Air units are MUCH better now!

[PrinceBimz]

Major improvement here in CIV3. It is so much better to just assign air units a mission now instead of moving them around enemy units the whole way. I really like how Firaxis has this setup with the air units, it works alot better this way.

[mintaka_au]

Air Units

Warlord

I have no problem with how you operate air units in Civ3. Big step up. The problem I have is that air units can't sink ships. This makes modern naval battles utterly unlike anything seen in history. Carrier aircraft sunk most of the warships in the Pacific in WWII. One current day US Nimitiz battle group would hose just about any other navy in the world on its own. (thats hard to say as an Aussie, but it's the truth!).

Planes can't destroy ground units, well OK, you could argue that, but most history shows that aircraft render armies inefective and ground troops clean up the remains. Fine. But ask the Imperial Japanese Navy. They would tell you clearly. Aircraft can sink ships.

Someone suggested that Fraxis just used the arty bombard code for the bombers with no changes. That does seem to be the case.

Damien

"Let's not go to Camalot, 'tis a silly place!" King Arthur - Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[Dis]

agreed

civ2 did think about history (pearl harbor effect of aircraft attacking ships in port). but they abandoned that way of thinking

me thinks they were lazy and didn't want to program 2 different attack modes of aircraft.

[Deathwalker]

They were dam lazy if you ask me, you should not have a game about civilization if it ignores some of the basic facts and certanies about it and what it does. e.g. goverments (Not Enough) and naval power. I just worry that they wont fix these in a patch but leave it,

[PrinceBimz]

Well the comp had land based artillery sink a few destroyers and a battleship of mine. I had some bombers that were beating land units but it was veteran bombers. I have not really tried attacking any ships yet. Maybe you need many planes attack a single ship to sink it and veteran planes. I guess it depends on the size/defense of the ship. After looking at the artillery the bombardment value is 12, a bomber is 8 and a fighter is 2 or 4. So if that artillery can hurt my ships really bad (just 2 artillery sank my destroyer) I imagine the planes can. Maybe if the bombardment value of the planes are increased it will take only a few to sink a ship. Anyway, after I am able to play a little more I will see how it works because like I said I had not been able to attack ships with planes very much yet. Just some ideas here.

[GodSpawn]

PrinceBimz: I think that the game is specifically programmed so that planes can't sink ships.

I'd be interested to play a mod where planes did sink ships. I have a sneaking suspicion that most games would turn into a planefest, with a concommitent deterioration in gameplay. But seeing is believing...

[Rakki]

but modern air war is basically a planefest .... or at least, a missile fest.

There's no much you can do about someone who pops up 200kms out and launches a one ton warhead at you at supersonic speeds except try shoot them down before they can launch - and that's why the F-14 was built.

methinks Firaxis should have got a decent believable combat system in instead of nerfing all the military - in the misguided attempt to make things "fair" for technologically backward players...

[DarkMatter]

Originally posted by Rakki
methinks Firaxis should have got a decent believable combat system in instead of nerfing all the military - in the misguided attempt to make things "fair" for technologically backward players...

Exactly. If I have modern armor, I want to literally see them *run* over pikemen and musketmen. I didn't spend some hundred odd minerals just to lose it to some unit from centuries ago.

[korn469]

well i have been working on a mod to increase the importance of air power

check it out here
korn's blitz mod

one of the changes is that that air units have multiple moves now, so that means they can attack more than once per turn...a new version will be out either late tonight or sometime tommorrow

[mintaka_au]

Originally posted by PrinceBimz
Well the comp had land based artillery sink a few destroyers and a battleship of mine. I had some bombers that were beating land units but it was veteran bombers. I have not really tried attacking any ships yet. Maybe you need many planes attack a single ship to sink it and veteran planes. I guess it depends on the size/defense of the ship. After looking at the artillery the bombardment value is 12, a bomber is 8 and a fighter is 2 or 4. So if that artillery can hurt my ships really bad (just 2 artillery sank my destroyer) I imagine the planes can. Maybe if the bombardment value of the planes are increased it will take only a few to sink a ship. Anyway, after I am able to play a little more I will see how it works because like I said I had not been able to attack ships with planes very much yet. Just some ideas here.

Mate, I can assure you, your cannot sink ships as the game currently is. The ship your attacking will get beaten down to the last red point, but the game will not let you attack the ship again until it's health points improve. You don't get the option to bomb it.

Damien

[Blaupanzer]

Planes can't kill any units on their own. Can't target workers or red-spot (last hit point) units. My planes won't intercept bombers either. Is Sid trying to tell us something?

[korn469]

Blaupanzer

the intercept function not working is a confirmed bug that firaxis is going to fix in their first patch for civ3

[PrinceBimz]

Originally posted by Blaupanzer
Planes can't kill any units on their own. Can't target workers or red-spot (last hit point) units. My planes won't intercept bombers either. Is Sid trying to tell us something?

So you are saying air units can bomb any unit down to red but not destroy it completely? If so that means its not just ships but all units. I could have sweared that I had destroyed some land units with my bombers, don't know. The only thing I can think maybe I damaged it really bad and it moved out of view. But I thought I destroyed it completely. Anyway I imagine this was a design decision to have it this way? I can tell you that my airforce wreaked havoc on several improvements and units. Without it I would have never been able to back up the chinese forces that were near my border.

[conquistadore]

Originally posted by PrinceBimz


I could have sweared that I had destroyed some land units with my bombers, don't know. The only thing I can think maybe I damaged it really bad and it moved out of view. But I thought I destroyed it completely.

I've played to the modern era thrice and i swear that never in these 3 different games did i have the chance to even target units that are down to their last drop of health. And yup, bombers are the best things in this game: just bomb out all roads, mines and irrigation and watch a seemingly impossible-to-conquer size 22 city implode from within.

[Akka]

You CAN target a unit with only one hit point. That is, you can do it IF there is another unit one the same square that has at least 2 HP
As this second unit will be "hidden" behind the other, you'll only see it when the bombing take place. And if it's reduced to one HP, then this could give the impression that you actually bombed the first one.