Attacking over Rivers.... is it actually relevant

[Abaddon]

ive randomly picked up on people saying about not wanting to attack over a river. Does it actually matter.


Also.


when u attack, do u get a bonus from the land u attack off?
how much a bonus does your unit get when fortified?




cheers

 

[The Omega]

When you attack across a river, the defender gets a defense bonus (not sure how much, but it's enough to kill lots of units before you kill it)

 

[Jaybe]

The default river defense bonus is 25%, in addition to the 10% bonus of defending on even plains or grassland. Personally, I think that bonus is too small and increased it to 50% for my games.

 

[warpstorm]

IIRC, it's a 25% bonus to the defender which can make a big difference.

 

[Tomoyo]

And you don't get a bonus from the land you attack from.

 

[allhailIndia]

Attacking across the river is foolhardy if the defender is in the same age as Attacker, e.g. Swords v. Spearman or Cavalryv. Rifleman. Far worse if you are attacking a metropolis

Its always better to spend that one extra Movepoint to flank the defender and attack from another square which does not have a river separating the units. As a defender, try to use a nearby river to make your stand against the AI or the attacker. IMproves your chances even when outnumbered.

 

[Abaddon]

And you don't get a bonus from the land you attack from.

An all this time ive been charging down the montainside thinking my defence is good!

So no point flanking a city to get a mountain top attack? Just charge in from any direction?

 

[Ginger_Ale]

The terrain for units only matters when they are defending. That's because the attacker is going onto the defender's tile, so the attacker's tile doesn't matter.

@slozenger: Yeah, just go straight for the city (well, avoid attacking over rivers).

 

[Tomoyo]

An all this time ive been charging down the montainside thinking my defence is good!

So no point flanking a city to get a mountain top attack? Just charge in from any direction?

Correct...

 

[Abaddon]

well that sux! id invented a whole extra bit of realism into the game that only exhisted in my head!

do you not agree it would be good if it did actually matter what land you attacked off?

 

[Tomoyo]

I hope it's in Civ4. It's easier to attack from high ground or cover...

 

[DBear]

Slozenger, attacking from a mountain tile bordering the city will help you defensively when the city's forces counterattack, but not when you attack.

 

[Abaddon]

ah i guess... usually i build up an insane SOD before i attack though... Blitzkreig every time

 

[JanSobieski]

Maybe if ranged units attacked from higher ground (like bowmen, musketeers, riflemen, rader artillary, etc) then they should get an attack bonuse because they're shooting down, not up. I've noticed that ranged units don't move from their square when they attack, they just stand there and shoot. But if there are hand to hand combat units that have to go up to the enemy units to fight then they should not get the bonus because they have to cross into the enemy square to fight.
And what does SOD stand for?

 

[Tomoyo]

Stack of Death/Doom.

 

[braclayrab]

Combat Calculator:
http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3combatcalc.html

 

[Jon Shafer]

The reason that the terrain an attacker comes from isn't factored in is because of the scale. Civ tiles are many miles wide, so coming from a mountain tile to attack a unit in a grass tile isn't exactly the same as 50 guys coming down the slope of a mountain. By the time combat is initiated, it's assumed that the attacker has waded a fair distance into the other tile. The reason this isn't the same for the defender is because it's easier to pick off enemies when hiding behind trees or rocks or whatever as the enemy advances - they're assumed to be stationary and prepared to meet an attack.

 

[bkwrm79]

An all this time ive been charging down the montainside thinking my defence is good!

So no point flanking a city to get a mountain top attack? Just charge in from any direction?

If the enemy civ is capable of putting up a fight, keeping your army on hills/mountains/forests can make a big difference in fighting off counter-attacks.

If your SOD is completely overwhelming then it doesn't really matter.

 

[Randy]

It's still good to watch were you atack from. It you win, that unit may have to defend there. So attacking from a mountain is still good.

If you have to stop before you attack move to the best defence spot. Then attack next turn.

 

[Turner]

If it makes you feel better, I like to attack downhill too. So when it's convenient for me I do it that way. Easy when you have rails and are defending, but harder when you're in enemy territory.

I know it doesn't add any bonus', but I do seem to have better luck doing it that way. I know, I know, it's all the RNG.