Peter Knutsen
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2010
- Messages
- 27
What exactly goes into the AI's estimate of how militarily powerful my civ is? Is it based on the power graph?
Either way, what exactly contributes? I assume with confidence that Unit Strength of all military units contributes to this, this thing we might call the Power Estimate or Apparent Military Power, but is it linear?
Does one Longbowman of Strength count for as much as two Archers each of Strength 3? Or is there some exponential formula used so that one S6 Longbowman counts the same as 2.5, 3 or even 4 S3 Archers? (Strength squared would make 4 Archers give the same Power as 1 Longbowman.)
Do unit Promotions factor in? Just the number of Promotions, or the speciic ones chosen?
What about city buildings, especially Barracks, Walls, Castles and Stables?
I'm asking because part of my strategy is to (try to) build a military force sufficient to deter the AI from attacking me, and I want to optimize this approach, so that I use my ressources in the best possible way.
Right now I just put one Archer in each city as it is founded (or before its founding, or at the least a few turns after it is founded, especially if I have The Great Wall) built from my capital city (which has a Barracks and may also have a Military Instuctor), and then later on I build a bunch of Longbowmen stationed in my capital, and may also build one in each of the other cities (after they've got Barracks). I also aim for upgrading the Archers to Longbowmen, although that costs a lot of gold, and I also try to have one Crossbowman (S6 becomes S9 vs melee units, better than S6 Longbowman +25% city defence giving 7.5, and also they upgrade nicely to Machine Gunners) per city eventually, and maybe one Spearman/Pikeman with Combat I and Medic I (two Crossbowmen and two Pikemen in my capital, and 3-4 Longbowmen plus a couple of old Archers).
Also I build a small offensive force of Swordsmen, later adding some Macement to it, and if I can afford it I eventually upgrade the Swordsmen to Macemen. (These - of course - get City Raider Promotions, whereas the Archers, Crossbowmen and Longbowmen get City Garrison.)
This seems to work, keeping my Power graph fairly high (usually not the highest, but enough to deter the AI), but it does cost a lot of hammers.
Can I utilize my hammers better? Should I prioritize Walls more? Does a Barrack in every city help? Should I build more Longbowmen and fewer Swordsmen, or fewer Longbowmen and more Swordsmen?
Would half a dozen Knights help a lot, out of proportion to their hammer cost? I tend to skip Catapults and wait until I can make Trebuchets, then build 3-4 of those to add to my offensive stack, but would building a couple Catapults ASAP boost my Power graph out of proportion to their hammer cost?
The key here is that I'm not a warmonger, I don't want to fight.
What I want is to discourage the AI civs from declaring war on me, so that I can focus on inventing new techs and upgrading my cities, then maybe once I get a really serious science advantage, I might decide to hit the AI civs with the big out-of-context stick.
Either way, what exactly contributes? I assume with confidence that Unit Strength of all military units contributes to this, this thing we might call the Power Estimate or Apparent Military Power, but is it linear?
Does one Longbowman of Strength count for as much as two Archers each of Strength 3? Or is there some exponential formula used so that one S6 Longbowman counts the same as 2.5, 3 or even 4 S3 Archers? (Strength squared would make 4 Archers give the same Power as 1 Longbowman.)
Do unit Promotions factor in? Just the number of Promotions, or the speciic ones chosen?
What about city buildings, especially Barracks, Walls, Castles and Stables?
I'm asking because part of my strategy is to (try to) build a military force sufficient to deter the AI from attacking me, and I want to optimize this approach, so that I use my ressources in the best possible way.
Right now I just put one Archer in each city as it is founded (or before its founding, or at the least a few turns after it is founded, especially if I have The Great Wall) built from my capital city (which has a Barracks and may also have a Military Instuctor), and then later on I build a bunch of Longbowmen stationed in my capital, and may also build one in each of the other cities (after they've got Barracks). I also aim for upgrading the Archers to Longbowmen, although that costs a lot of gold, and I also try to have one Crossbowman (S6 becomes S9 vs melee units, better than S6 Longbowman +25% city defence giving 7.5, and also they upgrade nicely to Machine Gunners) per city eventually, and maybe one Spearman/Pikeman with Combat I and Medic I (two Crossbowmen and two Pikemen in my capital, and 3-4 Longbowmen plus a couple of old Archers).
Also I build a small offensive force of Swordsmen, later adding some Macement to it, and if I can afford it I eventually upgrade the Swordsmen to Macemen. (These - of course - get City Raider Promotions, whereas the Archers, Crossbowmen and Longbowmen get City Garrison.)
This seems to work, keeping my Power graph fairly high (usually not the highest, but enough to deter the AI), but it does cost a lot of hammers.
Can I utilize my hammers better? Should I prioritize Walls more? Does a Barrack in every city help? Should I build more Longbowmen and fewer Swordsmen, or fewer Longbowmen and more Swordsmen?
Would half a dozen Knights help a lot, out of proportion to their hammer cost? I tend to skip Catapults and wait until I can make Trebuchets, then build 3-4 of those to add to my offensive stack, but would building a couple Catapults ASAP boost my Power graph out of proportion to their hammer cost?
The key here is that I'm not a warmonger, I don't want to fight.
What I want is to discourage the AI civs from declaring war on me, so that I can focus on inventing new techs and upgrading my cities, then maybe once I get a really serious science advantage, I might decide to hit the AI civs with the big out-of-context stick.