How do I build armies?

[Propaganda]

Question is above. I'm playing as the Russians, if that makes a difference. Please respond, thanks.

 

[Beam]

Since I am a polite guy I will not say RTFM here.

In order to build an army you have to get a leader first. This leader then can be converted to an army in one of your cities. You can then load units in it. Once this first army is victorious at some point you can build armies without the requirement for a leader. RTFM for what you need to do / have for that.

The other (and most significant) ability of a leader is rush building anything you can build in a city.

Most question armies seriously since they offer little bonus and units in armies can not be replaced and or upgraded as far as I know.

Forget to mention that victorious elite units have a change of producing leaders, where militaristic civs have a 1,5 bigger change then other civs.

And you can not pile up leaders, you can only have one at the time.

Propaganda, if you are a newbie I recommend you to check the FAQ thread and strategy articles in the War Academy.

 

[BridgeBoy]

To build your first army you need to have an ELITE unit win a fight and by luck (1 in 15 chance) he might produce a great leader. You can then take that Leader into a town and you will have the choice of using that Leader to create an army or rush a project. Later in the game you can also build Military Academy which can build armies without Leaders.

Elite units always have a 1:15 chance of creating a GL everytime they win a battle. Increases to 1:12 chance if you have Heroic Epic built.

 

[LKoss]

you need a Military Academy first, unless you have leaders already

 

[BridgeBoy]

I got distracted here at the office and puppy beat my post by one minute.....

 

[Beam]

Never mind Boy, I did not bother to look up the related wonders, that's where the minute is!

 

[BridgeBoy]

Beameuppy...I thought you said you weren't going to say RTFM....guess you couldn't reist

 

[Beam]

Dutch saying: where the heart is full of is spilled through the mouth.....

 

[Propaganda]

Thanks for the response. I have a few more questions, if you will. I'm in 1971 AD, running Russia under a communist regime, and moderately advanced. I'm churning out Modern Armor, and Mech Infantry, and have access to Tact. Nukes. I'm currently in a war with England, which is still a step behind. They produce cavalry and Infantry. So, anyway, I try to send out my Mech Infantry to try and raze their smaller cities, but one of their infantry completely smoked out my tanks. He took out 3. What's the problem here? I have a problem with their infantry, and I constantly have to draft to keep the steadly flow of offense going, but I have to continously sacrifice my tanks to their lesser infantry. Can anyone explain why?

 

[Beam]

What is Prophead doing right now?

- RTFM for elite units
- RTFM for leader
- RTFM for load units in army
- RTFM for Military Academy
- RTFM for Heroic Epic
- Checking CFC FAQ
- Checking CFC War Academy
- Play like hell to get one/more/all of the above
- Doing it Russian style
- All of the above

Oops!

 

[Beam]

May I suggest the Spearman vs. Tank thread? Otherwise keep on trying and check underlying terrain, walls, city size defense bonus etc.

btw, you attack with defensive units

 

[kundor]

Originally posted by Propaganda
Thanks for the response. I have a few more questions, if you will. I'm in 1971 AD, running Russia under a communist regime, and moderately advanced. I'm churning out Modern Armor, and Mech Infantry, and have access to Tact. Nukes. I'm currently in a war with England, which is still a step behind. They produce cavalry and Infantry. So, anyway, I try to send out my Mech Infantry to try and raze their smaller cities, but one of their infantry completely smoked out my tanks. He took out 3. What's the problem here? I have a problem with their infantry, and I constantly have to draft to keep the steadly flow of offense going, but I have to continously sacrifice my tanks to their lesser infantry. Can anyone explain why?

Don't attack with Mech Infantry, that's a defensive unit. Attack with modern armor.

Draft units have a lower chance of victory since they only have 2 hit points. Take out the more powerful defenders with veteran (from cities with barracks) or elite units whenever possible.
Veteran modern armor should almost always kill infantry.

 

[Propaganda]

Shouldn't any mechanized unit almost always completely smoke out a human ground unit? I mean, that's how the story goes in our real lives. What's the deal here?

 

[cegman]

Anti tank weapons may stop them

 

[Beam]

Originally posted by Propaganda
Shouldn't any mechanized unit almost always completely smoke out a human ground unit? I mean, that's how the story goes in our real lives. What's the deal here?

I agree with you in real life but the deal here is different!

In Civ 3 however the Mech Inf has a high defense value compared to its offensive value. So it is most valuable as a defender.

Also the offense value of Mech Inf is 12 and defense for Infantry is 10. A fortified unit gets a 50% bonus if I remember well, so it is then 12 to 15, no wonder you will loose quite some Mech Inf on Infantry.

There are more defense bonusses like: fortification, terrain, citysize, walls. These all add up for the defender and could explain why you loose tanks vs. infantry easily.

Also, as kundor explains, the "experience" of a unit makes a lot of difference. Elite units have a 2,5 times bigger change to be successful than drafted units.

If you want to simulate reality you have to use the editor or pick a mod-pack. There are a couple of threads discussing that subject.

 

[Tweedledum]

Simply saying RTFM doesn't help a great deal.
I have done so (well RTFCivilopedia anyway - the FM has no index entry for armies and so is pretty well FUseless)

According to the FCivilopedia, I need a Leader (got one of them) in a town (that's where he is) and I can build an Army.

Given all that, how do I build one? The FAI still won't let me - there's no "Army" option on the production list for the city, right clicking on the Leader in the garrison panel just shows Activate or Disband, and I see no extra buttons to click...

F F F F F

 

[BridgeBoy]

Given all that, how do I build one?

While still in Map view (not city view), and the leader is in the town, you will see two new buttons appear at the bottom of the screen. One for Build Army and one for Rush Project. After the army is built, you move units onto the Army and you have the option to Load them into the Army just like Loading units into Naval Ships, etc.

 

[Beam]

Originally posted by Tweedledum
Simply saying RTFM doesn't help a great deal.
I have done so (well RTFCivilopedia anyway - the FM has no index entry for armies and so is pretty well FUseless)

TFCiviclopedia indeed is far from complete. If something is not in there check TFM that comes with the box and that is also available as a .pdf file on the disc. If that does not resolve the issue you can check the Civ3 sections on CFC main page and / or check the threads in the forum. Finally you can open a thread if all other things do not provide an answer.

All are willing to provide help (as you can check in this thread) but it is highly appreciated to check the other entries first.

Hope you can appreciate this answer!

 

[Propaganda]

Hey, guys. I'm going to go completely off-topic and ask a few other questions. Hopefully, you guys dont mind answering. The first question is this; if, lets say, I'm running an empire under a communist regime, and one of the other civs is also, does that make our diplomatic relations closer, seeing as we're sharing a common bond? My other question asks if there is any way two empires can consolite their power, under one regime? i.e. The Soviet Union. Please answer. I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by Propaganda
Shouldn't any mechanized unit almost always completely smoke out a human ground unit? I mean, that's how the story goes in our real lives. What's the deal here?

In our real lives, infantry is defensive in nature. Mechanized infantry is just faster. If the enemy is dug in, then you need armor or artillery to dislodge them.

The history of gunpowder is a history of increasing defensive advantage. This advantage ended only with the development of armor.