Heliborne & Paradrop attack : futile?

[stalin83]

I've never figured out how to use Paradrop & Heliborne attacks successfully in a Civ3 Game.They appear more like eye-candy in most of my ops.Hence I was wondering what's their ideal use in Civ3C warfare?
I'm running an Arab Republic and Im looking for a force multiplier-> basically a way of hitting a larger yet disorganized army hard and fast.I'm considering Marines+Helos for assult with paradrops to cover the marines.what's ur take on this?

 

[ChaosArbiter]

Helicopters and Paratroopers are basically only useful if you are trying to get past difficult terrain - for example, if there's a mountainous area in enemy territory, but a single city on the other side will let you use the roads/rails, airdrop Marines over there and knock the city out.

Most of the time, however, it's much easier and faster to simply use Modern Armor; I suspect they would find more use in Multiplayer games, where the other players can actually take advantage of terrain and fortifications. Since the airdropped units don't get to move that turn, however, I think it's more of a darned if you do and if you don't effect - either risk losing the city/resource or risk having your fortress taken out.

 

[stalin83]

Hi ChaosArbiter,
I've got a mountain-range and hilly border between my arab republic and rather menacingly bloated babylonian army.The key-pass is held by my fort manned by a strong force.however I'm considering using heliborne marines to

1. 
   * quickly drop-off near an enemy 'camp'
   * backed-up by bombers
   * drop-off point defended by paratroops
   * mount a quick-strike in the next round

wish I could re-mount my troops onto the helo and evac them after the hit , but I dont think thats possible

Why Marines? They have the highest attack pts of a modern trooper
When paired with choppers they become highly mobile too!
Any thoughts?

 

[Flak509]

yes its possible but they only have 6 in defnce wich is no better than riflemen
so they would be easy targets for the 1 turn the have to sit and be prone to attacks. I personally recent the fact that marines/riflemen/guerillas have the same defence factor. Personally ive given them 12/8/1 guerillas 8(1)/7/1 Riflemen 6/6/1, Infantry 10/10/1

now we have units that can acturly attack and be used, to think that infantry units with machineguns, mortars and rifles have are no better attack than Napoleons cavalry is just silly

As for the standard game rules, marines and paratroopers are useless. If so id use tanks or sit tight and wait to get tanks if you wanna get around the enemy then use transports or maybe the neighbours terretory and strike at the less defened rear

 

[MadScotsMan]

I've modified the paratroopers to 7-9-1, marines to 11-7-1 and infintry to 9-10-1. Maybe that makes sense. Paratroopers have the lesser attack cause they only have a limited amount of equipment, I guess that's why they are 4-9...
Oh, and I use helies to do quick marine drops or quick infintry drops on places that arn't connected by rr, or airport

 

[TheOverseer714]

I would rate paratroops and helicopters about as high as coastal fortresses in their lack of usefulness. I built them one time just to see what they were about and found them to be a total waste. I'd say 9 out of 10 civ3 players never ever research advanced flight, which is the optional tech that allows them to be built.

 

[Flak509]

I've modified the paratroopers to 7-9-1, marines to 11-7-1 and infintry to 9-10-1. Maybe that makes sense. Paratroopers have the lesser attack cause they only have a limited amount of equipment, I guess that's why they are 4-9...
Oh, and I use helies to do quick marine drops or quick infintry drops on places that arn't connected by rr, or airport

yeah but they only have limited equipment if they are behind enemy lines else than than they would be used as infantry in the frontline and they are usually trained better than regular infantry

 

[Gosnork]

I would wait until rocketry and use TOW infantry. They are 12/14/1 with defensive bombard. Helos are good for transporting troops from cities on one continent to another continent, if you don't have enough airports to perform the needed transportation. I generally build a few Helos just in case a strange situation pops up.

Truthfully though, just use tanks, you will suffer far fewer loses in the attack and it won't take you too much longer, if helo transported troops were allowed to attack on the same turn then they would be good, but since you have to wait tanks are a better option.

 

[MadScotsMan]

yeah but they only have limited equipment if they are behind enemy lines else than than they would be used as infantry in the frontline and they are usually trained better than regular infantry

that's what I meant I think, but usually they have the same weapons as regular infintry, just not as many bullets.. I know in real life paratroopers arn't meant to take cities, just places to hinder the enemy.
On another note, I destroy roads with em

 

[stalin83]

so i guess that means that paratroops are better at sabotage?like cutting an AI Civ from Oil or Alumnimum?stategic resources are the target?

 

[MadScotsMan]

so i guess that means that paratroops are better at sabotage?like cutting an AI Civ from Oil or Alumnimum?stategic resources are the target?

yeah, to destroy railroads, cut off city connection. That's how I use em anyway

 

[Flak509]

that's what I meant I think, but usually they have the same weapons as regular infintry, just not as many bullets.. I know in real life paratroopers arn't meant to take cities, just places to hinder the enemy.
On another note, I destroy roads with em

they have the same amount of supplies as any other unit, they would only ever experience shortage if they are behind enemy lines but even so they would be supplied from the air. Paratroopers are an offensive unit that is ment to secure an objective behind enemy lines and wait for the main army to breakthru and assist them.

Id say that their objective would be to attack a less defended city behind the front and by taking it cause a breach in the front so that they can be assisted

 

[AznWarlord]

If you fail to capture a city, it's cool to have some paratroopers and helos to drop some reinforcements to try continue attacking the city.

By some, I mean around 20.

 

[Quintillus]

I've found helicopters + marines/infantry to be useful for invading multi-square islands with no transports nearby. Ex: island is off your continent, but off a highly corrupt part. You build helicopter in the productive core, and send them to the coast near the island w/Marines+Infantry. Drop off the troops via helidrop on the island and take it.

I could also see using them for pillaging mountain/hill resources. But I don't know why you'd use Paratroopers instead of Infantry/Marines + Helicopter - all paratrooper allows is paratrooping from an airport without a helicopter, and chances are you won't have airports on the front line when you need them so you'll be using helicopters anyways.

 

[PaperBeetle]

so i guess that means that paratroops are better at sabotage?like cutting an AI Civ from Oil or Alumnimum?stategic resources are the target?

Well that's the theory, but in my experience, the paratroopers are the target. If I am fighting an AI with rails, or even just with fast units, the last thing I want to do is spread my military into lots of little isolated groups which are easy for him to attack. And yet with the paratrooper, I am being offered, for a rather high shield-per-power price, the opportunity to do exactly that. It's a shame it is such a stupid unit, because the paradrop animation is quite fun.

 

[brennan]

Agreed with you there. Why would your paratroopers be less effective than your normal troops (infantry?). IMO they should get a single move after they land. They should alos ignore defensive bonuses or have a higher attack value when they drop.

 

[TheOverseer714]

About all they are good for is the "nuke and drop" strategy. Nuke a town, drop a bunch around it to block enemies off from a recapture, and kill the red-lined defenders. But Modern Armor is better, so I never use paratroops.