Marines

[The Art of War]

These are the WORST units I've ever seen. Man, in Civ2 they were awsome, but here, they lose every time I invaded a country! Why is that?

 

[DrJambo]

i agree, so just make them tougher yourself

i made my infantry 7/14/1
marines 14/7/1
paratroopers 12/10/2

the AI has a particular fancy for making paratroopers when they are available, at the expense of tanks, so i had to beef them up for the sake of the AI.

also i increased the cost of modern armour, mech infantry and tanks by 2-3 points to balance their cost to their much greater power. Made marines and paratroopers cost the same as infantry.

 

[Jason Fox]

I hardly make marines, or paratroopers for that matter. I think they should combine them, offering airdrop and amphibious attack in one unit. Then allow us to make airfields outside of cities for invasions far from home and we'd have a lot more use for that unit. Give them stealth (first turn in enemy territory there's a 50% chance they won't be detected unless stumbled upon) and they'd be very popular even at 8/6/1 (though 9/8/2 would be better.)

I know you can probably edit the game to do this but I haven't edited anything yet. I'm waiting 'til I win on diety (most recently I've lost miserably in my first two attempts on monarch, so I'm a ways away.)

 

[Combat Ingrid]

As you already know, marines are good for taking cities on islands.
However, I have also found that they are very useful together with bombers if you want to take out coastal cities quickly.

Keep a couple of carriers with bombers (protected by battleships) and transports (with marines and a bunch of infantry) outside the civ's border. When you want to take the cities, just move in to the coast, bomb the defenders to 1 HP, and then bring in the marines followed by the infantry.

This strategy is useful for getting a base citiy on a new continent. When you have got your city, just disband a marine to rush an airport to get your tanks there quickly :tank:

 

[Fanny Brice]

Good point by Ingrid. You have to soften the ground first.

The AI does seem to favor them when it can't make tanks. The AI seems not to attack with it's Infantry but will go after you with Marines to some good effect.

I use Marines to kidnap workers on coastal squares. I'll bombard the square to wreak improvements and the AI will send in a worker or two to fix it. I land, grab the workers and immediately move them to my transport. Good for a goof on the AI.

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

I know this topic has been discussed a month or so ago.

I'll just add to this thread that marines and paratroopers have their uses.

Marines ignore city walls and attack at 8 versus an infantry/cavalry 6 so there is one advantage. Marines can assault straight out of transports which is necessary sometimes.

Paratroopers while weak can cause havoc behind enemy lines. They can tear up improvements and generally cause the AI to divert troops that are heading to the front to take care of the paratroopers. This allows your own frontline units an easier time.

A few posters including myself have mentioned these advantages/strategies but no one seems to acknowledge them. Oh well......lack of imagination I suppose...........

 

[Carbon_Copy]

There have been one or two occasions where a transport of marines have taken cities in one turn that would have taken tanks or modern armor two or more turns, but the opportunity is rare (and more often it's "Damn, I wish I had some marines there," than "good thing I went and got Amphibious Warfare instead of Fission/Motorized Transport/etc."). If you are trying to take a coastal city and you have another coastal city that's 4 tiles away or so, or across a bay or narrow strait, you can soften up the city with bombers or battleships (this is key, marines kinda suck against full-force foes), load up the marines and hit the beach on that turn, rather than spend one turn with your tanks on their doorstep before attacking.

Though as I said, it's pretty rare, and you'll never EVER say to yourself "If only I had built more marines instead of tanks...".

 

[eyrei]

Sometimes, in the late industrial and modern ages, if you try to land troops on the territory of a very large civ, no matter how many units you landed, the AI can attack them with every tank they have. Chances are, you will not get to attack with your units because they will be no more. In this situation, I damage the AI by using bombardment coupled with a large number (usually 3 transports full) of marines. I take heavy losses, but eventually the city will fall, at which point I raize it. It will take a while for the AI to build the city up to its former glory, culturally and economically. The loss of five or six marines is definately worth it.

 

[MonkeyBallz]

I don't have many problems with them. once I found out what they were fore, I load a transport with 4 marines, and I can usually take a city. of course, I'm only at warlord.... if I have bombers, I always soften up the enemy, I bomb the cities, the roads, the resources, everytihnng I can hit, I hit over and over again. I'm not a big fan that you can't actually kill anyone with just repeated bombing, or artillery.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by Moff Jerjerrod
I know this topic has been discussed a month or so ago.

You're so right. Here's the thread if people are looking for more insight. It also discusses paratroopers.

Old Marines Thread

 

[Ram Michaeli]

Originally posted by The Art of War
These are the WORST units I've ever seen. Man, in Civ2 they were awsome, but here, they lose every time I invaded a country! Why is that?

They were'nt so good at Civ II...
Hey, another Israeli! Isn't the Civ III tank looks just like the Merkava?

 

[Park Ranger]

Just a note about marines, paratroopers, and armies (which many of you may already know, but I see no reference in this thread or the old one):

I loaded a paratrooper into an army, thinking wouldn't they be so much better if they just paradropped en masse. Well, after loading the first one in, I noticed the paradrop option was gone from the orders buttons on the map screen. I have to assume that an army of all marines will similarly not be able to make amphibious assaults.

Anyone else try this?

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by Park Ranger
Just a note about marines, paratroopers, and armies (which many of you may already know, but I see no reference in this thread or the old one):

I loaded a paratrooper into an army, thinking wouldn't they be so much better if they just paradropped en masse. Well, after loading the first one in, I noticed the paradrop option was gone from the orders buttons on the map screen. I have to assume that an army of all marines will similarly not be able to make amphibious assaults.

Anyone else try this?

Yes, I have complained about this before, but apparently this is the way it's supposed to be. I can see why it wouldn't be possible for an army of 2 tanks and 1 paratrooper to paradrop, but and army of 100% paratroopers should be able to. Similarly for marines. Ah well.

 

[The Art of War]

They were'nt so good at Civ II...
Hey, another Israeli! Isn't the Civ III tank looks just like the Merkava

The Marines were awsome in CIV 2!!!!

Also, I'm not Israeli, I just have read alot about the Six Day war, and find it interesting. That was very brave of the IDF.

I thought that the tanks look like M1-A1s or M1-A2s, which is what they are modeled after. . .i think.