Marines

[MaxNacemit]

When marines attack a coastal city from a ship, does the opponent get defensive bonuses from the city walls or the coastal fortress? If the former is the case, what’s their advantage over Cavalry besides the higher defense?

 

[Prof. Garfield]

When marines attack a coastal city from a ship, does the opponent get defensive bonuses from the city walls or the coastal fortress? If the former is the case, what’s their advantage over Cavalry besides the higher defense?

The opponent gets the city walls defence bonus.

An advantage of marines is that you don't leave all your surviving attackers outside the city waiting to be killed in a stack. You can either bring them immediately into the city after you capture it, or sail away. The captured city gets extra defenders, and the units don't have to move into the city on the next turn (so they start healing one turn sooner).

That said, when I played the base game, I very rarely built marines. The times I did were when I was not miles ahead, but in actual active competition with the AI at the point marines were available. (I remember using marines in one GOTM where we started on a 2 square island very far from land to settle and expand.) 10 shields for +3 attack compared to Alpine Troops means you get something that can defend and attack, either to kill a stack, or if you have an opportunity to go on the offensive nearby. However, if your position is more 'secure', it tends to make more sense to use dedicated defenders and attackers.