Naval Strength

[Vespasian]

I have lately noticed that most of my ships in Civ2 lack veteran status. I usually don't bother putting Port Facilities in my cities, as veteran status rarely seem to matter (only a few of the European civs and Americans ever seem to bother with strong navies when they're controlled by the AI anyway).

What about any of you?



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"On ne peut pas apprendre la chance si on n'est pas hardii."-Napolean

[Steve Clark]

No, I typically don't bother with building vet ships. Just one naval battle will usually make that unit a vet anyway.

[Scouse Gits]

The Lighthouse will give you a veteran Navy in the early game. If you don't have this wonder, have your "green" ships look for easy kills at first, so they become vets. In the later stages of the game build Port Facilities - they are not expensive. The difference between a vet battleship and raw one is 18 - 12 (attack and defence)

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SG (2)

[War4ever]

especially important in MP is the vet trireme.... they can absorb hideous amounts of damage from green triremes as i found out the hard way gr..... Ming

[rah]

And if you can make vet ironclads before people can build coastal fortresses....look out any coastal cities. Xin has demonstrated this one to me on many occasions.

RAH

[War4ever]

yes Rah good point.... in fact iron clads against anything less than gunpowder units is a joke and cetain death Muskets have a rough time against vet ironclads too

[MasterBob]

A veteran navy is not that important but complete domination of the seas is. Just build frigates and clads like crazy, and you'll be okay.

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[Empress]

I have no clue because I HATE naval battles and most mp games don't really get that far anyways.

[Theben]

Sea dominion is very important for the simple fact that if you control the seas a) you can bombard the enemy's shores, and land troops, and b) he/she can't do it to you. This gives you initiative (I should also mention it depends on the land:sea ration in the game). This makes veteran sea units important, and before port facilities the best thing to build is (ready?) Sun Tzu's War Academy.

But that only affects land units, you say? Wrong. It states in the manual (and gameplay will prove) that "ANY unit that survives combat AUTOMATICALLY becomes veteran". So what you do is take your non-vet frigates and ironclads and go trolling for units on the coastline. Look for weak units (outdated ancient units are good; settlers, explorers, engineers too) to bombard and your ship will take minimal damage and become veteran! Now send it out to take control of the seas, or maybe bombard some more.

[rah]

Yes Theban, I've used that one many times. I send my tirenes out to unoccupied areas and search for barb kings. Money and vet status with minimal risk. In the early game (as pointed out already) vets rule the sea.
It is also excellent for the super iron clad strategy.

RAH

[Sieve Too]

George: I'll gladly swap my Musketeers for your Alpines any day!

Much as I like the vet Ironclad strategy, the window for it is relatively small. In SP, the AI is so inept that you simply don't need much of a navy at all to win. Transports plus a few Destroyers/Cruisers escorts are usually enough.

[Crustacian]

The bigger (more resource) the ship, the more of a waste it is to not make it a vet.
Yeah you can cruise around till you pop an unsuspecting unit off the shore to accomplish this, but for me port facilities are the only way to go, especially on the bigger ships.
All I need to do now is figure out how to get to Bach's, dominate the seas, trade, and get Hoover Dam. Dam!? can't have it all I guess

[Bohlen]

I totally agree with Crustacian. I haven't had any navy at all in my recent games and miss it. When a navy is needed, port facilities are a must, but only if you have the time and funds to build them, which is almost always. I learned my lessen the hard way. I know I'm not the only one to build a non-vet battleship, only to have it destroyed by three cruisers a turn after it leaves port, right? Vet status is crucial for ship defense. When I build a ship, I need it ready for battle now. I don't have time to look for a barb leader or horseman to knock off.

[War4ever]

you would take muskets over alpines or rifleman????? you have got to be joking....

Muskets which arent' vets are routed at times on normal terrain by crusaders..... i have never lost a rifleman to a crusader on regular terrain.

Domination of the seas i see as more important in MP than SP seeing as the ai is so dumb.

I once had a large lead over an opponent and was thwarted by him because he dominated the seas..... this later changed but what could have been a fast easy victory took until i developed howies instead of calvalry ..... all because he owned the seas..... i couldnt get my ships anywhere. He destroyed all of them with the extra movement from Magellens.

[Scouse Gits]

There are three main advantages of having a powerful navy.
1) It is much harder for any civ to attack you, especially on your home continent.
2) You can continue to trade on different continents in relative security. (Whatever the game - trade, trade, trade!)
3) Naval bombardment ignores city walls. (It is far easier for the spy to bring down the coastal fortress than the city walls) Very often there are key cities that seem to be inland, yet built next to a lake. The construction of a "strategic city" - on the other side of the lake, will allow you to bring your fleet into the centre of continents, with a nasty surprise for the occupants!

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SG (2)