Spawn or convert? The Great Leader debacle

[Sarxis]

I was just reading somewhere about GLs being 'spawned', as opposed to elite units being converted into GLs. I guess this means that instead of losing your elite unit and getting a GL instead (which, IMO, would suck if you were in the middle of an offensive and all of a sudden your Elite Panzer brigade got turned into a panzy [0.0.3] GL) a Great Leader is spawned and placed on the map.

Any confirmations on this?

[Blake]

That makes ALOT of sense... after all a great leader is only one man... no need to send the whole unit home. In fact spawning makes so much sense I'd say it's almost certaintely done that way.

Another thing with great leaders... I was wondering if they expired, it is known Civ3 is divided into several distinct ages... prehaps a great leader can only be used during the age he is created in?
(I cant imagine a 2000 year old leader to be much use in rushing the Hoover dam, or leading a squad of marines.... - I mean aside from the fact he'll be dead)

[KrazyHorse]

It's been confirmed that a GL splits off an Elite unit by Firaxis (Dan said it a while ago).

[Faboba]

Which means that if you're insanely lucky you can create MORE great leaders from that same elite panzer brigade.

[Grumbold]

Understanding exactly how to maximise your chances of getting great leaders is certainly going to be one of the important parts of a winning strategy.

[tniem]

And can great leaders only come from military units? That could be an important part of how you play. I mean they say you don't have to fight and it appears they have done a lot to make that so but if I am losing because my warmongering enemy gets the great leaders, that ain't going to make me too happy.

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by tniem
And can great leaders only come from military units? That could be an important part of how you play. I mean they say you don't have to fight and it appears they have done a lot to make that so but if I am losing because my warmongering enemy gets the great leaders, that ain't going to make me too happy.

Chances are that if are losing because of an enemy warmonger, then you will be having battles. If you are having battles, then therefore you have a change to get a great leader, and therefore a chance to get your own army
Obviously, it wont be easy, but if your losing a war, things shouldnt be easy

[tniem]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
Chances are that if are losing because of an enemy warmonger, then you will be having battles. If you are having battles, then therefore you have a change to get a great leader, and therefore a chance to get your own army
Obviously, it wont be easy, but if your losing a war, things shouldnt be easy

But what if my enemy/rival is fighting a different nation and I have bribed them into peace. So then they take their great leaders and build all the wonders before I can. So the peace option doesn't work. That again is why it would seem that a peaceful great leader is needed.

[Chowlett]

As an aside, it appears from the editor screenshot that you will be able to change what happens when a Great Leader is produced - in particular, you change the unit that results so that isn't a great leader. I'm guessing you can choose any unit you like.

Think of the possibilities! You could simulate occasional capture by replacing the Leader-spawn with a worker! You could defeat the enemy, and form a cannon from their bodies, weapons and armour!

And yes, this does seem to be one of the more pointless things to do with the editor - but hey, more customisability is always good.

[Sabre2th]

Maybe the elite unit loses some of its experience when a leader is spawned. That would seem like the best way to avoid getting multiple leaders from the same unit.

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by Blake
...
(I cant imagine a 2000 year old leader to be much use in rushing the Hoover dam, or leading a squad of marines.... - I mean aside from the fact he'll be dead)

What about YOU! Here you are, a 6000 year old 'god', leading a whole civilization!

[Crouchback]

Originally posted by Jaybe
What about YOU! Here you are, a 6000 year old 'god', leading a whole civilization!

And that first worker you started off with who's now 6000 years old and still labouring away building railways over those roads he laid down all those years ago...

David

[Faboba]

Or maybe it's just that group of worker's descendants in a carefully ordered way so as not to increase the number of the group. Maybe their a very small working class slave race offshoot of your society. A true benevolent would never make workers....

[Ironwood]

Or maybe that 4000 year old worker unit is actually a team of engineers and workers that trace their organization back thousands of years, priding themselves on their long history, knowing the name of their founders, having records of great heroes that bridged the gap or developed new techniques. After all, all it is is a "unit." People get hired, people get fired, people retire, people die when a construction crane collapses and crushes the entire team... whoops! The unit remains, though.

I wonder if workers will gain experience as the years go by. It would make sense that a group of workers that remain in existance for a long time would get better at working. Maybe they could produce great leaders themselves.

[Crouchback]

This thread has been hijacked by the great worker debacle.

But it seems perfectly reasonable to me that the commander of a top elite unit that has just won a tough battle should be detached to head up a new army. Think of it as a field promotion. But if it was so hard to get a great leader once then it would be unlikely you'll get a second from the same unit before it has to be upgraded and loses the elite status.

David