are guided missiles underpowered?

[blitzkrieg1980]

Cruise missles, on the other hand, are big and expensive. So I think it's a good guess to say that an in-game missle unit represents no more than a half-dozen missles. That's enough to take out an oil well or a battleship, but even with pinpoint accuracy you couldn't destroy an entire tank division.


-D

An excellent point which i did not think of. However, I still think you should be able to target specific buildings in the game. A dozen cruise missiles (1 missile unit)should be able to level a forge

 

[troytheface]

side note- i read somewhere that during war games in the Mediterranean one american (nato?) general was given the task as the "enemy" against the fleet. this general devised a plan where he launched everything he had all at once and did something with small craft and the result was that american radar ect was overwhelmed. they stopped games and started over. Missles- modern, safer, better.
it is no surprise to me that america became bogged down in vietnam and iraq, this is the same country that did not use BAR's in WWI because it was afraid the enemy my get one. the same country that worried that repeating rifles would waste ammunition.
I suggest there is not more fatal error than having a tech advance and not utilizing it.
Cruise missles- ship killers, not Colloseum blower uppers.

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

??? Not sure that was very germane to the discussion. Missiles make great building destroyers. That's why Iraq looks like a piece of swiss cheese.

 

[troytheface]

Not sure that was very germane to the discussion

some do not like the idea of a one shot deal- old thinking (gameplay wise)
Cruise missle saved up and fired all at once are good ship killers
real-life has an example of such a tactic

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

I see. My bad.

 

[mynystry]

QFT. In fact, they are frighteningly overpowered simply for the fact that there is no counter for them. Imagine an enemy coming with several dozen of these things and destroying every important resource you possess, and you can't do a thing about it.

As was stated earlier, they are also the difference maker in naval combats. It's the difference between trading ships at a nearly even rate and annihlitating an opposing navy with almost no losses.

The other strategies that require air superiority...well....require air superiority, which is never constant or permanent.

well, i think you are right about naval conflicts, i have been using them also for that purpose. but for destroying improvements i still think aircraft is much superior, a missile cruiser can destroy 4 improvement tile, while a carrier with three fighters may destroy 3 each turn every turn while the units last.

maybe the real danger is that you can store as many as you want in a city... now that i see it from that perspective maybe they are not so underpowered...

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

Yeah, once I realized that there was no limit to how many you could store, I immediately thought of all the damage I could do!

 

[Wheem]

I find them to be somewhat useful in the game; primarily in an anti-naval capacity. Having some stationed in various coastal cities can go a long way in breaking up an invasion attempt.

If you have air/naval superiority, then fighters and jet fighters are far and away the superior choice for striking enemy resources. However, missiles can be launched from Submarines, which may prove a better option in some specific cases (though it may take a significant number of missiles to keep it on "lock down," since their workers will generally rebuild the improvement in short order).

Cruise missle saved up and fired all at once are good ship killers
real-life has an example of such a tactic

There are real life examples of missiles being used against buildings as well, with some fairly devastating results.

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

There should be a unit that allows you to kill workers but you can only have 3. Something like Deranged Marine that fires wildly at the worker, kills him, but then crashes.

 

[troytheface]

There are real life examples of missiles being used against buildings as well, with some fairly devastating results.

I would rather target the artillery with my guided missiles making them much less effective at issuing collateral damage to my defending stack.

If I have a stack of tanks or modern armor, I'd probably like to take out his helicopters with my missiles, and let my tanks barrage and roll over everything else.

If I'm approaching an island with one or two cities that I plan to keep, I might choose to destroy his airport to reduce /prevent re-enforcements from the continent.

ok i'm convinced. and i also voted yes to Tank collateral

 

[Wheem]

ok i'm convinced. and i also voted yes to Tank collateral

Is this sarcasm? It's difficult to tell through text...

I don't really like using wikipedia as a source, but quoting from the cruise missile article there:

Cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single-use weapons, up to several million dollars apiece. One consequence of this is that its users face difficult choices in targeting, to avoid expending the missiles on targets of low value. For instance during Operation Enduring Freedom the United States attacked targets of very low monetary value with cruise missiles, which led many to question the efficiency of the weapon. However, proponents of the cruise missile counter that the same counterargument applies to cruise missiles as to other types of UAVs: they are cheaper than human pilots when total training and infrastructure costs are taken into account[citation needed], not to mention the risk of loss of their own personnel.

I don't think those missiles were targeted at the Iraqi navy...

 

[The Snug]

Probably bcz the Iraqi's didnt have a navy.

 

[Wheem]

Probably bcz the Iraqi's didnt have a navy.

That was the point

 

[Calder]

There should be a unit that allows you to kill workers but you can only have 3. Something like Deranged Marine that fires wildly at the worker, kills him, but then crashes.

Gunships kill workers! (But they don't crash).

 

[PibbZ]

I made a new unit "SSM Launcher" (Surface to Surface Missile launcher), based on the Mobile SAM graphic model, to be able to use guided missiles more effectively.

This is a weak artillery unit (16str, 2 movement, 4 cargo capacity that can only carry missiles). Starts with Sentry, and cost a tad more than mobile artillery. Requires Oil, Aluminum, robotics and laser. (see picture)

Spoiler :

When im suddenly able to carry a limited number of missiles into battle like this, the missiles themselves are worth their weight, absolutely.

 

[buffalo6542]

do you have a mod or file in which players could download this new unit.

 

[PibbZ]

do you have a mod or file in which players could download this new unit.

Im planning on making it available as soon as i get home

 

[GooglyBoogly]

The only gripe that i have with missiles is their upkeep (2gp/missile @ 100% inflation). It is rather expensive to build up and maintain any decent ammount, and since they cost so little to construct, they are really not that useful for peace stockpiling.
I would use them much more often if their upkeep costs were halved

 

[Roland Johansen]

I made a new unit "SSM Launcher" (Surface to Surface Missile launcher), based on the Mobile SAM graphic model, to be able to use guided missiles more effectively.

This is a weak artillery unit (16str, 2 movement, 4 cargo capacity that can only carry missiles). Starts with Sentry, and cost a tad more than mobile artillery. Requires Oil, Aluminum, robotics and laser. (see picture)

Spoiler :

When im suddenly able to carry a limited number of missiles into battle like this, the missiles themselves are worth their weight, absolutely.

I wonder if the AI could use such a vehicle. There is no equivalent land based transport vehicle so likely the AI isn't programmed to use such a vehicle. You'd probably need to get the code from the sea based transports and even then I doubt the AI is somewhat efficient at using these vehicles. The aircraft carrier AI isn't that great either.

However, if a somewhat decent AI can be found/created to use these units, then it would be a fun unit.

 

[GIO888]

Missiles are cheap to produce - one a turn? and you can load them onto subs.

They can't be intercepted, and your subs can't be seen until the missles are flying.

Have you ever stacked five subs against an enemy coastal city and let loose with the Ordnance? It doesn't matter how many defenders there are, once that lot has piled in you'll take any city with 3 transports of Marines and not lose one of them!