No Oil, Again?

[Redcoat1]

Have one Vassal, am in second place and then get Scientific Method. Yep thats right no “$+%#€£ oil. Vassal has none. None close and in realistic acquisition range. no one with two yet and the ones that do have it are bastards. I mean sworn enemies.
sigh.

Moderator Action: Edited your thread title to help others understand the content. Please use appropriate language in future. leif

 

[krikav]

Have one Vassal, am in second place and then get Scientific Method. Yep thats right no “$+%#€£ oil. Vassal has none. None close and in realistic acquisition range. no one with two yet and the ones that do have it are bastards. I mean sworn enemies.
sigh.

Infantry/Artillery doesn't requires oil.
If you need to transport them by boat, then it works nicely with sails too!

 

[6K Man]

Wells ARE crap. Terrible improvement.

Unless you're on a water-heavy map, you can do without Oil for a long time. AIs take forever to get around to Tanks and planes.

 

[dankok8]

You could start Standard Ethanol if you really need Oil that badly. Uranium is good enough for Nukes so those plus Infantry + Arty should usually be enough though. Uranium also lets you build ships.

 

[lymond]

Wells ARE crap. Terrible improvement.
.

green oil makes a nice workshop

platforms are pretty sweet though, especially if sea oil ends up in your Maoi city

 

[6K Man]

Yeah, my one Oil source is invariably under a Town. Or part of a chain of irrigation.

Platforms come really, really late.

 

[konata_LS]

It depends on the map type you are playing.

In maps like Pangaea, Lakes or Inland Sea, the game can be won without Oil. Inf. + Arty are strong enough.

But in some water-heavy maps like Continents or Archipelago, lacking oil may become a little annoying if you aim for a Conquest/Dom victory. To transport your units, destroyers and transports can be built with Uranium, though in this case you'll need Physics and Fission. As dankok suggested in #4, Standard Ethanol is also a solution.

 

[krikav]

I think I'm more annoyed with lacking coal than I am with lacking oil really. Not being able to build railroads and not being able to get coal power.
You see the shortness in oil way prior to being able to utilize it, and can plan accordingly.

Galleons isn't that much worse than transports, and on watery maps you likely have a stockpile of galleons already.

The opposite can be really nice though, If you catch AIs without oil you can really wreck havoc on them by blockading all coastal cities, really slowing them down.

 

[civac]

@Redcoat1: You can build oil-based ships with uranium too.

The opposite can be really nice though, If you catch AIs without oil you can really wreck havoc on them by blockading all coastal cities, really slowing them down.

This is the issue with oil. If you don't have it but a competent opponent does you are just dead. Destroyers are near enough unbeatable by earlier ships and coastal blockades wreck human players worse than deity ais. (Coastal blockades as implemented are a terrible mechanic.)

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

I will keep repeating my unpopular opinions.

The coastal blockade mechanic is well designed and not overpowered. Every ship you build to blockade my city is one less unit defending your city against my stack. If it is crippling, as it should, build a navy.

Oil is a critical strategic resource and not man places have it. Armies with oil completely destroy those without. Japan was forced to attack the US and Germany was forced to attack USSR eventually if they hoped to win because they do not produce oil in their native lands and do not have the navy to ensure their supply of oil.

 

[Redcoat1]

Thanks for the comments. I know one can win without oil given good circumstances. I have done it several times. And if oil can be grabbed in the short term no worries. But if nation strength is somewhat equal, infantry vs tanks/mechs/aircraft is a losing gambit.

 

[MaxNacemit]

I thought about it just today. Use marines, uranium-powered ships and cruise missiles. Lots of cruise missiles. Bring ATs and MGs with your marines for garrison duties.

 

[ArchGhost]

I think I'm more annoyed with lacking coal than I am with lacking oil really. Not being able to build railroads and not being able to get coal power.
You see the shortness in oil way prior to being able to utilize it, and can plan accordingly.

I constantly get annoyed by lacking Copper in a feasible location (so like, nearby...at all) when the resource for Axes is still in the relevant window for like 90% of games...especially because the AIs on the continent will push IW fast enough that the Barb spears/axes will come soon to make Chariots inadequate. Axes or even just Spears make much better barb protection or choke units than being forced into Archery or using Chariots only. AGG trait is so good to me these days with bad Copper spawns...

Even though I mostly shoot for Cuir attacks in land heavy games, it's much easier to secure horse later or even trade it, and iron is more plentiful than either copper/horse so it's really difficult to miss at least one of it somewhere if you are able to expand without being squeezed. But not having Copper early, the only time it is really useful, is just a gutpunch.

Galleons isn't that much worse than transports, and on watery maps you likely have a stockpile of galleons already.

The opposite can be really nice though, If you catch AIs without oil you can really wreck havoc on them by blockading all coastal cities, really slowing them down.

If you have a clear chain of ports to the target you can even (and I have before) just stay on galleys. The enemy can't hit your transport vessels inside your cities. If all you need to do is get enough units to the target to take it it's doable.

Haven't played enough water heavy maps to be lucky enough to use oil navy against one who doesn't have it, sounds like it would pretty awesome though.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

It depends on the map type you are playing.

In maps like Pangaea, Lakes or Inland Sea, the game can be won without Oil. Inf. + Arty are strong enough.

But in some water-heavy maps like Continents or Archipelago, lacking oil may become a little annoying if you aim for a Conquest/Dom victory. To transport your units, destroyers and transports can be built with Uranium, though in this case you'll need Physics and Fission. As dankok suggested in #4, Standard Ethanol is also a solution.

Depends on map layout, there are often some tricks you can do:

• Get circumnavigation if possible, +1 move on galleons really helps with below tactics
• Unit shuttling between cities, such that you can load/unload units without ever putting sail ships on a tile the AI can attack. This is possible on a surprising number of maps, even with continents. It is almost always possible on archipelago, and reliably annoying as well. But you signed up for that by picking archipelago or big/medium & small.
• Even on maps where it is not possible, you can sometimes just use open borders with neutral AIs to shuttle all of your stuff away from where the AI will put ships when fighting you. It'll go blockade you and pillage your fishing boats, but it only cheats to see naval units within movement range...if it has no cause to put ships over near the neutral AIs,
• Unless AI is alone on a continent, you can also simply pre-move entire army over in advance before declaring, using access with someone else.
  • You can also suicide your fleet to land your army as a last resort, don't recommend this usually.

In practice you will almost always be able to just waypoint units somewhere they can be shuttled between continents w/o being killed at sea. Takes a relatively unusual map where no oil makes intercontinental warfare impractical.

Similarly, if the AI can't nuke you yet, it has a really hard time dealing with massed infantry/arty with some AA tossed in. It will clump up in cities and just die to the arty.