Catapults in Cradle

[Hermann the Lombard]

Are belfroi and catapults of any value on defense (once battle is joined)? I know I can occasionally plink an adjacent unit on my turn, before they get to attack me, but these engines seem to be completely idle on the battle view.

Also, in Civ3 defending bombard units get a "free shot" at attackers (a good feature); I gather CTP2 doesn't have this feature. Correct?

[hexagonian]

They appear idle because there is no animation for them. (They were fan-created sprites). However, they are inflicting damage.

There are two types of ranged units - those with bombard capabilities and those without bombard capabilities.

The bombard units work under the principle that if they are used to bombard a stack, and the enemy has a bombard unit in that stack, the enemy unit will counter-bombard you at the same time that you are bombarding it. You will notice this if your bombarding units suddenly lose hit points after bombarding a stack. If used in this manner, they cannot attack again until the following turn.

If brought in as part of attacking strack, they operate as a ranged unit.

So the best use for them is against a stack that does not have a bombard unit (hard to tell in the game though...)

[Hermann the Lombard]

Thanks.

Hmm...none of our resident gurus can handle the animation? (Easy for me to say, since I'm "graphics impaired.")

Hmm...so if I bombard and then attack, the bombard units only get one shot, but if I simply attack, they get multiple shots? Or is it more complicated than that? I notice that an occasional unit is killed outright by bombard; is that a lucky shot or an already-damaged unit?

Also, should we add this to the FAQ? (I don't think it's already there, but this must be a common question.)

[Martin Gühmann]

Originally posted by Hermann the Lombard
Also, should we add this to the FAQ? (I don't think it's already there, but this must be a common question.)

Of course this should be added to the FAQ as it is hexagonian's explanation he has the duty and of course the right to add it.

-Martin

[hexagonian]

Here's a bit more info about Bombard capabilities - at least as I set them up in Cradle. They are mainly designed to be support units.

Ancient Bombard units generally have a very limited appeal to players, because the most powerful Ranged unit in the Ancient Age is the Composite Archer. This is to simulate the fact that Siege weapons generally were ineffective as weapons, because they were usually unreliable and hard to aim.

Nevertheless, in Cradle, the AI will build them and if you decide to park next to a stack/city, you may end up taking hits. So it is always handy to keep some on hand. At the same time, they can be used effectively as a means to soften up enemy forces before committing them to a battle. BTW, this is more critical in Cradle because Cradle's slow heal rate makes keeping healthy units harder to do.

The Cradle AI also has a tendency to park units next to a city too, so a couple of Siege units in the city can help weaken that stack if you do not have sufficient forces available to get rid of the stack. The trick is to hope that Bombards are not part of the sieging stack because they will counterbombard...

When you have the ability to build Trebuchets and Cannons in the Medieval Age, the Range ability swings in favor of the Bombard units. Thus, they become the unit of choice for you ranged units. Units like Infantrymen and Arquebusiers also have very good ranged ability, but their high attack/defend numbers push them onto the front lines.