Invasions: stage or all at once?

[Theseus]

Cut off all roads to the capitol.

[planetfall]

Originally posted by Theseus
Cut off all roads to the capitol.

Duh.

Actually I have not seen as much positive effect from that strategy as I would have hoped. I seem to get better results by taking the capital. The capital relocation seems to disrupt empire more than just removing all roads to capital as it cuts into production capability. Besides it is more fun than the boring bombardment of at least the 8 capital border tiles each and every turn. I'm guessing the AI has to change to a new tactic each time the capital moves.

[Theseus]

Sorry, but I think it's cool. In the first mini-tourney game, I cut off all of China's access to strategic and luxury resources, and cut off the capital, and then, after watching their forces devolve to Longbow attacking my Tanks, I took'em down in a couple of moves.

[planetfall]

Yeh, that is cool. Since 1.21 I don't see other civ's cities go into disorder when cut off luxuries. Sometimes I still cut off the capital, other times they only have 1 or 2 instances of my primary targets:
rubber
Ur/Alum
Then I can take 3-4 tiles instead of 8. Even if add 2 for oil, it still might be easier than restricting roads to capital. If leave capital still have the problem of it tending to be in the center of the empire. I prefer to both remove stragetic resources and force center of empire to relocate hoping for a good empire production decline. Unfortunately we don't a table where we can compare the production of our civ with other civs. If firaxis had such a tool we should be able to figure out what really works best.

Of course, there is the other answer. I am playing at lower difficulty level and so my "sloppy approach" to warfare might not be possible on higher settings. I just enjoy finding a civ with only 1 rubber and 1 Ur/Al.
I take out 2 tiles and use rest of bombardment for city capture. Either way it is a fun to watch de-evolution.

[Jaybe]

Plant spies so you get their military strengths from your F3. You can do this on the turn you declare if you fear their being caught and starting the war prematurely.

It is at least entertaining to see how their strengths fluctuate with production and combat losses.

[Panag]

hi ,

tip ; the maximum size of a pic is 600X600 pixcels , ...

just reduce the size for the screenshot's , ..

have a nice day

[planetfall]

Originally posted by Jaybe
Plant spies so you get their military strengths from your F3. You can do this on the turn you declare if you fear their being caught and starting the war prematurely.

It is at least entertaining to see how their strengths fluctuate with production and combat losses.

Wow, great idea. Know of any tactics to get spies in Persia? They were so trigger happy this last game, ugh. After 4th time, spread over 3 turns, war. Phooney too soon.

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by planetfall
Wow, great idea. Know of any tactics to get spies in Persia? They were so trigger happy this last game, ugh. After 4th time, spread over 3 turns, war. Phooney too soon.

Tips:
Be on good terms with them.

I have had good experience with being in Communist government. Works better with higher "professionalism" of your spys.

"Cheat".
Save before planting spy. Plant spy. If unsuccessful, reload and try again, but do it in a different 'randomizer event' order (e.g., combat, other diplomacy action).

[planetfall]

Ok, it worked, but barely. Stack of 20 units was attacked by 3 stacks of about 20 units. Almost all units went yellow. Lost some naturally. Hint: calvary do not work for first counter attack wave.

artillery question
How do artillery work on defense?

If have stack of 10 units and 2 artillery, what happens when another stack attacks?

First time-- naturally artillery gets 2 shots.

What happens on second unit attack? Do artillery get another shot, or have they already used up their free shot?

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by planetfall
...
What happens on second unit attack? Do artillery get another shot, or have they already used up their free shot?

Artillery gets only 1 defensive shot per turn. My experience is that only 1 unit will defensively fire at an attacking unit. 2nd artillery would defend against the 2nd attacker.

Masses of artillery is preferred so that you can disable enemy units during YOUR turn.

[planetfall]

Originally posted by Jaybe

Masses of artillery is preferred so that you can disable enemy units during YOUR turn.

Ok, that is what I thought. I like panzers for disabling as I get 3 shots/turn instead of just one.

[Panag]

hi ,

use artillery to soften the enemy up , the go for it .
when in a later era , mech infantry and modern armour can take shots at every passing unit , no matter how many , ...

have a nice day

[planetfall]

Originally posted by panag
hi ,

use artillery to soften the enemy up , the go for it .
when in a later era , mech infantry and modern armour can take shots at every passing unit , no matter how many , ...

have a nice day

Real question is assuming you have spies or have reasonable guess Persia has 50-70 infantry/riflemen, how many and which units do you need for a sea landing and settling in hostile territory.

I tried
panzers 8
calvary 8
settler 1
mech 7

reinforced 2 turns later with
mech 5
panzer 3

And I barely held. If replayed, I would forget the cavs and put in 6 mech and 2 panzers.

[Panag]

Originally posted by planetfall


Real question is assuming you have spies or have reasonable guess Persia has 50-70 infantry/riflemen, how many and which units do you need for a sea landing and settling in hostile territory.

I tried
panzers 8
calvary 8
settler 1
mech 7

reinforced 2 turns later with
mech 5
panzer 3

And I barely held. If replayed, I would forget the cavs and put in 6 mech and 2 panzers.

hi ,

first of all , before you start , make sure you can handle it , get more units to start with , more transports , and those old units are great , just disband them in a city , to build a harbor or courthouse faster , ...

infantry will do a nice job to , just to slow them down , ...

try to get a carrier with some airpower , its great for support , but you dont need it always

get some settlers and workers to , to improve the terrain , or to start a new city , ..

artillery to destroy roads , this way , there units are forced to slow down ,

use workers to plant forest , this slows them down also , its good for defense , and good for global warming , to cut down on it that is , ...

have a nice day

[planetfall]

Originally posted by panag


hi ,

first of all , before you start , make sure you can handle it , get more units to start with , more transports , and those old units are great , just disband them in a city , to build a harbor or courthouse faster , ...

In this game AI score was growing faster than mine and power score was stagnant. Did not feel could wait for units. I had to do something to slow their RR and factory/powerplant build orders. Also this other civ was about 4 turns by water away from my continent. Guess your point is I should have used some of 15k cash to hurry and get another 8 units there.

infantry will do a nice job to , just to slow them down , ...

Mechs work better on defense. Upgraded inf just before launching sea expedition

try to get a carrier with some airpower , its great for support , but you dont need it always

Carrier was there but mission was removing roads/RR in tiles next to landing force. That just barely worked. Probably should have brought in 2 carriers

get some settlers and workers to , to improve the terrain , or to start a new city , ..

Brought in one settler per landing group. could not use workers yet as still hostile territory.

artillery to destroy roads , this way , there units are forced to slow down ,

Couldn't use artillery yet, they were in the second landing group. I needed units with defense values.

use workers to plant forest , this slows them down also , its good for defense , and good for global warming , to cut down on it that is , ...
have a nice day

Don't like forest idea. When I used it their defense values improved!!! Too often the fact that they are defending from a forest has been enough to cause me to lose units. In hostile territory if I improve, it is mine or irrigate until I have another buffer city then may go back and forest. I don't see any sense in giving the AI a defensive bonus.