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CIVILIZATION III for PC
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UNITS GUIDE v1.0
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By DENOUEMENT (cgparham757@aol.com)
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DISCLAIMER:
This file is copyright by Denouement (Chris Parham). You may NOT reproduce or
distribute this guide in any manner, electronically or otherwise, without the
express written permission of the author. You may not display this guide on any
page in which there are advertisment banners. Below can be found the list of
sites that are permitted to host this guide. This list can be changed at any
time.
List of acceptable sites:
GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com).
CivFanatics (www.civfantics.com).
List of sites which do NOT have permission:
www.cheats.de
Remember, plagiarism is a crime and is punishable under the law.
Note: You can always find the latest version at GameFAQs, at www.gamefaqs.com
Thanks CJayC!
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E-MAIL POLICY:
I welcome e-mails at cgparham757@aol.com but here are the Do's and the Dont's:
DO send questions not in the FAQ.
DO send questions in text or HTML format.
DO send e-mails with "GameFAQs" in the subject line.
DO send suggestions and corrections, this is not a final guide.
DO tell me if you find this guide on a site where it is not permitted (see
above).
DON'T send executables.
DON'T send vulgar or inappropriate mail.
DON'T send mail over and over again, I only check it once every day, at most.
I will try to get back to you as soon as possible...unless you did one of the
"DONTS", in which case your mail will be summarily ignored and ruthlessly
deleted.
5. Units
--Regular Units (open to all or many civs)
--Special Units (open to one civ)
--Upgrade Trees
--Modifying Units Using the Civ III Editor
6. Closing Statement
7. Postscript
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INTRODUCTION
This guide is for Civilization III, a PC game produced by Sid Meier and his
Firaxis development company. Civilization is one of the oldest current strategy
series on the market. Civilization I and Civilization II's numerous
incarnations can in some ways be regarded as the "first generation" of the
Civilization series. Civ III takes the game to a new level of graphics, scale,
and gameplay. This guide covers all the units, both military and non-military,
that appear in the game.
One new addition to the Civ series for this incarnation was the addition of
unique units for each Civilization. Each of the sixteen civilizations has its
own unique unit, which is a slight improvement of an existing regular unit that
is available to all other tribes. Not only is this unit slightly better than
the equivalent units possessed by other Civs, but a wartime victory by a unique
unit can put the given civilization into a Golden Age in which production and
commerce are significantly boosted. All in all, it is an interesting new
feature of the Civ series.
RESOURCES: Strategic Resources, it any, needed to build this unit.
CLASS: Land, Sea, or Air.
COST: Cost in shields (cost in population).
ATTACK: Unit's attack strength.
DEFENSE: Unit's defense strength.
MOVEMENT: Standard moves per turn. For air units, the operational range is
given instead.
BOMBARD: Strength (Range) (Rate of Fire).
UPGRADES TO: What the unit upgrades to.
ABILITIES: All special abilities. This is a list of all abilities.
Wheeled
Foot Soldier
Blitz
Cruise Missile
All Terrain As Roads
Radar
Amphibious Units
Submarine
Aircraft Carrier
Draft
Immobile
Sink In Sea
Sink In Ocean
Mounted
Carry Foot Units Only
Starts Golden Age
Nuclear Weapon
Hidden Nationality
Army
Leader
ICBM
Stealth
Can See Submarines
Tactical Missile
Can Carry Tactical Missiles
Ranged Attack Animation
Turn To Attack
AI STRATEGIES: This determines how the AI will use this unit. You would be well
served to use it in the same way, since these are pretty accurate. The list
that follows is a list of all AI strategies.
Sea: Naval Power
Naval Transport
Naval Carrier
Naval Missile Transport
Air: Air Bombard
Air Defense
Air Transport
ORDERS: All orders available to the unit. Inlcudes Standard Orders, Special
Actions, Worker Actions, and Air Missions. This is a list of all possible
orders. All units have the first five orders, and these will not be repeated
under each unit.
Skip Turn
Wait
Fortify
Disband
Go To
Load
Unload
Airlift
Pillage
Bombard
Airdrop
Build Army
Finish Improvements
Upgrade Unit
Build Colony
Build City
Build Road
Build Railroad
Build Fort
Build Mine
Irrigate
Clear Forest
Clear Jungle
Plant Forest
Clear Pollution
Automate
Join City
Bombing
Recon
Interception
Re-base
Precision Bombing
The regular units are listed alphabetically from AEGIS Cruiser to Worker. Then,
the sixteen civilization-unique units are listed, alphabetically by civ, from
the Americans' F-15 Fighter to the Zulus Impi. For these units, two extra
pieces of info are listed. In parantheses next to the unit's name is the civ
that can build the unit. Below this is the name of the regular unit that this
special unit takes the place of. For instance, the Russians can build the
Cossack, and Cossack takes the place of Cavalry. This means that the regular
Cavalry unit will not show up in the Russians' build list; only Cossack will
show up.
Abilities: Radar
Can See Submarines
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Naval Power
Orders: Bombard
The AEGIS is another nice unit that comes far too late to be of any use to
you. Compared to the battleship, the AEGIS is nothing, and it costs 4/5 as
much to build! Bombardwise, it is almost useless. However, it does get some
credit for its ability to see enemy submarines. If you have some worry that
your enemy is filling the ocean with subs (not that the AI ever does this)
you could be wise to build a few of these units, as they will beat down on
submarines. This is especially true if you think he's got subs loaded with
nukes swimming around in your area. However, once again, the computer isn't
too likely to do this. Frankly, this unit is pretty worthless in the regular
game. With the player v. player expansion, however, called Civ III: Play The
World, my opinion of this unit may be revised.
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ARCHER
Prerequisite: Warrior Code
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 20 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 2/1/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Longbowman
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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ARMY
Prerequisite: None
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 40 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: */*/1
Bombard: NA
Transport: 3 units (4 with Pentagon)
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Army
AI Strategies: Army
Orders: Load
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ARTILLERY
Prerequisite: Replaceable Parts
Resources: None
Class: Land
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CATAPULT
Prerequisite: Mathematics
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 20 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 0/0/1
Bombard: 4 (1) (1)
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Cannon
Abilities: Wheeled
AI Strategies: Artillery
Orders: Load
Bombard
Upgrade Unit
The catapult is the predecessor of some nice units, so if you build it now,
it will pay off as you upgrade it later. Nevertheless, if you have to make a
choice between units, I can't recommend building the catapult. This point in
the game is too early for Artillery. First, all citizens and buildings in
cities have a standard defense of 12 against bombardment. This means that on
turns when you can't hit a unit, you will virtually never cause any damage.
Combined with this, you need to shield the catapult with another unit at all
times. All in all, artillery works best when stacked in massive quantities
and shielded constantly with three or four elite defensive units. That just
isn't conceivable with the limited production of the ancient age.
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CAVALRY
Prerequisite: Military Tradition
Resources: Horses; Saltpeter
Class: Land
Cost: 80 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 6/3/3
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: Knight
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Mounted
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
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CHARIOT
Prerequisite: The Wheel
Resources: Horses
Class: Land
Cost: 20 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 1/1/2
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Horseman
Abilities: Wheeled
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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CRUISE MISSILE
Prerequisite: Rocketry
Resources: Aluminum
Class: Land
The radar artillery is a nice unit, but it kind of "misses the boat" as far
as far as the Age of Artillery goes. These bombard only units became useful
around the time of the Cannon and Artillery, but by this time have been
eclipsed by air bombard units such as the Bomber and the two Stealth planes.
Radar Artillery does edge these units in terms of Bombard power by a good
bit, but it's usually cheaper and easier to use air power and, if you can
afford those one-time costs, the extremely powerful Cruise Missiles. Even
better, it goes without saying that Battleships will do for coastal cities.
Still, if there is a situation in which you cannot use these units, go for
Radar Artillery. As always, use the Firepower Credo: Artillery should be
stacked and concentrated for maximum effectiveness, and should always be
protected by defensive units, in this case Mech Infantry.
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RIFLEMAN
Prerequisite: Nationalism
Resources: None
Class: Land
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SCOUT (Available to Expansionist Civs only)
Prerequisite: None
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 10 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 0/0/2
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Explorer
Abilities: None
AI Strategies: Explore
Orders: Load
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
The Scout is available to the following Civs only: Russia, America, Zululand,
the Iroquois, and England. All five of these civs recieve a free Scout at the
start of the game.
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SETTLER
Prerequisite: None
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 30 shields; 2 population
Attack/Defense/Movement: 0/0/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: None
AI Strategies: Settle
Orders: Load
Build City
Join City
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SPEARMAN
Prerequisite: Bronze Working
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 20 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 1/2/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Pikemen
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Draft
AI Strategies: Defense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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STEALTH BOMBER
Prerequisite: Stealth
Resources: Oil; Aluminum
Class: Air
Cost: 240 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 0/0/8
Bombard: 8 (0) (3)
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Immobile
Stealth
AI Strategies: Air Bombard
Orders: Load
Bombing
Re-Base
Precision Bombing
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STEALTH FIGHTER
Prerequisite: Stealth
Resources: Oil; Aluminum
Class: Air
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SUBMARINE
Prerequisite: Mass Production
Resources: Oil
Class: Sea
Cost: 100 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 6/4/3
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Submarine
Can See Submarines
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Naval Power
Orders: None
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SWORDSMAN
Prerequisite: Iron Working
Resources: Iron
Class: Land
Cost: 30 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 3/2/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: Warrior
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Foot Soldier
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
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TACTICAL NUKE
Prerequisite: Space Flight
Resources: Aluminum; Uranium
Class: Land
Cost: 300 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 0/0/1
Bombard: 0 (6) (0)
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Nuclear Weapon
Tactical Missile
AI Strategies: Tactical Nuke
Orders: Airlift
Bombard
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TANK
Prerequisite: Motorized Transportation
Resources: Oil; Rubber
Class: Land
Cost: 100 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 16/8/2
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Modern Armor
Abilities: Blitz
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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TRANSPORT
Prerequisite: Combustion
Resources: Oil
Class: Sea
Cost: 100 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 1/4/5
Bombard: NA
Transport: 8 units
Upgrades From: Galleon
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Naval Transport
Orders: Unload
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WARRIOR
Prerequisite: None
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 10 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 1/1/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Swordsman
Abilities: Foot Soldier
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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WORKER
Prerequisite: None
Resources: None
Class: Land
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Starts Golden Age
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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RIDER (Chinese)
Replaces: Knight
Prerequisite: Chivalry
Resources: Horses; Iron
Class: Land
Cost: 70 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 4/3/3
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Cavalry
Abilities: Mounted
Starts Golden Age
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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WAR CHARIOT (Egyptians)
Replaces: Chariot
Prerequisite: The Wheel
Resources: Horses
Class: Land
Cost: 20 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 2/1/2
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Knight
Abilities: Wheeled
Starts Golden Age
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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MAN O WAR (English)
Replaces: Frigate
Prerequisite: Magnetism
Resources: Iron; Saltpeter
Class: Sea
Cost: 60 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 3/2/4
Bombard: 3 (1) (2)
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Starts Golden Age
Ranged Attack Animation
Turn To Attack
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Starts Golden Age
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Defense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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PANZER (Germans)
Replaces: Tank
Prerequisite: Motorized Transportation
Resources: Oil; Rubber
Class: Land
Cost: 100 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 16/8/3
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Modern Armor
Abilities: Blitz
Starts Golden Age
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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HOPLITE (Greeks)
Replaces: Spearman
Prerequisite: Bronze Working
Resources: None
Class: Land
Cost: 20 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 1/3/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Musketman
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Starts Golden Age
AI Strategies: Defense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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WAR ELEPHANT (Indians)
Replaces: Knight
Prerequisite: Chivalry
Resources: None
Class: Land
Abilities: Mounted
Starts Golden Age
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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SAMURAI (Japanese)
Replaces: Knight
Prerequisite: Chivalry
Resources: Iron
Class: Land
Cost: 70 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 4/4/2
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: Cavalry
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Starts Golden Age
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Upgrade Unit
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IMMORTALS (Persians)
Replaces: Swordsman
Prerequisite: Iron Working
Resources: Iron
Class: Land
Cost: 30 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 4/2/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Starts Golden Age
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Immortals are a very solid elite unit. On the negative side, they cannot be
upgraded to anything, so it can be wasteful to build a lot of them. However,
they do come at a time which is very advantageous for a Golden Age: you are
just starting to get a big empire, and the Golden Age can help establish your
infantry, but it also comes in a period of likely warfare, and the extra
production can be used effectively to fight an expansionist war. The
Immortals have the highest attack of any unit in the age, and are the only
unit to hold an edge over a Spearman fortified inside Walls, with a 4 attack
to the fortified Spearman's 3.5 defense. This makes it a good unit for
expanding your empire.
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LEGIONARY (Romans)
Replaces: Swordsman
Prerequisite: Iron Working
Resources: Iron
Class: Land
Cost: 30 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 3/3/1
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Foot Soldier
Starts Golden Age
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
Legionary is a fun and versatile little unit that really lets Rome kick some
ass in the Ancient Times. Especially on small and standard maps. The 3/3
combination is the first unit that can double on defense and attack, but its
one movement does limit it. The late Ancient-early Middle Golden Age is also
decent. It is admittedly tough to mobilize these little fellas for war, but a
warmonger Roman player is probably just sending them out and attacking
everything in sight. The only negative is that there is no upgrade
capability.
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COSSACK (Russians)
Replaces: Cavalry
Prerequisite: Military Tradition
Resources: Horses; Saltpeter
Class: Land
Cost: 80 shields
Attack/Defense/Movement: 6/4/3
Bombard: NA
Upgrades From: None
Upgrades To: None
Abilities: Mounted
Starts Golden Age
Ranged Attack Animation
AI Strategies: Offense
Orders: Load
Airlift
Pillage
The Cossack is easily the weakest unique unit. It really has no good
qualities. First, extra defense in a fast attack unit is a waste. How often
are your Cavalry units going to be defending when they have the movement
potential to advance, attack, and retreat all in the same turn. An extra
point of power or movement would have been much better. Second, because the
Cossack breaks an upgrade path, you will need to build them all from the
ground up, while your opponents are merely upgrading their healthy stocks of
knights. The fact that this unit is obtained via a non-essential advance is
another bad point-it will delay your advancement to the next age and delay
your discovery of the vital advancements Sanitation and Nationalism. The
Cossack is perhaps the only unique unit that actually WEAKENS its nation
during its period of influence.
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IMPI (Zulus)
Replaces: Spearman
Prerequisite: Bronze Working
Resources: None
Class: Land
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UPGRADE TREES
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Units upgrading is a great ability in Civ III, which can allow you to keep your
military in tip-top modern condition, and prevent obsolesence. A unit must be
in a city with a Barracks to upgrade. The best string of upgrades is by far the
defensive string connecting Spearman to Mech Infantry, which can keep your
city defenders up with the times. Unique units are not included in the charts.
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MODIFYING UNITS USING THE CIV III EDITOR
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The Civ III editor is somewhat complex and difficult to use, but it's not all
that hard to edit your favorite Civilizations. First, you must allow modified
rules. To do this, go to options and remove the check on "Use Default Rules."
Then go to Edit, and under 'Rules' choose "Units."
There are many options here, all of which have been explained under the Legend
earlier in the guide. The others mostly concern image files and other forms of
media associated with the Unit, including its civilization Entry. You can have
quite a bit of fun messing with the AI strategy, for instance tell the comp to
put its Workers as an offensive land unit.
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CLOSING STATEMENT
Thanks for reading the guide!
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Thanks to the creators of Civ III!
Thanks to Sid Meier for a great game!
Thanks to Dell for a great computer to play it on!
Thanks to GameFAQs, and especially to CJayC for doing such a great job there.
Most of all thanks to me, for the time it took to gather this information.