Nuclear Msl. (Civ2)

Nuclear Msl.
Modern-era missile unit
Attributes
Domain	Air
Role	Offense
Subcategory	Missile
Cost	160
Attack	99
Defense	0
Hitpoints	1
Firepower	1
Moves	16
Fuel range	1 (16)
Advances
Era	Modern
Requires	Rocketry
Obsolete with	N/A
Special abilities
Nuclear weapon; requires Manhattan Project and Nuclear Fission Destroyed after attacking Can be carried by submarines

The Nuclear Msl. is one of two missile units in Civilization II, available with the Rocketry advance. It is the strongest offensive unit in the game, using unique combat rules that grant it unparalleled destructive power. A city containing the SDI Defense improvement is the only means of thwarting a nuclear attack.

Nuclear missiles can only be built once the Manhattan Project Wonder has been completed. Civilizations also require knowledge of Nuclear Fission in addition to Rocketry. A civ in possession of nuclear weapons prompts unique commentary during diplomatic meetings.

Nuclear Msl.s can be carried by Submarines as well as Carriers.

Strategy

A nuclear attack bypasses normal combat resolution and is guaranteed to succeed if not intercepted; the target player is notified via popup message. All units present on the defending tile, and all units in adjacent tiles, are destroyed in the attack. Any city within the blast radius has its population halved (rounded up); nuclear missiles are the only unit that can attack a city without a garrison. Land tiles become polluted, representing radioactive contamination, and most tile improvements have a random chance to be removed.

Civilizations whose units and/or cities are caught in the blast radius do not recognize these casualties as direct aggression. This means attacking an enemy adjacent to neutral/allied forces can be exploited to weaken a rival without provoking war.

As a missile unit, Nuclear Msl.s can be carried by submarines, allowing them to be smuggled past the enemy perimeter to launch strikes deep within the heartland. Submarine-based nukes allow a player to conceal a retaliatory stockpile from a rival's counterforce strike against their known arsenal.

Fallout

Further information: Global warming (Civ2)

A nuclear strike is a considerable source of on-map pollution, with a worst-case scenario producing 9 polluted tiles, enough to provoke global warming if not cleaned up. Thus, large-scale and/or sustained nuclear warfare is a significant detraction to all players' game score, and endangers habitability of the entire planet.

Countermeasures

The SDI Defense protects all tiles within a three-space radius of its host city from foreign nuclear strikes, immediately destroying the missile and providing both players with an advisory popup; it will not intercept the player's own missiles. SDI does not prevent blast damage from attacks against the fourth tile outside this perimeter.

Strategic warfare

The advent of nuclear weapons drastically raises the dangers of war. Even a limited exchange can devastate well-developed cities, while multiple strikes can be made on the same city to destroy its population outright. Keeping track of which rivals are capable of building nukes during and after construction of the Manhattan Project, and which are maintaining a standing arsenal, is important to planning for imminent threats and future sneak attacks.

Sustained nuclear warfare risks effectively destroying the planet through cascading global warming. Computer opponents tend toward liberal use of nukes, regardless of the player's own arsenal, meaning it may be necessary to intervene in a third-party war to save the belligerents from themselves.

A civilization with no or limited SDI coverage must instead rely on destroying enemy missiles before they can deploy. Using espionage units to scout city garrisons and production, and locating active airbases, can help identify priority targets in a "first strike" before committing to war.

Civilopedia entry

The deployment of atomic bombs at Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of World War II changed the world's standards for measuring military power. Nuclear weapons can eradicate ground forces and armored divisions, and flatten cities with their awesome explosive power. In the years following World War II, arsenals of nuclear weapons were built up rapidly by opposing nations, each fearing the capabilities of the other. This massive arms build up has acted as a deterrent to full-scale war, since all the governments involved are aware of the consequences should such a war take place. The threat imposed by the huge nuclear arsenals of the world powers may one day be eradicated by the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, a system designed to destroy enemy missiles in flight before they can reach their targets.

Modding

Main article: Modding (Civ2)/Units

The Nuclear Msl. is defined on Line 46 of the @UNITS section of Rules.txt, although any unit with Attack strength 99 uses the unique nuclear combat rules. All nuclear weapons require the Manhattan Project, and knowledge of Nuclear Fission to construct, regardless of their stated prerequisite advance. Nuclear weapons use a unique explosion animation on attack, and NUKEXPLO.WAV. The missile flag is not strictly necessary, however if left unflagged, the unit will play its default attack sound in addition to NUKEXPLO.

Owning at least one instance of the unit in the 46th slot affects diplomatic messages from computer opponents:

• A computer civ possessing the unit appends its introduction with "Our words are backed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS!"
• A non-nuclear rival addressing a nuclear player will plead for the weapons to be destroyed.
• A nuclear rival addressing a nuclear player will acknowledge the "deterrent" while promising retaliation in kind.

These messages are defined in Game.txt in sections @NUCLEARWEAPONS, @YOURNUKES1, and @YOURNUKES2, respectively. Popups notifying the player of a nuclear attack and SDI interception are defined at @USEWEAPONS and @SDI respectively.

See also

• Nuclear Msl. in other games