Forts - What gives?

[Baldyr]

I'm feeling very unsure about the Fort terrain improvement in nowadays. When the game was first released I could simply look the facts up in the manual - very convenient. Over the years, with the patches and what not, things have changed though. Now I really don't know what is a matter of fact, what I have read somewhere and what I have dreamed up myself. This is why I really can't predict what a Fort will do in my games, and I suspect that I'm not utilizing them to the full extent of their potential.

So, what gives? Could you guys please summarize your collective knowledge on the subject in this thread, as if it would be a game manual, please. Or is there maybe some resource online with all the facts I'm looking for? (Like and updated game manual.)

disclaimer: I made several searches on this forum but the information I found was incomplete at best and contradictory at worst. I can't find the information in the in-game Civilopedia either.

[DirtyMartini]

The only use I see for forts is that they function as canals.

The AI seems to build them on any resources outside the BFC (but that my be due to the improved AI mod, not sure, but it's pretty dumb)

Maybe on a very choke-y map, the defensive boni might be useful, but the AI will generally just bypass them. A Maginot line configuration would require too may defenders.

[LDiCesare]

Yup, they're only useful for canals.
Building them on resources outside BFC claims the resource, so it's not silly, but it's not much different from building the regular improvement.

[DirtyMartini]

Yup, they're only useful for canals.
Building them on resources outside BFC claims the resource, so it's not silly, but it's not much different from building the regular improvement.

huh, I had no idea that it claimed the resource. When I bothered to think about it (not often) I thought it was a bug

[Lord Avalon]

Forts take longer to build than a farm/mine/etc, and require a later tech. I wouldn't build it on a resource unless it were my only source and near a tense border, so in need of defending.

Canals can only cross two tiles of land: water - city/fort - fort - water. But if, for some strange reason, you built a string of forts (and cities) along a coast, a ship could travel down it without going into open water.

[rjmatsleepers]

Forts can be built on neutral territory, where the resource improvement can't. There are some rare situations where it pays to build the fort and connect it ahead of a border pop. Once the border has popped, the fort can be changed to a regular improvement. This can give access to the resource a few turns earlier.

RJM

[wodan11]

Forts take longer to build than a farm/mine/etc, and require

...what is probably later but not always...

a later tech. I wouldn't build it on a resource unless it were my only source and near a tense border, so in need of defending.

[Lord Avalon]

True, wodan. I was thinking of early game techs.

[Jaybe]

Another Fort feature: you can base 4 aircraft in it (if on your soil).

The most common player use of Forts is probably for OIL access as soon as combustion is researched.

[Baldyr]

I thougth, for some reason, that Forts could be used to claim resources outside of your cultural boundaries. This is wrong, isn't it?

Can one utilize Forts (for defense) within another civ's cultural borders? (One's Vassal/Master not counting.) What about Forts on neutral territory? (You can build them anywhere now, right?) Can you base ships/planes in Forts outside of your territory?

Do Forts serve as ports? If I have a non-coastal city on a distant continent and connect it to a coastal fort, does the city get connected to my trade network?

I personally feel that Forts should double as those Colonies in . They could function both as fortresses/military bases/airbases AND as ports/colonies, regardless of what territory they are built on. (This is something for the modding community to tinker with, I know.)

[wodan11]

I thought you could only build a fort within your borders.

[wodan11]

The best benefit to forts is that, with BtS they can be built on forests, garrisons get Defender bonus, and they are not able to be reduced by siege.

[Theben]

The most common player use of Forts is probably for OIL access as soon as combustion is researched.

This is my main use.

[Baldyr]

I think it's a bit disturbing that there seems to be no clear authority on these matters online. Like what gives with Forts (the subject of this thread). Could someone with the knowledge write a short and concise "Civilopedia entry" for Forts? (And I count on the rest of the community to add to that description if needed.) I for one would like to know how to use them. (Duh!)

[Theben]

Forts add +25% to defensive terrain. In the latest versions of BtS they do not remove forest/jungle.

They may be used as ports and airbases. They do not connect a resource on an island without a city on the same island, nor extend a trade network into the ocean. They may be built in neutral territory. With proper city/port placement you can create a canal with forts.

Building a fort on a resource allows the civ that owns the tile access to that resource, even if outside a city limit. Since it takes longer to build a fort than most other structures, forts used in this manner are normally only built (by players) on contended borders or on oil fields, b/c oil is discovered long before wells can be built.