Nuclear Msl. (Civ2)

The Nuclear Msl. is one of two s in Civilization II, available with the . It is the strongest offensive unit in the game, using unique combat rules that grant it unparalleled destructive power. A containing the is the only means of thwarting a nuclear attack.
Nuclear missiles can only be built once the has been completed. also require knowledge of in addition to Rocketry. A civ in possession of nuclear weapons prompts unique commentary during .
Nuclear Msl.s can be carried by s as well as s.
== Strategy ==
A nuclear attack bypasses normal resolution and is guaranteed to succeed if not intercepted; the target player is notified via popup message. All units present on the defending , and all units in adjacent tiles, are destroyed in the attack. Any within the blast radius has its halved (rounded up); nuclear missiles are the only unit that can attack a city without a garrison. tiles become , representing radioactive contamination, and most s 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 s, 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 ===
A nuclear strike is a considerable source of on-map pollution, with a worst-case scenario producing 9 polluted tiles, enough to provoke if not cleaned up. Thus, large-scale and/or sustained nuclear warfare is a significant detraction to all players' , and endangers habitability of the entire .
=== Countermeasures ===
The 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 to and , and locating active s, 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 ==
The Nuclear Msl. is defined on Line 46 of the section of , although any unit with strength 99 uses the unique nuclear combat rules. All nuclear weapons require the , and knowledge of to construct, regardless of their stated prerequisite advance. Nuclear weapons use a on attack, and . The missile is not strictly necessary, however if left unflagged, the unit will play its default attack sound in addition to .
Owning at least one instance of the unit in the 46th slot affects from :
* 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 in sections , , and , respectively. Popups notifying the player of a nuclear attack and SDI interception are defined at and respectively.
== Notes ==
== See also ==
* Nuclear Msl. in other games