insaneweasel
Prince
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- Jul 9, 2010
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Which is more effective? Bombers may do more damage, but they come a lot later and lose HP with each attack. I think artillery is better, but I never really tried heavy bombers.
Bombers vs. Artillery
- Thread starter insaneweasel
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TW_Honorius
Warlord
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- Oct 24, 2010
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by the time bombers come, you can upgrade your artillery to rocket artillery. and is there a reason you want them compared since they dont come around at the same time.
insaneweasel
Prince
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I've heard some people say that Bombers>artillery and I wanted to know if this was the general opinion, because I don't agree.
Bombers use oil
Lots of good late era units use Aluminum. Modern Armor, Rocket Artillery, etc. I have found that aluminum gets pretty scarce and I've ended up relying on bombers with the oil freed up after my tanks have become modern armor.
Bombers also can be based on carriers, making a nice mobile strike force for assisting city assaults nearly everywhere on the map (when combined with the bomber's range).
These aren't to say that bombers > artillery, but bombers are quite useful.
Lots of good late era units use Aluminum. Modern Armor, Rocket Artillery, etc. I have found that aluminum gets pretty scarce and I've ended up relying on bombers with the oil freed up after my tanks have become modern armor.
Bombers also can be based on carriers, making a nice mobile strike force for assisting city assaults nearly everywhere on the map (when combined with the bomber's range).
These aren't to say that bombers > artillery, but bombers are quite useful.
the advantages of bombers are:
you can buy as many as you want in one single turn ( as soon as you have a melee unit in the city you cannot buy any more melee unit ).
If you have barracks etc in the city you quickly get promotions allowing you to strike twice, or repairing after action in the same turn.
they cannot be destroyed like atillery.
I prefer stealth bombers, they are really cute.
you can buy as many as you want in one single turn ( as soon as you have a melee unit in the city you cannot buy any more melee unit ).
If you have barracks etc in the city you quickly get promotions allowing you to strike twice, or repairing after action in the same turn.
they cannot be destroyed like atillery.
I prefer stealth bombers, they are really cute.
I've played 2 warmonger games recently, where I relied primarily on tanks/m.armour and fighter/bomber as my main force. In both of those particular games I did luck out in finding a lot of oil in my home territory, as well as a lot more excess oil from acquired territory, making it plausible for going heavy on tanks/flight units
The advantage i found for going bombers is that they're much better at keeping up with the fast advancing tank force, where as artillery just slows down my advance and makes my tanks more vulnerable to being taken out from having to sit in a tile for an extra turn waiting for my artillery to setup to fire.
For instance: In 1 turn I can bomb a city down with bombers then move in with my tanks and take the city down immediately.
With artillery it can take 2 turns to do the same thing because my artillery loses 1 (or 2 depending on terrain) for moving, and 1 point for setting up.
Also, because I had built Big ben, taken Commerce tree, and the Autocracy tree, i was able to build multiple bombers in 1 turn (each received 2 upgrades immediately from barracks structures) after researching Radar. And on top of all that, because I was upgrading my tanks to Modern Armour and using up aluminum, it made more sense to use up the excess oil on bombers, rather then using more of my aluminum on Rocket Artillery.
Obviously going for Tank/Bomber is situational on how much oil you have during the industrial era, but so far I've found i enjoy the speed it offers in the modern era combat, more so then Rocket artillery and Mech. Infantry
The advantage i found for going bombers is that they're much better at keeping up with the fast advancing tank force, where as artillery just slows down my advance and makes my tanks more vulnerable to being taken out from having to sit in a tile for an extra turn waiting for my artillery to setup to fire.
For instance: In 1 turn I can bomb a city down with bombers then move in with my tanks and take the city down immediately.
With artillery it can take 2 turns to do the same thing because my artillery loses 1 (or 2 depending on terrain) for moving, and 1 point for setting up.
Also, because I had built Big ben, taken Commerce tree, and the Autocracy tree, i was able to build multiple bombers in 1 turn (each received 2 upgrades immediately from barracks structures) after researching Radar. And on top of all that, because I was upgrading my tanks to Modern Armour and using up aluminum, it made more sense to use up the excess oil on bombers, rather then using more of my aluminum on Rocket Artillery.
Obviously going for Tank/Bomber is situational on how much oil you have during the industrial era, but so far I've found i enjoy the speed it offers in the modern era combat, more so then Rocket artillery and Mech. Infantry
After military academy is built, bombers become far more powerful (very easy to get air repair then double attack), aside from getting intercepted, you can pretty much attack twice a turn continuously and you'll be healed right back. A medic/khan standing next to the city helps repair the unit too, obviously. Their land attack promotions ignore terrain, and their range easily allows them to hit something 2-3 times before even reaching the city (4-6 with double attack). And most important of all, you can stack air units and bombers upgrade to stealth bombers (far superior to Rocket Artillery).
But like others have said, artillery come a good deal sooner, and are better for tackling those cities with 120 defense.
Not able to stack units also mean you need a lot more protection, which costs upkeep, lest your units get sniped by attack chopper/tanks...or bombers.
Unit space is very important for 1upt combat system, anything that can bypass that restriction automatically makes it superior.
Bomber + MA, or Stealth + MI make for some steamrolling combinations.
But like others have said, artillery come a good deal sooner, and are better for tackling those cities with 120 defense.
Not able to stack units also mean you need a lot more protection, which costs upkeep, lest your units get sniped by attack chopper/tanks...or bombers.
Unit space is very important for 1upt combat system, anything that can bypass that restriction automatically makes it superior.
Bomber + MA, or Stealth + MI make for some steamrolling combinations.
Mesopotamian
Warlord
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- Sep 30, 2010
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Aircrafts is actually way more >> than artillery, i would take air units over artillery in a heart beat anytime.
No setup time, massive range, more damage.
Having 10 crafts means ur enemy loses at least 2 units per turn
and 1 or 2 damage for me means that i can use them for 6 turns before i start to heal them (they heal fast) then start using them again
I usually couple having crafts with the autocracy SP (25% more damage when not full health) after the initial attack and u losing 1 HP you start to get the best results.
No setup time, massive range, more damage.
Having 10 crafts means ur enemy loses at least 2 units per turn
and 1 or 2 damage for me means that i can use them for 6 turns before i start to heal them (they heal fast) then start using them again
I usually couple having crafts with the autocracy SP (25% more damage when not full health) after the initial attack and u losing 1 HP you start to get the best results.
Largely situation dependent, but I'd definitely say that in general bombers are better. It's quicker to get to Logistics, and once you have Air Repair, losing health isn't an issue anyway. You can stack them and don't have to wait nearly as long to get them into position, and they aren't vulnerable to enemy attack as artillery and rocket artillery are. That they require oil rather than aluminium as mentioned also helps. Bombers also have a higher ranged combat strength (50 compared to Rocket Artillery's 46). The Stealth Bomber is vastly better, with 80.
chazzycat
Deity
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- Oct 13, 2010
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I'll take an air force over artillery for the most part, Camikaze has provided the main reasons. I would also add the fact that there are some very nice promotions available for bombers now. With just barracks & armory, you can get 2 city raider promotions for +50% to cities. These seem to usually do 5 damage to cities....very nice.
Also if your opponent has an air force, you don't want to be stuck with only ground troops. He who dominates the air dominates the battlefield...modern military strategy 101.
Also if your opponent has an air force, you don't want to be stuck with only ground troops. He who dominates the air dominates the battlefield...modern military strategy 101.
MadDjinn
Deity
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of course... artillery can move forward, so eventually you will lose the ability to attack with air forces. (or if say you have to attack over a few city states)
oh, and Abombs can wipe ever air unit in a city, vs. just damaging a number of artillery.
but yeah, Air power ownership tips the balance.
oh, and Abombs can wipe ever air unit in a city, vs. just damaging a number of artillery.
but yeah, Air power ownership tips the balance.
I've never been impressed with bombers honestly. Usually I have more than enough aluminum
to make rocket artillery while oil tends to be precious. The results from bombers just don't
impress me enough to justify building them. The AI is usually very good at building air defenses
in any case. Maybe its different with the right promotions. I've always had the best results with
Some tanks backet up with rocket artillery and lots of mechanized infantry. I'll also bring a copter
or two along and a mobile sam. The bombers tend to be a sideshow. They do have nice range though.
to make rocket artillery while oil tends to be precious. The results from bombers just don't
impress me enough to justify building them. The AI is usually very good at building air defenses
in any case. Maybe its different with the right promotions. I've always had the best results with
Some tanks backet up with rocket artillery and lots of mechanized infantry. I'll also bring a copter
or two along and a mobile sam. The bombers tend to be a sideshow. They do have nice range though.
On the other hand, artillery is not safe (esp in enemy territory) against tanks/choppers that can go around your infantry. While it's true that you can protect them with guards all around, a large block of units is just as susceptible to nukes as a stack of aircrafts.
Regardless, basing a unit's worth solely on nukes is probably not the best idea since nukes clearly are broken (no counter) and not every AI favors nukes anyway.
As for AI's air defense, you're supposed to soak up anti air attacks with fighters then achieve air superiority through either air sweep or bombing the SAM/AA gun, just as you would leave some of your land units close to your artillery to guard against flanking attack.
Oh yea, another great use for bombers is to snipe the enemy's civilians (by that time they all die in one hit iirc). I think it puts a huge strain on the AI's productivity (they have to rebuild the lost civ)
Depends on what enemies have
but personally I rarely uses bombers. since I've upgraded my siege units into Artillery and MLRS thingy alot! As long as there's no AA units present. you may use it.
But why can't the two works together to help each other out? (and hastens the siege process.)
PS. i've never try stealth bombers. but i do try American B17 before and it's quite a bane to city defenses.
Randall Turner
King
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- Feb 8, 2011
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- 679
A B-17 built (or bought) from a city with good barracks/armory/etc. infrastructure is dominating. (Both because of the free "evasion" allowing you to make multiple sorties before having to repair, and the free "siege" you can build upon to get the more powerful promotions like "logistics" and "air repair".
With a 45-xp B-17, you'll usually have "evasion", "siege2", and "logistics" (x2 attack) right off the assembly line. Two turns later (four sorties) you'll have 16 more XP and you take "air repair", at which point you are significantly stronger even than a vanilla Stealth Bomber. (well, disregarding range.)
Just stay alive long enough to cash in.
