Nothing is reliable!

[Andrew_RT]

This is really getting frustrating.

axemen with 75% vs melee, vs praetorian-->defeated
swordsman with 55% city attack vs anything in city-->defeated

I just about tried any combination against everything and I always lose 80% army at least.
If the main concept of military in Civ 4 is really that flawed that you can't count on any indicator or statistic(I even get frequently defeated with over 60% odds in my favor!) I don't think I can play it anymore although I just got Civilization 4 for the first time.

Am I missing something here, so far I take into account following factors:
-terrain
-odds
-unit type, spear vs mounted, axe vs sword etc.
-veterancy

I don't know if anyone has played King's Bounty: The Legend but combat there is far more superior and accurate.

[Tattila the Hun]

You just don't remember the N+ times everything went as planned.

[wodan11]

What bonuses did the Praetorian have? What promotions, what fortification defense, what terrain bonus, what cultural defense? Ditto for the other.

Did you use catapults to reduce the city bonus?

[Andrew_RT]

You just don't remember the N+ times everything went as planned.

No, of 11 swordsmen and axemen made 2 remained. Also it is practically impossible to kill longbowmen in the city, it takes 3 units to kill just one.

[Felch]

Listen to wodan. Use Catapults to bring down the defenses and to do splash damage. Bringing down defenses only costs a catapult a turn, doing splash damage you'll lose some of them. Once you do that you'll find that your ground units live a lot longer.

Most of the units you build to attack will be siege units. The rest are there mostly to mop up.

As far as King's Bounty goes, it's good, but realistic is kind of a stretch.

[wodan11]

Also, are you aware that you can see the combat odds -- the chance you have to win the battle -- by selecting one of your units, then holding down the mouse right-button (the "go to / attack" order) over top of the defender? Not only will this tell you the odds to win, it also will tell you the bonuses and modifiers.

If you have < 70% odds, I probably wouldn't attack. Unless you are doing so with the intention of having the first unit die, so that your second unit can win.

Catapults (and other siege engines) allow you to reduce the city defensive bonus (shown on the main screen on the right side of the city name). They also have a second function and can deal collateral damage. But the first one is what will help you here.

[Murg]

Yes, by its very definition 75% attack odds would not be reliable, because it would fail about 25% of the time. If you want it to be reliable you should shoot for 99% or better combat odds. Just remember that even 99% combat odds mean that occasionally you will lose those battles (in a game with 1500 battles on average you will lose 15 of them with 99% combat odds).

[Theben]

Swords and axes vs. longbows? No wonder you're dying.

[Andrew_RT]

Using siege weapons destroys the built stuff in the city, I guess swordsmen having 55% city attack and Sid's tip mean nothing...like for the rest of units.

[GodSpawn]

Wow, what a whiney little git you are!

Tell you what, why don't you just stop playing the game? It seems that it's not for you...

[Felch]

Using siege weapons destroys the built stuff in the city, I guess swordsmen having 55% city attack and Sid's tip mean nothing...like for the rest of units.

No it doesn't. Also your +55% is being more than cancelled by their defensive bonuses. But yeah, GodSpawn is right, you'd rather whine than hear how it works.

If you hold down Alt, it'll have a little breakdown in the corner. That will show you all the math.

[wodan11]

Using siege weapons destroys the built stuff in the city

As Felch said: No, it doesn't.

I guess swordsmen having 55% city attack and Sid's tip mean nothing...like for the rest of units.

Absolutely not. It doesn't "mean nothing". If the defender has +75% defensive bonus, then your 55% reduces that to 20% defensive bonus. It makes a suicide attack into one you just might win.

Your 55% attack bonus allows you to take the city with fewer catapults. You should still bring at least some cats, however; it sounds like you're not even aware of how they work.

[duffer]

"This is really getting frustrating"

Ha. Ha. No kidding. Seriously though, my experience tells me that this is not an easy game to play well. I'm certainly not a "gamer" but I play Civ IV when I have the time - like at two in the morning when I sneek out bed while my wife is sleeping! I've been playing it for two years & can't win consistantly above Noble. I play with a two inch binder containing reference material & an open spreadsheet on a second monitor - my daughter thinks I'm crazy. But there's alot of nuances (and not just to warring), alot of planning and alot of strategy required. And that's why I like it. My suggestion is keep at it, search the web because there's alot of people out there who do play the game well & they've written alot on how to play this game.

[sorinache]

What about this ?

I just got this battle result.. I went "wow !" and did not believe my eyes. The battle took place in plain (no terrain alteration whatsoever)

My (Hatshepsut) Inf (24) against Boudica War elephant (11.2). Combat odds 99,4%. See attached image

[Lord Avalon]

Ha! Enraged elephants ignore bullets and trample puny infantry!!