Best defencive civ

[robincox]

I like playing a peaceful game and only use military to defend myself. What is the best civ for a defensive type of play... seems to me the English with the longbowmen?

 

[Seabastian Civ]

Ethiopia- 20% bonus is HUGE.

China- CKNs crush, and only get better when they become gats and MGs. Can also Spam Citadels to claim chokepoints and seal off mountain passes.

Iroquois- early on, they're very tough to attack due to movement through forests

 

[IkM]

Heh, I like playing peaceful too and I can say Babylon. they have walls and good early archers. also, Arabia is good trade civ, Bazaar provides 1 extra copy of each improved luxury.

 

[DudewiththeFood]

China for reasons above although Ethiopia again is very effective. Japan can be useful in the late game. Maybe.

Althoug if you say a good offense is the best defence then Mongols in medieval or China most other times.

 

[budweiser]

How about Rome?

 

[kirbdog]

Ethiopia, easily, for the UA. Babylon and Korea both have unique military stuff that's designed for defense. And all three civs do extremely well turtling to non-dom victory due to their unique building (Ethiopia) or UA (Babylon, Korea). I'll also give props to Inca, for getting a mountain range and hill movement, along with a useful improvement in the terrace farm. (Edited to add: put roads/rail on every single hill tile in your territory, for extra mobility on defense.)

English are great, but unlike the above civs, their only economic bonus is an extra spy, albeit a very useful one if you can steal a lot of tech.

 

[Carmack]

Ethiopia + faith healers + defenders of the faith + fortified medic melees in adjacent city tiles + cavalry in reserve to run down a retreat = lawlz. You can toss in the Great Wall for laughs. The only time this becomes vulnerable is if you're attacked by medieval England or by the time artillery rolls around. However, by then, you should be bee-lining for aircraft. You can do this with any civ in the game, but Ethiopia obviously provides the most stacked benefits.

You're cities will be virtually uncrackable. Basically, any time somebody attacks you, it will be like that famous battle during the early 1800s where the infantry formed bayonet circles to deflect a cavalry attack. Can't believe I forgot the name of the battle.

 

[tomtom5858]

Ethiopia + faith healers + defenders of the faith + fortified medic melees in adjacent city tiles + cavalry in reserve to run down a retreat = lawlz. You can toss in the Great Wall for laughs. The only time this becomes vulnerable is if you're attacked by medieval England or by the time artillery rolls around. However, by then, you should be bee-lining for aircraft. You can do this with any civ in the game, but Ethiopia obviously provides the most stacked benefits.

You're cities will be virtually uncrackable. Basically, any time somebody attacks you, it will be like that famous battle during the early 1800s where the infantry formed bayonet circles to deflect a cavalry attack. Can't believe I forgot the name of the battle.

England? Please, what's a single attack per turn going to do against +50 health per turn, not to mention the +15% from a GG, +20% from DotF, +20% from the UA, and +40% from fortification? As an example, with those bonuses, a Pikeman has 31.2 strength, and a Mehal Sefari in rough terrain with a citadel, if the capital has an armoury, has 125.8 Strength, enough to more than defend against Mech Infantry

 

[kirbdog]

Why would you attack with mech inf. At that tech level, you have nuclear missile and mass bombers.

 

[tomtom5858]

Why would you attack with mech inf. At that tech level, you have nuclear missile and mass bombers.

We're talking about the AI here, whose Tactical AI is roughly at the level of your average dog. That would be far too intelligent. Besides, it was just an example.

 

[kirbdog]

We're talking about the AI here, whose Tactical AI is roughly at the level of your average dog.

Okay. Though this does raise the question of whether to care about (read "sacrifice for") defensive bonuses when playing against AI.

 

[Traejun]

How about Rome?

I suppose the UA "could" be useful for getting walls and other defensive structures up, but that's small potatoes compared to the powerful UU's offered by other civs, many of which hold onto their unique traits after upgrading.

 

[guinsoo]

Hmm I kinda like Inca for this purpose too, you already want hill/mountain spots for your cities due to Terrace Farms, so you'll be defensible, and then you get double move through hills.

Plus the Slinger which can withdraw from melee combat, which some people like and some people dislike.

 

[GMO]

How about Rome?

I've played with Rome and the UA 25% production bonus is very useful.

 

[Carmack]

England? Please, what's a single attack per turn going to do against +50 health per turn, not to mention the +15% from a GG, +20% from DotF, +20% from the UA, and +40% from fortification? As an example, with those bonuses, a Pikeman has 31.2 strength, and a Mehal Sefari in rough terrain with a citadel, if the capital has an armoury, has 125.8 Strength, enough to more than defend against Mech Infantry

Well, considering it's the AI, you're probably right. English longbows could, if the AI was better, focus a crapton of volleys on one melee at a time. Again, that's if the AI was more competent in combat.

 

[kirbdog]

The OP was talking about England as their possible choice of defensive civ. Kill them before they kill you, kind of thing.

 

[Hammer Rabbi]

really any civ with the Great Wall. GW + basic units are good until t180-200 on standards setting games. even at deity it helps immensely if you arent starting any wars.

 

[OwlRaider]

Strictly from a defensive point of view, Ethiopia is the obvious king with their amazing(for defense) UA and Mehal Sefari. Other than Ethiopia no other civilization has such distinct defense oriented bonuses, thus all other civilizations need to be judged based on a different criteria. For example the Incas have their Slingers with their auto retreat which is nice on defense for stalling, creating traps, etc, as well as their Terrace Farms which makes settling at hilly regions extremely advantageous, and hilly regions are great defensive locations. All other civilizations are even more subtle than the Incas, with highly circumstantial defensive advantages more than anything.

 

[Hammer Rabbi]

babylon has Walls of Babylon and Bowmen with 9 ranged strength. it was purely designed for early defense. since GnK came out and ranged units are better for offense it has changed a little but still it's purely defensive for very early aggression, imo.

 

[Sam Kwon]

I would say Korea. Their UU's (Turtleship and Hwacha) although somewhat bad for offensive purposes are ideal for defense. Use the Turtleship to protect your coastline and the Hwacha to protect your cities.