Ever built a U.F.O. (unneeded flying object) ?

[kryszcztov]

Have you ever built a plane, an helicopter, a missile or a nuclear unit in one of your games ?

It's been 6 months since I started playing Civ quite regularly. I can beat Deity now. But never have I built such units, either because I didn't feel the need (after all Civ is a game where you need to take control of cities) or because the game was won or lost before the Modern Era.

Generally speaking, I find that many games are won before planes come up. Even though I'm not a great warmonger (I'm more of a builder, but don't try to make me lose my nerves ), I usually end my game with lots of arties and tanks and don't feel the need to build any of those planes or missiles. I haven't tried them (so I can't tell if there are effective myself), I don't even know their stats (what do I care ?), I just ignore them and build tons of tanks if I am to conquer the world.

However, I usually launch the spaceship to win the game. Even during the time you have to research all these techs, I can't see a real use for air units. BTW, I've never built the Manhattan Project (nor has the AI, IIRC, or almost), nor discovered such techs as Robotics, Longevity, well the bunch of techs you don't have to discover to build the spaceship (which I've never failed to build first, and by far, each time I have entered the Modern Era). My aim is to win the game quickly.

So ? Been a bit off-topic here, but that's a good way to see what you all think of the Modern Era and what you usually do at that point of the game.

 

[WickedSmurf]

I find use for bomber planes and ICBMs. Wouldn't call them "unneeded" though. I only build them if there is any practical use for them, I don't build loads of them and then just have them hanging around my cities.

 

[Sailorstick]

Regular bombers are good, occasionally Jet Fighters are useful if you are being carpet bombed by the AI.

 

[Tony595]

i build jet fighters if i am being bombed, and icbm for retaliation against civs that have made aggresive moves against me

 

[unscratchedfoot]

I edited nukes out of my mod. Nukes can be fun for a few games but then get boring cause they kill the tactical aspect of the game. As for airpower, my mod is designed so that only building tanks will surely lose the game for the player who indulges in that folly. Airpower is key. Landing special forces and engineers in enemy territory to build airstrips and forts then haul in troops, choppers, jets, etc. Then use gunships to hammer the enemy at close range while troops mop up. Much more fun than just building tanks and realistic too, kinduv like the Afgan experience for the USA.

 

[Brewster]

I built a few UFOs in my first few games (I believe they were contraptions called helocopters), but I don't wast my time on those anymore.

 

[Dr Jimbo]

I usually build a few fighters in my capital and/or border cities. Jet fighters are pretty nifty at keeping enemy bombers at bay. And the enemy usually has bombers. But then, I don't win my games as easily as kryszcztov.

 

[TriviAl]

I find bombers pretty useful in the late industrial/early modern age. I don't use them to attack cities - massed artillery is much better/cheaper for that, just to cut off an enemies strategic/luxury resources - normally find 2-3 carriers with bombers/a few border cities can cripple most enemies on the first turn of a conflict... messing up their economy and reducing them to old units.

Fighters are occasionally useful, havn't used any of the others.

 

[Ben E Gas]

in DyP I built the balloon and air ship once. They are useless to me though. The Bi-plane is useless as well. I like the idea of the V-1 rocket, but it wasn't very effective. I always make sure I have an ICBM on hand and a tactical nuke floating in the sea somewhere in case other civs destroy my ICBM.

I always build bombers and jet fighters.

 

[cgannon64]

I build lots of Bombers. I once built a helicopter for fun.

 

[Ant509y]

In the occassional game in which I've made it to that point, I build some nukes, and sometimes actualyl use them, pretty much cripling my enemies' main production cities. However, my brother... now, he nuked an entire continent owned by the americans once, and then captured the entire continent easily... he had workers trying to fix the damage for the rest of the game. lol

 

[Jamesds]

I built an ICBM for fun at the end of a game, before i won it by space in one turn, i blew an enemy city to smithereens with it!

 

[SinisterDeath]

I built up a force of 20 nukes, and dropped them all on France's last city in the same turn! Talk about a nuclear winter!!! It wasn't Paris, because I'd aldready captured it. It might have been Lyons.

I wish nukes did more damage. I think if you hit and city, even TOkyo, or New York, with 20 nukes, there wouldn't be anything left. I think the game should reflect that.

 

[farting bob]

ive had a collection of 100 copters and para's and used them to invade various palces in difficult derfensive plces (past a chokepoint or a very well defended city blocking me) and they are useful, but very rare. i used them that once, and relised that unless i build 100's of them and have a suited map tht will give them the advantage, they are practically useless.
cruise missiles are not useful at all, as radar arty do just as well and are re-usable. but the graphics for the cruise missiles attacking a city is ok to watch, but not worth it.

 

[kb2tvl]

I build some flying units. Probably the one time I build air power is if I play americans. I was preparing to expand during the modern ages and started pumping out F15's. I placed 2 in every border city and kept 4 or so at a central location. Anyway, I did some city spying and saw my neighbor had about 30 bombers. Well once war broke out, I had to build jets to just keep roads from being completely destroyed.

Also, I will build cruise missles at those super slow building city. You know, half tundra and half grassland or ocean. Couple cm with 10 arty, you can sink a battleship with one hit of a cm and rail makes cm super flexible... unlike a surface fleet.

I build taticals if there has been a long peace. I have had Zulu and Mongrols... in different games invade and when I right clicked their Sods... Each sod was 40+ so 3 taticals + a stack of MA completely obliterates their ability to do jack. The rule you need to follow is to drop the nuke on your territory only.

Heliocopters are useful on a panagea where that last pesky city is just off the coast and battleships will take 20 turns to get there. Drop a tatical, have a city with a copter in it as close as possible to that island and then land para's and enter the city next turn.

I will build ICBM when I have been at peace and going to a spaceship vic. An ICBM can be changed to any spaceship part and it will be build in about the same time as an ICBM can be built.

I do not build bombers... well I did by accident once. They are expensive and get shot down a lot but I do not think you get war weariness from bombing.

 

[Quasar1011]

Originally posted by kb2tvl
The rule you need to follow is to drop the nuke on your territory only.

Whoa! I would never nuke my own territory!

 

[Lord Draegon]

I build bomber, but they only for some fun. ICBM's are cool and i use them too. But ihate cruise missles why cant they fly over oceon why???.

 

[Michael York]

Originally posted by Quasar1011


Whoa! I would never nuke my own territory!

Against an enemy invasion force it can be effective method of slowing their advance. Of course, I prefer MI and I can't recall ever having nukes and worrying about the ai doing anything other than counterstriking cities when I'm overextended.

 

[nalves]

If you see a stack of enemys try to drop an ICBM in it
If you plan to atack and destroy a city with many MI in it try to drop a couple of ICBM in it

If you want to destry a civ try to drop one or two dozens of ICBM in it

Cruise missiles are also good if you have many of them, they always target the units in the city. Their week point is the low movement.

Jet plane are good for defense against enemy bombers.

Bombers are just like arty. ( personaly I prefer arty).

So ... except for helis they are NOT UFOs

 

[Kangy]

I've only had one nucleur war with the A.I., and that was when I controlled every civ's land aprt from his.

I landed in his coastal cities and burnt them to the ground, but he bombed and missiled my men with bombers and nukes, so I launched half my nukes, which had slowly been stock piling into the hundreds against his cities. He retaliated the next turn, but I had that wonder that zaps them out the sky, so I didn't cop it as bad as he did. The next turn, I launched every missile into his cities and main resources.

I eventually won, but the global warming was mad after those attacks, so it wasn't a world fit to live in after I had conquered.