How to Choose Among Similar Units ?

[vmxa1]

Helos? There are in this game, your kidding right?

[Arnelos]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Helos? There are in this game, your kidding right?

[MotownDennis]

Originally posted by Arnelos

From that context, you generally assume that if someone hasn't secured a source of oil by the modern age, they probably have larger problems.

True; I haven't played many SP games where I haven't secured all the necessary resources by the modern age. That being said, if you do run into this situation, TOWs can be key in helping you secure said resources.

I'll grant you that this situation won't come up often, but the addition of TOWs to Conquests was an important one as it gives a player hope where they had absolutely no hope prior to C3C.

[Last Conformist]

In a recentish game as the Carthaginians, I did get into the modern age without an Oil resource of my own, despite by then controling the entirety of my home continent (52% of total land area).

I was however able to trade for Oil, built an invasion force, and invaded, appropriately enough, America, taking their only Oil resource on the second turn of the war.

[vmxa1]

Arnelos I was being facetious. IOW saying I never have built a helo, so acting as if they are not really in the game.

(nevermind)

[Arnelos]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Arnelos I was being facetious. IOW saying I never have built a helo, so acting as if they are not really in the game.

(nevermind)

Ah, I get it. I just didn't realize that by "helos" you meant helicopters.

(I saw "helos" and thought of the Greek word for the sun )

[Last Conformist]

That's helios ...

[MoonWolf]

I some times build TOW's just because I like them. Usually it's not necessary for me to drop units at chokepoints as I normally have an army big enough for hurting the enemy quite bad in one or two turns if I'll invade (love those armies of marines against infantry )

[Arnelos]

Originally posted by Last Conformist
That's helios ...

Now you know part of why I posted the confused smily.

[alexman]

Re: How to Choose Among Similar Units ?

Originally posted by SorvinoBackhand
Fighters vs Flak vs Mobile SAMs vs SAM Missile Battery (city improvement)

First of all, always use Mobile SAMs over Flak, when Mobily SAM are available, since they are in the same upgrade chain. You do use Swordsmen over Warriors, don't you?

Fighers and SAM work almost the same way. Each has a chance to intercept enemy bombers (50% for non-stealth, 5% for stealth). If they intercept, they have a chance to shoot down enemy bombers. That chance depends on their attack strength. An SAM has the same attack strength as a Jet Fighter, and twice the strength of a Fighter. Fighters can be shot down, but SAM cannot. On the other hand, you can have as many fighters as you like in your city, but you can have just one SAM.

AA units like Flak and Mobile SAM have a lower chance to shoot down planes than SAM/Fighters, but they have the advantage of being able to protect your units in the field, and they cannot be shot down. They get a chance to shoot down any bombers that have survived defending fighters and SAM, so they can be used for added protection, even when you have Fighter cover.

Conclusion: SAM, mobile SAM, and Fighters, all have their uses for air defense. Which one to build depends on your situation.

TOW Infantry vs Mech Infantry

Specialized roles aside (helicopter operations etc) Mechanized Infantry are always better defenders than TOW. The extra bombard shot of TOW (when you use them in stacks) does not make up for their lower defense.

[Last Conformist]

Presumably, however, a mixed stack defends better than a pure of either kind.

Too tired to look at the math right now, so I'll only have it noticed that I very rarely have a need for much in the way of stacks of defensive units in the Modern Age.

[alexman]

Originally posted by Last Conformist
Presumably, however, a mixed stack defends better than a pure of either kind.

Not always. It depends on how many times it gets attacked each turn, and by what units.

[Krill]

Presumably, however, a mixed stack defends better than a pure of either kind.

why build TOW, when you can build MA, which are slightly more expensive, but just as powerful bombarding (I think), but can attack as well? The only advantages of TOW are the lack of resources required, and the ability to airdrop them

EDIT: why do I bother answering, alexman should be a mod of the strat and AU forums, he's around so much.

[alexman]

Last Conformist is saying that a stack of a MI and TOW has a better chance of defending against a single attack than either a stack of two MI or two TOW, which is true.

[Krill]

Sorry, I thought he was talking about a larger SoD, which (one would presume) would attack as well as defend, to make the most of the unit support (if any)