Designated defender?

[morchuflex]

Hello.

Is there a way (as there was in SMAC) to decide which unit will defend a city or a stack in case of an enemy attack?
In Civ3 it seems the computer decides for you and chooses the unit with the best chances of winning (defense level x HP). But sometimes, you'd really wish another unit would defend.
Example: I move a stack of two elite knights and one vet pikeman towards an enemy city. Then my troops are attacked by an enemy Med Inf... and the computer chooses one of the knights to defend the stack, because it has one more HP. But I really wish it chose the Pike, because I only need it for defense and I need my knights at full strength to attack on next turn. In fact, I would be willing to sacrifice the pike... Is there any way I can designate it as permanent defender?

 

[Nicci]

i'm bothered by the very same thing. why bother building pikemen if the knight is going to defend? anyway, there is no way around this.
and it doesn't happen that often, if u have enough veteran defenders.

 

[citizen001]

Is there any way I can designate it as permanent defender?

Yes, of course there is! Wait till next year for Civilization IV to hit the stores!

 

[morchuflex]

Yes, of course there is! Wait till next year for Civilization IV to hit the stores!

Next year! You're the optimistic type, ain't you?

 

[majk-iii]

or u could keep your elite knights "behind" the pikemen ...they can still counter next turn... not as far, but still.

 

[eldar]

I'd have to test this - but I think fortified units defend in preference to unfortified units? So if you can fortify the Pike, and not the Knights, that's probably the way to go.

Neil.

 

[punkbass2000]

I'd have to test this - but I think fortified units defend in preference to unfortified units? So if you can fortify the Pike, and not the Knights, that's probably the way to go.

Neil.

To a degree, yes. It's not that fortified units get any automatic priority over non-fortified, it's just that they're defense is raised by the fortification, making them more likely to be the best defender.

 

[Wolfwood]

Unfortunately, when you are moving a stack, pike has only one movement and never has a chance to fortify, whereas knights fortify every time simply because they have extra movements (if they want to stay with the stack...).