[UNIT+] Amphibious Assault Ship: Making Navies Matter

[Redox]

COMPATIBLE WITH G&K AND VANILLA

Overview:

As cool as navies are, it is often difficult to get much done without some boots on the ground. This mod gives a fast and reliable way of putting your troops on the enemy shore. And to give them a fighting chance it makes a range of tweaks to allow navy, carriers and aircraft support the ground troops as effectively as possible.

Spoiler :

Units:

- Amphibious Assault Ship can carry Special Forces (Paratroopers), Marines, Helicopter Gunships, Machine Guns, Generals and Settlers.

- Paratroopers are renamed into Special Forces. They are amphibious, can move after attacking and receive reduced damage from ranged attacks. They also gain experience 50% faster so you can promote or heal them more often. Basically, they have to be able to survive enemy bombardment, then fight, then survive more bombardment, holding their position while your bombers are doing their work.

- Helicopter Gunships have 75 (65 in vanilla version) strength, +2 visibility and are able to move after attacking. Their primary role in the landing is recon and hit-and-run attacks. Long vision range allows you to see enemy positions and attack them with bombers. As they have no defensive bonuses, even with increased strength they are flimsy and it might be a good idea to withdraw them back or hide inside AAS before ending turn.

- Marines (G&K only) have 55 strength (instead of 65), but get 50% attack bonus (so they have 82.5 strength when attacking). They are also slightly cheaper than Special Forces. This makes them a good unit to start a landing with, clearing a position for Special Forces and Machine Guns to take. They probably won't survive the enemy counter-attack.

- Machine Guns (G&K only) retain their stats. They can be used to weaken enemies before attack and to strengthen a defensive line. So far I feel kind of meh about them as their lack of range is a significant disadvantage. I am considering adding a new unit which would be more similar to a cannon.

- Great Generals boost the morale, and don't even necessarily need to disembark from Amphibious Assault Ship.

- Settlers are for convenience: if you want to colonize a far-off land, its faster and safer to carry them inside AAS.

- Carriers have much more strength, carry 5 aircraft and are correspondingly more expensive and require oil. Aircraft heal at the same rate on board the carrier as in the city - this is critical to sustaining fire support for ground troops.

- All Fighter Aircraft get a hefty bonus against Anti-Aircraft Guns and Mobile SAMs, and are reasonably effective in clearing a way for bombers to strike.

- Guided Missiles might be necessary to take out enemy anti-air and help soften fortified targets. Both their strength and cost were boosted by a third. Only modified in G&K version.

Spoiler :

These stats are for Gods & Kings version

Strategic purpose:

This mod turns a Navy into a Long-Range Expeditionary Force. Components of this force are:

- Amphibious Assault Ships which carry Landing Troops
- Landing Troops ready to land, pillage and capture cities anywhere where you choose
- Carriers providing air defense and bombardment support to Landing Troops
- Destroyers, Battleships, Missile Cruisers etc. secure the seas and defend your Carriers and Amphibious Assault Ships

How is this different from making a bunch of units embark and travel to the point which you want to attack:
- Most Landing Troops have amphibious promotions, can attack directly from AAS (Amphibious Assault Ship), landing costs 1 move so they can move and attack in the same turn.
- AAS has a move speed of 6 and strength of 100. Your units travel securely and don't get into each other's way when embarking/disembarking.
- Injured troops can retreat to AAS where they are safe and heal faster.
- Many places which were hard to reach suddenly become much more accessible.

Controls:

To put a unit on Amphibious Assault Ship, it needs to be in the neighboring hex and have some moves left. Right-click or Move-click the ship, the unit will pop inside, consuming all its moves.

To make a unit land: Select a unit from AAS pop-up, Right-click or Move-click on the neighboring hex, unit will move into that hex at a price of 1 move, or attack an enemy in that hex.

If the unit is out of moves and you tell it to land, it will do so next turn, but will be out of moves. Keep this in mind.

If you don't have Light Touch mod installed, and click unit on AAS to go somewhere, it will pop out as embarked unit and will go towards destination. This behavior is not intended and is blocked if you use Light Touch.

Compatibility:

- Gods & Kings version available
- Vanilla version available

Scenario map:
Mod comes with a short scenario map - look for Amphibious Assault Scenario in the maps list. The goal of scenario is to perform an amphibious landing and capture the enemy Capital. If you can do it by the end of 5th turn - you're a master of amphibious attack! Make sure to use the new unit abilities to their fullest extent.

Where to Get:

- Attached below
- G&K on Steam Workshop http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=84234833
- Vanilla on Steam Workshop http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=84917968

 

[Jorlem]

May I suggest lowering the strength of the Carrier and AAS, or raising the strength of the other naval units to match? A real life aircraft carrier's battle power came from the airplanes it carried, and was not nearly as strong in ship to ship battles as ships intended for that, as far as I am aware. Also, I don't know if this is possible, but can the AASes be made so they cannot unload units onto difficult terrain, to reflect some of the difficulties in finding good amphibious landing spots in real life?

Anyway, thanks for making this. The last few games I've played, I barely had any use for a navy beyond bombarding coastal cities, and clearing out barbarian ships.I'm really looking forward to trying this out.

 

[Redox]

May I suggest lowering the strength of the Carrier and AAS, or raising the strength of the other naval units to match? A real life aircraft carrier's battle power came from the airplanes it carried, and was not nearly as strong in ship to ship battles as ships intended for that, as far as I am aware. Also, I don't know if this is possible, but can the AASes be made so they cannot unload units onto difficult terrain, to reflect some of the difficulties in finding good amphibious landing spots in real life?

Anyway, thanks for making this. The last few games I've played, I barely had any use for a navy beyond bombarding coastal cities, and clearing out barbarian ships.I'm really looking forward to trying this out.

Hi Jorlem. Thanks for your comments!

In my own version of the game I have modded all naval units, so they have higher strength. I will put those pieces of XML together and release as a small separate mod as soon as I have a little time.

In setting the properties for AAS and Carrier I tried to balance realism with gameplay. I gave them 100 strength so they can't go down "by accident". Personally if I lost my only Carrier with 5 aircraft on board, I would reload the game. Now even if they get under fire, you should have at least the next turn to get them to safety.

About landing spots: I would bet that US Navy has different units, some equipped with air-cushioned vehicles, so they can land in difficult terrain, some not, so they can only land on flat beaches. Also, choppers and subs can deploy smaller units in all kinds of terrain. So, I am sure it's more expensive to land in rough terrain, but not impossible. For gameplay, the problem is that long stretches of coast could all be covered in forests and hills, so you will have to land far away. Special Forces have a move speed of 2, and would have to walk for several turns, potentially under enemy fire. So by the time they reach the objective they would be useless. So, I wouldn't want to put restrictions on landing spots in the code.

Let me know what you think once you try this!

 

[Jorlem]

I will let you know once I give it a try, but be warned, it might not be for a week or two. I'm just about to start a new game to see how everything plays with the new patch, and get used to that before I try it out. Sorry. On that subject, this is compatible with the new patch, right?

On the subject of difficult terrain, is there some way to reflect the higher cost of landing there? If the special forces had three move, I would suggest having the landing take two move on difficult terrain instead of one, but I'm not sure how to do it with only two moves. I still think there should be something in place to encourage beach invasions, if possible. Thanks.

Edit:
Would it be feasible to allow the special forces to paradrop from the AAS while it is outside of enemy borders? That way, the AAS's ability to land on difficult terrain could be turned off, and the special forces would have to paradrop on to difficult terrain. Usually the borders extend far enough out to sea that the special forces would not be able to paradrop farther than they would usually be able to walk if they landed normally. I'm just speculating though, so I have no idea if this could actually be done.

 

[Redox]

Ok, back to civ5 after a busy week . I have updated the mod to Version 2.0. Main changes:

- Reduced costs of all modded units so they are in line with costs for the rest of the units (all unit costs were reduced with this patch)
- Carrier requires oil (patch removed this requirement). Oil is one of the most abundant strategic resources, and carriers requiring oil seem very natural.
- Paratrooper (Special Forces) is the same cost as Mechanized Infantry now.

I still need to see how the patch affects gameplay, but so far I have mixed feelings about it. That's not what this mod is trying to address though.

 

[Redox]

On that subject, this is compatible with the new patch, right?

It is, make sure to download a new version.

On the subject of difficult terrain, is there some way to reflect the higher cost of landing there? If the special forces had three move, I would suggest having the landing take two move on difficult terrain instead of one, but I'm not sure how to do it with only two moves. I still think there should be something in place to encourage beach invasions, if possible. Thanks.

I'll think about how to do it. I am sure that you won't be so concerned about it once you try the mod though

Would it be feasible to allow the special forces to paradrop from the AAS while it is outside of enemy borders? ...

This is a nice idea. I think it's a thing that's either easily done or is impossible to do. I have a feel that it's impossible (or at least not straightforward at all), but it would be nice if it actually worked. My initial plan with the mod was to allow helicopters carry Special Forces, so they could land from AAS riding the choppers , but due to engine limitations I couldn't do it. Paradropping would be a nice substitute.

 

[Mylon]

Naval combat is a joke in vanilla civ because the first person to shoot wins. Spot the enemy, pull up your navy, focus fire to down about a third of their fleet. Next turn: Sink the rest. For bonus points, train your navy by bombarding a city for 50 turns. I tried to fix that with my naval counterattack mod, but it seems quick combat nullifies the mod.

 

[Redox]

Naval combat is a joke in vanilla civ because the first person to shoot wins. Spot the enemy, pull up your navy, focus fire to down about a third of their fleet. Next turn: Sink the rest. For bonus points, train your navy by bombarding a city for 50 turns. I tried to fix that with my naval counterattack mod, but it seems quick combat nullifies the mod.

If you are talking about multiplayer, then that's how it works with land units too, isn't it? Also, why not send 1 destroyer ahead of a pack to do the spotting?

I agree that ships are a bit too flimsy in civ though. I personally buffed the strength of ships by 30-50% in my game, so they don't sink too soon. Also, there is a variable NAVAL_COMBAT_DEFENDER_STRENGTH_MULTIPLIER = 40 in XML Global defines, which makes navy strength 60% weaker in combat than on paper.

 

[PR0927]

This is one of the most-needed mods I have seen anyone make for this game. Is this compatible with the latest patch? Are you updating it any further?

- PR-0927

 

[eldarlmari]

your innovation for this unit idea is marvellous. just 1 thing though- any thought of implementing a separate unit graphic for it? cos i keep getting confusing them with my aircraft carriers

 

[PR0927]

So it works fine with the most recent patches?

- PR-0927

 

[makrisgialos]

I Agree with your ideas.

Navy indeed does not have the importance it should deserve.
However,my ideas were first to increase the value of assault on certain units,like the battleship.
Problem is i dont know if still the AI is convinced to build them.
One of the major problems in CIV V was that AI didnt build units such as carriers,battleships,and planes.After several patches seem to be improved,but i still see no battleships in game.I see however ironclads,but all ships i have noticed that are not used for offense;just sit back and wait,and they never attack,and rare exchange fire.

Therefore,can you please be kind enough and tell me what xml files have you edited in order to do navies stronger and to see them more often?

 

[Bergerperson]

Quick question, can this mod be used at the same time as a mod that changes the carrier a little bit while adding a super carrier? I don’t know if the mod I use will contradict with the modifications that your mod does and vice vera.

EDIT: This mod works with my current mod that alters the carrier.

 

[deathraider1]

Is there a way to make this mod save a game without crashing upon loading? I've disabled all other mods and cannot get it to load a saved game.

 

[Redox]

Updated to Version 3.0

Edit: Compatible with G&K and Vanilla - separate versions.

 

[nerull360]

Any chance you'd post the personal mod you said you use to beef up the strength of the rest of the navy?

If it could be added without a fresh start that would be even better.

 

[Redox]

Any chance you'd post the personal mod you said you use to beef up the strength of the rest of the navy?

If it could be added without a fresh start that would be even better.

Are you playing Vanilla or G&K? The one I had was for Vanilla, and it did many other things too. I'll need to look inside and extract the part which specifically dealt with navies. There is a simply fix though is you are interested:

open Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\sid meier's civilization v\assets\Gameplay\XML\GlobalDefines.xml

in about row 240:

		<Row Name="NAVAL_COMBAT_DEFENDER_STRENGTH_MULTIPLIER">
			<Value>40</Value>
		</Row>

Value here is a percentage multiplier. Make it closer to 100 to make navies take less damage from attacks.

 

[NyanApple]

Does this mod work with old saves?

 

[Redox]

Does this mod work with old saves?

Nope.

 

[brb2674]

I am using the G&K version and the units are not loading into the AAS. I move the AAS over the unit when it is in the water and they do not load.

Any thoughts?