What do you do with a Great General?

[rah]

Blitz is quite useful and somewhat comical clearing out obsolete enemy vessels. When you first get destroyers and wander into enemy waters and see that trireme and attack and see that there are 8 more on the square screeming, IF I ONLY HAD BLITZ.

[wodan11]

Yep, though quite often I leave the Warlord privateer un-upgraded for just that reason. Until enemies get ships capable of taking out a privateer (keep in mind to protect it when it's damaged, so sending them out in pairs is not a bad idea), a Warlord privateer can wander the world at will just wiping out mass lots of obsolete vessels. It basically amounts to free XP (and GGs).

[rah]

I send them in stacks of 3 or 4 since you never know when the enemy will throw 10 caravels at it. I usually lose one to the first frigate. RUN FOR HOME. I usually give one of them medic since they usually don't come home till frigates.

[wodan11]

Yeah, I watch for when frigates are coming. I don't wait for them to appear... you can bet as soon as they get the tech the AI will be building them.

[Ming]

Tracking the AI's tech is good for getting a heads up for when it might be a good time to make the mad dash for home

[rah]

I don't always pay that close attention. Have another Beer Rich.

[Ming]

True enough... usually it takes seeing the frigates approaching to chase them home.
And as you say, while a stack of caravels can sometimes sink one or two... A stack of Galleons can be even worse. I try to monitor the science development and stay away from the civs that are researching Astronomy

[rah]

I did have one game where my 6 pack stack was attacked by what had to be 20 Caravels. I saw the string of notices and since I wasn't at war at the time I assumed that someone had just DOWed me, but then looked at them. I did lose just one in that attack. There were some quite a few promotions to had out to the the other 5.

[Ming]

I've had similar situations... and unfortunately, lost more than one. And that's a nice thing about Civ IV. Even superior units can get beat by superior numbers.

[rah]

Except when it's a caravels vs destroyers.