I found a use for artillery!

[FenrysWulf]

Usually when I capture artillery I just disband it to contribute to the improvement in that captured city. I actually found a real use for it though. You know how a nation will declare war on you, and then suddenly 500 ships show up on your coast, bombarding everything to hell? Well, if you haven't been building a navy, this can be a huge problem. I found, however, that if you shoot those ships with artillery, they will retreat to their cities to re-heal. They tend to get stacked up too, so you can damage a bunch at once. This is a great way to relieve the pressure until you can build up your navy, and then when you do there's a bunch of weak targets out there.

 

[eyrei]

This is definately one of the uses of artillery. However, you need to learn to use it in other ways to be successful on higher levels. Judging from your other post, you have yet to develop a respect for artillery. Neglect it at your own peril.

 

[Magnus]

I build MASSIVE amounts of artillery, to me its the most effective way to crack open tough cities before airpower.

 

[Jason Fox]

Artillery is extremely useful, IMHO. After signing a peace treaty with India they suddenly invaded with two stacks of over 20 tanks each. Fortunately neither was able to attack a city in one turn, leaving me one turn to disable them.

15 minutes later, after a barrage of artillery fire from the way too many pieces I make and support, every tank was down to one hit point. Then my tanks, infantry, marines, whatever units I had, moved in and easily took out all his tanks. India lost over 40 tanks in one turn and was more than willing to give me anything I wanted in a peace settlement after that. Moreover, it was a big percentage of his army and I rolled over him with relatively little effort after that.

I have found they are better for defense than offense due to the difficultly in moving them in a timely manner and won't use them in cities I plan to keep unless I have no choice due to the damage they do to improvements and population.

 

[eyrei]

Originally posted by Jason Fox
Artillery is extremely useful, IMHO. After signing a peace treaty with India they suddenly invaded with two stacks of over 20 tanks each. Fortunately neither was able to attack a city in one turn, leaving me one turn to disable them.

15 minutes later, after a barrage of artillery fire from the way too many pieces I make and support, every tank was down to one hit point. Then my tanks, infantry, marines, whatever units I had, moved in and easily took out all his tanks. India lost over 40 tanks in one turn and was more than willing to give me anything I wanted in a peace settlement after that. Moreover, it was a big percentage of his army and I rolled over him with relatively little effort after that.

This happens at least once in nearly every game I play. I usually end up with like a 20:1 kill ratio on the first turn of that war. The best part is that I get to kill tanks with swordsmen, knights, riflemen, and even the occasional archer or longbowmen! One of my crowning achievments was getting a leader by killing a damaged tank with a warrior!

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by FenrysWulf
Usually when I capture artillery I just disband it to contribute to the improvement in that captured city.

If the war is ended, I too will disband units into a captured city. By force-building the temple, I avoid most flips.

 

[Hobbes]

Joseph Stalin was once asked the question, whose side God was on during a war. His reply was, "God is on the side of those with the most artillery."

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by eyrei
One of my crowning achievments was getting a leader by killing a damaged tank with a warrior!

YES! That will certainly be written in the annals of Civilization. I would love a screen shot (before and after) for my website.

 

[Magnus]

This is all very true!

Artillery and railroads are the best defense you can have! I buy as much as I can afford, and complement each 'arty' with a good defensive ground unit.

 

[eyrei]

Originally posted by Zachriel


YES! That will certainly be written in the annals of Civilization. I would love a screen shot (before and after) for my website.

Unfortunately, while I am sure I still have saves from that game, it is unlikely I have that particular save, as I stopped using the save-reload cheat a while ago. Even if I did still use that, I wouldn't have bothered saving, as I considered that warrior, elite though he was, as cannon fodder. He was promptly upgraded to swordsmen, and was used to take out a couple of damaged cavalry later in the war, before he was eventually overcome by another damaged tank.

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by Hobbes
Joseph Stalin was once asked the question, whose side God was on during a war. His reply was, "God is on the side of those with the most artillery."

 

[eyrei]

Originally posted by Hobbes
Joseph Stalin was once asked the question, whose side God was on during a war. His reply was, "God is on the side of those with the most artillery."

See. Communists were good for something!

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by eyrei
it is unlikely I have that particular save . . . before he was eventually overcome by another damaged tank.

I will recommend him for a medal -- posthumously, of course.

 

[jimmytrick]

I think Jason is pulling our leg. I am supposed to believe that over 40 tanks were reduced to one hit poin each. Nah

 

[eyrei]

Originally posted by jimmytrick
I think Jason is pulling our leg. I am supposed to believe that over 40 tanks were reduced to one hit poin each. Nah

If you have 60 or so artillery, which I often do on a large map near the end of the industrial age, this is quite possible.

 

[royfurr]

Originally posted by Hobbes
Joseph Stalin was once asked the question, whose side God was on during a war. His reply was, "God is on the side of those with the most artillery."

I don't know if that is true or "urban legend", but if he did, he was stealing from Napoleon. The original comment was, I believe, that "God is on the side with the biggest battalions" (of infantry).

However, let me make it clear, artillery is not called the "Queen of Battle" for nothing. IRL, in most modern wars (post 1900) artillery cause far more casualites then other froms of arms. Probalby more then all combined. Russia, certainly at Stalin's approval, went for some of the most mammoth colledtions of artillery for battle use EVER. If Stalin didn't say this quote, he would have certainly agreed with it- he obviously thought that way.

There is no doubt that in Civ III Artillery (w/ and w/o Radar) ROCKS. I seriouly doubt if one can win a war economicilly (or at all) without shrewd use of artillery.

 

[chiefpaco]

Originally posted by FenrysWulf
Usually when I capture artillery I just disband it to contribute to the improvement in that captured city. I actually found a real use for it though. You know how a nation will declare war on you, and then suddenly 500 ships show up on your coast, bombarding everything to hell? Well, if you haven't been building a navy, this can be a huge problem. I found, however, that if you shoot those ships with artillery, they will retreat to their cities to re-heal. They tend to get stacked up too, so you can damage a bunch at once. This is a great way to relieve the pressure until you can build up your navy, and then when you do there's a bunch of weak targets out there.

I admit I do this sometimes. Nice to take out Carriers, battleships, transports, & exposed subs. I sometimes use Cruise missles to finish them off because they have the capability to kill a unit.

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by jimmytrick
I think Jason is pulling our leg. I am supposed to believe that over 40 tanks were reduced to one hit poin each. Nah

I'm not normally a conquer the world type, but I usually use 20-30 artillery in my regional wars. Sixty for a global war would not be out of the question. Also, in a couple of turns those artillery can easily reduce a large stack of attacking tanks to negligible hit points.

Jimmytrick, you may be missing out on a lot of fun with artillery. Give it a try. But it does take some finesse to use them properly.

 

[Special_O]

Artillery is great for ships, though it's ridiculous how much damage it does. Not very realistic.



Otherwise, it's too boring to drag it all over the map and fire one at a time into a city. It takes FOREVER to do anything to a unit in a city. Why not just spam with hundreds of cavalry and forget the useless arty?

 

[eyrei]

Originally posted by Special_O
Artillery is great for ships, though it's ridiculous how much damage it does. Not very realistic.



Otherwise, it's too boring to drag it all over the map and fire one at a time into a city. It takes FOREVER to do anything to a unit in a city. Why not just spam with hundreds of cavalry and forget the useless arty?

Did you actually read the rest of the thread?