Thanks to a toddler banging on my laptop keyboard before I finished a turn (and the resulting reload to replay my turn), I noticed something very interesting - so much so that it almost strikes me as an exploit (not sure yet - the discovery needs a bit more time to sink in).
First, the basics - two key points: (1) fortresses offer a 50% defensive bonus to units garrisoned there, and also offer ZOC ability to any units therein; and (2) PTW incorporated some clear differences in AI behavior (compared to vanilla Civ v1.29) which is particularly evident with the activity of barbarians -- from Firaxian comment, we know that the AI-controlled civs make a calculation regarding the odds of battle before committing troops to any particular engagement -- if the odds are heavily against the AI, it tends to break off an attack and/or look for a weaker target -- there's a lot less of the AI throwing stacks of inferior units against a superior tactical situation.
These two facts, and the intervention of my toddler, lead me to a startling discovery -- where the local geography permits, a maginot line can be far more effective than it was under vanilla Civ. It can seemingly offer real deterrence at very low cost, and enable a technologically advanced civ to maintain a very small standing army but still be secure within its borders.
I was playing an all-random game and drew the Ottomans as my civ. An ineffective Babylon offensive in the BCs secured for me the former Babylonian lands -- I had two decent but small cores established early, and from that point felt I could win in any fashion I chose. I have been experimenting with largely peaceful games, trying to focus a bit on trading and diplomacy, and I let the age of the Sipahi pass without offensive war (sacrilege, I know ). But my diplomacy was ineffective -- I found the Ottoman empire embroiled in several wars, and even with Universal Suffrage my Republic began to feel the strains. I constructed a longish maginot line before I finally decided to take a Persian city to encourage negotiations and also significantly shorten the needed maginot defenses.
In the age of infantry and tanks, just after entering the Modern Age (I had a 3 - 4 tech lead and no one except the Ottomans yet had tanks) I took Tyre from the Persians. I intended to build fortresses and staff them in the appropriate spots to insulate my new territory from incursions. After taking Tyre, but before I could build the defensive fortifications and attend to some pollution clean-up, I stepped away from the laptop and fate intervened. I returned to find a guilty but happy child and a screen that clearly showed that my turn had ended and the AI had moved -- a good-sized SOD waited outside my new city, and a dozen or so wounded and "retreated" cavalry were nearby -- I had also lost some key assets. I reloaded the turn, played it out as best I could as I had done the first time, but completed my planned fortifications and posturing. When I ended my turn, I was quite surprised to see not one whit of an AI SOD -- I suffered an aerial bombardment or two, but my maginot line was unmolested!
After finishing the game, I recreated the incident as best I could so as to grab some screen shots. Below is a screenshot that shows Tyre and its immediate surroundings on the same turn -- in the top view, my defensive fortifications are complete and unmolested after one turn; and in the bottom view is the situation when no defensive fortifications were erected.
In the "real" game I staffed the fortresses with 4 infantry each -- in the replay shown here, I tried it with only 2 infantry in each fort -- still no attack whatsoever! So . . . 2 infantry, fortified in fortresses on grassland, and within the defensive umbrella of a radar tower (defense of ‘21’ for each infantry), were sufficient to deter an AI SOD that consisted of +/- 10 dead cavalry, 10 wounded and "retreated" cavalry, and +/- 45 infantry and guerillas (mostly infantry). For the cost of some fortresses, a few radar towers, and less than 2 dozen infantry in total, I could have secure borders, no incursion of AI forces other than by sea ( ), and no increase in war weariness.
Interesting? Exploitative?
Catt
First, the basics - two key points: (1) fortresses offer a 50% defensive bonus to units garrisoned there, and also offer ZOC ability to any units therein; and (2) PTW incorporated some clear differences in AI behavior (compared to vanilla Civ v1.29) which is particularly evident with the activity of barbarians -- from Firaxian comment, we know that the AI-controlled civs make a calculation regarding the odds of battle before committing troops to any particular engagement -- if the odds are heavily against the AI, it tends to break off an attack and/or look for a weaker target -- there's a lot less of the AI throwing stacks of inferior units against a superior tactical situation.
These two facts, and the intervention of my toddler, lead me to a startling discovery -- where the local geography permits, a maginot line can be far more effective than it was under vanilla Civ. It can seemingly offer real deterrence at very low cost, and enable a technologically advanced civ to maintain a very small standing army but still be secure within its borders.
I was playing an all-random game and drew the Ottomans as my civ. An ineffective Babylon offensive in the BCs secured for me the former Babylonian lands -- I had two decent but small cores established early, and from that point felt I could win in any fashion I chose. I have been experimenting with largely peaceful games, trying to focus a bit on trading and diplomacy, and I let the age of the Sipahi pass without offensive war (sacrilege, I know ). But my diplomacy was ineffective -- I found the Ottoman empire embroiled in several wars, and even with Universal Suffrage my Republic began to feel the strains. I constructed a longish maginot line before I finally decided to take a Persian city to encourage negotiations and also significantly shorten the needed maginot defenses.
In the age of infantry and tanks, just after entering the Modern Age (I had a 3 - 4 tech lead and no one except the Ottomans yet had tanks) I took Tyre from the Persians. I intended to build fortresses and staff them in the appropriate spots to insulate my new territory from incursions. After taking Tyre, but before I could build the defensive fortifications and attend to some pollution clean-up, I stepped away from the laptop and fate intervened. I returned to find a guilty but happy child and a screen that clearly showed that my turn had ended and the AI had moved -- a good-sized SOD waited outside my new city, and a dozen or so wounded and "retreated" cavalry were nearby -- I had also lost some key assets. I reloaded the turn, played it out as best I could as I had done the first time, but completed my planned fortifications and posturing. When I ended my turn, I was quite surprised to see not one whit of an AI SOD -- I suffered an aerial bombardment or two, but my maginot line was unmolested!
After finishing the game, I recreated the incident as best I could so as to grab some screen shots. Below is a screenshot that shows Tyre and its immediate surroundings on the same turn -- in the top view, my defensive fortifications are complete and unmolested after one turn; and in the bottom view is the situation when no defensive fortifications were erected.
In the "real" game I staffed the fortresses with 4 infantry each -- in the replay shown here, I tried it with only 2 infantry in each fort -- still no attack whatsoever! So . . . 2 infantry, fortified in fortresses on grassland, and within the defensive umbrella of a radar tower (defense of ‘21’ for each infantry), were sufficient to deter an AI SOD that consisted of +/- 10 dead cavalry, 10 wounded and "retreated" cavalry, and +/- 45 infantry and guerillas (mostly infantry). For the cost of some fortresses, a few radar towers, and less than 2 dozen infantry in total, I could have secure borders, no incursion of AI forces other than by sea ( ), and no increase in war weariness.
Interesting? Exploitative?
Catt
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