Draft Rush?

[Smirk]

Anyone else done this at all? Seems to potentially be better than despot-rush although the discontent seems to be the same based on data in the editor.

Disbanding mech infantry IIRC you get 27 shields, 27 mobile shields that is. In some outlying province you could rotate and draft from surrounding cities then disband in the building city. For most of my totally corrupt cities I only build temples and marketplaces, and I can easily get them all built using this in only a few turns. Versus spending 600+ gold to rush normally.

If the pop rush only gives 20 (I've gotten 39 or so before, prepatch maybe, or map size changes this) then this is better than late game communism rushing. You get 22 shields for regular infantry and it goes down from there, I don't remember the numbers.

 

[tetley]

The only problem with draft rush is the draft only works on size 7 & up cities. So it usually takes 20 food instead of 10 to grow a pop. Not worth it at that point in the game, but that's just MHO. Also, I'd rather have the military units than the shields.

 

[Smirk]

From size 6 to 7 requires 20 food, but with 6 pop and non-despot gov't you can easily do that in 1 or 2 turns which is the same rate you get with despot-rushing.

As for the military unit, I sure wouldn't want it, I never draft or use conscripts (except warriors from huts). They are a long way from elite.

 

[tetley]

They take only one turn to heal.

 

[tetley]

Okay I've given a little more thought (everybody duck!). Mucho-drafting seems to make sense if you get Sistine's. Hurry a Cathedral out, and voila! 6 content citizens no matter how much you draft. If you irrigate & railroad 6 squares, it's not too hard to get 5 surplus food (i.e. a draft every other turn). 4 grasslands gets you 10 surplus food (i.e. every turn). The math:

4 grasslands, irrigated + railroaded = 2 surplus food * 4 squares = 8.
+2 free food from the city tile = 10.
Citizens 5 & 6 should be able to get 4 food to sustain themselves without too much trouble. Irrigate+railroad a desert apiece; that'll do it.


Anyway, a draft every turn or every-other turn is a LOT of drafts! That turns a 1-shield city into a 13-shield city, minimum. Maximum 60 shields (if you consider a conscript MechInf to be half a MechInf, which IMO, it is). That kinda rocks. Biggest problem, though, is that blasted unhappiness. Sistine's & Bach's sure help loads there.

The payoff gets even higher when you consider you can eliminate wasted shields at home by disbanding MechInf. For example, what if you have a 93-shield city producing (veteran) Modern Armor? An extra 27 shields produces the Armor in 1 turn instead of 2, eliminating 66 shields in waste [(93*2)-120]. Geez! Trading a conscript MechInf for 1/2 of a veteran Modern Armor--not a bad swap!

I wonder if this kind of math should be the subject of an Academy article.

 

[Smirk]

The wasted shield thing I hadn't thought of, that would rock tho, in the GOTM where I first seriously tried the drafting, Veii was a 100 production city and I could have easily done that there with a little airlifting. Yikes I could have drafted, airlifted the mech, completed the armor, airlifted the armor, and then repeat.

Modern armor every turn. Actually that would be rearranged, you want to have the shields applied the same turn you disband so the next turn it pops out. So in effect once you have the system in place, you would have a conscript mech replaced by a vet armor every turn. You would only lose 1 move if you airlift.

I've heard people suggesting disbanding things like bombers since you can rebase them anywhere, but that never seems productive since you are building it in a city, and I never have "spare" cities where I can make bombers where I couldn't just as well be making armor or infantry.

I think getting 10 extra wouldn't be too hard, but if not you could easily get enough to grow every 3 turns, and this is strickly a strategy for those sucky 1 shield total corrupt citys which you'll have a lot of. You can be drafting from 10-20 cities, and be turning those mechs into 2-3 modern armors, or even just more mechs. Two conscript mechs is not equal to one veteran, even with their special 1 turn to heal ability .

I'll have to try fighting with conscript next time I'm in the modern age, mech is the only I would reasonably try since they have 2 movement. Hmmm, do they retreat after 1 damage? That should be a very fun battle. (imagines 50 mech infantry stacked needed to take out 1 enemy infantry). Thats not out of the question though, with 20 totally corrupt citys that would be 9 turns max to output 60 conscript mechs. This could be a good strategy with a militaristic civ since they will likely advance quickly.

 

[tetley]

Yes, conscripts retreat after only 1 damage. But my experience has been that conscripts serve much more as a deterrent rather than actual combat. Also as cheap garrisons vs. culture flips. Often 1 conscript is all it takes to guard your big stack of artillery.

I also use conscript MechInfs as "artillery" vs. cities. For example if they have an elite foot-infantry in a size-21 city, I know there's no way a conscript MechInf is gonna knock him down to red. But he might very well knock a hit point off or two. The MechInf heals next turn.

Also, if you find yourself attacked by a horde of cavalry, I think you'll find 2 conscript Mechs defend better than 1 Vet. 2 conscripts are better at some things; 1 Vet is better at others. All-in-all I think it balances out.