No Great Leaders

[thedirk]

I switched from Civ II to Civ III a few months ago and have played about a dozen games now. I just finished a game which, for the very first time I never generated a single great leader. I have always had at least two or three, I once had about six. And not for a lack of combat as I conquered all AI civs but one. With all that combat I was surprized I never got a leader. Anyone else out there had a game with significant combat that never generated a GL?

Just curious.

 

[Ville]

Yes, I have quite many games like that.

 

[cromagnon]

As the Mongols, I didn't get a GL until 900AD. And that was with me getting dogpiled by 7 civs. It was really annoying.

 

[JonathanValjean]

You are not alone. It took quite a while for me to receive a great leader from my elites' victories in combat. I didn't receive one for about a spell of 10 games, and then, whoa, I got 10 from a game with non-militaristic Egypt. BTW, the odds of receiving a GL from an elite victory is 1/16, and if you build the Heroic Epic, the odds are improved somewhat to 1/12.

 

[billindenver]

Originally posted by thedirk
I switched from Civ II to Civ III a few months ago and have played about a dozen games now. I just finished a game which, for the very first time I never generated a single great leader. I have always had at least two or three, I once had about six. And not for a lack of combat as I conquered all AI civs but one. With all that combat I was surprized I never got a leader. Anyone else out there had a game with significant combat that never generated a GL?

Just curious.

Lots of games like that. Then again, I've had games where my very first elite victory got me a leader. My current game as France, I got my first leader in 1770AD.

My promotion rate in this game was terrible. I got 3-4 promotions out of my first 30-40 victories (regular-veteran, veteran-elite). My only elite unit was killed the turn he was created.

 

[wilbill]

Plenty. In fact I'm on my 3rd in a row right now, although one wasn't actually very bloody. It's starting to get old. But I'll go on a streak where it seems that every other combat with an Elite generates a leader.

 

[Eclectic99]

What I have tried is when I'm attacking an enemy city to be sure to have at least one elite unit in the attacking force and save that unit to attack and kill the last defender and capture the city...I son't really know that capturing a city gives the elite unit a better chance to become a great leader but it seems logical and I have gotten great leaders that way. . Maybe Chieftess or Killer or Bamspeedy or one of our other experts can tell us whether that is a worthwhile strategy.

 

[billindenver]

Originally posted by Eclectic99
What I have tried is when I'm attacking an enemy city to be sure to have at least one elite unit in the attacking force and save that unit to attack and kill the last defender and capture the city...I son't really know that capturing a city gives the elite unit a better chance to become a great leader but it seems logical and I have gotten great leaders that way. . Maybe Chieftess or Killer or Bamspeedy or one of our other experts can tell us whether that is a worthwhile strategy.

I don't rank with those guys, but I can tell you that the odds of a GL don't depend on who they beat, how they beat them, or anything else. You are wise though to save you elite for the easiest possible target. An elite modern armor defeating a 1 hp warrior on grassland has the same chance of getting a GL as an elite archer defeating an elite, mech infantry fortified in a hilltop metropolis. Don't waste elites attacking near even strength.

 

[Siegmund]

I see great leaders very, very, very rarely ... I am constantly amazed at how people on this board talk about what their plans are for their second, third, etc leaders per game!

It's true I am not especially warlike -- I mostly play for other types of victories and rarely obliterate more than 2 large AI civilizations per game. I suppose my first one or two wars merely create the elite units, and if I fought more I might see some leaders. But I certainly don't count on getting even one leader per game - which is very annoying!!

 

[Lord Vetinari]

I got a elite knight attacked by 50 some barbs(this was on an island one but me had reach and that had had several barb ups) AND HE DIDNT PRODUCE A GREAT LEADER!!!!!! :rant:

 

[DiamondzAndGunz]

Uhm, sorry to burst your bubble, but, uhm, units cannot produce a great leader from fighting barbs.

 

[GR8Madmax]

Originally posted by DiamondzAndGunz
Uhm, sorry to burst your bubble, but, uhm, units cannot produce a great leader from fighting barbs.

Ahhh...you learn something new every day.

 

[Shillen]

Worst I've had is about 50 elite victories without a a great leader. If I remember right the odds are 1 in 16. But then other times I've gotten a great leader, used him, then gotten another great leader in the next battle.

 

[sabo]

I once went all the way into the modern era with no great leaders, and I was german!

 

[Zachriel]

In I, Hammurabi there was not a single Great Leader.


http://www.zachriel.com/gotm14/

In my experience, certain types of battles are more likely to produce Great Leaders. In I, Hammurabi, the fighting was bloody and dangerous. Any Elites were quickly destroyed by large numbers of counterattacking enemy forces. This dramatically reduced the chances for a Great Leader.

(This does not mean that the game-rules for Great Leader creation are different for Infantry v. Infantry when compared to Tank v. Infantry -- merely that there are fewer opportunities for promotion. The lifespan of the typical combat unit was rather short in I, Hammurabi.)

 

[Henry_X]

What really sucks is that sometimes get a GL and he gets killed immidiatly. A unit gets attacked , generates a leader but is damaged and in that same AI-turn, he send another unit to attack yours. Your unit dies , you GL with it. You didn't have the change to use it a single turn...

 

[Chieftess]

What's worse is 2 GLs being turned into knight armies, then being defeated by a pike. Then a lone knight comes along and defeats that same pike! I think those were my last GLs in that game.

 

[billindenver]

Originally posted by Henry_X
What really sucks is that sometimes get a GL and he gets killed immidiatly. A unit gets attacked , generates a leader but is damaged and in that same AI-turn, he send another unit to attack yours. Your unit dies , you GL with it. You didn't have the change to use it a single turn...

That sucks bigtime, I know, I've had it happen a couple times. I've done it to the AI too though, and there's nothing better than watching a GL keel over. You should be able to capture them and hold them for ransom.

 

[Shillen]

Worst is when your GL gets sunk on it's way to the target city. Only happened once and I even had a battleship escorting the transport. Ran right into an enemy battleship and he managed to kill both my ships.

 

[WillJ]

I completed a game in which I won by domination, but did not get any great leaders. I also had another game without GL's (although I won by diplomacy), and I haven't gotten any in my current game yet, although I'm staying away from war anyway (although I've been forced into war, and got out of it after losing a few cities) and going for a cultural victory.