I looked around but didn't see anyone discussing the strategies in Civ 3 regarding the threat and usage of nukes so I thought I'd give it a start on what I've learned.
If the AI never initiated a nuke war, this wouldn't be that important, but I have seen the AI go on the offensive with his nukes, so it's best to be prepared.
Global Warming
As I've seen discussed in another
thread, nukes cause global warming. So if you don't want your planet to become flood plains, deserts, mountains, hills and tundra, use them sparingly. But if you want to see rubber, coal, horses, spices, firs, etc. on desert and flood plain tiles, be my guest. The SDI defense (see below) will help stop global warming if only by reducing the number of nukes to hit the ground.
Soldier Placement
Never, never, never place your entire force within one tile of a city. The best placement for those unused forces in defense (or waiting for offense) is on a tile at least 2 squares from your nearest city. This includes naval forces as well. I've never seen the AI use his nukes for anything but cities. If your forces are in the blast radius, they will take heavy damage. I had to learn the hard way.
SDI Defense
If you don't have it, get it. It protects against any missile where the blast radius will cause damage to your troops (even if in enemy territory), or any square within your border. If the AI you're after has it, investigate his cities until you find it. Then send over your conventional forces to take/raze that city. Your nuclear weapons won't be shot down anymore. The AI doesn't know to destroy your SDI before using his nukes.
Destroying nukes before they hit will also decrease the global warming effect. If SDI destroys the nukes, it is as if the nuke wasn't launched.
Other Notes- When using nukes, all units without hit points (bombers, stealth bombers, artillery, radar artillery, cannons, catapults, workers, settlers, explorers and scouts) in the blast radius will be destroyed.
- Units with hit points that are not destroyed are left with 1/2 of their current hit points rounded down. So 3 nukes in a row destroys all units but armies.
- Wonders great and small, aqueducts and hospitals are never destroyed. Where's the realism here!!
- Doesn't matter where you drop the nukes (all on one city, all over the ocean, etc.), as long as the nuke isn't destroyed by SDI, global warming will be the same no matter.
- The AI only nukes cities. Strange since he almost always uses bombers to destroy terrain improvements!
To accent the last point, one time, the AI decided he wanted to nuke only one city of mine. After successfully nuking it once, he wanted to nuke it again, and again and again. These were ICBMs we're talking about so there was no range problem.
Does anyone else know of any more nuke help and tips?
badams
