Need help defeating single tile cities in version 217 of Civ 5 please

[DudeBoyz]

On many maps I find AI cities formed on a single tile, like an island in the middle of the water, and I cannot seem to defeat them easily at all. I would like to ask for help in strategies on how to do this.

I have tried putting like 4 battle ships out there, bombarding the island with bombs (atomic and otherwise), missles, planes, land units that can go out on the water, and sometimes even though I try dozens and dozens of passes, I simply cannot defeat that city.

Could some folks please help me figure out how to get that to work? It's driving me crazy! I play often as Japan and try to defeat instead of be diplomatic and it is one of the few things that is able to take the fun out of the game for me.

I would appreciate any helpful assistance.

Thank you

 

[Sporhund]

Amphibious promotion for your ground troops, removes the -50% attack strength penalty they get when trying to attack the city.

 

[pirsq]

Ranged units are not able to capture cities - only melee units can. You need an embarked melee unit (anything will do, even a scout - once you bombard the city down to 1hp, any unit automatically wins against it and survives with at least 1hp).

 

[DudeBoyz]

Ranged units are not able to capture cities - only melee units can. You need an embarked melee unit (anything will do, even a scout - once you bombard the city down to 1hp, any unit automatically wins against it and survives with at least 1hp).

Ok - so, I cannot capture a city with ships or bombs, etc. I can beat it down, but in order to finish them off, I must use a "ground unit".

For example, mechanized infantry would work?

BUT, only if I upgrade those mechanized infantry units with the Amphibious +50% promotion, is that correct?

Thank you - I appreciate the insights. This is one of the most frustrating parts of the game for me. I really want to nail it down so it won't be an issue in the future.

 

[Babri]

Ok - so, I cannot capture a city with ships or bombs, etc. I can beat it down, but in order to finish them off, I must use a "ground unit".

For example, mechanized infantry would work?

BUT, only if I upgrade those mechanized infantry units with the Amphibious +50% promotion, is that correct?

No. Amphibious promotion is not compulsory, it is optional. If you are planning to take down 1-tile cities without the help of lots of ships & airforce, then you might use this promotion to cut down your losses.

 

[DudeBoyz]

No. Amphibious promotion is not compulsory, it is optional. If you are planning to take down 1-tile cities without the help of lots of ships & airforce, then you might use this promotion to cut down your losses.

I did some testing. Mechanized Infantry without the Amphibious promotions on the units went on for DOZENS of turns usually without capturing the city.

However, if I applied the promotion to each unit and attacked with at least 1/2 dozen, it took much less time. A handful or more of turns was all that was needed.

Interestingly, if the strength was 27 or 3 it did not seem to matter. 6 good promoted units brought it down in a handful of turns. Took just as long with 3 as it did with 27. Wacky balance issues.

I wish there was a way to completely disallow 1 tile cities. I wish I could set a minimum of say 3-6 tiles per city, or something such as that.

Thanks to all for the info. I'll keep on testing and see what comes of it.

Don't supposed there are any nice Group commands where I can tell it to select all units and migrate over to a certain point?

Or set a default rally point?

Thought I'd ask.

Happy gaming

 

[Drawmeus]

Build one Mech Infantry with the Amphibious promotion. Build a couple battleships, bombers or whatever. Reduce the city to one hit point with your bombards, move in with the Mech. Infantry and attack (basically, attack on the same turn as you drop the city to one hit point). You should take the city on the spot.

Same strategy as taking land cities, really, just using Battleships instead of Artillery.

 

[DudeBoyz]

Build one Mech Infantry with the Amphibious promotion. Build a couple battleships, bombers or whatever. Reduce the city to one hit point with your bombards, move in with the Mech. Infantry and attack (basically, attack on the same turn as you drop the city to one hit point). You should take the city on the spot.

Same strategy as taking land cities, really, just using Battleships instead of Artillery.

Can't seem to get it below 2 for some reason.

But oddly, as I mentioned, even if it is like 26 or 31, the same amount of hits by the promoted mech infantry brings it down to Annex rather quickly.

I'm glad that the Mech Infantry seems to be such a useful option, but the key did seem to be the amphibious promotion.

All I do is play Skirmish against the AI. I don't play any scenarios or what not.

My fave is Pangea style OVAL map. Wish we had tons more map setups. Still, I'm glad I'm getting the hang of it.

Thanks

 

[Babri]

My fave is Pangea style OVAL map. Wish we had tons more map setups. Still, I'm glad I'm getting the hang of it.

You should try Terra Map. Great maps, interesting choices like colonization. If you want a realistic map script I'd suggest you Perfect World 3. You can find it at Mod Browser.

 

[DudeBoyz]

You should try Terra Map. Great maps, interesting choices like colonization. If you want a realistic map script I'd suggest you Perfect World 3. You can find it at Mod Browser.

You mean the Terra map built right into the game?

Or something else, like an external map or collection of map or map program?

Thanks

 

[Scios]

STCs are a pain. After running complex naval bombardments/ amphibious assaults on half a dozen I started nuking them. Nukes fix ALL problems. If you still have problems you didn't use enough nukes.

 

[DudeBoyz]

STCs are a pain. After running complex naval bombardments/ amphibious assaults on half a dozen I started nuking them. Nukes fix ALL problems. If you still have problems you didn't use enough nukes.

The game can be pretty frustrating. Sometimes I just get fed up, quit, and then I start a new game.

If I play a skirmish with more than 7 players (including me) then it seems to make the game less stable, regardless of the system I play on.

Sometimes things that happen make no sense at all or are at the very least inconsistent. The political AI is almost useless too. I wish they would improve that.

Plus, they really should make some changes to make massing troops and moving bulks of troops from one place to another easier.

All that said, you can find yourself burning through hours and hours just goofing around trying to take over competing cities. It is worth the money.

Thanks for the help and comments folks!