Conquest 03 Pre-Game Discussion

[solenoozerec]

I’d like to hear opinions on whether to try to build The Great Lighthouse or not. On one hand at the demigod level, AI could be simply faster and even if we will manage to build it, it could be unnecessary waste of resources.
On another hand dromons will fly with lighthouse... it is soooo appealing.... ;-}

 

[Akane]

I’d like to hear opinions on whether to try to build The Great Lighthouse or not. On one hand at the demigod level, AI could be simply faster and even if we will manage to build it, it could be unnecessary waste of resources.
On another hand dromons will fly with lighthouse... it is soooo appealing.... ;-}

I would say that if domination is the goal, that a Lighthouse would definitely take you a long way to accomplishing that goal. Dromons that move five squares per turn would definitely make every other Civ shake in their boots until they figured out Magnetism at least (and possibly Ironclads.)

However, it'd take a lot of resources to put together the Lighthouse, enough dromons, and as well enough military units to make that work. As it is, the Dromons will already be faster than most enemy ships that will be encountered, be they curraghs or galleys. And two hundred shields may go a long way somewhere else, including... almost seven dromons, if my math is correct

 

[denyd]

Remember as good as the Dromon may be, it still can not conquer a city.

What I think they'll be best for is keeping the AI on their starting island and colonizing the uninhabited islands and shelling AI coastal roads.

 

[solenoozerec]

May be it make sense to capture lighthouse as soon as it built? Look on F7, figure out who is likely to build it and send a fleet there?
This way we could save 7 dromons, but still get a lighthouse.
I just couldn't give up the idea of flying dromons, I certainly would build lighthouse on monarch or regent.

 

[solenoozerec]

Remember as good as the Dromon may be, it still can not conquer a city.

Dromons are very mobile artillery, they cannot conquer a city, but they can prepare a city to be conquered.

 

[Akane]

Dromons are very mobile artillery, they cannot conquer a city, but they can prepare a city to be conquered.

To some extent. I remember trying this a few times previously... if I remember correctly, not being near my Civ game (and with others to correct me if needed), the bombard on a dromon is 2. This is half the strength of a catapult. Granted, it'd be nice to shell a city as well as land troops next to it, but the point I'm trying to make is the fact that if your dromon does actually damage on a bombard, you're rather lucky. Even on a spearman. You'd have to have them in rather large numbers in order to get any efficiency out of bombarding... and at that point you're better off using those dromons to either ferry troops/settlers or erect blockades.

 

[solenoozerec]

if I remember correctly, not being near my Civ game (and with others to correct me if needed), the bombard on a dromon is 2. This is half the strength of a catapult.

You are correct. And I agree with you when you talk about one dromon. However, even so, two dromons seem to be more efficient than one catapult (they roll a dice twice and therefore with luck can do more damage). Catapult is inefficient since it cannot do anything else, you do not want to build an army of catapults earlier in the game. But you will build an army of dromons for a number of reasons other than bombardment ability. When you have an army of dromons the output of their bombardment can be even somewhat predictable.
Though they are particularly good at pillaging.

 

[solenoozerec]

This is half the strength of a catapult.

I just checked parameters of dromons and catapultes. Dromons have firing rate 2, while catapults - 1.
Do not ask me what firing rate is. Does anyone know?

 

[AlanH]

I think it means they fire two shots per bombardment, so they have two opportunities to knock a hit point off an opponent. If they're lucky they can knock two off in one turn.

 

[solenoozerec]

I think it means they fire two shots per bombardment, so they have two opportunities to knock a hit point off an opponent. If they're lucky they can knock two off in one turn.

Thank you. I just found the same information in Valant2's review on combat.
In this case, even one dromon is better than one catapult at bombardment!

 

[denyd]

Does a Dromon have lethal land or sea bombardment?

 

[solenoozerec]

Does a Dromon have lethal land or sea bombardment?

I never killed anyone using dromons, but I have no idea if it can produce collateral damage in theory. When I played C3C for a first time, it was quite a surprise to see a unit death from air bombardment. My first thought was that it is some kind of a bug.

 

[smackster]

I used the Dromon in the Conquests intro scenario and it certainly had lethal bombardment then. It was very effective for troops in the open, but not so great against cities.

 

[denyd]

In that case 4 Dromons carrying 8 spearmen could take a whole bunch of coastal cities. Land 2 spears, bombard the city, until all units dead and move the spearmen in. Move the ships and repeat. Have another dromon for spearmen shuttle duty and you could take every coastal city on the map.

 

[Kaiser_Berger]

I know for a fact that it has lethal sea bombardment, as I played a practice game with them and had lots of fun picking off enemy galleys with streams of fire. I've redlined ground troops with them, but never killed any. I'm pretty sure their lethal bombardment is restricted to the open sea.

 

[grs]

Dont want to spoil your discussion, but the editor say this:

 

[smackster]

I know for a fact that it has lethal sea bombardment, as I played a practice game with them and had lots of fun picking off enemy galleys with streams of fire. I've redlined ground troops with them, but never killed any. I'm pretty sure their lethal bombardment is restricted to the open sea.

I really ought to check my memory cells, too late all gone. Yes as others pointed out its lethal sea bombardment.

The only thing I can say is, don't overbuild them.

smackster

 

[I R Possom]

i think the dromon are overrated. i play a map with them and they suck when i come to bombarding city. i will biuld a few but just enough to keep AI on there respactive island.

 

[Civgeek]

i think the dromon are overrated. i play a map with them and they suck when i come to bombarding city. i will biuld a few but just enough to keep AI on there respactive island.

I agree about not going crazy for them. I played a practice game and never used them very much offensively. They did help soften up a few remote AI cities, but other than that pretty much sat idly by while ground troops did most of the fighting. They were useful defensively however; bombarding attacking AI units before they got adjacent to my cities usually made the AIs units turn around and head home. It was particularily useful when the AI had to move through four or five coastal tiles to get adjacent to a city. 2 or 3 Dormons could often turn back 10 or more attacking units before they even got adjacent to my lone defender.

 

[eldar]

Another random thought about what a Sid-level game might be like: just how hard would Predator class be?!

Neil.