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After rereading several threads, particularly "What people mean about Firepower" by Venger, I had a thought about Civ 3 combat balance that I don't think has come up.
Some people like it the way it is, and consider this all a bunch of complaining. Duly noted. Soldier on, have fun.
But for the tweakers, how about this? The original intent of firepower was to give modern units an edge, and minimize the "phalanx beats battleship" problem. Couldn't the same thing be accomplished by using the "x2 vs. whatever" ability? For example, attacking with an air unit in Civ 2 was a reasonable proposition. But against an AEGIS or SAM supported unit- dicey at best. Time to send in the ground units.
Maybe we could modify the interactions to give results that are a little more intuitive. Musketeers could be x2 against spearmen. Riflemen could be x2 against Musketeers, and so on. It could be as simple or as complicated as you wished. Either the bonuses would apply just from age to age, or you could have an elaborate "rock, scissors, paper" setup. Archers beat spearmen, spearmen beat horsemen, horsemen beat archers, etc.
play balance will always be an issue, of course, but I think this idea is worth pursuing.
Some people like it the way it is, and consider this all a bunch of complaining. Duly noted. Soldier on, have fun.
But for the tweakers, how about this? The original intent of firepower was to give modern units an edge, and minimize the "phalanx beats battleship" problem. Couldn't the same thing be accomplished by using the "x2 vs. whatever" ability? For example, attacking with an air unit in Civ 2 was a reasonable proposition. But against an AEGIS or SAM supported unit- dicey at best. Time to send in the ground units.
Maybe we could modify the interactions to give results that are a little more intuitive. Musketeers could be x2 against spearmen. Riflemen could be x2 against Musketeers, and so on. It could be as simple or as complicated as you wished. Either the bonuses would apply just from age to age, or you could have an elaborate "rock, scissors, paper" setup. Archers beat spearmen, spearmen beat horsemen, horsemen beat archers, etc.
play balance will always be an issue, of course, but I think this idea is worth pursuing.