The most nukes you've ever built/AI builds

[frunobulax]

Just wondering what the highest number of nukes (strategic and ICBM) folks have ever built in a game, and also what's the highest number you've seen an AI build?

I'm playing as Egypt (in a Regent level game with accelerated startup, Diplomacy and Domination victories only) and it's now about 1615. Everyone has all the Techs (Persia, Greece, Iroquois and Germany - all Communists by the way, except for Persia who are a Monarchy - I'm a democracy). (Babylon, Rome and the Aztecs are no more...)

I have 31 cities and most have all the improvements, especially Manufacturing Plants and Nuclear Power stations, so I can build an ICBM in 3 turns, Stealth Bombers in 1 etc

I currently have 30 ICBMs and 12 Strategic Nukes, the most I've ever built, plus about 16 Stealths for Precision Bombing.

I've been in a nuclear arms race with Persia - they have 18 ICBMS and 13 Strategic nukes. Iroquois have a measly 1 ICBM, Germany has about 8 Strategic Nukes and 2-3 ICBMS, and Greece has about 11 ICBMs.

I was wondering if the AI has some coded 'strategy' as to how many nukes it builds. Is it related to number of cities or government type?

thanks

Fruno

P.S. The tension in this game is unbearable, as I'm sure someone is going to loose-off a nuke pretty soon and then all hell will break loose - even though I have SDI. My 'strategy' is having as many ICBMS as the number of cities of the next 2 largest countries combined...

 

[frunobulax]

 

[dojoboy]

OMG Frun, have you lost your mind? Think of all the children! Well, if we ever had a mac demo game, we all know who isn't qining the presidency.

I' rarely build over ten nukes (tactical or ICBM), usually enough for each rival capital city plus 2 - 3 more for my biggest rival.

My strategy is to, if amphibious, drop nukes in a direct path to the enemies capital, starting at the coast line and ending on the capital city. The allows me to land forces unencumbered by a conventional counter-attack for at least one turn. Allowing the enemy to have the first attack can be devastating to my invading force, particularly if they have modern armor. Once all is landed and I get the green light (my next turn), I roll to the capital city and raze it. I do make sure I figure out which enemy city will then becoe the capital and, nuke it possibly, to cut off the enemy's economic capabilities.

I rarely ever use nukes, unless the space race is extremely close, and I need to destroy the rival's capital city (space ship).

 

[hawai_74]

Between 20 and 30, when i had already won a game to destroy completely the nasty egyptians. It was totally awesome, urgh!

 

[Ladis McDadis]

Between 10 and 20. I never have been an agressor of a nuclear attack, though I have started them.

My most enjoyable move is to steal world map and ICBM naval forces pre invasion.

Most AI civs will let you fire 2 or 3 before they declare war on you. Maybe it is coded as less extreme then nuking land... but I'm not sure...

 

[frunobulax]

Originally posted by dojoboy
OMG Frun, have you lost your mind? Think of all the children! Well, if we ever had a mac demo game, we all know who isn't qining the presidency.

Interesting tactic you have there dojoboy -' ploughing the road' to the capital with nukes!

As regards my large stockpile of - this is actually the first time I've ever built more than 12-15 in total... I had an eye on the Persians (via my spy network) and saw they were getting ahead early on, so I started pumping them out every 3-4 turns, till I hit 30 total, and kept on building anyway ... I did notice that they stopped buzzing my coastline with their Battleships once I hit 20 ICBMs... but that must've been coincidental!

In the end there was no Nuclear Nightmare - so all those kids were safe & sound in the end dojoboy!

I achieved a Diplomatic victory, after buying off the Germans UN vote with a Saltpeter/Dye trade and making a 3-way alliance with them and the Greeks... so they both voted for me and I got the majority, after countless inconclusive UN votes (sounds familiar!)

However - I DID (after finishing) do a sneaky 'time-shift' back to the saved game just before I won and launched an immediate First Strike on Persia. They had SDI but about 40% of my ICBMs got through. I took out all their big cities. I targeted aluminium & rubber resources directly with the strategic missiles- which seemed to get past the SDI a lot more often than my ICBMs (anyone else noticed this? or was I just lucky?) - plus took-out their navy as best I could with a few ICBMs - they had 8 Battleships stacked together at one location I hit

Of course, after just firing off one of my ICBMs, my so-called Greek and German 'allies' both turned on me (despite having had their butts kicked by Persia in previous wars!) and I had to nuke them as well...

When it came to the (AI) Persian's turn they went for the 3 cities of mine that had some nukes left in them - I'd moved all other units out of these cities back to a safe distance as a precaution against a strike - plus they also went for my aluminium resources... so I had about 35 workers standing-by to clean-up and rebuild the roads... Still, my SDI took out 15 of their 18 ICBMs

I'll try and find a screenshot or two if I can...

 

[Alpha9]

That is one hell of a war! So far I never advanced enough to modern times

 

[Ladis McDadis]

Now I am curious... Has anyone ever been in a protracted war and it escalated to a nuclear conflicted or hit with a first strike either started by the AI?

A prerequisite would be, it was the first time a nuclear weapon was fired? It seems once nukes are let loose, any AI nation has is more "comfortable" to use them.

This might have to become another poll...

 

[Hellfire]

Ladis, it depends on how you look at it.

I've been at war where the AI was losing fast but I ran out of troops to continue the assault in the same year. They were in such dire straights that their only choice was to launch their nukes and I never fired a one at them.

Note that the war wasn't protracted, the AI was just scared s***less.

I've also been in wars where I one civ was at war with the same civ as myself, either via alliance or not, and they would just absolutely be relentless with nukes.

 

[Ladis McDadis]

Wow... schored earth tatic by the AI... that's pretty interesting.

I have seen (trading world maps for pollution) the AI nuke each other, but I have never been an agressor of nukes.

But unlike your example, I never become a superpower in a game. I end up more like a modern middle European power. Have the tech, not the land.

 

[AlanH]

I built one of each once, just to see what they looked like, but I've never fired one, and my recent games have never reached that stage.

 

[Emp.Napoleon]

I only make 5 per game since I don't like the rest of the world trying to kill me.

 

[RABicle]

I've ususally finished or lost patience witha game before ICBMs or Tactical nukes become availible. The closest i came was when i was something of a superpower as the japanese, and I was warring the Russians it wasn't really getting anywhere so as soon as I had the tech I began building an ICBM for Moscow.
However, before I could finish building it I finihsed building the UN which I was building previously. And we held an election which I held by an overwhelming majority (Everyone voed me except the Russians and Persians, who abstained.) And i just couldn't be arsed playing on.

Tactical nukes are more likely to get through Intergrated defence because... integrated defence has no effect on Tactical nukes. Makes them more tactical or something. nah but it says that in the description for the intregrated defence small wonder or whatever it is.

 

[Pigumon]

None.
We do not need such things.

In reality, I usually focus on the fastest victory condition such as Diplomatic, Domination, or Space Race. I do not have enough time to build nukes, or AIs science advances are too late to fear.
I have never finished up all technologic advances.

OT: What is the point of Enora Gay display?

 

[Narnia]

In the second game of civ that I had ever played I built well over 70 ICBMs! I waited until the last turn and fired them all at every enemy. Their scores dropped from within a 100 points of mine to less than 40% To make matters worse, they hadn't researched SDI yet! The fallout didn't matter because it was the last turn!
PS After the game, I pressed "just one more turn" and you wouldn't believe the amount of fallout! The fallout completely destroyed my economy! (I'ld hate to see what it did to my targets'!!!)


This was on civ4 complete (all official patches) and was on easiest difficulty.

 

[timerover51]

Son, a couple of things. You bumped up a 7 year old thread, and that is apt to get a few people upset with you. Sometimes bumping is justified, and sometimes it is not. Not sure if this one is justified, although you did avoid starting a new thread.

Second, you mention Civ4 Complete. My guess is you mean Civ3 Complete, but you might want to clear that up. People here tend to be a bit touchy about Civ4 posts on the Civ3 site.

 

[AlanH]

I think this may be Civ4. Score in Civ3 is averaged over the game, so doesn't drop fast as a result of such actions.

Moderator Action: But moving this to a new Civ4 thread seems a bit unnecessary. I'll just close this thread.