power against the Mapuche. They actually realized this after the first couple of wars and would use sub armadas to take them out. I also didn't take into account their golden age combat bonuses, so I had to create an effective screening force. One of the few games where the AI was able to put up a good fight on the ocean (which was a nice change). In the end, I had nukes and they didn't. But I definitely used them for jet bombers that game. Lost several I think. But usually, I don't find the need to build aircraft carriers, especially since I need so few air units.
