What's up with the Paratroopers?

[JamesJKirk]

Has anyone found a use for these guys? They're supposed to be able to attack from any air transport, but whenever I send them in they don't attack and just get mauled? is it supposed to be this way? Anyone found a good way to use em?

[Paulypav]

I don't know about for CTP2, haven't got the game yet, but traditionally they were used to capture cities where the enemy had no units left. This was particularly effective when you had bombarded a city far away from land units using ships or bombers. Therefore instead of having to wait until you could land units in position to take the city you could just fly over and your paratroopers would take it for you.

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“The American people have now spoken, but it’s going to take a little while to determine exactly what
they said.” — President Clinton

[Captain_Dave]

Great Library says their advantage is that they can attack the same turn that they unload from a transport, whereas all other units have to wait until the next turn.

[Sarxis]

They basically work like marines do when they attack coastally from a transport. You have to use cargo helis, I believe, in order to use the 'paradrop' attack. Unlike all other units who must wait a turn after being shipped via transports, the paratrooper can basically be 'dropped' from an ajoining square, straight from the cargo heli to perform an immediate attack- just 'unload' directly onto the target location.

A little different from the traditional Sid Meier version of the paradrop function.

[Swissy]

Paratroopers can rarely paradrop into an occupied city. I usually drop then close(2 squares away) and then attack. That way I avoid any active air defense from that city(AI loves to build SAM units). My problem is finding a city to attack where my air transport doesn't go adjacent to another AI city, which might have an active air defense unit.

I said "rarely" before as I have landed on an occupied city, but the defender was an "at peace" phalanx.
[This message has been edited by Swissy (edited December 06, 2000).]

[Darkknight]

I loved the way in civ2 you could have a trench warfare stalemate and then just build up as many paratroopers as they have cities, nuke every city(before SDI defences)(is there something similiar in CTP2?) then paradrop over there frontline defences and capture all their cities.once I only had 2 paratroopers and just went through all their cities and killed them in one turn before they could retaliate. hehehe

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" mind over body "

[JamesJKirk]

In sticking with modern lingo, they have Anti-Missle Defense but it does the same thing. MAD really kicks ass in this game, I cheated and gave myself and opponent some nukes, and nuked a city of his a couple turns later, and then I find them launching nukes at my cities, and after that was over, all my nukes I had set launched at their cities, it was great fun! (how morbid, I know) About the paratroopers, when I drop them in a city with units, they'll die no matter what, I mean i get the battle screen, but all the units just kill em, no fighting back!

[Prince_Vegeta]

Has anyone ever tried to drop paratroopers close to a city and just had them all die when they exit the copters? I've had this happen a few times in a couple of different games, and I can't find anything about it in either the manual or the great library about limitations on airborne assaults.

[Paul_1868]

quote: Originally posted by Prince_Vegeta on 12-12-2000 01:55 PM Has anyone ever tried to drop paratroopers close to a city and just had them all die when they exit the copters? I've had this happen a few times in a couple of different games, and I can't find anything about it in either the manual or the great library about limitations on airborne assaults.

The same thing happens to me to. I think is happens when you try to unload units on mountains that cannot move across mountains (tanks).

[Captain_Dave]

yeah, I unloaded a whole copter full of assorted infantry onto a small stack of my troops which were fortified on grassland right outside of an enemy city. It was very disturbing to see them die one at a time, and I couldn't do anything about it I have no frickin' idea why it happened, but I'm sure it'll eventually happen again!