I play on Prince difficulty so if anyone plays on a greater difficulty, I can't say that this will work...
But personally I find taking cities is...well easy. Here's what I do to take a city (this is assuming there aren't any troops lurking nearby the city, that makes it more challenging and requires more units).
I typically need 2 - 3 melee units (units that must march onto the hex the city inhabits) and about 2 ranged units.
I have taken a city with 3 warriors and 2 archers before with almost no problem.
First, and this is really important, I tell me 2 ranged units to first fire on the city. It seems a wounded city is easier to take, and deals less damage to units as it gets weaker (the damage seems to be lesser ONLY to melee counterattacks).
Sorry if this turns into a double post, but WOW, I really like this suggestion and I'm in favor of the stronger cities! I think it makes sense too. I admit, I've used this tactic v. AI and it's admittedly kind of dumb, but you can just sneak a settler into a war-zone, make a city, and now you have a turret of death (couple that with the insta-walls buy buying gold and it gets worse).
I believe it may have been you Strategist, but if not, someone said that after a city gets attacked, it shouldn't be able to heal until 1 turn of not being attacked. I agree, but perhaps put a spin on it:
(for example)
If you have a wall, then you can heal the next turn after being attacked ONCE.
(i.e. your walls have been destroyed, but your city is still intact and your army is reinforcing the countryside while your walls are being destroyed). It then takes one turn to begin healing after combat ends, and one additional turn to heal the walls.
If you have a castle, then you can heal the next two turns during combat (if you survive that long). The first turn is your walls crumbling, the second is your castle. Similarly to the above, it will take one turn of non-combat to heal. Two turns of non-combat to "rebuild your castle", and a third turn of non-combat to heal your walls.
Just a thoguht. I like the toughness of cities, I really do, but I can see some of the abuses from just insta forming a city.
TLDR: I too think a city should be founded in the red, at 1HP, and heal normally. Your city should not heal during combat, not until 1 turn after. Walls should allow your city to heal one turn during combat but must take an additional turn after combat to "repair". Castles should operate like the aforementioned walls, but provide two turns of in-combat healing (but require two turns of out of combat healing)
Then, all I do is send the 2 - 3 melee in to attack the city. The city will usually focus on one of the melee's, lowering it's health approximately 25 - 33% with a single attack. When one of my melee's is lowered to 50% or less, I simply tell them to rest until healed. This buys me some time (they may be killed, but usually are left @ near death) while I attack with the other units.
In about 2, perhaps 3 turns at most, the city is mine. No problem!
I feel this is fair, and it makes sense. Cities are hard to capture, and they should be. A 5 unit army is not unreasonable imo to take a city.
If your enemy has 2 or 3 cities in a row you want to take, up your army size by 1 range and add an additional 1.5 melee per city (so +1 melee for 2 cities, +3 for 3 cities). By this time, you will notice your troops are pretty weakened. You'll need to rest if you want to continue (or simply build larger armies).
But personally I find taking cities is...well easy. Here's what I do to take a city (this is assuming there aren't any troops lurking nearby the city, that makes it more challenging and requires more units).
I typically need 2 - 3 melee units (units that must march onto the hex the city inhabits) and about 2 ranged units.
I have taken a city with 3 warriors and 2 archers before with almost no problem.
First, and this is really important, I tell me 2 ranged units to first fire on the city. It seems a wounded city is easier to take, and deals less damage to units as it gets weaker (the damage seems to be lesser ONLY to melee counterattacks).
Sorry if this turns into a double post, but WOW, I really like this suggestion and I'm in favor of the stronger cities! I think it makes sense too. I admit, I've used this tactic v. AI and it's admittedly kind of dumb, but you can just sneak a settler into a war-zone, make a city, and now you have a turret of death (couple that with the insta-walls buy buying gold and it gets worse).
I believe it may have been you Strategist, but if not, someone said that after a city gets attacked, it shouldn't be able to heal until 1 turn of not being attacked. I agree, but perhaps put a spin on it:
(for example)
If you have a wall, then you can heal the next turn after being attacked ONCE.
(i.e. your walls have been destroyed, but your city is still intact and your army is reinforcing the countryside while your walls are being destroyed). It then takes one turn to begin healing after combat ends, and one additional turn to heal the walls.
If you have a castle, then you can heal the next two turns during combat (if you survive that long). The first turn is your walls crumbling, the second is your castle. Similarly to the above, it will take one turn of non-combat to heal. Two turns of non-combat to "rebuild your castle", and a third turn of non-combat to heal your walls.
Just a thoguht. I like the toughness of cities, I really do, but I can see some of the abuses from just insta forming a city.
TLDR: I too think a city should be founded in the red, at 1HP, and heal normally. Your city should not heal during combat, not until 1 turn after. Walls should allow your city to heal one turn during combat but must take an additional turn after combat to "repair". Castles should operate like the aforementioned walls, but provide two turns of in-combat healing (but require two turns of out of combat healing)
Then, all I do is send the 2 - 3 melee in to attack the city. The city will usually focus on one of the melee's, lowering it's health approximately 25 - 33% with a single attack. When one of my melee's is lowered to 50% or less, I simply tell them to rest until healed. This buys me some time (they may be killed, but usually are left @ near death) while I attack with the other units.
In about 2, perhaps 3 turns at most, the city is mine. No problem!
I feel this is fair, and it makes sense. Cities are hard to capture, and they should be. A 5 unit army is not unreasonable imo to take a city.
If your enemy has 2 or 3 cities in a row you want to take, up your army size by 1 range and add an additional 1.5 melee per city (so +1 melee for 2 cities, +3 for 3 cities). By this time, you will notice your troops are pretty weakened. You'll need to rest if you want to continue (or simply build larger armies).
