Bi-plane

[Obeliske]

What the heck is the point of it. I got a very lucky starting spot and managed to get all of North America while others are crowded on their continents, I decided to concentrate on planes and finally unlocked the biplane, it can move 3 squares to either side of the aerodrome. There's nothing else I can figure out to do with it as it can't even fly around and scout the map for me.

[The Spanish Inquisition]

Get aircraft carriers to transport them where you want to assault. Also as tech advances you'll have better planes.

[U-Think]

Originally posted by Obeliske:

What the heck is the point of it. I got a very lucky starting spot and managed to get all of North America while others are crowded on their continents, I decided to concentrate on planes and finally unlocked the biplane, it can move 3 squares to either side of the aerodrome. There's nothing else I can figure out to do with it as it can't even fly around and scout the map for me.

plane can move furthuer each turn so yeah they could scout the map for you

[w.f.schepel]

There is no point to planes. The AI generally never builds any, their combat power is highly limited and the balloon does all the spotting you will ever need for your arty.

[Uncle Mike Retro]

You don't expect that a biplane could scout a whole continent, do you?

[Obeliske]

I get the feeling several of you have never built them before... Also building biplanes to carry them around on aircraft carriers is a really weird thing.

[katzenkrimis]

Originally posted by Obeliske:

I get the feeling several of you have never built them before... Also building biplanes to carry them around on aircraft carriers is a really weird thing.

By the time you build carriers, you should no longer have biplanes. You should have upgraded them by then.

You don't need planes currently because the AI is broken and doesn't use them.

However, if they ever fix this game, you'll definitely need at least 1 carrier. I usually build 2.

Otherwise your fighter planes and bombers are useless offensively, overseas. They'll be stuck at home for the remainder of the game. And you don't want that, because if you play defensively in Civilization, you'll lose.

You need to get out there and stop these runaway civs from winning.

The day the AI gets planes in this game, everyone who hasn't been building them, will be royally screwed.

Then watch the complaints pour in. They'll be crying about planes, instead of barbarians.

[SamBC]

Air units don't work like other units. They have to be based on an aerodrome, airbase or aircraft carrier, and then deployed to a tile nearby. They can then run attack missions or intercept incoming air attacks.