Only fairies have wings

[Plotinus]

Strange this zone of control thing - I did wonder on a few occasions precisely which rules were allowing enemy units to take pot-shots at me whilst going past them. I can see this give Paratroopers a use - essentially giving the enemy something to think about before getting to the front. The idea of using Helicopters to provide cover for Explorers nipping out and pillaging is intriguing too...

[MoonWolf]

I liked the Civ2-way where the paratrooper had one movement after landing. At least it should be able to able to attack from the air, maybe at reduced rate. How it is now, you loose the unit if an enemy unit occoupy the square and you try to land there. Am not sure about radars and outpost.

And I think they should be able to capture empty cities even if they can't move after landing. I think especially during WW2 paratroopers where used to capture enemy cities some times.

[Tattila the Hun]

What bothers me with helos, is that they don't take the troops back after combat. Imagine in Vietnam, troops are brought to fight, then the choppers head home to take a nap or something, never returning to pick up the guys they just left at the jungle.

[Chemical Ollie]

I have found helicopter insertation of TOW infantry useful to capture islands and remote cities which are hard to reach due to rough terrain. These cities are normally not so well defended as the core cities, so the TOW is strong enough for the job.

Paras are useless.

[patcon]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
I have found helicopter insertation of TOW infantry useful to capture islands and remote cities which are hard to reach due to rough terrain. These cities are normally not so well defended as the core cities, so the TOW is strong enough for the job.

Paras are useless.

Great ideas, that I'd overlooked. I've not used helos and paras since Civ2, but now can see their utility as part of a coordinated mass invasion. Take out radar towers, pillage/block reinforcement routes, etc. Now all I want is a combat-engineer unit that can be airlifted in to rebuild the roads I need to continue the invasion march. (It was so much fun riding the Scandi RR they had thoughfully built between their cities, so my troops could arrive rested and fresh at the next city to fall under the Celtic boot.)
Are Marines that combat-engineer unit? - I'll have to check. Maybe Marines are useful after all. (just kidding - I just don't do much amphibious invading - Semper Fi!)

[MattPilot]

no combat engineer unit in the epic game - but i made one myself and it works out great Though i have a real need for them, cause i made all modern motorized units 'wheeled' <- no mountains without road.

Anyway, back to the ZoC thingie.

A free shot is NOT always awarded. We all know Armies have ZoC's too (and any units within forts). Anyway, the enemy was moving 2 units past my army (within the ZoC), and one of them got shot and the other didn't. Other things have happened in that turn that i didn't like so i restarted from a save . This time, none of the passing units got shot. I thought that was odd and decided to load it up again. This time 2 shots were fired, but only one got hit.

I've done more tests, and based on my woefully inadequate scientific tests , i believe the free pot shot is somewhere around 33%, and then another 50% from that to see if you get hit or not.

This was with a roman legion army. Now i've gotten way better results with modern paratroopers, so defense strength (not attack, since paratroopers are weak) probably has something to do with it. Anybody want to volunteer on getting a formula?

[Rasputin]

another use for paratroopers is to land on enemies resources to stop them having access to them thereby starving thme of certian units .....

[Jaybe]

MattPilot, the only "official" explanation re ZOC was from Soren many months (years??) ago. The trespassing unit's defense is used against the ZOC-imposing unit's "attack strength divided by two!"

It would probably take an alexman to do a rigorous study independently.

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Rasputin
another use for paratroopers is to land on enemies resources to stop them having access to them thereby starving thme of certian units .....

The para is too weak to hold on to the tile. They get rolled over by tanks, and even cavallery, before they can act, unless you drop 10 or so on the same tile.

[Capt Dizle]

If you are on the offensive you might use paratroops by dropping them behind wounded stacks which the AI might want to withdraw.

You might generate a leader and not be in a postion to get him to safety. Drop in some defense.

You have a weakened stack with some elites or artillery to protect. Drop in some defense.

I think if you build some you might find a use for them.

[vmxa1]

The range of the para is too limited as well. Can they come off of carriers?

[CerberusIV]

Originally posted by vmxa1
The range of the para is too limited as well. Can they come off of carriers?

You would have to edit it. I can't remember if the modern para has a longer range than the earlier one but it should.

Carriers can only carry air units.

[vmxa1]

I was prety sure they could not be loaded on carriers, thanks.

[needle]

You could put paras into a helicopter and then the heli onto a carrier. But they would still be crap.

[vmxa1]

I have never build a helo in III, I liked them in II. I don't recall ever seeing one in my games.

Theseus posted a screenie where the AI landed a chopter near one of his cities. I forgot what they off loaded, but it was a strange sight.