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Immortal
There is a strong desire for a CIV5 mod that would add a 'airstrip' tile improvement giving players the ability to airlift units.
Discussion thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=384959
Suggestion:
I personally think that a worker, available with flight+radio, should be able to build one airstrip (in 16 turns) adjacent to a city or citadel (1 per) located within player's cultural borders. An airstrip would then allow a player to airlift one unit from one airstrip to another. A player would airlift by moving a unit onto a airstrip, selecting airlift icon, selecting an airstrip to airlift the unit to, and the unit's turn would then end with the unit having been airlifted to the new airstrip. The unit would then be available to move next turn.
Concern:
There is a valid concern that airlifting could be overpowered because of the increased potency of units in C5. In other words, it would be a huge advantage for a tech-leading civ to spam a bunch of airstrips and dump his entire military on his enemy's doorstep in a matter of only a few turns.
To avoid this, there needs to be some balance.
1. Some have suggested balancing by limiting the number of tiles that a unit can be airlifted. There may be some strategic value to limiting the number of tiles that can be airlifted however. For example, if a player could only airlift a unit across, lets say, 15 tiles, then to gain the ability to leapfrog-airlift units across the ocean may require a player to first obtain islands between continents to serve as airbases (think Pearl Harbor etc.)
I could get down with the above limitiation, but on the other hand, the point here, I think, is to eliminate (to some degree) the ridiculous amount of time that it takes to ferry a unit overseas and to eliminate the micro-managing aspect of moving units across great distances. In the thread referenced above, it took the player 24 turns to his unit to the front lines -- annoying! (in the modern era that's 24 years!).
2. Therefore, personally, I think the following balances may be sufficient:
A. I think having two pre-req techs (flight and radio) and a slow build time (16 turns) will lessen the chances of quick spamming.
B. The tile improvement should be made costly: lose the ability to work the tile + 5 maintenance + 1 unhappy citizen (noise pollution).
Discussion: I think that the above balances would lessen the chances that a player would spam a bunch of airstrips. Rather, a player would likely choose to limit the number of airstrips to a handful of key points across his empire that would a allow him/her to airlift a handful of units across the empire in a turn or two.
Obviously, since tile improvements can't be purchased, it would take an invading inter-contenental civ some time to get airstrips built before it could begin airlifting in reinforcements -- again balance achieved.
How would this play out?
Well if you had a sizable empire with overseas land holdings, a player might want to build a couple overseas airstrips and have 2 more back at home. This would allow a player to airlift 2 units per turn from the home continent to the overseas continent.
On the home continent, having one airstrip located on each opposite side of the empire would allow the player to airlift one unit per turn from one side of the empire to the other.
The cost of having this adaptive ability, 4 airstrips = 4 lost tiles, 20 maintenance, and 4 unhappy citizens per turn.
If a player were silly enough to spam airstrips, lets say one for each of 12 cities, then the cost would be 12 lost tiles, 60 maintenance, and 12 unhappy per turn. Fairly costly!
Could we get the AI to utilize this option in a responsible and effective manner? What'cha think? Suggestions? Anyone interested in building something along these lines or at least helping me figure it out?
Discussion thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=384959
Suggestion:
I personally think that a worker, available with flight+radio, should be able to build one airstrip (in 16 turns) adjacent to a city or citadel (1 per) located within player's cultural borders. An airstrip would then allow a player to airlift one unit from one airstrip to another. A player would airlift by moving a unit onto a airstrip, selecting airlift icon, selecting an airstrip to airlift the unit to, and the unit's turn would then end with the unit having been airlifted to the new airstrip. The unit would then be available to move next turn.
Concern:
There is a valid concern that airlifting could be overpowered because of the increased potency of units in C5. In other words, it would be a huge advantage for a tech-leading civ to spam a bunch of airstrips and dump his entire military on his enemy's doorstep in a matter of only a few turns.
To avoid this, there needs to be some balance.
1. Some have suggested balancing by limiting the number of tiles that a unit can be airlifted. There may be some strategic value to limiting the number of tiles that can be airlifted however. For example, if a player could only airlift a unit across, lets say, 15 tiles, then to gain the ability to leapfrog-airlift units across the ocean may require a player to first obtain islands between continents to serve as airbases (think Pearl Harbor etc.)
I could get down with the above limitiation, but on the other hand, the point here, I think, is to eliminate (to some degree) the ridiculous amount of time that it takes to ferry a unit overseas and to eliminate the micro-managing aspect of moving units across great distances. In the thread referenced above, it took the player 24 turns to his unit to the front lines -- annoying! (in the modern era that's 24 years!).
2. Therefore, personally, I think the following balances may be sufficient:
A. I think having two pre-req techs (flight and radio) and a slow build time (16 turns) will lessen the chances of quick spamming.
B. The tile improvement should be made costly: lose the ability to work the tile + 5 maintenance + 1 unhappy citizen (noise pollution).
Discussion: I think that the above balances would lessen the chances that a player would spam a bunch of airstrips. Rather, a player would likely choose to limit the number of airstrips to a handful of key points across his empire that would a allow him/her to airlift a handful of units across the empire in a turn or two.
Obviously, since tile improvements can't be purchased, it would take an invading inter-contenental civ some time to get airstrips built before it could begin airlifting in reinforcements -- again balance achieved.
How would this play out?
Well if you had a sizable empire with overseas land holdings, a player might want to build a couple overseas airstrips and have 2 more back at home. This would allow a player to airlift 2 units per turn from the home continent to the overseas continent.
On the home continent, having one airstrip located on each opposite side of the empire would allow the player to airlift one unit per turn from one side of the empire to the other.
The cost of having this adaptive ability, 4 airstrips = 4 lost tiles, 20 maintenance, and 4 unhappy citizens per turn.
If a player were silly enough to spam airstrips, lets say one for each of 12 cities, then the cost would be 12 lost tiles, 60 maintenance, and 12 unhappy per turn. Fairly costly!
Could we get the AI to utilize this option in a responsible and effective manner? What'cha think? Suggestions? Anyone interested in building something along these lines or at least helping me figure it out?
