ASK The CIV TEAM 8/22/01!

[Harlan]

Boy, what a Pandora's box of questions. Dan, as Desi Arnaz Jr. might have said to you, "you've got a lotta 'splainin' to do!"

One question I have concerns Leaders. Can they live forever - could I have Hannibal still leading troops 2000 years later? If so, very strange.

Also, I remember some Firaxis speculation that leaders could have peacetime functions, like boosting a city's production. Is that still gonna happen?

A comment. I remember reading somewhere that Catapults have a special role now (and doesn't operate like other units - does anyone remember the details). Perhaps Catapult rules hold for other artillery types, and other types of units have their own special features (like the Pikeman extra defense against horse units in Civ2). The end result being, that a properly balanced force is the smart way to go in Civ3.

[down th' pub]

Harlan, you just reminded me, I've been wondering if the "Artillery" family (catapult->howitzer) are bombardment only units, with the catapult's attack figures in (brackets) it would be the same concept and format as SMAC.

Does anone else violently (dis)agree?

[Grumbold]

That certainly looks more likely than any of the icons under Nationalism, but I won't take it as absolute proof yet

That still means a lucky early leader could make a big difference to gameplay considering the weaker strength of these ancient unit. I can't wait for the next glimmer of information to arrive on the subject.

[Fiera]

Another thing: you will be REALLY powerful if you manage to make elite units of your civ specific units, having in mind that this may very well coincide with your Golden Age.

Can you imagine the boost Germans will have when they gather five or four Elite Panzers (and they have them lead by some Rommel)?

[Grumbold]

It could be hard to get many of your unique units to elite considering the "golden age" is currently primed to start as soon as your first one wins a combat. Still, they may reconsider that. The golden age bonuses are more to do with peace than war (increased trade and industry) although I suppose it will help you build units faster too.

[KrazyHorse]

Grumbold, go to tniem's City Improvements thread. On his list, you'll see what the improvement looks like in City View.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24545&pagenumber=1

[Fiera]

Originally posted by Grumbold
The golden age bonuses are more to do with peace than war (increased trade and industry) although I suppose it will help you build units faster too.

That's what I was referring to. Your chance to get elite units will be the same, but you will probably have more units available to send to the battlefield.

[Edward]

I'm having problems similar to Echinda and Adm.Naismith. When I visit civ3.com, the main page has a link (under "What's New" in the center section) to the 8/22 Ask the Civ Team item. Curiously, the "Ask the Civ Team" link only offers the same old 5 items (1/19/2001 thru 8/08/2001).

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Can someone confirm that army combat works as korn469 describes

* units attack in the army one at a time ('though not necessarily to the death)
* each unit attacks as it would normally (no changing of attack or defense or hitpoints)
* each unit retains its own hitpoints. Whenever it's hit, it loses hitpoints.
* armies are different than a bunch of individual units because the units in the army can be wounded, then temporarily stop attacking and allow another army unit in better shape attack next. Much like tag team wrestling, the army units take turns attacking.

and NOT how introvert, Rommel393, barefootbadass, et al describe
(where units share hitpoints or confer attack or defense values to one another).

korn469's description is how I had interpreted the armies to work up until now. While sensible, it would mean the 8/22 Ask the Civ team update:

Once an army is built, you can load three units onto the army, and those units will pool their hit points during an attack.

is EXTREMELY misleading (or at the least, poorly phrased). Units in armies would "in effect" somewhat pool their hitpoints only in that no unit dies until everyone in the army has only one hitpoint left.

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SonofDogbreath notes that sometimes losing a city will mean that one of your armies vanishes. Even more devastating is the loss of your Military Academy small wonder. If you don't protect its city well, you'll lose all your armies (except those lead by great leaders). Does the Military Academy ever expire?

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by Dan Magaha FIRAXIS
I'm not sure whether defeating barbarians can spawn great leaders, but you can attain elite status if a veteran unit defeats barbarians (I've seen this happen when a horde of barbarians attack a single unit and the unit defeats them all)

I don't *think* leaders replace any of your units, I believe they appear as a completely seperate unit...

Dan

Thanks Dan, I had written a pile of ... wrong info to be polite. I'm putting ash on my head right now :banned:

[Colwyn]

I've noticed some comments in the forum re the number of army's available ie 1 per 4 cities and the gasp that this would leave cities undefended. I think there is some confussion re the word Army's

It must be made clear that you can have as many single units as you want and that you can fortify heaps in the city and fortresses if you build them.

The "Army's" we are referring to in this forum is the stacked feature of Civ3 not the single units we have been used too and often called armies in the past.

Ie put basically civ 3 will be like civ2 with units but with a bonus of a few grouped units now called armys able to be assembled also.

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

My big problem with the 1 army/4 cities rule is, what if you want to defend a city from a rampaging army, but all your armies are out in the field, and all you have left are stacks of single units! The way I see it, an army will be able to overcome each individual defender one at a time because the defenders aren't an army.
Instead I feel that, once you have a great leader or military academy, then units defending cities should act as "de-facto" armies. This means that, if you take the units outside the city, they will revert to individual unit status, but inside the city, any attacker will be facing an army!

As I've pointed out before, I'd also be interested to know if each unit in an army uses its own attack/defense in combat, or if its like the fortress in CivII. I'd also be interested to know if ranged units give you any benefits over melee units.
Lastly, I'd be interested to know if all combats are resolved simultaneously!
eg. if I've surrounded a city with 2 armies, when I attack the city I don't want to have to use one army at a a time, I want to use both armies simultaneously to reduce potential casualties in both stacks!
Anyway, as someone else suggested, it would be nice to see a "Combat Tutorial" a-la Resources and Colonies to put all lingering doubts to rest!

The_Aussie_Lurker.

[Lung]

Originally posted by Dan Magaha FIRAXIS

I don't *think* leaders replace any of your units, I believe they appear as a completely seperate unit...

Dan

Oh, now i get it! Instead of an elite unit becoming a great leader after heroics on the battlefield like a Julius Caesar; he shags another soldier, and....hey, presto! Out pops a great leader!

I'm glad you cleared that up for us, Dan

[joseph1944]

Originally posted by Rommel393
Ok, there is one thing I don't understand about armies. How would their movement be handled? If u had lets say, a rifleman and 2 tanks in an army, would it move the rifleman's speed of 1 or the tanks speed of 3? Or would there be some sort of compromise?

I don't think anyone answer you. In CTP 1 & 2 the rifleman would determine the movement. One tile w/O a road, 3 tile w/a road, etc. This game should be the same, the slowest unit determine the movement rate.

[joseph1944]

Originally posted by Harlan

One question I have concerns Leaders. Can they live forever - could I have Hannibal still leading troops 2000 years later? If so, very strange.

A long time ago, Firaxis said for a while. Question how long is a while?

Also, I remember some Firaxis speculation that leaders could have peacetime functions, like boosting a city's production. Is that still gonna happen?

That also has been said a while back. Another good question.

[introvert]

Originally posted by The_Aussie_Lurker
My big problem with the 1 army/4 cities rule is, what if you want to defend a city from a rampaging army, but all your armies are out in the field, and all you have left are stacks of single units! The way I see it, an army will be able to overcome each individual defender one at a time because the defenders aren't an army.

If you've been foolish enough to let an enemy army come against your cities while all your own armies are off in some distant field, then you deserve to lose cities.

If you put all your armies in the field you are obviously going to be taking a risk that you won't need one to defend your cities. You'll just have to keep all your armies home, and never attack anyone.