Does anyone build Forts?

[EverNoob]

Out of the countless games I've played, I've only built Forts in a few of my games.

I think the concept of Forts/Castles/Citadels is pretty cool, but in practice it rarely fits into my overall military defense strategy since I tend to favour mounted units.

So I was curious if anybody out there uses Forts extensively, and more importanly how?

 

[Fafnir13]

The best offense is a good defense. Plus I don't play maps that come with choke points built in (like Erebus).

 

[xalien]

If I do happen to have a chokepoint I may decide to improve it with a fort. Or if I have a frontal city that I expect to come under heavy attack, then I'll put a fort somewhere behind on a least useful tile.

 

[FireBlaze]

I can only see forts being used to protect remote chokepoints that are too far away and a bad spot for a city. Even at that, I'd probably use a city purely because the city gets better defense at the end, and I can make units in it.

 

[Chamaedrys]

I never build forts and I cant understand why the Ai build so many of them.

 

[Kyroshill]

The AI builds them on otherwise unworkable tiles for one (not that the fort makes it workable, mind you, they just do it).... why they build them on workable tiles RIGHT NEXT to a city, like they are preparing a siege tower FOR ME... I'll never understand.


What I will do however.... is build forts on good hills OUTSIDE my borders..... they upgrade to castles and citadels then, then I either put a counter-attacking force there (in case someone should think to invade).... or at least a unit with Sentry I (or II preferably)....

But yeah.... forts need a rework..... either provide some real boni when on an unworkable tile in a BFC... or find a way to return ActAsCity to the forts......

 

[ScottishViking]

I've found that forts can be intensely useful if you're playing a defensive civ like Ljos or Svart, as you're getting terrain bonuses from the fort on top of the forests (forts don't remove forests as with other civs).

 

[jimi12]

i never build them and pillage them when i conquer lands with them

 

[Luckmann]

So extremely rarely that I'd have to say never. If my automated workers build one, odds are that it's in such a worthless spot that I'll have to revert it.

I was thinking of making a special Amurite fortress in the form of a tower that spawned fireballs when enemies are within 3 tiles, but.. umm.. I guess that's unrelated to the thread.

 

[zup]

Never in base FFH. If there is a particularly juicy chokepoint when I play Orbis, then perhaps. But generally they are a waste of time, effort and space.

 

[Kyroshill]

Never in base FFH. If there is a particularly juicy chokepoint when I play Orbis, then perhaps. But generally they are a waste of time, effort and space.

For those of us NOT in the know..... why do you build them when playing Orbis?

 

[Emptiness]

I used to build them all the time when I was playing on the Erebus mapscript, to defend chokepoints. I've since stopped playing on it, because of the AIs inability to use waterways to move when land routes are all blocked. On other maps I find the chokepoints are much less common, and so I use them less often. I don't like to waste workable tiles with fortifications, so I try to build them in the gaps of my workable zones where they will be able to protect multiple cities from a hill (when that's possible). If I'm in a strong position in the game I tend to build them less than if I'm in a weak position.

The exception is if I'm playing Ljosalfar or Svartalfar, with which I always build fortifications even at the cost of workable tiles. I find that a citadel in an ancient forest on a hill is a better defensive position than a city. City defense promotions don't work for it, but neither do city attack promotions. Its defensive value can't be bombarded down. And if it falls then I've lost a hill. Plus the tile doesn't lose as much value when it can hold an ancient forest in addition to the fortification, so it is less painful to place it inside a city work zone. I like to promote warriors with Woodsman I and then upgrade them to archery units to give them a little extra boost for defending these strongpoints.

 

[KillerClowns]

A fort? What the hell is a fort? Very, very rarely I'll drop one on a chokepoint, but I put "never" because it rounds down to 0 in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Jabie]

For those of us NOT in the know..... why do you build them when playing Orbis?

Forts in Orbis are a lot more valuable. You get a unit called a fort commander which has a ranged attack, allowing you to shoot enemies as they pass by. The fort commander can also gain promotions, making the fort harder to take or increasing the damage or effectiveness of the Fort. Add in a cheap unit or two and the Fort commander can wear down the stack whilst the units can sally forth and take out the infidels.

More pertinently Forts generate culture, meaning you can work the land around them. It's great for capturing resources when you don't have the time/resources for a Settler or don't want to invest in a city so far from your capital as to be a drain on your economy.

In addition, the civic Fedual Contract means that they can generate production and wealth for your cities. Thus even if the AI goes fort-crazy, it's possible for them to gain some benefit from it.

Throw in Erebus maps for tight chokepoints, and a bunch of abandoned Forts at the start of the game taht anyone can claim and Forts are one of the best additions to Orbis.

 

[JonathanStrange]

I play the Ljosalfars most often and I'll build forts occasionally. I mostly site them outside a city's workable tiles, in an out-of-the-way forest, and I use them for the reputed defensive terrain bonus their Civopedia description says they have.

However, I've never known if, in fact, the human player does get the bonus from having a citadel or castle nearby. Do we? (I don't see the combat modifiers change when I attack an AI with a fort nearby so I wonder...)

Anyhow, they're not crucial to me, but if they work as my interpretation of the Civopedia goes, then that castle/citadel 3-4 away within a circle of cities is providing a valuable service. Anyhow, it costs nothing in maintenance and makes a good place to exile dissidents.

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[deadliver]

I have to say that I really like Orbi's way of implementing forts etc. I also use forts to control resources outside my city radius (and even garrison them if the resource is valuable). Otherwise on non choke point heavy maps I simply use them if a suitable choke point rears its ugly head

In older versions of FFH I noticed that upgraded watchtowers tended to act as barbarian magnets, so they are useful for that too. Not sure if that still stands.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I always build forts.
Forts are only good for 1 thing, blocking pasages.]
Ever so often, you will run into a 1 or 2 tile pasage into your teritory surounded by mountains. If you can block that off with a fort and a few archers, suddenly you have the benifits of a much larger garnison there.
Now, put one of your heroes there, and let a swarm of enemies come at it. Get the picture?

 

[Kyroshill]

Forts in Orbis are a lot more valuable. You get a unit called a fort commander which has a ranged attack, allowing you to shoot enemies as they pass by. The fort commander can also gain promotions, making the fort harder to take or increasing the damage or effectiveness of the Fort. Add in a cheap unit or two and the Fort commander can wear down the stack whilst the units can sally forth and take out the infidels.

More pertinently Forts generate culture, meaning you can work the land around them. It's great for capturing resources when you don't have the time/resources for a Settler or don't want to invest in a city so far from your capital as to be a drain on your economy.

In addition, the civic Fedual Contract means that they can generate production and wealth for your cities. Thus even if the AI goes fort-crazy, it's possible for them to gain some benefit from it.

Throw in Erebus maps for tight chokepoints, and a bunch of abandoned Forts at the start of the game taht anyone can claim and Forts are one of the best additions to Orbis.

Sounds like the only way to improve that is to have a different animation when your forces get to "sally forth".... that would be awesome

Always wondered why they don't generate a touch of culture.... never more than 1 ring I would think....

and have a ranged attack..... never could figure why late game forts in BTS didn't have this ability....since forts were often used to guard harbors and rivers from enemy ships.

 

[EverNoob]

I hadn't thought about the additive defense of ancients forests for the elves. I really like that idea! That also fits in with their generally defensive gameplay.

 

[ScottishViking]

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This is pretty much exactly what I do when I play Ljos. It's not a make-or-break strategy, but it can make a huge difference if you're playing on a map with multiple access points to your territory.