Airlift

[skdyer]

I am having a heck of a time finding a good post on the use of airlift in BTS. Could some helpful soul please answer the following questions:

1. Does the destination city of an airlift have to have an airport?
2. What types of units can be airlifted?
3. Which air units can perform an airlift?
3. Is the constraint that only one unit can be airlifted per airport per turn?
4. Can a destination city receive more than one airlift unit per turn? So for example if I was airlifting from 4 origin airports could all of those units land at the same destination city on the same turn?
5. From a strategic aspect does airlifting playing an important and useful role in intercontinental movement and conquests?

 

[Tephros]

1. Does the destination city of an airlift have to have an airport?

Nope. But you can no longer airlift to foreign cities. Not sure about vassals.

2. What types of units can be airlifted?

Any land-based unit.

3. Which air units can perform an airlift?

Air units don't have anything to do with airlifting.

3. Is the constraint that only one unit can be airlifted per airport per turn?

That is correct.

4. Can a destination city receive more than one airlift unit per turn? So for example if I was airlifting from 4 origin airports could all of those units land at the same destination city on the same turn?

No. Only one can be received per city per turn.

5. From a strategic aspect does airlifting playing an important and useful role in intercontinental movement and conquests?

Yeah it's huge. Defensive units or reinforcements are airlifted in. You can do it the same turn you capture a city.

 

[skdyer]

Given that air units have nothing to do with airlifting does that mean there is no way to prevent your enemies from performing an airlift?

 

[Tephros]

Given that air units have nothing to do with airlifting does that mean there is no way to prevent your enemies from performing an airlift?

Have spies destroy their airports, I suppose.

 

[Munch]

Have spies destroy their airports, I suppose.

Of course you would have to destroy all their airports to achieve this, which isn't straightforward particularly if their homeland is overseas. So you'd have to be extremely prepared espionage-wise to prevent enemy airlifts. Interestingly I'm fairly sure that even if the enemy can't build planes, they can mysteriously still airlift units, but I might be mistaken about that.

Airlifting is incredibly useful for intercontinental conquest. Due to the speed of amphibious conquest using all the panoply of modern warfare you might capture more than one enemy coastal city in a turn, and into each you can airlift a highly promoted city defender from the motherland on the same turn.

If you're conducting a successful amphibious modern war like this you're likely in a position where the game is wrapped up anyway, but I still think that Protective is the trait of choice for this kind of war.

 

[thadian]

I tend to get a vassal or colony a few settlers if i can. before i send my navy i send 3-4 turns of "predropped" troops. now just make their neighbor close borders so you have a spot to heal and your all set

 

[mujambee]

Given that air units have nothing to do with airlifting does that mean there is no way to prevent your enemies from performing an airlift?

In CIV III there was a chance that a fighter might intercept an airlift. I cant remember exactly how it went, but seem to recall that there was a chance of loosing your unit during the transfer or something like that.

¿or was it SMAC?


Anyhow, ¿does anyone know if there is something like that in CIVIV?

 

[Tephros]

Interestingly I'm fairly sure that even if the enemy can't build planes, they can mysteriously still airlift units, but I might be mistaken about that.

Rarely they lack oil and so can't build planes. A few games ago my rival beelined flight and yet had no oil.

They did, however, put airports everywhere. My fighters were kept busy shooting down their airships. Since airlifting only requires airports, and airports don't require resources, it's perfectly possible to have airlifting but not planes.

If you're conducting a successful amphibious modern war like this you're likely in a position where the game is wrapped up anyway, but I still think that Protective is the trait of choice for this kind of war.

lol, I hate that trait.

 

[Joshua368]

I've had an airlifted unit intercepted by enemy aircraft before, though that was back in Vanilla. Still don't think it was ever removed...

Also you can airdrop an infinite number of units into the same city on the same turn if the target city has an airport.

 

[Tephros]

I've had an airlifted unit intercepted by enemy aircraft before, though that was back in Vanilla. Still don't think it was ever removed...

Also you can airdrop an infinite number of units into the same city on the same turn if the target city has an airport.

Airports never seem to survive when I capture cities so I've never encountered that situation. Also never seen any airlift intercepts, but I obsess over having air superiority.

 

[Munch]

lol, I hate that trait.

Interestingly my last two Emperor victories both involved intercontinental war for domination and I was protective both times (I was randomly given Mao followed by Qin, funnily enough). I can't quantify the trait's goodness for this application but it certainly seemed to help my Chinese invasion/airlift forces protect newly-acquired Washington and New York from the immediate counter-attack of massed tanks.

I've had an airlifted unit intercepted by enemy aircraft before, though that was back in Vanilla. Still don't think it was ever removed...

Also you can airdrop an infinite number of units into the same city on the same turn if the target city has an airport.

Both useful things to know!

 

[UncleJJ]

3. Is the constraint that only one unit can be airlifted per airport per turn?

Yes, one unit per turn can be sent from each airport. That unit must not have moved this turn, although bizarrely a unit can be unloaded from a transport and airlifted the same turn after moving on the ship

4. Can a destination city receive more than one airlift unit per turn? So for example if I was airlifting from 4 origin airports could all of those units land at the same destination city on the same turn?

A city (your own or vassal) can only receive 1 airlifted unit each turn UNLESS it has an airport itself when it can receive unlimited numbers each turn. This is a good reason to rush build an airport on a new continent. I usually have 7 sending airports on the home continent and one receiving one on the new continent.

5. From a strategic aspect does airlifting playing an important and useful role in intercontinental movement and conquests?

It is very useful. Flight is in many ways the most important tech if you want to invade another continent. It gives fighters and carriers for air superiority and hence naval and land superiority, and it allows airports to be built to send reinforcements and other useful units like missionaries, spies and workers

 

[thadian]

a while back there was a debate. to make a long story short, i believe flight is the game-breaker. to have it first is godly. Now the debate was that perhaps Iron working, construction or Rifling is the true game-breaker. However the debate raged on for numerous reasons.

I believe that the versatility of what the tech gives you (an improvement that gives a trade route bonus and airlifting) is more important than the fighters. The fighters can be obseleted with Rocketry - which the AI almost always prioritizes, and flight is not needed for a space race victory. Thus physics became the "center" to spam airships in preperation of flight.

One thing about airlifting is if you have a vassal or colony on another continent, you can airlift units there - by the time your navy declares, you can invade from both the seaside AND the in-land borders. You can also try to get some closed borders with a neighbor of the victim to retreat land units to their lands to heal.

Paratroopers while they are indeed useless in most situations, let you "jump" over mountain ranges, and coastal tiles. on some maps these on a border-coastal city can "jump" over to help.

 

[Tephros]

a while back there was a debate. to make a long story short, i believe flight is the game-breaker. to have it first is godly. Now the debate was that perhaps Iron working, construction or Rifling is the true game-breaker. However the debate raged on for numerous reasons.

LOL, IW is only a game-breaker if Rome is involved. I agree with you that flight is the biggest one. Assembly line a close second.

Paratroopers while they are indeed useless in most situations, let you "jump" over mountain ranges, and coastal tiles. on some maps these on a border-coastal city can "jump" over to help.

Paratroopers are great because of the limit to airlifting. If you airlift paratroopers and continue to do so while your army advances/heals, you can have more than one defender in a recently captured city through a combination of paradrops and airlifts. Recently captured cities are the most vulnerable to recapture due to a lack of fortification and culture, so it makes a lot of sense.

Also paratroopers are a more effective defensive counter to civs that rely heavily on cavalry, as the higher base strength makes cavalry even less effective compared to infantry defenders.

I do wish that paratroopers could be upgraded to mechanized infantry, and that their range could be extended by loading them onto bombers.

 

[mechaerik]

Airlifting is extremely useful in a twofront war.
Since i almost always play on terra maps, colonial warfare often occurs.

1st Front- The Homeland, where i build most of my army.

2nd Front- The Colonies, where i mostly assault the enemy to keep him from expanding. Since my colonies are usually less developed, i usually airlift troops into the cities.