Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[a4phantom]

Can aircraft be intercepted more than once per attack? If you attack a city with three SAMs in there, is there ever a chance that all three SAMs will intercept.

No

Can units intercept aircraft more than once? If I attack a city with a single SAM, can it intercept five aircraft attacks in a single turn?

If you attack with 6 planes at once, it can only try to intercept one. If you attack one at a time, I think it gets a shot at each.

Does having more SAMs in a city increase the overall interception chance?

I don't think so, but I can't swear. I never see the AI put more than one SAM in a city.

 

[OscarWildebeest]

Map type does not count into the score calculation.

Scoring explained

Thanks for the link. So the only advantage of playing a more challenging Map Type like Archipelago is the pleasure of the extra challenge?

 

[a4phantom]

Thanks for the link. So the only advantage of playing a more challenging Map Type like Archipelago is the pleasure of the extra challenge?

Variety. cvkcjvzkjvhxk

 

[eldar]

If you have No State Religion and revolt to Theocracy (=No Non-State Religion spreads), does that mean that no religions can ever spread to your cities?

 

[cabert]

If you have No State Religion and revolt to Theocracy (=No Non-State Religion spreads), does that mean that no religions can ever spread to your cities?

yep
What I don't know is if you get +2xp in cities without religion, then.

 

[eldar]

Thanks I must remember to never try it out, being a fairly strict Org Rel/Free Rel type! I was just musing on how to run a very strict No-Religion game, it's difficult working out how to prevent religions spreading to any of your cities before learning Theology (which you obviously can't learn first yourself as you'd found Christianity).

 

[ori]

yep
What I don't know is if you get +2xp in cities without religion, then.

you don't get XPs without state religion in Theocracy...

 

[_alphaBeta_]

I don't think so, but I can't swear. I never see the AI put more than one SAM in a city.

Thanks for your responses. I guess the question here is, if a plane attacks, and there are multiple units that have the ability to intercept, do they each get a chance to intercept it? I'm just curious if having tons of interception units around (each with a percentage chance to intercept) pretty much guarantees an interception.

To answer one of my own questions: It looks like from more experimenting that only one unit will intercept. I've been attacking an AI city with three SAMs, and haven't seen multiple interceptions yet, so I don't think they exist.

 

[cabert]

Thanks for your responses. I guess the question here is, if a plane attacks, and there are multiple units that have the ability to intercept, do they each get a chance to intercept it? I'm just curious if having tons of interception units around (each with a percentage chance to intercept) pretty much guarantees an interception.

To answer one of my own questions: It looks like from more experimenting that only one unit will intercept. I've been attacking an AI city with three SAMs, and haven't seen multiple interceptions yet, so I don't think they exist.

there are 2 distinct parts to this question
1) - is every unit TRYING to intercept?
2) - can more than 1 unit intercept the same plane?

For 1, I don't know.
For 2, the answer is no.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

there are 2 distinct parts to this question
1) - is every unit TRYING to intercept?
2) - can more than 1 unit intercept the same plane?

For 1, I don't know.
For 2, the answer is no.

Thanks for the clarification on 2. As for 1, it's very hard to tell, so I'm trying to get a clear answer from someone who has looked through the SDK.

Let's take SAMs who have a 40% chance to intercept. As an example - if I have three SAMs, and an enemy fighter comes into range, what exactly happens? I'm guessing SAM #1 will get a 40% chance to intercept it. If it fails, SAM #2 will get a 40% chance to intercept. If that fails, finally SAM #3 will get a 40% chance to intercept. If that fails, the attack is successful. This would apply to all interception units like other planes, destroyers etc. If this is true, then having a boat load of interception units would be extremely effective. However, if the first eligible intercepter fails, and no other units get a try, that changes things quite drastically.

 

[ori]

1) - is every unit TRYING to intercept?

The game looks for the best interceptor on the plot and only this one gets a shot at the attacking plane...

 

[_alphaBeta_]

The game looks for the best interceptor on the plot and only this one gets a shot at the attacking plane...

Wow, well that does change things drastically from what I thought. So having more units doesn't accomplish anything. I guess airpower is a little overpowered since someone with a couple planes can make quick work out of someone's land.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[a4phantom]

Wow, well that does change things drastically from what I thought. So having more units doesn't accomplish anything.

Not exactly, because having multiple SAMs means that if 5 bombers attack at once, each SAM gets a shot at one. I've never fought an AI with better than fighter planes, so I don't know how they do it, but I always bomb a city or stack with as many bombers as possible all at once. If I did this to a city with only one SAM, only one of my bombers could be intercepted, but if I did it to a city with four SAMs, up to four of my bombers could be intercepted. If I were to send my bombers one at a time, one SAM would probably do just as well against them, until it got damaged anyway (I think damaged SAMs do less damage on a successful interception).

 

[Roland Johansen]

Not exactly, because having multiple SAMs means that if 5 bombers attack at once, each SAM gets a shot at one. I've never fought an AI with better than fighter planes, so I don't know how they do it, but I always bomb a city or stack with as many bombers as possible all at once. If I did this to a city with only one SAM, only one of my bombers could be intercepted, but if I did it to a city with four SAMs, up to four of my bombers could be intercepted. If I were to send my bombers one at a time, one SAM would probably do just as well against them, until it got damaged anyway (I think damaged SAMs do less damage on a successful interception).

The answer to the original interception question given by VoiceOfUnreason in the Combat Explained thread is quite precise:

On an Air Bomb/Strike, the intercept test first checks to see if the plane evaded interception. If not, the game figures out which is the bestInterceptor, and that unit gets a chance to damage the plane.

Avallable interceptors are the units defending that tile which have not previously intercepted an aircraft. bestInterceptor is the available interceptor with the highest intercept probability.

A unit can still intercept if it hasn't succesfully intercepted that turn. But if it has, then it can't intercept anymore till the next turn. It has nothing to do with attacking in stacks or not.

But of course, you do want to attack in numbers and not one plane per turn.

 

[a4phantom]

A unit can still intercept if it hasn't succesfully intercepted that turn. But if it has, then it can't intercept anymore till the next turn. It has nothing to do with attacking in stacks or not.

Does that mean that if I attack with a stack of bombers, each interceptor will have a crack at each bomber until it intercepts one?

But of course, you do want to attack in numbers and not one plane per turn.

Why's that?

 

[_alphaBeta_]

Does that mean that if I attack with a stack of bombers, each interceptor will have a crack at each bomber until it intercepts one?

No, I don't think so. What they're saying is that essentially when a plane attacks AND if there are eligible interceptors within range, a decision is made whether it is intercepted or not. If it is, you use up one eligible interceptor for that turn. The process repeats for each plane attack that turn. The behavior is the same if you attack with all planes at once (stack attack), but it's harder to see what's happening since it's all seemingly instantaneous in front of you.

Once all eligible interceptors have intercepted (that sounded intelligent) the rest of the planes can attack without fear of interception for that turn. Therefore, it is beneficial to have lots of interceptors around, but having more doesn't increase the chance of interception. It simply means you can intercept more planes if needed. I originally thought that each interceptor gets a crack at it, but that's not what I'm hearing. I guess that way one could make it quite impossible to get a plane through.

My final questions on this topic:
1. Do the rest of the interception units function the same (1 interception per turn)? If you have a naval stack under air attack with one destroyer, once the first plane is intercepted - you're a sitting duck for the rest?

2. If you have multiple eligible interceptors with difference interception probabilities, which takes precedence? Does it start with the highest and work down?

 

[Roland Johansen]

Does that mean that if I attack with a stack of bombers, each interceptor will have a crack at each bomber until it intercepts one?

See answer below from alphabeta.

No, I don't think so. What they're saying is that essentially when a plane attacks AND if there are eligible interceptors within range, a decision is made whether it is intercepted or not. If it is, you use up one eligible interceptor for that turn. The process repeats for each plane attack that turn. The behavior is the same if you attack with all planes at once (stack attack), but it's harder to see what's happening since it's all seemingly instantaneous in front of you.

Once all eligible interceptors have intercepted (that sounded intelligent) the rest of the planes can attack without fear of interception for that turn. Therefore, it is beneficial to have lots of interceptors around, but having more doesn't increase the chance of interception. It simply means you can intercept more planes if needed. I originally thought that each interceptor gets a crack at it, but that's not what I'm hearing. I guess that way one could make it quite impossible to get a plane through.

Completely correct. And yes, it makes airpower very strong. Especially is you can see the air defences with a few spies.

Why's that?

First exhaust all the defenders until no interception attempts can be made anymore. Then bomb at will.

My final questions on this topic:
1. Do the rest of the interception units function the same (1 interception per turn)? If you have a naval stack under air attack with one destroyer, once the first plane is intercepted - you're a sitting duck for the rest?

2. If you have multiple eligible interceptors with difference interception probabilities, which takes precedence? Does it start with the highest and work down?

1. Yes. Carriers with fighters on intercept are better at this job,

2. The one with the highest interception probability takes precedence. See the answer from VoiceOfUnreason.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Wow, I never realised air power was quite that powerful. I guess I should build more bombers in my games.

A question, what sort of ratio of bombers to fighters would you build against a human player who was fairly equally matched to you? Would it be better to just build mostly bombers and not worry about fighters? Or the reverse? Or a balance?

 

[a4phantom]

A question, what sort of ratio of bombers to fighters would you build against a human player who was fairly equally matched to you? Would it be better to just build mostly bombers and not worry about fighters? Or the reverse? Or a balance?

I don't play against humans, but since fighters aren't nearly as strong on the offense (except against ships) and interceptions are rarely fatal, I'd go mostly with bombers.

 

[Rancid Sushi]

Does anyone have a link to a guide on running a specialist economy? I want to play my next domination game with Alexander and was thinking I should try my first speciliast economy because he's philosophical. Thanks.