tactical nukes and ICBMs

[Longbowman]

Here are my questions concerning tactical nukes and ICBMs:

1. Can I nuke my own units? Units of a civilization I am not at war with?
2. Can I nuke my own territory? Territory of a civilization I am not at war with?
3. What is the difference between t.n. and ICMB (other than itshammer cost and its reach)?
4. Does the project which defends against ICBM also defend against t.n.?
5. What kind of ships can carry nukes?
6. What units can intercept a t.n. or ICBM?

 

[Lennier]

Here are my questions concerning tactical nukes and ICBMs:

1. Can I nuke my own units? Units of a civilization I am not at war with?

Yes to yours, no to neutrals.

2. Can I nuke my own territory? Territory of a civilization I am not at war with?

Yes to yours, no to neutrals.

3. What is the difference between t.n. and ICMB (other than itshammer cost and its reach)?

You've got the difference down--ICBMs cost more but can reach any point on the map. Tac nukes cost less but have a 5-tile range. Except for

4. Does the project which defends against ICBM also defend against t.n.?

Yes, but tac nukes are intercepted less efficiently--i.e., ICBMs have a 75% chance of being intercepted by SDI but tac nukes have a 37.5% chance.

5. What kind of ships can carry nukes?

According to the Civilopedia, submarines and missile cruisers. But I could have sworn aircraft carriers could.

6. What units can intercept a t.n. or ICBM?

None.

 

[Ghpstage]

You can nuke your own units, even your own cities provided there are no neutrals present. The only exception is that a nuke cannot nuke the tile it is in, nor the adjacent one.
Only subs and missile cruisers can carry nukes.

Lennier covered the diferences between them, but they can be summed up simply as, tactical nukes are far, far, far, far better. ICBMs are only really useful as a contingency, to strike a culture run city without a serious military effort or when you feel lazy.

 

[TheSunIsDark]

You can't even nuke neutral spies/GSpies/Privateers! ICBMs are best against faraway civs, TNs for neighbours.

 

[Ghpstage]

You can't even nuke neutral spies/GSpies/Privateers! ICBMs are best against faraway civs, TNs for neighbours.

Its still vastly more cost efficient to use tactical nukes against far away opponents, especially if you intend to wipe them out.

 

[TheSunIsDark]

Its still vastly more cost efficient to use tactical nukes against far away opponents, especially if you intend to wipe them out.

If you can even REACH them. TNs have 5 range. And if the city you want is too far from either the shore or your cities, you can't reach them with TNs.

 

[Quintillus]

You can definitely nuke yourself. I've done so before, on purpose. I was playing as England, and the Vikings invaded Scotland with a megastack of death. There was no way I could defeat them, so I nuked Scotland. I took some losses myself, but they took a lot more, and after that my reinforcement from England were able to defeat them.

One additional question from me, though - if the nuke ban has already passed, and if comes up for voting again, can it be defeated? Would voting "Never!" if it comes up again work to re-allow nukes? They got banned quite early on in my current game, before anyone had built them, but now there's a runaway AI pursuing cultural victory, and it'd be nice to be able to build them.

 

[Ghpstage]

If you can even REACH them. TNs have 5 range. And if the city you want is too far from either the shore or your cities, you can't reach them with TNs.

You can also launch them from cities that belong to civs you have OB with, and from subs moving into, or through, cities you captured on a given turn, extending their range inland.
On a standard sized continents, or even pangea map, there usually won't be many cities you can't hit on turn 1 of a war if you planned it well enough.

You may want a couple of ICBMs for hitting important, unreachable, cities, or unplanned targets of opportunity (A SOD), but your not likely to benefit from more than a handful.

 

[enKage]

One additional question from me, though - if the nuke ban has already passed, and if comes up for voting again, can it be defeated? Would voting "Never!" if it comes up again work to re-allow nukes? They got banned quite early on in my current game, before anyone had built them, but now there's a runaway AI pursuing cultural victory, and it'd be nice to be able to build them.

There is no "defy" option if a resolution is active. You can choose only Yes/No. The only way to bring nukes again to play is to propose it again and pray there would be more votes for "No"

//edited

 

[Longbowman]

You can definitely nuke yourself. I've done so before, on purpose. I was playing as England, and the Vikings invaded Scotland with a megastack of death. There was no way I could defeat them, so I nuked Scotland. I took some losses myself, but they took a lot more, and after that my reinforcement from England were able to defeat them.

Scotland was your vassal state? So you can nuke not only yourself but also your vassal? But not a neutral civilization?

One more question: When nukes are banned, can you launch nukes which were already built?

 

[enKage]

One more question: When nukes are banned, can you launch nukes which were already built?

Yes.
Resolution is "cannot build" not "cannot use"


Resolution also blocks building Manhattan Project (though I am not 100 percent sure here)

 

[FlyingSwan]

Don't forget attack submarines carrying your nukes can hide under ice sheets letting you launch a nuclear strike and get your sub back into safety from destroyers,especially if you give them the navigation bonus.This bit of pre planning costs less than ICBM,s.