MGL and Armies

[Modo44]

Originally posted by Theseus
jon left out that there are AI Armies all over the place in the AU Mod.

And that some of them are actually doing damage.

[Solomwi]

Originally posted by Theseus
jon left out that there are AI Armies all over the place in the AU Mod.

Well established, T, well established.

I'm familiar with what the AI mod did to armies, but unless I'm missing something, it sounds like Neal saw a 3xWE army fielded by an AI. That's what I'm trying to reconcile.

[joncnunn]

Maybe Neal is playing Vanilla?

[Solomwi]

That's about all I could think of, but he said above that he's playing C3C, the RoR conquest. I'm stumped.

[Theseus]

I've not really played the Conquests much since C3C came out (aren't they all somewhat broken)... but I seem to remember in the discussions of how to fix the AI Army problem, someone pointing out RoR as being somewhat better.

[Neal the Neophyte]

Playing Vanilla

Yes, I believe that I'm playing vanilla, if vanilla means no mods. I'm playing Conquest from the out-of-the-can Complete issue. I believe that it contains all the necessary patches. On the other hand, if it contains all the patches, maybe it's not vanilla...

By the way, all the help I got payed off. I formed an army on Caesar Agustas and sent it against Marsala, which had converted to the Cath's because of culture envy. The attached units were 3 Ligionary 2's at 6 hit points for a total of 18. The army got wiped out attacking the town when the hit points turned yellow and I foolishly sent it against the town again and hit points turned red. The Caths sent a WE against the army at that point and wiped it out. Very instructive. I've got to remember to do some saves before I experiment like that so that I can try alternate strategies. So much to learn and so little time...

[Solomwi]

Broken or not, I've just started getting into them, and they're fun, T.

Neal, vanilla refers to the original game, as opposed to either of the expansion packs (PTW and C3C).

[joncnunn]

Version 1.00 has more broken features than 1.22.

The only thing I'm aware of them breaking between 1.00 and 1.22 was SGL when making a mod with non-default victory conditions. It may even be fixable if you hack into the mod with a hex editor. (Assuming you know where the on/off switch for SGL is supposed to be)

I did note an interesting feature when you start a conquest and then start a normal game. In the normal game, the victory modes default to whatever it was in the conquests. And it seemed to have built a Monolith on the starting tile when I didn't notice that. It is fixable, just click "default victory conditions"

[Loui]

Victory conditions from the last game seem to be used as standard setting for the next game. Easily changed, but annoying if you forget.

[Willem]

Re: Playing Vanilla

Originally posted by Neal the Neophyte
Yes, I believe that I'm playing vanilla, if vanilla means no mods. I'm playing Conquest from the out-of-the-can Complete issue. I believe that it contains all the necessary patches. On the other hand, if it contains all the patches, maybe it's not vanilla...

Vanilla generally means the original Civ 3 game, with no expansions added.

[Thoth]

Originally posted by Solomwi
That's about all I could think of, but he said above that he's playing C3C, the RoR conquest. I'm stumped.

I saw a Carthaginian army in the ROR scenario a couple of days ago. 2 War Elephants and a Numidian. It died a sad and sorry death trying to take out a Legion 3 behind Hadrians wall.

[Hellcat]

I've seen the AI in RoR and the WWII conquest fill oult the armies they start with. However, they usually fill it with a something like 2 WEs and a Swordsman, which is an easy target for a Legionary III.

Sort of off topic, but the AI (Macedon and Persia in my game) used every leader they popped for rushing wonders.

[Solomwi]

I saw it myself, just today, and it finally made sense. The problem, IIRC, was that the AI is programmed never to load a unit into an army with more movement than it has, and never move an army that isn't filled. By putting that original sword or NM in the army, its movement rate is fixed at 2. Since WE also have 2 MP, loading them into the army is just fine, leading to a loaded army that can be utilized.

For the record, the army the AI dropped off on Sicily today was a sword and two WE's.

[vorlon_mi]

Originally posted by vmxa1

It is rare, but I have seen it.

I am a relative newbie (playing my 2nd game on
vanilla, as the Persians at Chieftan), but I saw an AI
army in my current game. The Chinese marched
an army of Riders into my territory to take a size 6 city
that was building its Aqueduct. I had a Musketman
defending, but didn't think to cash-rush another
or move one in from a neighboring city until it was too
late. Dang, they're fast!

I had just completed a couple of great wonders,
and the Greeks has just beaten both of us (Chinese
and Persians) to Sun Tzu's, so perhaps the AI had
no great wonder to rush?

(BTW, I'm playing chieftan to try to un-learn my Civ 2
habits)

[vmxa1]

It has been three years or so since Civ3 came out, so I cannot even remember my civ2 moves.

Riders have 3 moves, so they will get there quickly, thats a fact. I have no idea why they would make an army, but they do so on occassion. I am glad I have not had them send any Rider armies at me, though.

If you were at war with China, you should beef up any border towns that face their direction. Sometimes it is wise to have a trip wire out in the no mans land, so you can see enemies coming.

One thing I do remember from Civ2 that does not apply to III and that is a top unit can defend against the world with a wall. This means having some fast movers in a position to beef up defenses in a pinch.

Even inferior units can take down a city by sheer force of numbers, unlike II. In II you win vs their top unit and all die, home free.

15 swords attack that city with a musket, you got a big problem in III. This is why it is often wise to have cities no more than three tiles away and roads down. You can then get some help to that city before it is attacked.