Pillaging with Aircraft

[kobayashi]

Is there any way to pillage with aircraft? I was quite upset to find out that it couldn't be done. Actually the real question is: is there anyway to simulate the bombing of industrial complexes (i.e. mines). Any suggestions, even crazy ones, are welcome.

The basic requirement is for the unit in question to go over water and land, pillage a certain terrain improvement and return to base the next turn while being only vulnerable to a certain type of unit that simulates an interceptor.

[Henrik]

Sorry that is not possible, unless you make your aircraft helicopters.

[kobayashi]

Yes but Helipcopters can be attacked by non-fighter land units? Anyway, I sort of knew it was a hopeless cause.

[Thoth]

quote: Originally posted by kobayashi on 03-22-2001 02:24 AM Is there any way to pillage with aircraft? I was quite upset to find out that it couldn't be done. Actually the real question is: is there anyway to simulate the bombing of industrial complexes (i.e. mines). Any suggestions, even crazy ones, are welcome. The basic requirement is for the unit in question to go over water and land, pillage a certain terrain improvement and return to base the next turn while being only vulnerable to a certain type of unit that simulates an interceptor.

It could be done in Civ I, air units could pillage just like land units.
I used to be able to tell the range of my bombers by the pillaged mines and railroads in the AI's territory.

AFAIK, air units cannot pillage in Civ II.

If you go the helicopter route, you might try making land units subs (and give most of your units the ability to see subs). The sub flag means that naval units cannot attack land units. I don't know for certain, but it may prevent units from attacking other domains. It's a long shot, and may screw up what you're trying to do in the rest of the scenario.

In "Europe in Flames", the author simulated the destruction of industrial complexes by making them into move 0 land units. If an industrial complex is destroyed, the attacker recieves gold from the defender's treasury (through the events file). If you want to keep the penalty, but reduce the advantage to the attacker, just use a "changemoney" event for the defender.

what are you working on?

[Kubla Khan]

I think that would cause all kinds of other horrible problems...if it has the sub flag on, it can't attack stuff on land, even if it's a land unit itself. So basically it wouldn't be able to attack.

You might try using a Domain 3 unit and see what happens if range isn't really important to you. Or, if all else fails, make a house rule that it's got to be back at a city after 2 turns.

[Shadowstrike]

But what if you made the aircraft have ridiculously high defense compared to the ground units, but about the same with other aircraft. Then, you could simulate infantry taking potshots at planes, which often led to the death of said infantry...

[Exile]

The inability of the aircraft to pillage was a shock when I first started playing Civ2 and abandoned Civ1. However, I can remember being in situations in Civ1 where another civ had begun to build spaceship parts and I took an aircraft carrier (or 2) over to his continent and proceeded to bomb them back into the stone age in only a few turns. You could prevent oceanic ambushes by using the planes to scout the surrounding seas while en route, killing anything that appeared. Once I was off the hostile coast, I began by bombing all the mines. Then the irrigation. Lastly the rails and roads. If the AI had any fighters around, spot the city that they went back into and priority-bomb it until they were gone, then continue with the stone-age bombing. Taking out the mines first destroyed their production. With that gone, they were always dead meat.

In retrospect, it was too easy. Realistic, but too easy.

Salutations,
Exile

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Lost in America
"a freaking mastermind." --Stefu
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