When is a good time to really use nuke?

[Veteranewbie]

Considering that fission and SDI is in the same age, and that modern era technology only requires short time to research (infra strcture/ faster building, more developed cities, richer). Nuclear weapon is only useful for a short period till the SDI kick in and it generally become useless/ also nuclear weapons takes long time to build. Is there any good way/chance to make the nuclear weapons useful?

 

[Plexus]

IMO, never. Nukes are baaad for nearly any game.

 

[MTheil3508]

Use them before the opponent builds the SDI Defense.

Or, build massive stock piles, accepting loses of 3 in 4. This can be expensive, but may be the only effective way I can think of.

And, use a spy to sabotage the opponents production of the SDI Defense. *Warning: This can be very expensive and risky*

 

[MTheil3508]

They are bad for reputation and often cause wars just for launching nukes. Your allies will declare war on you if you launch too many them. The AI, generally, will not use nukes until you do... so you could start a massive chain reaction that will leave your civ in ruins (if your not careful), and enact global warming- which cannot be stopped.

 

[poprawkz]

The model is realistic. Its an arms race. Your goal is to have enough nuclear weapons to insure mutual ahnialation.

The answer is to build tons of nuclear subs. Equip them with warheads, escort them with battleships and Aegis cruisers, and surround your enemies shipping lanes.

Guaranteed they wont have enough warheads to take out your cities and your subs. It makes the AI awfully nervous though.

 

[thedirk]

I think that the game is realistic in that just as in real life, there never is a "good" time to use nukes. The speed at which nuclear defense is available (SDI) is somewhat unrealistic as is its effectiveness as even today missle defense systems etc. are not capable of stopping 75% of warheads in a full-scale nuclear war situation.

In my limited experience of playing CIVIII I believe nukes are best used as a deterent/big stick and should not be used except as a last resort.

 

[kb2tvl]

One good time to use taticals is when the enemy enters your land with ships or tanks. A good tatical dropped on your land can really obliterate them.

Another time is when you have a sufficient tech lead where you have space flight and they dont have flight/radio yet. A web of MPP's can get all the civs fighting and once fighting, you can launch your first strike.

And the last time period is when you have icbms and sdi. get all the civs fighting against one civ(persia is always a good option) and launch your first strike.

 

[MTheil3508]

If you are the first one to have SDI Defense and an arsenal of nukes, you can start a nuclear war without having the mass killing of your troops and the destruction of your cities.

And, nukes can be used to destroy enemy battle fleets. One nuke can wipe out numerous battleships, transports, carriers, subs, etc. The good part--No Pollution!

 

[looper]

Just though you would like to know:

Nukes, ICBMs can never destroy nukes and ICBMs in enemy cities, so the nuclear retaliation is expected.
Even you nuke their cities to population size 1, FirAxis will still keep all their Nukes and ICBMs untouched in their cities for the underattacked to have an opportunity to retaliate next turn.

 

[MTheil3508]

Note: You can change that if yo go into the editor. Give nukes one hit point and they will die. This also works for settlers and workers. They also don't have hit points so they can't be destroyed, only captured.

 

[RX2000]

I only use nukes for their deterrent value as well. I cant really think of a game where I've launched a massive first strike, but i always build tons of ICBMs near the end of the game, to assure that if a comp launches on me, it'll be his last mistake.

 

[Knightblade pDM]

Never is really a good time to use a Nuke. Some if not most of the time, I stockpile them just to scare off AI attacks and make them nervous. I will only use one in the most dire of circumstances, like a World War. Because once you launch one, the AI goes Nuke Crazy all the time and launches one even in what could be the smallest of wars and turns it into a global thermonuclear world war..the deadliest type of war in the game.

 

[Turner]

One of the things I like to do is offset nuking, where I hit the tile next to the unit/city, in order to maximize damage. Since I've never played long enough for the AI to get SDI, I've never had a problem with it. But my question is this: Can I offset a city and have the SDI still take out my nuke, or do they protect the city square only? I also like to take out there resources, it's a good way to stall them from getting newer/better/more units. I mean, they are called tactical nukes, right?

 

[looper]

I never used editor, considering it kinda cheating/non-original.

 

[MTheil3508]

Originally posted by Turner_727
One of the things I like to do is offset nuking, where I hit the tile next to the unit/city, in order to maximize damage.

2 for 1: When two cities are one space apart, nuke the spce in between. Twice the damage, less pollution, more value per nuke.

Looper: Using the editor can make the game more realistic (TETurkhan's mod pack is a good example) or add a new dimention. It all depends on what you do.

Making riflemen available to only your tribe in the anceint era could be a cheat , but making a cruise missle's range longer is more like reality.

It's all up to you. I like to perserve the game's originaly, but also like to expand my options too. Try it, but make a copy of the orignial rules first.

 

[Turner]

Originally posted by looper
I never used editor, considering it kinda cheating/non-original.

You could look at it that way. One game I was playing, I lost coal my second turn I had it. I was sooooo pissed. I've made sure that the resources don't move. I mean, look at the middle eastern oil fields. They ain't going no where. Of course, I realize why Firaxis did this. Distribute the wealth. That's the wonder of the editor. Got something you don't like, you can probably fix it.

It's not like Diablo II, where you're stuck with what they give you. The editor can make the game more interesting, if used properly. Or, like MTheil3508 said, it can be used to cheat.

Now, I mod things like corruption, (it's currently at 66% normal), optimal city number, number of civs, lethal bombardment, and change some units around, like making the workers/settler able to airlift. I don't try to do anything outragously in my favor, except for the resources not disappearing. Hey, if the AI wants my rubber, it can come and try and get 'em. In my current game, I've gone after the Iroqouis (one day I'm gonna learn to spell that. Why couldn't have been easy, like Tlingit? (My tribe)) for their aluminium and Oil, and Rome for their Gems and Wine. Poor Korea doesn't have Rubber, and is willing to give me almost 200 gpt for it. . .not enough for me! Considering I'm about to nuke the crap out of them. . . they got nukes, but their uranium source is going to be the first thing that goes. After I solidify my presence in Rome, of course! But I digress (again). . . I've been doing that a lot lately. Sorry, all, for that.

I kinda don't like the way nukes are handled now, with the first one being thrown and every AI declaring war on me. OKay, that may be a real world model (not really. . . more in a sec) so I can see that being in the game, but when the US nuked Japan that ended the war. . . Well, I guess better a conventional war then a massive nuclear one.

 

[cromagnon]

Best time is when you see 4 battleships, 3 carriers, and who knows how many transports in a stack coming for you, and you have no navy to deal with them.

Does anyone know if nuking in international waters causes others to launch against you?

 

[Karl_t_great]

Whenevar You feel like it. I've felt like it when:
1. AI is about to get his SS ready
2. I wan't to deny AI a key resource before I send in the troops.
3. I am a dosen of turns away of domination, and I want to make it in fever turns (and particulary fever mouseclics).

I haven't felt like it:
1. when AI has 5 times more nukes than I
2. I were trying for diplo (never tried)
3. I was trying to milk the max score (did once)

Taking a few nukes does not ruin Your empire if You have prepared for it.

I've never seen AI build SDI, do You have to disable SS to make this happen ??

 

[Babbler]

Originally posted by Karl_t_great
Whenevar You feel like it. I've felt like it when:
1. AI is about to get his SS ready
2. I wan't to deny AI a key resource before I send in the troops.
3. I am a dosen of turns away of domination, and I want to make it in fever turns (and particulary fever mouseclics).

I haven't felt like it:
1. when AI has 5 times more nukes than I
2. I were trying for diplo (never tried)
3. I was trying to milk the max score (did once)

Taking a few nukes does not ruin Your empire if You have prepared for it.

I've never seen AI build SDI, do You have to disable SS to make this happen ??

Or you do like my brother and continue playing after SS victory (abeit on Cheiftan).
Oh, by the way, he nuked China to the stone age.

 

[amh]

cromagnon, just tried it. Went back to a saved game and fired one of my 3 ICBMs into a remote ocean square, no-one noticed.