I have been playing Civ3 since Dec 25 (great Christmas present), and played mostly continental maps. Recently, I have tried island maps, but have not figured out how to mount an effective attack on other islands due to the border issues. In Civ2 I would place 4 Mech Inf, 3 Tanks, and an Engineer on the same transport and would establish a city on the targeted island, with the Mech Inf fortified in the city and the Tanks acting as an offensive defense, then building up; this tactic is impossible in Civ3 though... any tips are gratefully accepted!
Island Attack Strategy?
- Thread starter areynolds
- Start date
Carrier Battle Groups. I haven't actually had the oppurtunity to use the full thing in Civ3, yet, but from gleaning stuff on the boards, I can offer this rough outline of what it should include.
--1 Battleship. To defeat Naval Threats en route. Only one, because any more is prohibitvely expensive, at least for me.
--1 or more subs, loaded with missiles if you have them. Set this off to the side of the actual group, and use missiles against enemy battleships and other things you're squeamish about using the Battlship on.
--1 Carrier, loaded with bombers. For softening coastal city defenses and softening random Naval threats.
--1 Carrier, loaded with fighters. For air superiority.
--At least 1 transport loaded with land units of choice.
Stack all but the sub in one square and move them toward the targeted island in a tight formation.
As I said, earlier, this is an ideal group for me, your mileage may vary. I've not actually had the time to pull the whole thing off in Civ3 yet, primarily because of the carriers and battleships. However, it was used to great effect in Civ2, and it should be able, theoretically, to launch a worthwhile attack on any island you choose. If there is a fundamental problem with the formation that I have not foreseen, please inform me. Thank you, and good luck.
--1 Battleship. To defeat Naval Threats en route. Only one, because any more is prohibitvely expensive, at least for me.
--1 or more subs, loaded with missiles if you have them. Set this off to the side of the actual group, and use missiles against enemy battleships and other things you're squeamish about using the Battlship on.
--1 Carrier, loaded with bombers. For softening coastal city defenses and softening random Naval threats.
--1 Carrier, loaded with fighters. For air superiority.
--At least 1 transport loaded with land units of choice.
Stack all but the sub in one square and move them toward the targeted island in a tight formation.
As I said, earlier, this is an ideal group for me, your mileage may vary. I've not actually had the time to pull the whole thing off in Civ3 yet, primarily because of the carriers and battleships. However, it was used to great effect in Civ2, and it should be able, theoretically, to launch a worthwhile attack on any island you choose. If there is a fundamental problem with the formation that I have not foreseen, please inform me. Thank you, and good luck.
BillChin
Prince
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2002
- Messages
- 494
Invasions can be tough to pull off in Civ III--a good thing. In the Ancient Age you can just load a bunch of galleys and ferry troops to a bit of unclaimed land. When you have enough troops massed, attack. If you have an ocean to cross it is much more difficult. If you are ahead in tech and units there are a lot of ways to skin the cat. If you are not, it is best to mass as many defensive units as you can on the beach head during the initial landing.
Land the troops on mountain or hills as the counter attack is fierce. With railroads the entire enemy army is available. Air cover is essential if the enemy has bombers. Naval superiority is desirable but not a must have. Supporting artillery and armor are good things, as are army units. Armies discourage enemy attacks. Raze a couple of cities, and take one or build one in a culture safe zone. Rush build an airport and then airlift reinforcements.
It is generally best to attack in force, whether it be a sea invasion or a land invasion. Piecemeal is rarely a good way to go.
Land the troops on mountain or hills as the counter attack is fierce. With railroads the entire enemy army is available. Air cover is essential if the enemy has bombers. Naval superiority is desirable but not a must have. Supporting artillery and armor are good things, as are army units. Armies discourage enemy attacks. Raze a couple of cities, and take one or build one in a culture safe zone. Rush build an airport and then airlift reinforcements.
It is generally best to attack in force, whether it be a sea invasion or a land invasion. Piecemeal is rarely a good way to go.
Arrian
Warlord
Your old Civ II strategy you mentioned (the transport full of good troops and 1 settler) works great for me. I drop off 4 transports full of Modern Armor, with a few settlers mixed in on a hill in my target's territory. Next turn, build city & relocate airforce. Next turn, kill. I have done AWFUL things to AI civs with this (like destroy an island empire in 10-15 turns). Rushbuilding an airport in your forward base city is also a good idea, as there is no limit to the number of units that can be airlifted *to* a city. Thus, if you have 10 airports on your main continent, and one in the forward base, you can send 10 units/turn over there. The only potential problem is the first turn of the war - if the enemy has enough firepower to kill your stack of units, ouch. Then again, if they are that strong... don't fight them.
The key for me is the use of overwhelming force. 4 transports full of Modern Armor packs quite a punch, particularly when backed by 30 battleships and 15 destoyers (rough numbers), not to mention the 20+ bombers (this is an attack force I used recently on a Normal, Continents map). I chose to put my invasion town near the enemy's capitol, both because breaking the capitol hurts the enemy badly, and because there were resources and luxuries in the surrounding area. I burned 1-2 cities per turn until there was nothing left (though I recolonized the areas with luxuries).
-Arrian
The key for me is the use of overwhelming force. 4 transports full of Modern Armor packs quite a punch, particularly when backed by 30 battleships and 15 destoyers (rough numbers), not to mention the 20+ bombers (this is an attack force I used recently on a Normal, Continents map). I chose to put my invasion town near the enemy's capitol, both because breaking the capitol hurts the enemy badly, and because there were resources and luxuries in the surrounding area. I burned 1-2 cities per turn until there was nothing left (though I recolonized the areas with luxuries).
-Arrian
Octavian X
is not a pipe.
This is a good strat, but it is always easier to kill early. For me, load your galleys (or caravels) with at least four knights and two pikemen. Conquer a good city, end resistnace in the one, rush a harbor, so you can(hopefully) rush more knightts to kill more cities, etc. If you are short on cash, set all cities building galley/caravel, make sure they have roads to interior cities, and build knights/pikemen, If you have those extra ships, you can use them to blockade rival ports, to prevent trade.
In my current game (Deity, Large, 10 civs), the civs are evenly spread out between two continents. Since the industrial age began, there have been almost continual intra-continental wars. Now it seems to me that the best time to plot a mass invasion of the other continent is by signing an alliance with one of the warring factions, and attacking the other. In this way your opponents forces will be split between defending their border cities and attacking their land opponents cities, while you appear at the rear (so to speak) and cause havock.
It's especially important to take advantags of these situations on higher levels. If you let a civ get too strong, and for instance, they pull ahead in the tech/space race, then YOU (not the other AI) will have to act. And a mass invasion of a very strong empire (in the post-industrial age - railways and instant movement) is very difficult. And of course, while you're invading in the hope of saving the game, this allows the other AI civs can to take the opportunity to make headway. They (AI) don't "really" care about preventing the Romans from winning ... so you have to take action or lose. Of course this is all just speculative. What I'm saying is that opportunistic invasions are often easiest. As the game unfolds, they may even prove essential in order to avert a more difficult invasion later in the game.
P.S. Don't forget to isolated (pillage/destroy) all roads into your opponents capital. This is devastates your opponents capability to reinforce themselves and counterattack.
It's especially important to take advantags of these situations on higher levels. If you let a civ get too strong, and for instance, they pull ahead in the tech/space race, then YOU (not the other AI) will have to act. And a mass invasion of a very strong empire (in the post-industrial age - railways and instant movement) is very difficult. And of course, while you're invading in the hope of saving the game, this allows the other AI civs can to take the opportunity to make headway. They (AI) don't "really" care about preventing the Romans from winning ... so you have to take action or lose. Of course this is all just speculative. What I'm saying is that opportunistic invasions are often easiest. As the game unfolds, they may even prove essential in order to avert a more difficult invasion later in the game.
P.S. Don't forget to isolated (pillage/destroy) all roads into your opponents capital. This is devastates your opponents capability to reinforce themselves and counterattack.
EnduringFreedom
Chieftain
To do an effective island invasion (American style), prepare the following unit combinations:
1.carrier with 2 F-15's and 2 stealth fighters
2.transport with 4 marines and an army with 4 modern armors
3.battleships to support the amphibious assault
This is useful in conquering a city situated in a 1x1 island square. I used this tactic in finishing off the last remaining city of a rival civ. Be sure to pound the city real hard with your air units followed by battleships, position the transport adjacent to the island city, then activate the marines. Have fun.
1.carrier with 2 F-15's and 2 stealth fighters
2.transport with 4 marines and an army with 4 modern armors
3.battleships to support the amphibious assault
This is useful in conquering a city situated in a 1x1 island square. I used this tactic in finishing off the last remaining city of a rival civ. Be sure to pound the city real hard with your air units followed by battleships, position the transport adjacent to the island city, then activate the marines. Have fun.
loki
Warlord
Nobody seems to use the marines, yet they are the most interesting units you can use for an island assault in modern times.
Here's the trick: have transports loaded with modern armors, marines and mech inf (or infantry). Get a battleship to escort the pack (though, if you are not at war yet, it's not that important), and bring a carrier with bombers.
The typical layout would be 3 transports with modern armor, and one with marines + mech inf, depending on the enemy current defensive force (bring more marines if he's got infantry or better to defend). Bring more modern armors too, if the continent is big, bring more mech inf if you plan on keeping the cities ...etc
turn 1 : declare war, bombard the target coastal city to soften defense.
Launch the marines against the city, (hopefully capture it). Bring all the transports in, and unload all the MA. Now, you can activate all the MA on the same turn
Raze all the immediately surrounding cities to prevent culture flip.
turn 2 : go for the kill ...
Of course, chosing the best coastal city to capture is mandatory, you will try to aim for a small one, possibly surrounded by hills or mountains to prevent fast counter attack. And, if possible, you should try to attack two or more spots at the same time to prevent massive counter offense.
As for the early eras, well, just a bunch of troops in galleons... Not much else you can do really.
I am a big fan of beach assault, since I am usually alone early on my continent
loki
Here's the trick: have transports loaded with modern armors, marines and mech inf (or infantry). Get a battleship to escort the pack (though, if you are not at war yet, it's not that important), and bring a carrier with bombers.
The typical layout would be 3 transports with modern armor, and one with marines + mech inf, depending on the enemy current defensive force (bring more marines if he's got infantry or better to defend). Bring more modern armors too, if the continent is big, bring more mech inf if you plan on keeping the cities ...etc
turn 1 : declare war, bombard the target coastal city to soften defense.
Launch the marines against the city, (hopefully capture it). Bring all the transports in, and unload all the MA. Now, you can activate all the MA on the same turn
Raze all the immediately surrounding cities to prevent culture flip.
turn 2 : go for the kill ...
Of course, chosing the best coastal city to capture is mandatory, you will try to aim for a small one, possibly surrounded by hills or mountains to prevent fast counter attack. And, if possible, you should try to attack two or more spots at the same time to prevent massive counter offense.
As for the early eras, well, just a bunch of troops in galleons... Not much else you can do really.
I am a big fan of beach assault, since I am usually alone early on my continent
loki
