what's with this "leaders & armies" concept?

[Corvenus]

First off, this post is partially a rant.

I can't quite grasp why they implemented this system of leaders & armies as it is now. To have an army (basically, units stacked together), you need to have fought many battles before to get a unit to the leader status. You need to have gone to war before you can even build an army. What the hell is up with that?

The combat system in CTP seemed to work pretty well, even if it was pretty simple. You stack units together, you have an army. Et voilà. Enemy attacks, the whole stack defends as one army, with defenders on the frontline. How hard can it be to implement such a concept? They even have this in Axis & Allies which can be considered among the ancestors of Civ games, and which is basically an extremely simplified version of Civilization. I'm guessing it must be that Civ3 couldn't afford to borrow too much from CTP, but still, this is basic stuff. If you have a few units on 1 square and an enemy attacks, there shouldn't be 1 unit defending while the rest just enjoys the show.

At least i'm glad that you don't lose ALL your units as you did in civ2. Now that was ridiculous beyond words.

-corv-

 

[BillChin]

A couple of points:
I found that Call to Power's combat system made it very easy to win by early conquest, making the entire game too easy and providing little replay value. In Civ III, a single defending warrior has a small chance of holding off three superior attackers, making the game less predictable. For some less predictable is a good thing, for some a bad thing, but it eliminates the sure early conquest of CTP.

As for Armies in Civ III, they are limited in usefulness and are primarily defensive units. (There are plenty of threads on how to use Armies and if they are worth the trouble.) When you get a great leader, a player has to choose whether to use or save the leader for a wonder or Forbidden Palace or pursue the military path. This can be a critical choice in the game because a player may not get another great leader for a thousand game years.

 

[Craterus22]

Leader - Army concept could have been cool, but it is too dependant on war to produce the leaders.

It would be cool if each civ could start out with one army.

The civs could use it right away or save it for later.

 

[WinVictory]

Now just a quick personal word before I get to my question: sometimes the simplest things can make you feel like an IDIOT!!! Now the idiot revealing question: How do I use my Leader to make an Army? Napolean is just standing there (obviously I'm playing France) with 3 units that I want to make into an army...and I cannot figure out what key commands to give the order.

The manual simply says "load" them into the other units. I tried loading like you do with transport units; I tried [L] and every things else ad infinitum. I STILL CANNOT GET IT TO BECOME AN ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could you please help out an idiot. Lots of thanks in advance.
P.S. Do You want to know the irony of my idiocy?????? Yes???
I'm a university professor. Man!!! Have I ever been Humbled!!! I bet my 8 year old nephew knows how to do this!! I should probably ask him, but then he'd know just how stupid his uncle really is

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by WinVictory
I STILL CANNOT GET IT TO BECOME AN ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the same trouble. Move Napoleon to a city with barracks. Look for the control button at the bottom to either make him an army or to rush an improvement. Make him an Army.

Now, you can load units normally. Move the unit in mind to the stack with the Army and on the military unit's turn press L, or look for the control button.

 

[BillChin]

I think you hit upon a great idea. For Expansionist civs, give them a free army at the end of each age. This gives them a major boost after their scouting bonus has long worn off. It fits in with the Expansionist personality and does not unbalance the game.

Originally posted by Craterus22
Leader - Army concept could have been cool, but it is too dependant on war to produce the leaders.

It would be cool if each civ could start out with one army.

The civs could use it right away or save it for later.