jkelly, you are correct. Standard bombing/bombardment has 50% chance of targeting units, 25% each for population and improvements. If there are no valid targets of the chosen type, the bombardment fails. If you want to capture the city intact, use Cruise Missiles ...
Defcon, the object of Cruise Missiles was to complement precision bombing (reality be d*mn*d), so CMs target ONLY the defending units (in a city) and are killers. Use them instead of bombardment to leave that marketplace intact and not reduce the city size, or not have to wait for turns of bombardment.
EDIT: Good point re the question of adding precision bombing to CMs capabilities.
Defcon, the object of Cruise Missiles was to complement precision bombing (reality be d*mn*d), so CMs target ONLY the defending units (in a city) and are killers. Use them instead of bombardment to leave that marketplace intact and not reduce the city size, or not have to wait for turns of bombardment.
EDIT: Good point re the question of adding precision bombing to CMs capabilities.
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