Maybe I just suck at this game...but

[HSC Guy]

Maybe I just suck at this game, but it's the first Civ type game I've ever played, and I'm enjoying it. The thing is that I'm having the worst time trying to capture enemy cities. If they are protected by cannons, I just can't get though.

What do I do to knock them out? Say I'm attacking a city that has four or five cannons and seven or eight fascists all fortified inside. How do I take the city? What do I need to attack with?

Please advise!

[Falconeer]

Not knowing where you are in the tech tree, I'll try and guess by what's being used to defend. I've found that the best way to soften a city up is with naval bombardment (if it is a coastal city). In my games I've edited the ship of the line to be able to bombard land (in reality, it actually can). I'll use them or once I get them, battleships, to soften up the enemy for a few turns. This will make some of their units damaged along with maybe killing a few. Then I usually take a 12stack composed of 5-6 cannon/artillery and 6-7 cavalry and attack. I like to have all of my front line units be flanking units that way once they kill the unit in front of them they aren't just standing around doing nothing.

The key though I think is the naval bombardment to soften them up. If you are attacking a landlocked city then you may have to move on up next to it and bombard it from there a little bit, just make sure you have units in reserve to fill in the spots of the units that will die. Whenevr I bombard from land the next turn the computer always attacks the stack, kills off a unit and then retreats.

Good luck!

[Dave Boshko]

Are you bombarding first?
If worst comes to worst park two twelve-stacks outside the city and have them both bombard for a few turns before you attack.

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[Carrion]

I have 2 stacks of 12 running around in my oponents lands. one stack is 12 artillery/cannon what ever is available. The other stack is 12 of my favorite offenseve units of the time. Usually tanks and machine gunners.

With the 12 artillery i bomb the hell out of the city for 2 turns then attack with the other stack and watch the carnage. I rarely loose more than 1 unit in the assault.

[OmniGod]

Not much into tactics are you guys?

Omni - the only 4 or 5 to a stack guy... diversity wins the day again

[HSC Guy]

Not much into tactics are you guys?

Omni - the only 4 or 5 to a stack guy... diversity wins the day again.

So what do you recommend to a newcomer? How do you conquer rival nations without only 4-5 units in a stack?

[deathmetal]

i want a quick and merciless win getting those cities. 3 stacks of 12bombardment team will not soften the defense but it will ANNIHILATE the defense.

i can sometimes use spies, if ever needed. but three stacks of 12bombardier will

a) save you time
b) save you units
c) with minimum casualty

[Captain_Dave]

Why the heck haven't I been bombarding? I always do it when I have battleships, but I haven't got them yet in my current game. I've trying to pry the Scots loose from their well-fortified cities. We are pretty equal in tech: riflemen, cavalry and cannons. I've been winning the battles just attacking outright with 6 cannon, 3 Riflemen and 3 cavalry, but when the battle's over all I have left are cannon. I've always avoided parking right next to their city because i'm afraid they'll bombard me. But if I bombard first I should take out a lot of their cannons and have an easier direct assault the next turn, right? What a fool I've been. I guess I haven't bombarded because I have a mixed stack of units, so the bombard option isn't highlighted. Ugh!

Oh, does it make a difference if your cannon are all joined together as an army, or do you bombard with them individually

[OmniGod]

My strategy is smaller groups, with at least 1 bombarder per group... then 2 or 3 groups attack from various sides... this means that the AI will bombard each separately and thus you'll not loose a single unit since most of the time a single bombard won't kill anyone it's the 4 or 5 against a single stack that looses 1 or 2... but by spliting the attack group you can attack more effectively. A fly bye with a bomber just before the final assault all but seals it.. having a spy in the group tells you when you should commence the final assault then it's one smaller group against a really damaged city defense. Maybe you loose 1 of 5 units... the cost is minimal, and you've gained a city... that's my method of madness, and it makes the game interesting since there are tactics and cost effective... 1 unit lost is many more saved.

Omni

[Shaka II]

The bombard option shows up even if it is a mixed group. One thing to watch out for, however, (that maybe someone could verify) is the behaviour of nested groups, i.e., groups within groups. I found out that having the nested group bombard did not result in all bombard units firing (bug?). Use either one unested group or several unested groups on a tile and this will not happen.

I generally bombard until I see no more life in the city, and then enter with fresh troops. It is better to wait an extra turn to make sure than to be unpleasantly surprised to find a bunch of units still in the city. It is good to have 2 defensive units mixed with bombard units to absorb damage, when the AI has it's turn. Cycle in fresh defensive units, bombard units to the attack tile. Best to have a few stacks recovering in nearby city, while others are on front line.

[Falconeer]

You can bombard with your units grouped. You'll see a couple units die when you bombard rather than just a puff of smoke or 1 unit dying. You can also bombard with mixed groups; the bombard option will still be there.

[Captain_Dave]

No, the bombard option isn't highlighted in a mixed group. I don't know if it's available by right-clicking or something, but I had to sort out my cannons before the bombard option showed in the command window. I haven't patched yet, though, but I didn't see this in the list of fixes.

[Kevin Pulliam]

No, the Bombard command is not available for a mixed group. also, if you select into the group and choose one army member to bombard then the entire army acts as if it has bombarded and has it's movement taken away from it. I'm not sure if this is a bug or a feature.. as a feature it makes a small amount of sense but it was surprising when I found it.
Later
Kevin

[Dominous Nemo]

Battleships, bombers, troopships, and marines. ;-)

[Captain_Dave]

OK, I tried it out last night...you CAN bombard with a mixed group by right-clicking on the group and selecting bombard. Worked great. But one caveat to the bombard strategy: If the units in the city are exclusively bombarding units and you have a good front line of attackers/defenders, obviously you will be better off just directly attacking the city. Found this out the hard way!