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We have all read imaginative rationalizations explaining situations where units like spearmen defeat tanks.
The problem I have always had with these arguments is a matter of scale. I can accept that some ingenious aborigine outsmarted a tank crew of morons, but the scale of units in Civ is, I think, larger than one-to-one.
As a wargamer, the ambiguous scale of the units represented in Civ has always bugged me, but I now think I have it figured out.
I have based my logic on the aircraft carrier unit.
A modern naval battle group is usually centered around a single carrier (not always, but usually), therefore I feel confident in concluding that the carrier unit in the game equates to a single aircraft carrier. I would also think that battleships, being capital ships, would be scaled the same; on a one-to-one level.
Now in Civilization IV, each carrier can carry three fighter units.
In the real world, a carrier’s air wing consists of about 50 fighter and strike aircraft (we won’t count the two dozen other aircraft that do anti-sub, airborne warning/control, tanker, and other functions since these aren’t represented in the game). So if we divide those 50 aircraft into three units, we find that each fighter unit represents about 16 airplanes. I generally consider a fighter unit to represent a squadron (an Air Force fighter squadron is about 18 planes, the difference I think is negligible).
Now this gives us a basis on which to judge the scale of other military units in the game.
I would think it would be reasonable to say that a unit of modern armor in game terms would represent at least as much as an armored battalion (which consists of about 50 to 60 M1 Abrams tanks) and I would think no more than a brigade in the real world.
So I’m sorry, but I’ll never believe that spearmen, even if they are legion in number, are going to defeat a battalion of Abrams tanks.
BTW, if you’re interested, a modern armored division in game terms should consist of (at least) the following game units: 5 Modern Armor, 4 Mech. Infantry, 4 Artillery, 3 Gunship, and 1 SAM. Disclaimer: This of course doesn’t take into consideration units like engineers, signals, intelligence, etc. that are not represented in the game.
The problem I have always had with these arguments is a matter of scale. I can accept that some ingenious aborigine outsmarted a tank crew of morons, but the scale of units in Civ is, I think, larger than one-to-one.
As a wargamer, the ambiguous scale of the units represented in Civ has always bugged me, but I now think I have it figured out.
I have based my logic on the aircraft carrier unit.
A modern naval battle group is usually centered around a single carrier (not always, but usually), therefore I feel confident in concluding that the carrier unit in the game equates to a single aircraft carrier. I would also think that battleships, being capital ships, would be scaled the same; on a one-to-one level.
Now in Civilization IV, each carrier can carry three fighter units.
In the real world, a carrier’s air wing consists of about 50 fighter and strike aircraft (we won’t count the two dozen other aircraft that do anti-sub, airborne warning/control, tanker, and other functions since these aren’t represented in the game). So if we divide those 50 aircraft into three units, we find that each fighter unit represents about 16 airplanes. I generally consider a fighter unit to represent a squadron (an Air Force fighter squadron is about 18 planes, the difference I think is negligible).
Now this gives us a basis on which to judge the scale of other military units in the game.
I would think it would be reasonable to say that a unit of modern armor in game terms would represent at least as much as an armored battalion (which consists of about 50 to 60 M1 Abrams tanks) and I would think no more than a brigade in the real world.
So I’m sorry, but I’ll never believe that spearmen, even if they are legion in number, are going to defeat a battalion of Abrams tanks.
BTW, if you’re interested, a modern armored division in game terms should consist of (at least) the following game units: 5 Modern Armor, 4 Mech. Infantry, 4 Artillery, 3 Gunship, and 1 SAM. Disclaimer: This of course doesn’t take into consideration units like engineers, signals, intelligence, etc. that are not represented in the game.
(mind you, this was fairly obsolete russian armor).
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