My Sipahi Army lost to a Spearman...

[Elponitnatsnoc]

Twas a very sad day in the history of the Ottoman empire today. My newly founded Sipahi army , ready for its first battle, attacked the last defender in the Celtic city of Lugdunum- a regular spearman. The army redlined the spearman, then lost 12hp in a row... What is this? Am i cursed or something because on a few attacks later a Celtic attacking Musket killed a Sipahi without losing a hp.

 

[vmxa]

Man and people cry about a tank losing to a spear. Now if you had only built the Military Acad, that army would have been stronger. Yeah I am only teasing, you need an victorious army first.

 

[garyg]

Sometimes I too feel your pain. It seems to me that when a unit turns elite it is it's death sentence. The next unit it faces no matter how lowly will bring it down. It's frustrating to check and make sure the unit your attacking has no defense bonus, (across river, on hill, ect...) is way lower on the tech scale and just plain weak only to have it humilate your unit. I think, "Man I wish my spearman could fight like that". In the old days I'd reload it pissed me off so. Now I just shake my head.

 

[Beorn-eL-Feared]

Yeah I am only teasing, you need an victorious army first.

Man I wish my spearman could fight like that".

 

[Own]

im guessing it happened from a combonation of attacking from across a river into a city on hill, and horrific luck.

 

[Elponitnatsnoc]

just a river, i woud have moved if i thought it mattered. The city was on flood plain i think.

 

[Ivan the Kulak]

I think there is secret code in civ3 to make elite units have a much better chance of losing their first few hit points to the defending unit, even if it is much weaker.

Don't feel bad, designer who came up with the combat system for civ3 is a secret sadist who enjoys reading threads like this one and chortling over the idea of you staring in disbelief at your monitor and kicking you PC in a tearful rage. Deny him his fix, don't post stuff like this here .

 

[Own]

I think there is secret code in civ3 to make elite units have a much better chance of losing their first few hit points to the defending unit, even if it is much weaker.

Don't feel bad, designer who came up with the combat system for civ3 is a secret sadist who enjoys reading threads like this one and chortling over the idea of you staring in disbelief at your monitor and kicking you PC in a tearful rage. Deny him his fix, don't post stuff like this here .

that's the conspiracy theory of the year!

 

[Chieftess]

Sometimes I too feel your pain. It seems to me that when a unit turns elite it is it's death sentence. The next unit it faces no matter how lowly will bring it down. It's frustrating to check and make sure the unit your attacking has no defense bonus, (across river, on hill, ect...) is way lower on the tech scale and just plain weak only to have it humilate your unit. I think, "Man I wish my spearman could fight like that". In the old days I'd reload it pissed me off so. Now I just shake my head.

That's why I always attack healthy units first with vets, then my elites on units with 1-3 hp left. (even 3hp is stretching it). I also bombard conscripts, as they seem to have a 90% success rate against elites.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Apparently Civ4 promises to fix the 'Invincible Spearman' problem... let us pray it is so!!!

 

[777]

Wow, I thought I was unlucky sometimes but that was quite radical! I've seen phalanx taking 5-7 points from my Rider army but dealing whole thing

 

[Rambuchan]

We never here it like this when it happens:

"I was defending my last iron providing city against a cavalry army. I had only one spearman left and he took the full, last 8hp of the army, killing it stone dead. God this RNG is so dum!"

It's amazing how well our mind smooths over all the incidents when our own spearman did the dirty on some tanks or cavalry.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Perhaps that's because it never seems to happen to the human player!!! (Well, I'm sure it actually DOES happen, but the AI seems to get the luck MUCH more often... )

Wow, I thought I was unlucky sometimes but that was quite radical! I've seen phalanx taking 5-7 points from my Rider army but dealing whole thing

Er... Phalanx? Are you playing on a mod of some sort? (There's no such unit in normal civ3/PTW/Conquests.)

 

[777]

Er... Phalanx? Are you playing on a mod of some sort? (There's no such unit in normal civ3/PTW/Conquests.)

Heh sorry, I ment spearman. I played Civ2 last night so it was top of my mind.

 

[Bagatur]

I had similar odd few days ago. Spearman on grassland made 11 Keshiks to retreat. Fortunatelly no loses. Chances for this both thingsto happen are about equal.

 

[kkev]

in the game I was playing last night (empreror), korea sneakattacked me. a medieval infantry attacked one of my towns (over size 12) & defeated an infantry! and razed the city. Then a cavalry attacked and defeated one mf my mech.infantries which was fortified on a mountain?!? AI attack units seem to consistently perform better than their stats,

 

[Halcyon]

It's amazing how well our mind smooths over all the incidents when our own spearman did the dirty on some tanks or cavalry.

To be fair, how often does anyone actually depend upon a spearman to resist oncoming tanks or cavalry? It's only ever the tiny, backwards AIs who get into this sort of situation, and it's most often the human player who decides to steamroller them. Also, most players are on the attack much more often than they are on the defence. All in all, it doesn't have to be a case of selective memory. Just saying, you know.

While we're at it, though, I did almost lose a Conquistador army to a plains-dwelling Celtic longbowman the other day. Went from full health to two before remembering how to fight. At least I got to keep it, though - those things are nifty, what with the pillaging and all.

 

[jb1964]

I also bombard conscripts, as they seem to have a 90% success rate against elites.

This! is the definition of paranoia. j/k

 

[Tomoyo]

This! is the definition of paranoia. j/k

Not really - I've bombarded barb warriors with artillery in the Industrial Age before attacking them before.

 

[Bluemofia]

I use veterns most often. The elites, are sort of a last resort. (I once lost a MA vs a spearman that was redlined)