Great Leaders and Armies

In Civilization 3 a Great Leader can appear when an elite unit wins a battle, and the leader can either finish a city's current build in one turn, which is the only way to rush a wonder, or form an Army, a single unit of up to three combat units that share their hit points, per the Complete manual (pp. 104 and 130). Prima's guide puts the chance at 1 in 16 per elite victory, 1 in 12 after the Heroic Epic (Prima, pp. 171-172). Conquests adds Scientific Great Leaders, who come from research instead of battle.

Quick facts

Sources: Civilization III Complete manual, pp. 104-105; Prima's Official Strategy Guide, pp. 171-172; Civilization III manual (2001), pp. 79 and 205; Civilization III FAQ: Combat.

How to get a Great Leader

9:39 Only elite units produce Great Leaders. "Any time an elite unit is victorious in combat, there is a small chance" it becomes a Great Leader, says the official Civilization III FAQ (Mar 2002); no one can build a leader, the 2001 manual adds (p. 79). So the road to leaders runs through promotions: units rise from regular to veteran to elite by winning battles, which are explained on Combat.

Prima's guide gives the odds as 1 in 16 for each victory by an elite unit, raised to 1 in 12 once you have built the Heroic Epic (Prima, pp. 171-172). Prima describes the 2001 base game; no source read gives the Conquests odds.

Militaristic civilizations are promoted more often. The Complete manual (p. 26) says that for them "unit promotions (to regular, veteran, and elite) occur more frequently", which means more elite units able to produce leaders. See Civilization Traits.

A new leader has no attack or defense and cannot fight, but moves 3 squares a turn (2001 manual, p. 205). Prima's advice is to get it back to one of your cities as quickly as possible (Prima, p. 171). Each civilization has its own list of Great Leader names, which the editor lets you change (Prima, p. 191); Play the World's eight new civilizations each came "with its own Great Leader", in Infogrames's shipping announcement of Oct 29, 2002.

Rushing a wonder

11:33 Conquests may have narrowed this. The manuals say a leader can hurry any wonder, but the creator Suede says in his 2019 video on Civ 3's worst features that military Great Leaders could rush Great Wonders only "back before the Conquests expansion": since then they rush Small Wonders such as the Forbidden Palace, while Scientific Great Leaders can hurry Great Wonders. No official source we read states the Conquests rule.

A leader in a city can "whip the population into a productivity frenzy" and finish whatever the city is building, a unit, a wonder or an improvement, in one turn; the leader is used up (Complete manual, p. 104). It is the only way to hurry a Great Wonder, since gold cannot (p. 130), and the official FAQ says it rushes Small Wonders too. See Wonders and Small Wonders.

Time the switch. Prima advises changing a city's build to a wonder just before the leader arrives, because the leader completes it "no matter how far along it is in its production" (Prima, p. 172). The 2001 manual (p. 113) notes that a rushed item appears at the start of your next turn, so rushing something that would finish next turn anyway gains nothing.

Forming an Army

An Army is a ground unit that carries other ground units, as a transport carries passengers. A leader in a city can become one, and so can any city with the Military Academy; you then load units into it, and once the Army leaves that city no unit can join or leave (Complete manual, p. 104). The 2001 manual's chart lists the Army as a 200-shield unit (p. 205).

An Army holds three units, four after the Pentagon, and only ground combat units that are not artillery may join. You may have one Army for every four cities, per the official Civilization III FAQ and Prima (p. 172).

Armies pool their hit points. "An army of three regular spearman has hit points equal to 9", the Complete manual says (p. 104); three elites make 15 (Prima, p. 174) and four elite Knights 20 (FAQ). An enemy must destroy the whole Army to kill any unit in it, and an Army heals at its units' normal rate, so it seems to heal faster than one unit. It inherits only one special ability, mobility, and only if every unit inside has it.

Inside the Army, units fight one after another. The 2001 manual (p. 79) describes an Army of Archers attacking: each Archer fights until it is down to one hit point, then the next takes over, until the enemy is beaten or the last Archer fights to the end. Prima adds that the units still attack and defend with their own numbers (Prima, p. 174).

12:26 Armies are for taking cities. Prima recommends them against defended cities instead of throwing in many separate units, since defenders "can't stand up to the barrage for long" (Prima, p. 172). More on campaigns is in the War Guide.

The Military Academy, Heroic Epic and Pentagon

Three Small Wonders build on Armies. The Military Academy lets its city build Armies without a leader; Prima calls it "the only consistent way of producing Armies" and suggests a central city so Armies reach every front, which frees your leaders to rush wonders (Prima, pp. 143 and 172). Prima lists Military Tradition and five Barracks as its requirements.

Conquests made every Army stronger through the Military Academy: Armies "receive 1/6th of the combined attack/defense rating as a bonus", in Firaxis's words. The Heroic Epic, which can be built only after one of your Armies wins, raises the chance of leaders; the Pentagon, which needs three Armies in the field, raises every Army's capacity from three units to four (Prima, pp. 134-135).

Scientific Great Leaders (Conquests)

11:27 Conquests added Scientific Great Leaders for civilizations that lead in research. Being the first to discover an advance raises your chance of receiving one, and it can either boost science in a city for 20 turns or hurry the city's production, being used up either way, per the Complete manual (p. 105). The manual does not give the odds or say whether a Scientific Great Leader can hurry a Great Wonder. The race for advances is on Technologies.

Great Leaders and Great People

Civ 3's leaders came before Civilization 4's Great People. 2K's page says Civilization 4 "introduced Great People", but Civ 3 already had military Great Leaders and, in Conquests, scientific ones (2K: Civilization IV; Complete manual, pp. 104-105). PC Gamer's history of the series says Great People, along with works of art and music, were designed for Civ 3 under lead designer Jeff Briggs but cut for time, and found life in later games (PC Gamer, Apr 6, 2020).

Frequently asked questions

How do you get a Great Leader in Civ 3? In Civilization 3 a Great Leader can appear when one of your elite units wins a battle: Prima's guide puts the chance at 1 in 16, or 1 in 12 with the Heroic Epic (Prima, pp. 171-172). Only elite units can produce one.

What can a Great Leader do in Civ 3? A Civilization 3 Great Leader can finish whatever its city is building in one turn, including a wonder, or form an Army; either way it is used up, per the Complete manual (p. 104).

Can you rush a wonder in Civ 3? Only with a Great Leader. Civilization 3 does not let gold hurry a wonder; a leader finishes it in one turn, per the Complete manual (p. 130).

How many units can an Army hold in Civ 3? A Civilization 3 Army holds three ground combat units, or four once you build the Pentagon, and you may have one Army for every four cities, per the official FAQ.

How do you build Armies without a leader in Civ 3? Build the Military Academy Small Wonder; its city can then build Armies, which Prima lists at 150 shields with Military Tradition and five Barracks required, and in Conquests it gives every Army a bonus of one sixth of its combined attack and defense.

What is a Scientific Great Leader in Civ 3? A Conquests addition to Civilization 3: being first to an advance raises your chance of one, and it can boost a city's science for 20 turns or hurry production, per the Complete manual (p. 105).

Sources

• Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete manual, Atari and Firaxis Games, 2005
• Civilization III manual, First Edition, Infogrames and Firaxis Games, Sep 2001
• Sid Meier's Civilization III: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, Prima Games, 2001
• Civilization III FAQ: Combat (archived), Infogrames and Firaxis Games, Mar 2002
• Developer Update: The Wonders of Civ-Conquests (archived), Firaxis Games, 2003
• Infogrames Ships Major Expansion Pack (archived), Infogrames, Oct 29, 2002
• Sid Meier's Civilization IV, 2K, undated
• The complete history of Civilization, PC Gamer, Apr 6, 2020
• Be Better At Combat | Civ 3 Tutorial, Suede, Oct 17, 2024 (video)
• The 4 Worst Game Features in Civ 3 (And How They Could Have Been Fixed), Suede, Jun 22, 2019 (video)
• The overlooked genius of Civilization 3, Suede, Oct 30, 2024 (video)