First Impressions (screenshots, etc.)

[Solver]

Defending cities in Civ4 is easy vs. an insufficient force. Vs. a sufficient force, it's really hard. You can try to have a couple of siege units nearby to hit the attacking stack with them first.

How did the AI use its cannons vs. you. Did it bombard city defenses, or attack the city directly at once?

[Kuciwalker]

I am incredibly psyched about getting this game.

[Mace]

Originally posted by yin26
So I decided to go down fighting. Interestingly enough, that same civ that rolled over for peace, is pushing back harder this time. Indeed, he is pillaging like crazy!

I have found SOME AI's to be pretty good on Noble level.
Peter the Great (Russia) gave me some tough little wars.

[aspvv]

Originally posted by Solver
Defending cities in Civ4 is easy vs. an insufficient force. Vs. a sufficient force, it's really hard. You can try to have a couple of siege units nearby to hit the attacking stack with them first.

How did the AI use its cannons vs. you. Did it bombard city defenses, or attack the city directly at once?

Some Bombardment, but mainly straight attack with a follow up by a conventional fighters, Which is exactly the way I usually do it LOL

[Solver]

Some Bombardment, but mainly straight attack with a follow up by a conventional fighters, Which is exactly the way I usually do it LOL

Heh... essentially, the best way is to bombard city defenses down to 0% and wait with the rest of the units while it's done, then maybe attak directly with Cannons (if needed), then the rest.

[aspvv]

Yep, it was rather late in the game, so I did not care,
But earlier in the same game I was fighting the Mongols on the land, when the brought a good size stack with siege weapons across the bay, by sea, and threatened one of my best sites, I was so out of position that I had to ask for piece, Since I was wining they agreed.

LOL this move saved the Mongols since I would have wiped them out otherwise. As it turned out I got distracted with France and did not attack them again until 2035.

[Mace]

Originally posted by Solver

Some Bombardment, but mainly straight attack with a follow up by a conventional fighters, Which is exactly the way I usually do it LOL

Heh... essentially, the best way is to bombard city defenses down to 0% and wait with the rest of the units while it's done, then maybe attak directly with Cannons (if needed), then the rest.

Wait a minute. Am I missing some important "Bombard" feature of the artillery-class units?

I thought you had to just attack as you would with an axeman or Knight...i.e. move the cannon straight in??

[aspvv]

When you move your artillery units next to a city with a defense bonus (for example 60%) watch for a red target button in the unit action box. Push it the arty will bombard without engaging the defenders.

[MxM]

Just to make it clear. There are two ways for artillery to attack a city. The first is a normal way, where the artillery makes collateral damage (I believe even if it looses). The second is the "bombard" feature. It does not kill artillery nor does any damage to the units in the city. But it does reduce the city defense. If you have enough artillery, you can reduce the city defense to 0, and then attack in normal way.

[Harovan]

Smart AI move discovered!

In my just finished game I (Gandhi) was alone with Japan on a continent. I had shafted Japan in the Ancient age with some border management, cutting him from the juicier land and leaving him only with some plains and tundra. May be as a result of this, may be for whatever reason, Tokugawa never agreed to any deal with me, no technologies, no resources and not even open borders, even though I tried to contact him many times throughout the game. Since he was not exactly a threat and his land not much desirable, I left him alone.

South of mine was a close continent of four. Close, because it did not take ships for contact, we met by expanding cultural borders. Elisabeth to the left, Montezuma in the middle and Washington (N) and Bismarck (S) to the right. I had cultivated Bismarck as ally (pleased to friendly) and kept good relations with Elizabeth as well. I managed to get Washington and Montezuma cautious to pleased, even though both pestered me with demands not to trade with the other of them. Montezuma had attacked Washington in the early medieval age and even captured 2 cities (yes, the AI can capture cities).

So much for the situation. In the industrial age, Montezuma attacked Elizabeth. She asked me to help her, which I declined. She did a good research and always was 2-3 advances ahead of me, so I didn't mind that Monte pillaged the hell out of her (I kept an explorer there as war correspondent). I even helped Monte by gifting him some key technologies and delivering him iron for a pittance. This kept him happy, even though I declined his desire to give him military help as well.

After about 20 turns of happy pillaging, during which I managed to get even in research, Bismarck all of a sudden attacked Montezuma from behind. 2 turns later he asked for help and this time I had to accept. I landed a medium sized expedition force, almost all I had, and took a beachhead. In my homeland remained only a small emergency force of 8 cavalries, distributed in groups of 2. Three of them in the south in case if Monte lands pillagers (which he never did) and only 2 in the north at Tokugawas border. Since he was quiet during the whole game I didn't expect him to attack.

I was wrong. Soon as my expedition force had captured one of Montezumas cities and got some mauling too in response, Tokugawa declared war and attacked full steam from the north. I was shocked and awed . I mean, he did not stand a chance as he was too far behind; he seemed not to have much traded with the other tribes either. But his timing was remarkable. He hit me exactly in the moment when I was weak.

Not that he would have harmed me too much, he just pillaged some roads, an oil well and some food and luxury resources, which net me some unhealthiness and striking citizens, however. But he managed to achieve, that I had to divert nearly all my production to fend off his pinpricks over all the length of our mutual border. God bless the limited RR movement, it would have been boring otherwise! In result of this, my offensive in Aztec territory faltered, I had to withdraw in the captured city and make peace. Not before I made Monte making peace with Bismarck, so I could remain a reliable ally. Which cost me some techs, but oh well. I love that "Make peace with" feature, it's great!

The only downside I encountered was, that I found out, that Tokugawa irrigated his only ivory source instead of building a camp. Farming it doesn't get him the resource for War Elephants. He could have attacked me with them in the ancient age, when I still was expanding and had no significant military. The Civ3 AI would have most likely done so.

[Solver]

Most certainly not a coincidence, this AI does do that sometimes, strike when you're weak .

[Arrian]

Too bad about the ivory thing, though. War Elephants might have saved Toku's bacon.

-Arrian

[Solver]

Yes, that's weird. Then again, maybe the Ivory was Camped at some point, but got farmed now, with Tokugawa realizing that Elephans aren't a load of help vs. a modern civ.

[Harovan]

He actually had one War Elephant sitting in one of his cities. So either he re-improved the tile (which I have my doubts for) or he traded for it from another AI civ. He definitely was not at war with anyone but me (which led to his extinction), so the tile was not pillaged in order to re-improve it.

[Harovan]

Another theory might be, that he farmed it when he did not have Hunting yet. IIRC Japan starts with Wheel and Fishing, so this theory makes sense.