Awkward combat during Revolution

[ftapkah]

As a huge fan of the original Col, I have decided to play a new Col - and there was not bad game for me - there is fine and intresting mechanics that was reviewed in new graphic - just before the revolution war began.

In the original game, there was a bit difficult combat - generally, because of Man-oWar bonuces, the royalists were able to capture a couple of cities, but after that they was exhausted and beaten up.

In this game:
-There is no way to educate or to achieve profession of Veteran Soldiers
-Cavalry and Artillery units dies once and for all - there is no demotion due to loss of guns or horses
-There is NO Continental army units(what the fuzz!?)
-Defending artillery just sucks - the regular can easily defeat fortified cannon, standing in city with Fortress(no in the open)
- Amount of Royal Army is just enormal - there is about 250 land units vs my ~75, fortified in about 5 cities
-Thereis NO help from foreign countries - no reinforcements!
-The "general" unit sucks completely - no one of reinforced units handled incoming attack

All this new features makes combat awkward - because you need to fight against huge number of superior troops with conscripts. The result is - the horde of Royalists just easy promenades on my territory, happily raping any force that they are spotting.

The main question is - how you guys dealing with that problems?

--
p.s. - I was playnig the original Col with "Conqueror", and this game - with "Explorer" difficulty

 

[Lord Silverkey]

Okay, so I've had the same problem. As a Civ/Colonization veteran of 15+ years I lost my first game of Civ4: Colonization on the easiest difficulty level. (not fun at all for a veteran)

Now I was looking at these forums today, and found that soon after the release they came out with a patch (apparently the only patch) for Civ4: Colonization that fixed a problem with the Royal Expeditionary Force (or whatever it's called) growing at far too fast of a rate. I know that I'll be downloading it before my next game. Just a thought.

Also, if you're into Mods apparently "The Authentic Colonization" is good at restoring the game to the more original playing style while adding good content (such as more national specific graphics for units and more civs/leaders to choose from). Now I haven't actually played this (yet) so you might want to get a second opinion on this.

Hope this helps.

 

[Windfoot]

I agree that you need to at least use the patch. I also use the TAC mod. After using it I have no desire even play a unmodded game.

I can educate veterans...I think you need a minimum of a college to train them (I think the patch fixed that).

Even in the unmodded game the size of the REF isn't really important...how quickly (i.e. the pipeline) the troops can get at you is important. The REF is limited by the number of ships they have. After those ships drop off their troops they have to sail back to Europe to pick up more. There is a gap after each wave...so as long as you can deal with the troops dropped off in each wave you will have no problems.

My goal is to kill all enemy troops immediately after they land. This prevents those cannons from using their incredible attack bonuses on your towns.

Abother way to make it easier is to have a fleet. Even if you can't win by killing all the REF's fleet, every ship you kill means a smaller pipeline and gives you more chance to recover after each wave. Just don't kill them down to the point of having only a couple ships without being able to destroy the fleet entirely...you will quit that game in boredom on how long it takes to get through the entire REF.

This idea of a pipeline can also be used against other european powers. By using privateers you can greatly reduce their supplies from Europe and thereby slowing thier growth (you can also sell guns and horses to the indians right next to them to cause them even more problems). Hell, you can stop them completely by just declaring war on them and wiping them out.

The other concept is the placement of your cities. In real life cities were placed near water to ease transportation. In the game if you have all sea ports you have too many places to defend and can't destroy the enemy upon landing. By only having one or two port cities you limit where the REF will land and thereby making it alot easier to destroy them upon landing.

my 2 cents,
Windfoot

 

[dalgo]

Welcome to the forum ftapkah

The education system was broken in the original release but the patch fixed that and allows you to train veterans. The patch also reduces the size of the REF.

Yes the REF have huge attack bonuses (especially their artillery) so the solution is not to let them attack. They don't get any terrain defence bonuses so as Windfoot says, hit them as soon as they land (with dragoons). The General units are extremely helpful for training your troops.

But the main tactic in fighting the REF is how you play the game before they land. By investing in the appropriate Founding Fathers and giving your troops experience by fighting the natives and other Europeans you will be much stronger when the King's troops eventually arrive.

Edit: I have defeated a 503 strong REF on the top difficulty level for the loss of no troops. That's no soldiers, no dragoons, no cannons, no ships (I didn't fight any naval battles ), not even a wagon train.