The Ai building one hex away from the coast is actually a good idea.

[Socratatus]

I`ve been in a long war with Shaka. He had about 50 cities. I`ve whittled him down to around 30.

The map is an islands map mostly so nearly all his cities (as many of mine)are on the coast. Once you have your tactics set up these are EASY to take. Bombard the coastal city with battleships, have a few amphibian troops ready and in two\three turns they land and have the city.

But I came across one Shaka city that was just ONE hex inland and, boy that was the toughest city to take even with air support and several battleships. In fact, I lost one whole task force and had to start again building a new one...

Problem is landing and not getting my troops blown away during that turn which is actually REALISTIC , so I`m pleased about that.You need to land at least 3-4 troops, knowing that you`ll lose at least one while simultaneously bombing the city to no defence and having superiority in air cover. All realistic.

I don`t know if having the AI build one hex inland sometimes was by design or lucky error, but they should keep this optional tactic of the AI! So thumbs up to the Devs on that.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I dunno, in a naval map I'll generally have a bunch of 4 range 2 attack battleships, which pretty much eliminate any threat to my units on the turn that they land... then landing a couple of units is generally enough to take the 0 health city.

 

[HeraldtheGreat]

I often don't keep a land force, and simply double up on ranged ships to blow the enemies' land force to smithereens.

EDIT: Just realized you were probably talking about taking cities not directly on the coast; my bad.

 

[kb27787]

paratroopers and X-COM squads are the key here.

 

[Sotanorsu]

paratroopers and X-COM squads are the key here.

Don't know about X-COMs but paratroopers can't attack the turn they land, so basically it's the same whether to use paratroopers or amphibian troops.

 

[aluelkdf]

I use this strategy myself sometimes. I need a few coastal cities to build a navy, but I don't want ALL my cities to be coastal as they are vulnerable to naval attacks. Settling 1 hex inland still lets your borders expand into the ocean and you can get resources like whales with work boats that are built in another city, but the enemy can only capture your citu by using land units to invade.

 

[manu-fan]

It's not that 1 tile off the coast is particularly bad when there are no sea resources. It's more, why on earth didn't they settle 2 or 3 tiles off the coast in a better spot that wouldn't have so many wasted tiles?

Cheers.

 

[kb27787]

Don't know about X-COMs but paratroopers can't attack the turn they land, so basically it's the same whether to use paratroopers or amphibian troops.

no, but after you clear the troops surrounding the city away you can drop them in in such a way that one of them cannot be taken out by the next turn, sometimes impossible to do if you need to disembark from the coast.

 

[aluelkdf]

It's not that 1 tile off the coast is particularly bad when there are no sea resources. It's more, why on earth didn't they settle 2 or 3 tiles off the coast in a better spot that wouldn't have so many wasted tiles?

Cheers.

Yes, but sometimes you can get lots of sea resources and negate some of the city's vulnerability by settling 1 hex inland. Some real life examples of cities that are basically 1 hex inland are Washington DC, London, Rome.

 

[Sotanorsu]

no, but after you clear the troops surrounding the city away you can drop them in in such a way that one of them cannot be taken out by the next turn, sometimes impossible to do if you need to disembark from the coast.

But you can also land the amphibious troops the same way. Clear first and then land the troops.

 

[Magma_Dragoon]

Cities bombard is always the same damage, regardless of hp

 

[Anarchist]

Now that all 'melee' naval units can take cities, coastal cities are almost indefensible without a large navy (and the AI cannot run a navy). I found this out to my cost, and was shocked that my city was taken in one turn. I then used that tactic on all coastal enemy cities. A few battleships, and one destroyer held back until the last moment, and the city is yours very quickly indeed.

 

[Yzman]

Denmark ( the civ who everyone claims is terrible and useless) is made for these scenarios. They could land and then attack the city on the same turn, likely with more movement points than they would have had normally( they keep the additional embarked movement).

People severely underrate Denmark.

 

[Socratatus]

Denmark ( the civ who everyone claims is terrible and useless) is made for these scenarios. They could land and then attack the city on the same turn, likely with more movement points than they would have had normally( they keep the additional embarked movement).

People severely underrate Denmark.

Didn`t know that. I`ll have to watch Denmark.

Now that all 'melee' naval units can take cities, coastal cities are almost indefensible without a large navy (and the AI cannot run a navy). I found this out to my cost, and was shocked that my city was taken in one turn. I then used that tactic on all coastal enemy cities. A few battleships, and one destroyer held back until the last moment, and the city is yours very quickly indeed.

Yes, the AI is not very good with a Navy at all, seems to me, especially on defence. It`s ok on a surprise attack, but after that, it becomes useless too. It seems to me like it doesn`t really know how to get itself together as one cohesive attack force once its blunted. Navy AI needs fixing

 

[Louis XXIV]

There's certainly a cost-benefit for non-coastal cities. I think the benefit is usually better, but, for the AI that has a disadvantage in combat, but automatic advantages in gold (on higher difficulties at least). Really, the annoyance is more for the player who captures the city than anything else