paras

[publius]

Is it just me, or are paratroopers kind of useless? That tech is pretty weak to begin with, but why would anyone build paratroopers over helicopters? The helicopters are reusable, and can operate without an airport in the city. Plus you could drop marines, which have a higher attack.

Is there any way to mod paratroopers so they're more useful? Maybe they'll be able to drop out of any airbase in the exp? I wish you could launch them from any square with an aircraft carrier.

[Cookie Monster]

Well remember paras in CivII ? They weren't that powerful either but they at least had a obvious use in capturing unprotected towns.

A strategy that I use with paras in CivIII is to drop them en masse behind enemy lines. I drop them relatively close to say a landing area in the hopes the AI will concentrate on attacking the paras and leave my landing force alone. Usually works quite well. The more defenders you can lure away from your landing party the greater the chance your landing force will survive.

[Nilat]

Yeah i liked paras in civII but they are lousy protectors!!

[Lawrence of Arabia]

I drop them on AI luxeries, strategic goods, and peninsulas where they can pillage and put cities into civil disorder.

[publius]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
I drop them on AI luxeries, strategic goods, and peninsulas where they can pillage and put cities into civil disorder.

This seems liek a good idea, but again, why not just use helicopters, which are reusable and let you drop marines or infantry? Plus helicopters can launch from any city, not just one with an airport.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Paras have further range. (8 vs 2) And its cheaper to build one para, then 1 chopper and one marine. of course, if you dont send in relief to help them, then you're screwed. I dont know if this works, but can you drop paras, pillage, then load them on a chopper?

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
I dont know if this works, but can you drop paras, pillage, then load them on a chopper?

No, unfortunately when you use a helicopter to drop any unit that ends the units' turn. However I think you can airdrop a para from a city with an airport and then he can pillage on the same turn.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Silli me. I knew that. I guess I was just dreaming . Also, I just tried it out and Paras cannot move after they land. Not sure about pillaging, but I'm sure that they cannot move or attack. If they could attack or move, it would make them more valuable.

[Coracle]

Originally posted by Stalin II
Yeah i liked paras in civII but they are lousy protectors!!

Typically, Civ 2 again is seen to have had a better feature, in this case with paras.

In Civ 2 paratroops were especially useful owing to the geography: more small overseas territories and islands. There are a lot less of those in Civ 3, unfortunately. So we use paras less.

Realistically, they WERE poor on defense and never mean to operate totally independently of main force military units (hence the name "para").

[HazieDaVampire]

i did a full on D-day invasion, The Paras went in, waited a turn, the AI ran some people over to them, and my marines ran up the citys beaches and took the citys!

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by HazieDaVampire
i did a full on D-day invasion, The Paras went in, waited a turn, the AI ran some people over to them, and my marines ran up the citys beaches and took the citys!

That's the way to use 'em boys!!!

[Chemical Ollie]

A strategy I have been thinking of but never got in an appropriate situation to try, is to bomb a city on a nearby island to ruins, then send in the paras to grab it. But if you have transports, MI and MA would do the job better.

[HazieDaVampire]

i've now gave paras some extra attack points!

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Try giving them extra movment and see if they can pillage on the turn that they land.

[johncmcleod]

Yes, paratroopers should be better. I have figured out a way to use them well. Look at my thread at http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=54848