Any Rhyme or Reason to Tunnel Warfare?

[steveg700]

So I have my tunnel at the bottom, and the Inca have theirs a couple tiles over it. The rice paddy at the bottom left there had an artillery unit there. Between turns it seems to have gotten hammered by AT's. Which should not have happened with the tank blocking the passage to my tunnel.

Do tunnels not just allow passage from one side to the other side of the mountain, but basically allow teleportation to any other spot connected by another tunnel? So the AT's can pass through their tunnel and exit mine?

 

[DWilson]

The teleportation hypothesis is correct. Any entrance grants immediate access to any exit.

 

[steveg700]

Wow. That's insane. I thought I'd be able to secure the access point by just placing an encampment on side and blockading the other.

I did a little more testing. That military engineer I have selected on the upper right was previously in the far left bottom corner in the lumber mill. The tunnel it exited from isn't even part of a contiguous mountain range.

 

[DWilson]

Using a different mountain range is almost certainly a bug- they're supposed to have to be contiguous.

 

[Deadly Dog]

With enough movement a unit can get through 2 or more tunnels. The Inca may have provided a route that is much longer but only 1 passable tile between tunnels.

Fun thing is to attack with a military or religious unit through tunnels (using no passable tiles) as I've seen both scouts and apostles RUN up and down each mountain tile on the way in the animation.

 

[steveg700]

With enough movement a unit can get through 2 or more tunnels. The Inca may have provided a route that is much longer but only 1 passable tile between tunnels.

Well, here the ME would have had to swim through that lake tile separating the small range on the left from the big range.

I really liked the idea of the tunnels, but if, as in this case, tunnels can only work if they allow unlimited movement along a mountain range for only 2 movement, that seems to be problematic. In this case, positioning tunnels would allow ten tiles in a single go. Not only that, but civ's can use each other's tunnels. Never been in this situation before, so maybe that's only an issue with the AI when playing the Inca. Be a real nightmare if Inca was using cavalry.

Definitely gotta rethink how to use these as strategic assets. They're not assets if you can't control access, after all. Can't plug them with units too effectively, because the enemy can ram them with as many melee units as they can cluster around their tunnel entrance, which should be two or three per tunnel. Maybe make space just to let one enemy unit through to my side, and then blast it on my turn.

 

[Kwami]

Why do you think the ME went through two mountain tunnels? If he started on the lumber mill, then the fastest path to where he is now would be to ride the railroad to the tunnel next to the rice, then go through the mountains to the tunnel next to the copper, then ride the road to where he is now. Right? That's more than 2 movement, though...

 

[Architect]

Speaking of tunnels...

Tunnel Much?

• Architect
• Sep 3, 2019

 

[Deadly Dog]

Why do you think the ME went through two mountain tunnels? If he started on the lumber mill, then the fastest path to where he is now would be to ride the railroad to the tunnel next to the rice, then go through the mountains to the tunnel next to the copper, then ride the road to where he is now. Right? That's more than 2 movement, though...

Actually I think this is it there are RR's the whole way so 2 moves are enough.