Attack Order?

[Baltimoretrader]

I'm new to Civ 3 (better late than never) and hope to get help and help others with my sucess. I've noticed that some cities fall easier than others with the same defenses. Is there any order that you should attack bordering civilization's cities? Would an older city with walls and barracks be harder to topple than a newer one with the same improvements? Thanks, and good luck to all (unless we meet in a game).

 

[Fanny Brice]

Hi Baltimore -- welcome

First make sure you have the most recent patch...

To answer your question, if two cities have the same improvements, and the same types of units and same quality of troops, it does not matter.

In your example, you may have a tough time holding onto an older city because it had built up more culture points. Cities with strong culture are more likely to "flip" on you. (That is at least one of the factors).

I usually build a temple in recently conquered cities as quickly as possible.

I think it is good advice in regard to guarding against culture flips to attack border cities first. If you have strong culture improvements in your own border cities, this will give you a little protection in holding those cities, plus push your boundries out further. You'll also get the benefit of a connected road/rail network to bring up reinforcements quicker.

Somewhere on this site, is a very helpful article about the factors related to culture flipping.

 

[Baltimoretrader]

Are patches for playing online, or the regular me vs the AI version?

thanks again!

 

[Fanny Brice]

Slow day at work... plenty of time spend on Civ Fanatics.

If you have the game right out of the box... there have been at least 5 patches since the release. The culture flipping issue I mentioned was a game killer for me based on how the game was originally released... but with the patches I think it works rather well now. (Still a ***** when one of you cities deserts you... or a recently conquered city reverts and swallows up your occupying force)

There is a patch for the PTW version which just came out... as well as one for the standard game. Highly recommend you download and read the "read me" for the updated rules. Many valueable improvements.

 

[WildFire]

Well, it really makes the game a lot better to download the current civ 3 patch version 1.29.

As for playing on-line, most of us are still 'newbies' at that and if or when you get PTW, download the patch 1.04

 

[civ_steve]

You mentioned that some cities fall more easily than others, given the same defenses. In Civ3, size does matter! Cities over size 6, and over size 12, get increased defensive bonuses. Terrain also matters. The best defensive terrain is on Hills. Also, attacks across a River hexside get a defensive bonus. Status of the troops matters, also. Veteran and Elite troops have more hitpoints and last longer than Regular troops. These items all have an impact on a city's defense. And then there's the RNG, which seems quite fickle at times.

You asked about walls and barracks. Walls will make a city of 6 or fewer population defend like a 7 to 12 size city. Above size 6 the walls have no effect. Barracks allow defensive units to heal faster, usually to full strength in one turn. And new units are Veterans, and existing units can be upgraded to more modern units.

 

[Shabbaman]

Just play some with the combat calculator: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3combatcalc.html