Army Compositions for taking cities

[Augustus]

Say you have medieval Tech..infantry, cannon, cavakry. What is a good composition..I was thinking you might not need cavalry? is it better for open field battles? just infantry then cannon...hmmm.

[Dogbreath]

I'd keep some cavalry because they have the ability to flank, meaning that they can attack diagonally when there is no target in front of them.
4 infantry
2 cavalry
5 cannons
1 slaver :-)

[colorme]

Infantry - put in defense troops, not offense. Let the cannons do all the attacking. Defense troops can bear the attacks. And cavalry flanking is a must.

[Dom Pedro II]

Well, wouldn't defensive units prove somewhat ineffective when attacking?? I mean, I'm only a Civ2 player up until this game, but I don't think that Infantry have the attack factor you want for invasions.

[MarkG]

actually, you leave your artillery to do the attacking. the longer your front line holds, the longer your artillery can hit the opposite front line

btw, on attacking cities: always bombard first for a few turns. otherwise prepare to loose lots of units....

[colorme]

yeah, AI city defense in CTP2 is pretty good. I was substantially impressed by it. Now, if only one could make it attack as well, that would give us one fun game. I wish the AI files were more tweakable.

[ak]

From the manual:

Offensive units are always at the front and in the center of the battle, with defensive units close by. Ranged attack units position themselves in the back, and flanking units occupy the sides. Offensive and defensive units always attack the opposing unit directly in front of them. Ranged units attack the offensive units in their "column." Flanking units attack the center-most opposing offensive units. In this way, flanking units substantially increase the attack power of an army. As units die, other units fill their place from the sides. Offensive and defensive units fill the center ranks. When they are all defeated, flanking units and ranged units take to the front lines and fight to the bitter end. The more flanking and ranged units you have in an army the more attack power you have per round of combat. However, too many of these units may prove to be a weakness, as their direct offensive and defensive capabilities are often less than standard offensive and defensive units. Armies with a mix of offensive, defensive, ranged, and flanking units are the best forces to muster. They fight with coordination and balance each other's strengths and weaknesses, making for an effective fighting force.