How to use armies - a guide

[Zachriel]

How to use armies? I use the nightmare strategy.

First I imagine the worst possible nightmare scenario: A group of elite tank armies, with plenty of infantry backup, commanded by malevalent super-human intelligence, surrounding one of my most advanced cities, with only a few infantry of my own for defense.

Then I do that to my enemy.

 

[Deathwalker]

I like armies, the only thing is I can't upgrade the units contained in it Is there any way to do this

 

[eyrei]

Originally posted by Zachriel
How to use armies? I use the nightmare strategy.

First I imagine the worst possible nightmare scenario: A group of elite tank armies, with plenty of infantry backup, commanded by malevalent super-human intelligence, surrounding one of my most advanced cities, with only a few infantry of my own for defense.

Then I do that to my enemy.

Rock on! I am guessing you won that battle. I always end up winning a diplomatic victory before I get to use groups of armies like that. Damn AI keeps calling the vote and I win!

If you add one mech infantry to an army with two tanks, its stats are 15/11. Only one attack point lost, and 3 defense points gained. This is how I normally construct armies in the early modern era.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

before the untimely death of my civ version (it won`t start anymore, system unchanged - if you can help or have similar problems please mail me) i wanted to try out what happenes when armies get unload capability........ i think it would only be fair if you could recycle your old ones because that`s how it is in the real world. anyone any experience?

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by eyrei
If you add one mech infantry to an army with two tanks, its stats are 15/11. Only one attack point lost, and 3 defense points gained. This is how I normally construct armies in the early modern era.

Great tip! Just don't tell the AI.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Zachriel; eyrei:

Thanx!

 

[docceh]

It IS POSSIBLE to unload armies to allow units to be upgraded/new units to be loaded.

See my thread here:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13634

for details.

-docceh

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

docceh is checking out a nice game of mine with lots of armies to see what unload-capable armies do. can`t do it myself since my cic doesnt run anymore but he`ll be back to the board with his results soon.

Thank you, docceh!

 

[docceh]

I have some bad and good news on the Army Front...

BAD NEWS

Regular armies can't be unloaded in the way you'd expect, there is a way (which I will explain in a minute!)

Here's the final word on How To Unload An Army...

The Situation: You have an army of obsolete units that you would like to upgrade.

The Solution:

1. Backup your civ3mod.bic

2. Go into the editor and Open Civ3mod.bic. Go to Rules > Edit > Units. Scroll down in the drop-down menu until you find the Army unit. Change its Unit Abilities to "Foot Soldier" and tick the Unload option under "Special Abilities"

3. Click Close then File > Save. Close the editor and Play Civ3.

4. You can now unload units from your armies. Once unloaded, you can now move the units into a city for upgrade. Move the units back over the army and load.

ATTENTION: At this stage your Army is useless and will act as a single unit with the stats 0.0.1. It is basically a non-combat Personel Carrier.

To 're-enable' your army...

5. Save your game. Close Civ3 and go back into the editor to the Unit Rules screen. Edit the army Unit Abilities so that it is back to "Army". You don't need to untick "unload" because the unit's abilities will cancel this out.

Reload game and enjoy a spiffing new state-of-the-art army!


It's a bit long winded but it's really not 2 hard if you really want an upgraded army.

-docceh

 

[goodbye_mr_bond]

Losing multiple attack abilities just doesn't add up in my opinion--in normal situations. Unless you're up against mech infs with cavalry there's not much use for offensive armies. I find it really annoying that even a four-elite-tank army cannot take a city defended by 2 spearmen in one turn! C'mon!

Defensive armies, on the other hand, are very effective. The AI won't often attack them (even when it should), and they're great for quieting la resistance.

Civ 3 armies seem to be more of a strategic tool one which one can use for a particular effect--like holding on to a colony--rather than the real backbone of a military force (which is what armies are in the real world, of course).

Well, that's my wise input after exactly one game, anyway...

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by goodbye_mr_bond
I find it really annoying that even a four-elite-tank army cannot take a city defended by 2 spearmen in one turn! C'mon!
. . .
Well, that's my wise input after exactly one game, anyway...

It takes a minimum of two turns, of course. You could followup with a second tank, after using the army to destroy the strongest defender. Even tanks take time. I suppose it could be possible to shoot two with one shot, if they were lined up right, but that only happens in Hollywood westerns.

It is crucial to crush the defenders in one turn, or they may heal between turns. If you can't take the city in one turn, then you should probably delay your attack, or bring up the bombard units. I have successfully taken cities defended with infantry by using rifle and cannon (that was hard and required bombardment for 5-10 turns before the attack). I have used sword with great effect in the ancient age, cavalry in the age of gunpowder, and of course tanks in the modern age. There is a critical point of force you must cross before your attacks will be successful.

Check out this game where I am French attacking a German city:
http://www.crowncity.net/civ3/Infantry.htm

Running a coordinated attack takes planning. I'm sure when you play your second game, you'll have figured it out.

 

[kentc]

I agree that making armies out of Tanks or Modern Armor is kind of a waste. Better to use them to attack multiple times. However, that don't mean that armies are useless.

I use armies all the time. (I play on Monarch...the higher diff levels are way way too much work, and I've usually won or lost by the time it gets to tanks anyway... ) What I do is save up my armies and don't load anything in them till I get tanks. Then instead of disbanding my old and useless cav units, I put them in armies. Then I use them to attack first, followed up by the tanks. Once they take the city, then I use the army to garrison the town and put down the resisters. (assuming I want to keep the enemy city...) Once it's healed up, I send it out again. The trick is to have many, many armies. If it says I can't build any more armies, then I disband one of the garrison ones for the 100 shields and get a quick fix for my culture problems in the conqured city. An army of cav will take out just about anything short of a mech inf. And if the AI attacks it, fine with me...it's that many units that aren't hitting my tanks.

If I'm not on the same continent as my enemy, then I send a fleet over there to take out the closest coastal city of theirs. Then I relocate a bunch of bombers over there, and then disband them to make an airport. The nice thing about not loading an army up until I'm ready to use them is they only take up one space on a transport. I load 8 (or however many I happen to have...) of them up on one transport and then airlift in the cav. So I end up building them on the spot in enemy territory. Usually I time it so that by the time the airport is ready, my transport full of non-loaded armies is arriving in the city. I hate making transports when I could be making BB's instead. Or bombers. (just make sure that you protect your transport...)

On a side note, you never have enough bombers in my opinion. They are like libraries/temples just waiting to happen. Since Wealth sucks so much now, I've found that recycleing bombers is more cost effective than wealth in your fully upgraded cities. You can move them anywhere on the map in one turn, and you get 25 shields for them. Cheaper than buying the improvement. And as a bonus, you can use them to blow the heck out of other enemy cities in range before you disband them.