making a leader (need help)

[ntehawk]

Help me please. Hi, i am new to this forum, and new to Civ. 3. I have learned a lot from playing the game, but i cant seem to make a leader. i have a lot of units that are elite's, but never seem to become leaders. Can someone please help me, and i hope this place is better than other forums i have tried......anyone have yahoo messenger or ICQ to help people?

 

[gfunk6266]

Militaristic civs are more likely to get Great Leaders when Elite units win a battle. So, I suggest you try one of them to maximize your chances.

 

[ntehawk]

thank you very much for your quick and corteous reply. now i will have to start dominating a new world with a militerastic start. have a great day, and thanks again

 

[Henrikrd]

Militaristic Civs is one way. My experience is that with early elite units it is less likely that Great leaders appear, than with later units, but I'm not sure..

 

[Arrian]

Actually, the militaristic trait only helps in normal unit promotion (conscript -> regular -> veteran -> elite) and doesn't help directly with leaders. What militaristic civs are great at, though, is racking up a ton of elite units fast. You have so many that getting a leader is almost guaranteed. Thus, militaristic helps indirectly.

Use your elite units in battles you're pretty certain they will win. Be careful with them - protect them... DO NOT leave them out in the open, vulnerable to counterattack, since the AI will target them. Since there is a 1/16 chance of spawning a GL from an elite unit victory (1/12 with the Heroic Epic), it's all about fighting a lot of battles with elite units.

I have discovered that the militaristic trait, if used properly, is extremely valueable. I used to play as a "builder" and therefore ranked militaristic near the bottom. Now I absolutely love playing as Japan. Combine aggressive, early warmongering with militarism and ooh-la-la, GL's aplenty.

It is true that the units with blitz capability are the best leader generators (tanks, mech inf, modern armor). They can fight more battles, get promoted to elite faster because of it, and you often have TONS of them. Once you have tanks, you've got factories, which means you can pump them out in 2-3 turns in good cities.

-Arrian

 

[BCLG100]

I have noticed that most units on horseback don't seem to progress to leaders as much as other units so try using units like tanks longbowemen etc. also try to let elite units finish off the job that way they gain the bonus.

elite units are meant to have a 1 in 16th chance of becoming leaders.

hope this helps.

 

[Tassadar]

i just got a leader from an elite warrior in the very beginning, i think its my first warrior that my capital has produce, this regular warrior got attack by barbarian and became elite( german), then after recovery i send him exploring and find iroquoi capital, i decide to attack. First attack i kill a regular spearman, then went back to recover, then attack again, i got the city and a great leader, pyramid was done right away. Its the first time i got a leader so quick, but usually an elite unit capturing a city has better chance to become leader from my experience.

 

[sealman]

I have not noticed any special treatment between a regular victory and winning a city. In fact, most of my leaders have come from "open field" fights.

 

[BCLG100]

i have also not got many elite units from capturing a city most of my elite units hae turned into leaders while fighting units in my territory.

 

[Lostman]

Someone remind me, what's a leader good for? What do you do with him?

 

[Bamspeedy]

When you send a leader back to a city, he can either build an army (which you load units into, like a ship), or he can be used to rush build wonders. Instead of taking 200 turns to build a Forbidden Palace where you really want it, it will only take 1 turn.

 

[Lostman]

That's cool!!

Thanks. I wish the manual was a little more to the point.

 

[Chrono285]

Also, leaders can't be made from fighting barbarians,
but you can park a defensive unit outside a barbarian camp and level it up to elite :soldier:

 

[Tweedledum]

Originally posted by gfunk6266
Militaristic civs are more likely to get Great Leaders when Elite units win a battle. So, I suggest you try one of them to maximize your chances.

But what does "maximise" mean!?
I was playing the Aztecs (militaristic, I believe)
At one point I had a (walled) city defended by three Elite Riflemen kill off about 25-30 Zulu units. Without going back to the manual, I seem to recall that my chances of getting a Leader from an Elite unit victory are 1 in 12 as a militaristic civ, so I should have got 2 leaders from this exercise (at best, but at least one). Any guesses as to how many I got?
(Who said none? You sir, you win a goldfish)

In fact in about 4-5 months of playing the game I've only ever seen 1 Leader appear (and even then in a position where he got killed by the AI almost immediately)

Leaders? There's more chance of Elle MacPherson knocking on my door and offering to sit on my face (mind you, I know which I'd prefer )