This post is to start discussion on modern naval warfare in Civ 3. I
don't usually talk about earlier era naval warfare mainly because
talking about trireme to trireme warfare is none too interesting.
Battleship
I have seen comments about the vulnerability of battleships to
inferior units. For one thing, it takes about 2 - 3 nuclear subs to
get rid of a battleship. On the other hand, a weakened battleship down
to its last hit point can be taken out by even an ironclad. Battleship
to battleship combat seems fairly iffy to me. I've seen the defending
battleship win too often to risk it. Best-bet strategy for defending
your coasts from battleship/transport landings would be a mixed screen
of ironclads (or destroyers) and nuclear subs spaced fairly close (2
squares) for multiple engagement of battleships.
The AI will move battleships in escort with transports so you must
take out the battleship escort first before engaging the transport. I
would recommend using jet fighters in recon mode to see the
battleships, then bombing the ships with bombers. You must not use the
bombers immediately lest you cause the battleship to steam off out of
range of your ships. A weakened battleship is no match for a
destroyer/nuclear sub combo.
AEGIS cruiser
AEGIS cruisers come too late in the game for any practical use -- if
you had the time to build one then you're either way too powerful
(building AEGIS crusier for specific mission) or way too weak (AEGIS
cruiser as battleship-lite). The added bonus of defending against
submarines is of little use since the AI doesn't normally use subs.
Like humans, it tends to pick a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio of surface ships to
subs.
Carrier
Carriers -- they've been somewhat weakened in the game unfortunately.
No longer can you stack 7 units on a carrier like you could in Civ2.
You can only put four air units on a carrier
The lower load capacity of a carrier, the chance of interception by a
fighter, the vastly weaker effect of air bombardment against opposing
military units plus the instant rebase mission of a bomber make it
harder to rationalize making more than one carrier in a game.
Destroyer/Ironclad
Nice units for finishing off battleships - limited bombardment range
make it less useful for attacking cities.
Suggested naval strategy for amphibious landings
1. Clear out area with lightweight screen of
ironclads/destroyers/submarines. I believe computer AI will quite
frequently attack this screen. This may take longer than you think.
2. Have at least one or two jet fighters on carrier to do recon
missions to keep the enemy honest.
3. Once perimeter is secure, bring up battleships and eliminate all
roads leading to city.
4. Bombard city to eliminate all roads to it as deep as your
battleship's range will go. This will slow down a counterattack from reaching your target city before your reinforcements arrive.
5. Set up a chain of transports to ferry units over as they are
created or alternatively, have them preloaded onto transports. I don't
like to do that as much because of the risk involved in ferrying units
through unsecured areas.
6. Proceed to make your landings and take city.
7. Rebase your air units to the new city but do this gingerly. Enemy
AI will strike as hard as possible at the new city.
That's an ideal strategy of course -- steps may need to be taken on
depending on your desperation level and resources
Wishes for Civ 4
My wish is that you could do naval interdiction of trade routes in the
game. However, you can do something similar by bombarding all the
cities in an island and getting rid of all their harbors. I'm not sure
though if you can see the harbor symbol on opposition cities.
don't usually talk about earlier era naval warfare mainly because
talking about trireme to trireme warfare is none too interesting.
Battleship
I have seen comments about the vulnerability of battleships to
inferior units. For one thing, it takes about 2 - 3 nuclear subs to
get rid of a battleship. On the other hand, a weakened battleship down
to its last hit point can be taken out by even an ironclad. Battleship
to battleship combat seems fairly iffy to me. I've seen the defending
battleship win too often to risk it. Best-bet strategy for defending
your coasts from battleship/transport landings would be a mixed screen
of ironclads (or destroyers) and nuclear subs spaced fairly close (2
squares) for multiple engagement of battleships.
The AI will move battleships in escort with transports so you must
take out the battleship escort first before engaging the transport. I
would recommend using jet fighters in recon mode to see the
battleships, then bombing the ships with bombers. You must not use the
bombers immediately lest you cause the battleship to steam off out of
range of your ships. A weakened battleship is no match for a
destroyer/nuclear sub combo.
AEGIS cruiser
AEGIS cruisers come too late in the game for any practical use -- if
you had the time to build one then you're either way too powerful
(building AEGIS crusier for specific mission) or way too weak (AEGIS
cruiser as battleship-lite). The added bonus of defending against
submarines is of little use since the AI doesn't normally use subs.
Like humans, it tends to pick a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio of surface ships to
subs.
Carrier
Carriers -- they've been somewhat weakened in the game unfortunately.
No longer can you stack 7 units on a carrier like you could in Civ2.
You can only put four air units on a carrier
The lower load capacity of a carrier, the chance of interception by a
fighter, the vastly weaker effect of air bombardment against opposing
military units plus the instant rebase mission of a bomber make it
harder to rationalize making more than one carrier in a game.
Destroyer/Ironclad
Nice units for finishing off battleships - limited bombardment range
make it less useful for attacking cities.
Suggested naval strategy for amphibious landings
1. Clear out area with lightweight screen of
ironclads/destroyers/submarines. I believe computer AI will quite
frequently attack this screen. This may take longer than you think.
2. Have at least one or two jet fighters on carrier to do recon
missions to keep the enemy honest.
3. Once perimeter is secure, bring up battleships and eliminate all
roads leading to city.
4. Bombard city to eliminate all roads to it as deep as your
battleship's range will go. This will slow down a counterattack from reaching your target city before your reinforcements arrive.
5. Set up a chain of transports to ferry units over as they are
created or alternatively, have them preloaded onto transports. I don't
like to do that as much because of the risk involved in ferrying units
through unsecured areas.
6. Proceed to make your landings and take city.
7. Rebase your air units to the new city but do this gingerly. Enemy
AI will strike as hard as possible at the new city.
That's an ideal strategy of course -- steps may need to be taken on
depending on your desperation level and resources
Wishes for Civ 4
My wish is that you could do naval interdiction of trade routes in the
game. However, you can do something similar by bombarding all the
cities in an island and getting rid of all their harbors. I'm not sure
though if you can see the harbor symbol on opposition cities.
