Term 2- Nominations for Secretary of war

The Secretary of War is a member of the Triumvirate. The Secretary of War shall have control of all military land units with the exception of garrisons under the control of Governors and units assigned to settlers, all air units, and in charge of military planning.

Please submit nominations for the Secretary of War in this thread and Accept or Decline any nominations you may receive. Self nominations are allowed. Citizens may only run for one elected position.

If nominated, please accept or decline
You may nominate yourself
Nominations shall close at 4:00 PM GMT on Jan. 27th

I nominate Chieftess for Secretary of War.

I'll accept.

I nominate Whomp.

I nominate Whomp.

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.seconded.

Chieftess, I thought that you couldn't run for multiple offices. If I'm mistaken then that's fine... Take me out back and slap me around.

Designated Player pool doesn't count.

Since I'm running for governor, and it's a 2nd position, I'm declining this one. I haven't been a governor of a fresh, new province for a LONG time.

Declining

XCL

I accept the nomination of Secretary of War from our esteemed DaveShack and Tubby Rower.

I'm re-accepting.

Declining my nomination.

(I'm $10 richer.)

Whomp and Chieftess:

1 - What is your proposal for dealing out promotions? Is it a case-by-case basis? Certain promotions for unit types? What promotions do you think will be most useful?

2 - How do you forsee us taking enemy cities (realistically)? Lots of catapults? Varied unit types? A sizeable amount of swordsmen?

3 - How do you plan on using our UU?

That's all for now. I think we have 2 very talented candidates here.

Seeing that we're up against the Mongols (who are closer to the horses than we are), the choices of upgrades should be as follows:

Defenders and some attackers - Combat I, II, Formation (+25% vs. mounted units). If we had a state religion in our city (and all of our cities for that matter), plus vassalage/therocracy, and barracks, we could be well on our way to this goal for most units, especially spearmen. Combat II allows us to select either Formation, or Charge (bonus vs. catapults - but that's a bit later).

Swords/Axes - Definately city attack bonus. Our axes should have Shock as needed for bonus against other melee units.

Archers - City defense bonuses. If we get to crossbows, then Drill.

2 - I see us using atleast 5-10 catapults along with an axe/sword/spear stack. That means we will have to prioritize Construction as well. If the enemy has a walled city on a hill, then that's rather tricky to take down.

3 - Well, that all depends on if we get horses. Seeing that "our" horses (from what I've seen of the save so far) are near Mongolia, I don't see us using our UU being of major use. Yes, we could build 2 War Chariots for every Keshik -- provided that we have horses. I can see them blitzing an outlying Mongolian city, though, or pillaging patrol (giving them Combat II and Formation to defend against Keshiks, if any.).

1 - What is your proposal for dealing out promotions?
My preference is not to exercise promotions until the battlefield requires the need. The fog of war is thick and different situations will require different needs.
In combined arms, it's imperitative to have units offer depth to the stack. One area where I'd exercise immediate promotions is with a warrior in the field. For that purpose I like Woodsman I for the defensive bonus (more scouting) and Woodsman II for the extra movement. A faster foot soldier is useful through mid game.

Is it a case-by-case basis?

If there's an opportunity to heal units I really like lower level units within a stack. This feature will help them pay their wages.

What promotions do you think will be most useful?

Catapults getting the collateral damage bonus are by far the most useful. Most any melee unit can handle an attack with enough damage. Medic allows us to continue the pressure. Of course our civic will help determine how and when to use a promotion.

2 - How do you forsee us taking enemy cities (realistically)?
Lots of catapults?
Varied unit types?
Certain promotions for unit types?
A sizeable amount of swordsmen?

Catapults, catapults and more catapults must be the core of any seize. My preference is 12-15 minimum.

Catapults are the first to release their fury crushing city's defenses.
Second, cats are most useful for the amount of collateral damage they can exact and their retreat capability under the stack.
Third, 3-4 Axemen with a shock focus (if needed) and 6-8 Swordsmen with city attack focus (if needed) shall be used when the odds are high. Swords, specifically, will act as our matadors. Let them finish after the cats have done their collateral damage and "promo" farm. 3-4 Spears will be used to protect the stack. I see the spears as the unsung heroes of our attack force. They are very useful for their defense capability against the ruthless keshiks which I'd anticipate seeing plenty of.
3 - How do you plan on using our UU? The best use for chariots will be for homeland defense. Archers in the cities on the front and chariots behind for their mobility and superior coverage.

Stay focused on the objective. If a stray unit comes out of the city leave it alone. That AWOL stray will eventually pay the price.

Question for the candidates:

What have you learned from any MP games that you can apply to this game?

Tubby Rower said:

What have you learned from any MP games that you can apply to this game?

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With my experience in MP Pitboss All war games I've learned a lot.
Use terrain to our fullest advantage. A melee unit on a forested hill is near impossible to take out even with axes. However, a sword on grass,desert or plains will be attacked. Without seeing a good map my tendency is to move the stack along hills, rivers, forests and forest hills.

Raze foreign border cities Other than a religious capital (very valuable) or a great leader following a stack (for border expansion) my inclination is to raze foreign cities. The reason for this is additional gold for research, border expansions for foreign cities are remote, logistics are difficult and maintainence costs are high. In the case of the Mongols, my expected target, this strategy should work well since they are isolated and our other neighbors will have a difficult time settling this region before we do.

Promotions on the run Again, my strategy is to use promotions according to need. The fog of war requires flexibility in the field of armed conflict. I'd like to focus units along a specialty where possible. A unit that can get a 2nd and 3rd upgrade along the same lines will be extremely useful through the end game. Non-promoted units are likely disband candidates.

DaveShack said:

1. If we're in a situation where we're on the offensive to get resources, would you recommend raze & resettle, or capturing the city?
2. What role, if any, does pillaging play in your military strategy?
3. Are there any must have unit types? Any kinds of units we shouldn't build at all?

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My preference is to raze and resettle since I've found border expansion is near impossible. The only two instances I can think of to capture a city is where there's open space already surrounding that city and second keeping religious capitals. Size, distance and culture pressure is a major determining factor in this equation.

Since I anticipate dictating the battlefield I prefer not to pillage health resources or cottages. These will be useful to us for our new or captured cities. Pillaging military resources and luxuries will be a consideration since horses and metals can be used against us and cutting off luxuries will make for some angry citizens in the heathen cities. Angry citizens are much worse for our enemy than unhealthy citizens.

Must have units are catapults. In my previous comments I suggested a number. In hindsight, a specific number may be difficult to sort out. I would like our invasion force (75-80% of total) to consist of 45-50% catapults, 26-28% swords, 12-15% axes and 12% spears. On a more limited basis (20-25%), the homefront can protect with 60% archers and 40% chariots. I don't anticipate using any warriors.

Whomp said:

My preference is to raze and resettle since I've found border expansion is near impossible. The only two instances I can think of to capture a city is where there's open space already surrounding that city and second keeping religious capitals.

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I have no idea what you're talking about. What do you mean by "border expansion is near impossible"? What do you mean by "there's open space already surrounding that city"?

I think what Whomp is saying is that when you sieze an enemy city it can be difficult to expand your cultural borders into the territory they have already claimed. Surely you have seen this phenomenon when you play. You take a city, it is right against the opposing civ cultural border and no matter how long you hold it you don't make much headway into the opposing Civ cultural territory.

The second thing I think he is saying is that the enemy founded a city far enough away from their other cities that the opposing cultural border doesn't pose any problems.