Zoc?

[Kaljamaha]

I recently acquired Civ3, and have been playing around with it. Now, this may well have come up earlier, but I couldn't find any thread dealing with this particular problem.

How exactly does ZOC work in Civ3? Specifically, in my game I fortified my border against the Egyptians, but the fortifications didn't seem to have any effect. There was this narrow strip of land (mountains) connecting mine and Cleopatra's areas, so I thought I'd create a chokepoint. I constructed two fortresses on the two-by-two mountainous area, so that they were diagonally to each other. I garrisoned the forts with three Legions each, and thought that I'd be safe. I mean, if the Egyptians wanted to take the forts, they'd have to attack over a river, up a mountain, into a fort. Feeling secure, I went on to mind other business. After all, as I understood it, they'd have to take both forts to move past the area.

As if!

All sorts of units, ranging from Spearmen to Cavalry waltz right past the forts. I then went on to re-read the ZOC section in the Civilopedia. It was a bit vague, but in no case did my legions get "free shots" at any passersby. They just sat there looking like idiots!

I prolly didn't read some section or other, missed some vital info, or something. Not for lack of looking, though. So, could someone tell me how this works nowadays?


K.

[MonsterMan]

I think the Civilopedia is a bit confusing on this matter. Units which have the ability to take pot shots will do so in fortifications; those are mounted units, artillery etc. There's a list of all units with ZOC in the pedia.

Other than that the only option is to fortify every square of the border so it will be impossible for the enemy to get through. But that's not a good strategy actually; it's better to keep a couple of mounted units in the fort, to take out any incoming.

Any older and wiser on the board who can explain it better than me? :-)

[Willem]

Originally posted by MonsterMan
I think the Civilopedia is a bit confusing on this matter. Units which have the ability to take pot shots will do so in fortifications; those are mounted units, artillery etc. There's a list of all units with ZOC in the pedia.

Other than that the only option is to fortify every square of the border so it will be impossible for the enemy to get through. But that's not a good strategy actually; it's better to keep a couple of mounted units in the fort, to take out any incoming.

Any older and wiser on the board who can explain it better than me? :-)

Well I certainly hope they make some changes with this. It makes the whole idea of trying to build a defensive perimeter, and fortresses in general, totally ludicrous. IMO, fortresses at least should work the same way that all movement did before. As it stands now, there's absolutely no way to prevent a horde from getting past my frontline defences and into my heartland. The only defensive option I have right now is to heavily garrison every single city in my empire.

[MonsterMan]

The Chain

In the early time periods, before railroad, I use a strategy I call The Chain. Imagine three cities with a road connecting them. Now a fourth city is conquered north of the northest city. The defensive units of the 3rd city move to the newly-conquered city, while the def of the 2nd city move to the 3rd and the 1st city moves it's units to the 2nd city. This leaves the 1st city undefended, but because it's deep in your territory there is no way the enemy will come close to it.

Usually my chains are more complicated, but the principle stays the same.

Another good idea is to have *lots* of catapults and cannons for domestic defense. They will become even more powerful once you have a nice railroad grid. Catapults are especially nice because they are quick to build, and if you're playing a democracy you can easily afford to upgrade them all. Cannons are very good against stacks with defensive units. A group of Cavalry will have a hard time defeating a stack that's defended by riflemen, but if your cannons soften them up it can really make the difference between winning and loosing.

Good luck