How do bombers work?

Hey all, I'm a little confused about how bombers work. The other day someone attacked me with bombers before I had flight and while I still had riflemen, and for the most part, his bombers were just massacring my riflemen armies (I still won the game though! )

Are fighter jets the only units that can attack bombers? What unit defends well against bombers and can counter their attack?

Also, I used a bomber to try attacking someone's city the other day and it wouldn't let me, the city had a red X over it when I tried to attack it. Why was that?

bonafide11 said:

Are fighter jets the only units that can attack bombers? What unit defends well against bombers and can counter their attack?

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Fighters are the only unit that can attack bombers (CivRev doesn't have fighter jets, just regular fighters). Defense against bombers is strictly determined by the defender's defense rating, so you just need something with a high rating. Unfortunately with an attack rating of 18, Bomber's have the highest attack rating in the game, so defending against a full flight of bombers is tough. That's why the best defense is probably to attack it with fighters while it's in the air. Bombers must remain in the air the turn after they attack (unless they're attacking from a city tile into the square next to the city square) that's when they're vulnerable since their defense rating is only half of a fighter's attack rating. So you'll have to absorb a bombing attack and then strike back with fighters while the bombers are still in the air. If you don't have flight yet, you're out of luck.

bonafide11 said:

Also, I used a bomber to try attacking someone's city the other day and it wouldn't let me, the city had a red X over it when I tried to attack it. Why was that?

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Not sure, it might mean there were no units left in the city. I assume that bombers can't enter and capture a city even if it's undefended, although I haven't tried it.

ydejin said:

Not sure, it might mean there were no units left in the city. I assume that bombers can't enter and capture a city even if it's undefended, although I haven't tried it.

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Thanks for the help. That's the only reason I could think of too.