Are there any ways to boost bombard production?

[Tampico]

I think this question applies to all versions of the game - are there any ways to boost bombard production? Namely, do the policy cards that boost production of ranged units apply to bombards?

 

[Scaramanga]

Play as the Ottomans.

 

[enKage]

Speed all niter, build cats, put upgrade cards, upgrade. Otherwise wait for congress resolution.

 

[criZp]

No, there isn't.

 

[Lily_Lancer]

1:Choose Ottomans.
2: World Congress (military unit -50% cost)

 

[Tech Osen]

I usually just buy them through the Grand Master's Chapel.

 

[Victoria]

Shame stables do not discount, that may encourage some people to build it.

 

[criZp]

Cavalry is already better than melee

 

[Victoria]

We are talking bombards and bombards get 25% extra XP from a stable... just a shame they do not get discounted from one.

 

[bbbt]

We are talking bombards and bombards get 25% extra XP from a stable... just a shame they do not get discounted from one.

Honestly I'd like them to get rid of all the +% military unit policy cards and make that the exclusive province of the encampment buildings. Could do the same with naval units and harbor buildings (even making a split choice there - one building provides domestic production ala the shipyard, one boosts productions to naval units).

 

[steveg700]

There's no discount policy card for siege engines, which seems to be the real question at hand.

 

[criZp]

We are talking bombards and bombards get 25% extra XP from a stable... just a shame they do not get discounted from one.

Ah, a hidden bonus. Those are always fun...

well none of the encampments give production discounts to anything, so I dunno why stables should be giving a discount to artillery. I mean, if you're saying that every encampment building should give some form of discount, then perhaps yeah.

 

[Victoria]

I dunno why stables should be giving a discount to artillery.

A card would be easier but stables was a rather silly alternative I grant you because it does not follow the crowd but the point I make is who builds stables? Some encouragement would be good.

 

[Palo]

I guess I'm weird. I often build only stables and get barracks by conquering cities.

 

[Karmah]

A card would be easier but stables was a rather silly alternative I grant you because it does not follow the crowd but the point I make is who builds stables? Some encouragement would be good.

I think I build stable more than barracks. Usually my army exists before I build any. If I do build a unit it's gonna be a fast one for an emergency reinforcement on a front or to deal with some barbarians. The only reason I had to build a barrack was when I don't have enough siege. So I guess this reason is gone now.
I'm being generic here, obviously some civs do push you to build early barracks. Alexander is the first to come to mind.

 

[steveg700]

Weird that there's that production differential between the two. Maybe still living in a time when cav was considered so overpowered that this was supposed to deter human players from building lots of stables?

 

[criZp]

It's just a minor difference, it isn't enough to deter one from spamming them.

 

[acluewithout]

The lack of production bonuses for Siege seems intentional. It’s a point of differentiation (Siege and Support don’t get +% bonuses, but other units do), and maybe a small part of balancing Attack v Defence similar to how Siege generally can’t move and attack in the same turn.

The +%xp from Stables may not be intentional - it’s really hard to see, because the game isn’t good at documenting bonuses.

Overall, I’m okay with Siege not having a +% bonus. It’s tedious when everything has its bonus and so everything becomes flat and the same.

Honestly I'd like them to get rid of all the +% military unit policy cards and make that the exclusive province of the encampment buildings. Could do the same with naval units and harbor buildings (even making a split choice there - one building provides domestic production ala the shipyard, one boosts productions to naval units).

Sorry, but I disagree. The +% Policy Cards and Armies / Corps is part of what connects military to Culture and Government rather than just to Science. One consequence is that it means you have to balance rushing the techs you want but also having the policies in place to efficiently build those units. I really like that dynamic.

 

[bbbt]

Sorry, but I disagree. The +% Policy Cards and Armies / Corps is part of what connects military to Culture and Government rather than just to Science. One consequence is that it means you have to balance rushing the techs you want but also having the policies in place to efficiently build those units. I really like that dynamic.

I mean my suggestion isn't mutually exclusive - you could just say remove the card at Feudalism and add an inherent 'barracks production bonus now applies to medieval and renaissance era units' to the civic.

But the big issue is there isn't actually much of a balance in that regard - it's pretty much build ancient era units and then upgrade. So the only civics are usually the ancient era ones, and then mercenaries for the discounted upgrade cards.

I'd really like to see them do something more interesting with the military civics/cards in that respect - ones that felt like they could change the balance on the battlefield. As the current ones definitely don't.

 

[acluewithout]

I mean my suggestion isn't mutually exclusive - you could just say remove the card at Feudalism and add an inherent 'barracks production bonus now applies to medieval and renaissance era units' to the civic.

But the big issue is there isn't actually much of a balance in that regard - it's pretty much build ancient era units and then upgrade. So the only civics are usually the ancient era ones, and then mercenaries for the discounted upgrade cards.

I'd really like to see them do something more interesting with the military civics/cards in that respect - ones that felt like they could change the balance on the battlefield. As the current ones definitely don't.

If your saying unit +% bonus should require an encampment + buildings + policy card ... then, yeah, I’m onboard with that that. You could even go a bit further and maybe require some modern units - eg tank, gdr - to require factories. Good stuff.

Totally agree re your point about building ancient units and then continually upgrading them. Overall, I like being able to upgrade units, and you sort of need that for promotions to work, but the current balance is broke because you do end up building a whole bunch of units up to turn 50 and then upgrade them forever. It’s a problem, but I’m not sure how to fix it. Nerfing the Professional Army Card would help, but only so much really.