Anybody use these?

[Dragonlor]

The Helicopter. Does anyone have any use for it? It only transports foot soldiers and by then you can just use tanks to move the 6 space range of the Helicopter.

Also, Ironclads. Does anyone take the time to get this tech? They may be good for a very short while in the early industrial age but it just does not seem worth it. Destroyers are not that far off.

And the Caravel. A couple more techs and you get Galleons. They are a very short lived unit, especially for the poor Portuguese who have them as their unique unit.

 

[denyd]

Helicopters - no

Ironclads - not much in Vanilla/PTW, but probably now more often since they upgrade to destroyers (my ship of choice: cheap, fast, ok bombard, spot subs).

Caravels: They are the first ship (without the Great Lighthouse) to be able to end a turn on a sea square safely, which makes them a powerful scout to contact the other continents and one that can carry settlers to uninhabited isles (with scarce resources) safely.

 

[warpstorm]

I've used helicopters. They can be useful to drop units behind the lines.

 

[homeyg]

I've used helicopters. They can be useful to drop units behind the lines.

Helicopters can transport TOW infantry now, can't they?

 

[Hygro]

Indeed

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Helicopters - occasionally, depending on the situation. I usually build a couple of them, just in case they are needed. often they are only needed for paradropping somewhere from a city with no airport. I usually just leave a couple lying around just in case, but if they aren't already built, one might as well just build the airport.

Ironclads - only if the enemy is really pressing my coastline, and even then I do most of the damage with artillery, and then just finish them off with my token number of ironclads, before I get to Combustion.

Caravel - almost never. The only time I ever use them, is if I really need to explore, but usually I stay pretty well on land until destroyers come around, and then I go gung ho navy.

 

[Turner]

I used to use helicopters quite a bit in PTW. I had them modded to carry wheeled units too. They were useful for rushing defenders across the world to newly captured cities. Haven't used them in C3C yet.

Caravels, I usually upgrade galleys. Why? Don't know. Just do.

 

[BassDude726]

Yeah, helicopters are fairly useless, but they do sometimes come in handy. Like if you want to send a couple non-paratrooper units over a strait. I personally like to have helicopter-borne infantry regiments just so I can name them the 101st Airborne. I think I watch too many WWII movies.

 

[alamo]

Sounds like a C3C question.

In PTW I never even research for copters, and neither does the AI.

PTW ironclads rule the seas for a good while, and come with a necessary tech.

 

[Sparta]

I don't use helicopters (or ironclads) much at all myself, but I just read this article the other day and thought it was pretty interesting. As ScoutScout points out, they're not necessarily uber-strategies, but rather some interesting side strategies to consider when contemplating using paratroopers and/or helicopters. Thought you might find it interesting. Here's a link:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=90323

 

[general_kill]

helicopters, i used them once to drop off a few dozen infantries on a mountain tile in an island that was 2 tiles away from me. I dropped them off to distract them from my main invasion force.

i used ironclad once because I thought it looked cool.

I use carvels if i build them before they become obsolete.

 

[MachDelta]

I've never used choppers... if I need drops, I use paratroopers.

Ironclads I used to use in PTW, but with C3C I rarely use em. Generally I only bother if I really, really need naval superiority at the moment. Otherwise I just hold off 'till combustion (and get mass hordes of Destroyers from my Privateers' slaves! ).

Caravels I ALWAYS use, even if its just one or two. They're absolutely nessecary if you want to find other civs and virgin islands before your neighbours do.

 

[Colonel]

i have never really built a navy at all i usally am on a huge super contient and even if im not i still dont use naval forces until modern era although i have used some ships mostly as transports thats about it. As for choppers i used them once and never again never found a use.

 

[necrosmith]

I use helicopters for cross-straight invasions and reinforcements. I also use them to instantly transport infantry anywhere in the world using the rebase command.

However, I usually don't build a lot of them..just a few.

 

[Arathorn]

Helicopters? Not even once -- never even gotten the tech for them.

Ironclads? Lots before C3C. In C3C, rarely. They have some value and sometimes the tech just comes naturally as part of a 2fer/3fer/4fer. Much better than frigates.

Caravels? All the time. Well, OK, maybe only about 2/3rds of the time. Any game other than a pangea, I'm sure to use them. Metallurgy sometimes is a LONG time after Astronomy. The third transport unit is very nice compared to galleon's 2. Sometimes they have a brief window, sometimes a long window, but I almost always have a few caravels around.

Arathorn

 

[Pook]

Helicopters? Only if I need a small invasion force delivered to the other side of a large mountain range. Other than that, I don't bother.
Ironclads? No, I never research the tech.
Caravels? All the time, I agree with Arathorn's comments.

 

[zim3031]

Helicopters: I usually build a few (just in case) but otherwise no

Ironclads: I used to before it became its own tech in conquests

Caravels: I research them as quickly as possible; they're vital for locating and trading with other civs.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Helis: Never.

Ironclads: Not since C3C came around.

Caravels: Sometimes. I usually don't build many ships before the Industrial era.

 

[HalfBadger]

Helicopters, never used them, might try them out once now just cuz I'm curious.

Ironclas, before C3C sometimes, now unless I get that tech from the Ai never.

Caravels, well I usually upgrade my Curraghs/Galleys, so I can transport a worker, settler and defenseman to a new place. For me whats sometimes happend is thats it's more logical to go for the lower middle age techs, so I usually end up trading Chemisty for Astronomy, so I don't always get Magnetism right away for Galleons, plus if I the Great Lighthouse I hold off on Magnestism, or if I want to be first to get Newton's, so I'll go after ToG.

 

[Rammstein]

I've been trying to find some use for helicopters, but once I build them, I normally just set them to recon an area.