how are paratroopers useful

[TheMeInTeam]

I'll have to rethink using these. They'd be much more powerful to spam than marines in land wars (other than perhaps vs SAMs, which the AI admittedly does like).

I've found trusty infantry + tanks + flight (maybe don't even need the tanks) to be pretty strong. Intelligently promoted infantry with air support is devastating. Tanks ARE nice though, because tanks are fast.

 

[Minor Annoyance]

Do they always land where you aim them? I remember their randomness in I think it was civ3, or civ2? xD

It must have been civ3. Not this one though.

 

[vanatteveldt]

Tanks ARE nice though, because tanks are fast.

And don't forget tanks can get barrage promotion for collatteral damage... if you can attack a couple times with one or two barrage promotions (eg plus C1 pinch) the enemy becomes a lot softer...

 

[Kesshi]

I don't eat my soup with a fork.
I don't use hammer on screws.
I don't cook cakes with my microwave.

The right tool for the right job. Some tools are really good at doing a lot of things but only decently. Some tools are specialized and only do one thing, but they do that one thing incredibly well.

Would you counter Chariots with Axemen or Spearmen? Obviously Spearmen are superior to Axemen, right? But wait... Would you counter Swordsmen with Axemen or Chariots? So now Axemen are superior, Right? Now I want to attack a city, should I use Axemen or Swordsmen? Okay, now Swordsmen are superior! [end sarcasm]

It is commonly accepted that Axemen, Spearmen, and Swordsmen are different units used for different purposes. Why are we comparing Paratroopers to Tanks when they both serve different purposes? If you're trying to use your Paratroopers as Tanks or your Tanks as Paratroopers you're doing it wrong.

 

[vanatteveldt]

The main roles of tanks and infantry are pretty much clear. The question this thread tries to answer (I think) is what is the role of paratroopers in an (early) modern large scale war?

So, what do you eat with your paratroopers?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Enemy mines and lumber mills, apparently. That's my favorite suggestion in this thread so far, I will try it.

 

[Diamondeye]

Huts surrounded by 8 mountains calls for a suicidal paratrooper.

Other than that, they are lewd in archipelago combat because you can win without transport ships if you bring enough and the landmasses are close enough to each other. Then you can just move in your strong battleships with no transports to take care of, bomb away, and then land the troops by paradrop, attack next turn, let a couple stay in the city and let the rest hop to the next island...

 

[GoodGame]

Since they need a base to launch from, I find their best use is at the initial break-out of a war that you've been planning for a while. They're a good way to shock the enemy, mainly by taking out crucial roads and resources. Tanks are the way to go otherwise, though the left over paras do well as garrison in the captured cities.

yeah i don't see it

 

[grandad1982]

So has anyone seen the film "A Bridge To Far" based on the WW2 operation, Market Garden.

Its Monty's - British general not Aztec nutter - plan to lay down a carpet of airborne troops that the armoured units can pass over to capture some key bridges. Basically the paratroops are there to set the scene, i.e. resourse and terrain denial, while the slower but more heavely armed tanks come to secure the positions.

In civ this can be interprited as pillaging and some limited offensive duties to capture the initail targets of a war by the paratroops. This should allow you to move your tank divisions quikely into the heart of your enermys territory, whilst suffering limited casualties from the more valuable tanks as the paratroopers have paved the way.

Just like the film - and real life I imagin - lightly armed troops behind enemy lines can't survive long against a determined counter attack. So after the initail phase of air drops is complet its all about quikley re-enforcing those gains you get via the suprise attack.

Bombers help too.....

 

[r_rolo1]

Monty paras were not in a hill forest in a Civ IV map ( and the film only shows that dropping paras over trained and rest tank troops is suicidal ( BTW it is " A bridge too Far" ) )..... My main use of paras is to disrupt the AI movements and to garrison freshly conquered cites while the infantry is still far away.

 

[zenspiderz]

Paratroopers are an essential component of zen's patented modern-era fast conquest strat - codenamed 'Flying hammers'.

1. Massed Jet fighters go in first to airbomb border cities culture to zero.

2. Massed bombers go in second to airstrike garrison troops (collateral damage)

3. Massed gunships move in eliminate garrison troops.

4. Paratroopers (CG promoted) paradrop in to take and hold empty enemy city

5. Rinse and repeat.

A single strike force can potentially take a city on each and every turn regardless of even extensive cultural borders.

If enemy doesn't have rocketry for SAMs this strat is unstoppable as well as super fast.

If the enemy does have a few SAMs expect some damage mainly to jetfighters as they go in first so build extra accordingly. But it is still superfast.

If the enemy has lots of SAMs expect heavy damage! Still superfast.

Complementary tactics - medic promoted unit in each city airbase to speed aircraft repair. (finally a use for Redcross hospital!)

HE/WP city just makes gunships and paratroopers (no tanks!)

Great general supermedic attached to gunship.

Protective best leader trait for this strat (protective paras!) - paratroops built in modern era HE/WP city should come out the box with (CG3 and DR2!)

 

[grandad1982]

@ rolo
Doh! My poor spelling lets me down again!

 

[UncleJJ]

Good post zenspiderz . You're using a late game version of what I was suggesting in Post #18. Paratroops can be used a lot earlier needing only Flight and Fascism, so cavalry and fighters can give a slightly slower blitzkrieg conquest earlier in the game. It is limited by the slower cavalry and shorter range of fighters but the opposition will be much less advanced. Then of course once you get Advanced Flight upgrade the troops (cavalry to gunships and fighters to jets) to use your faster version.

Two comments on your suggestion from my experience. It can be hard to get local air superiority if the AI has its own fighters and airports. They often have 8 fighters on interception and it's hard to get enough of your own fighters in range (although jet fighters would be better with a range of 10). The solution is to use carriers, if the coast is close enough, to stack masses of fighters. I find 3 carriers with 9 fighters and some spares can get air superiority over the 8 fighters defending a city with an airport. The spare fighters are useful to replace any badly damaged ones on the carriers, just fly them to a healing city and replace with a fresh one that can strike next turn.

Second comment is about reducing the defensive bonus of the cities, obviously the aircraft can do that but it is not always needed to reduce it to zero if you reduce the defenders to half strength by air strikes and if some of your cavalry and gunship attackers have flanking promotions (they can get 50% and 45% chances to withdraw with Flanking 2). It depends how quickly you want to conquer and how prepared you are to burn up your troops. Normally I would reduce the defecive bonus to zero before risking good troops but with Police State WW is not a problem and troops are produced with a 25% production bonus so burn them up and win faster

 

[Olodune]

A force of paratroopers + gunships + air support has given me very fast "mop-up" wars -- especially on land maps. They are great for taking out backward civilizations quickly as well.

I believe they are the only unit that can capture a city 6 tiles deep in enemy territory on the first turn of a war (Or course the garrison will have to be destroyed -- either with gunships, or nukes (do cruise missiles work too?)).

Can paratroopers paradrop out of a newly conquered coastal city after being un-loaded from a transport? (I think they can ... )

 

[vanatteveldt]

Question: do you get city defense bonus for captured cities in revolt? In that case I guess I'll be making para's to do city defense after the tanks, should work great in the era before mech intf..

 

[UncleJJ]

There is no cultural bonus for a city in revolt but a paratrooper with CG promotions would get a bonus just for being in the city and if the city is on a hill he could get that bonus. He can also fortify at 5% per turn he's stationary. That can add up to a substantial defence for a strength 24 unit.

 

[Catan_Settler]

Nuke, nuke, maybe a 3rd nuke if there are tons of units defending the place, then one paratrooper razes the city. If you are aiming for a fast, late game annihilation of an enemy civ, there is absolutely no way to match the speed with which massed nuclear weapons and paratroopers can erase an entire civilization from the map. Other than that, random pillaging and quick, flexible reinforcement in a leap-frog style land campaign, they are inferior to tanks, marines, mech infantry, etc. In most cases though they're better than infantry for general purpose duty, and especially for defending large border regions with minimal troops but maximum mobility.

 

[Jimmyballz]

My modern era warfare strategy is simple. Bombers/Jet Fighters to bombard city defense and do collateral damage, Marines to capture coastal cities, Gunships to finish off inland city defenders, Paratroopers to paradrop next to city and capture city, quick domination/conquest victory!

yes, i think paratroopers are useful only if able to airlift to battle area/newly taken over city.. then paradrop to skip some tiles towards the enemy..

other than that, i rarely make 'em-
wish thier paradrop range would increase for fighter, then increase more when have jet fighter, stealth

 

[Jimmyballz]

have paratroopers attach themselves to air unit, and paradrop range would be equal to attached air unit's range, so on up..