Enemy SoD movement late game

[Eplekjekk]

Hello fellow fanatics.

As I have been moving up the difficulties not all my games end with a reneissance war, and I have been forced to learn how to war effectively in the modern era. Modern warfare with its high amount of units seems to me to be a lot about maneuvrability and chosing the proper place for a fight. Once the enemy SoD is dealt with, the rest of the war is mostly capturing their cities one by one. I have already learned the valuable lessons of scouting enemy territory for the SoD and not moving my entire force into a city after capturing it, only to be hit with CR II/III siege the very next turn.

That being said I was wondering if the AI uses its SoD in a predictable fashion. If I declare on an AI and don't immediately send my troops into its territory, will it send its SoD to attack my cities regardless of the circumstances (power ratio, distance etc.)? If this is the case it might be prudent to wait for it to arrive, destroy it and only then move into their territory. Of course, this also gives the AI time to build more units. Up until now I have, mostly due to impatience, sent my SoD into AI territory, where, due to railroad, its SoD will hit me one or two turns later. Usually I can destroy the enemy forces on the defensive, but that is mostly because of superior numbers / tech lead and AI incompetence.

To put it short:
1: Will the enemy SoD attack me regardless of power ratio/distance etc.?

2: How do you try to win the war of maneuvrability in modern wars to destroy the enemy SoD in a most advantageous fashion? (I know bombers are good for weakening the enemy SoD, but let us for the sake of argument exclude them from this discussion.)

 

[Silu]

1: Will the enemy SoD attack me regardless of power ratio/distance etc.?

2: How do you try to win the war of maneuvrability in modern wars to destroy the enemy SoD in a most advantageous fashion? (I know bombers are good for weakening the enemy SoD, but let us for the sake of argument exclude them from this discussion.)

1. Yes

2. Collateral damage after item 1 happens

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Silu has it. Nice, simple, effective. Bait the AI SoD into neutral or friendly territory, hit it with your siege first, kill it, then go mop him up. Even cannons or arty will suffice.

An alternative is to use nukes or just continually hit and burn coastal cities on some maps.

 

[johnny_rico]

Good tactics here.

In the modern era, don't underestimate the power of aircraft carriers and fighters/jet fighters as well as airships. Light up all that enemy turf every turn so there are no surprises.

Also, as already stated, in any modern war, I'll play defense first. Find that stack of 80 or 100 units, kill it all and then move in. Once that stack is done, use spies to cause revolt and suicide marines to take down multiple coastal cities in a single turn. If you can take out two or three cities in a turn and their primary stack is already gone, they'll just hole up until eliminated or vassalized. They're no longer a threat and easy picking. No matter the difficulty, the AIs warfare tactics are awful, arguably so at higher difficulties because they do less with more.

 

[Sincro]

Another benefit to letting the enemy SoD come to you so you can destroy it is the lower amount of war weariness generated.

Which of course makes no difference with jail + police state + rushmore, but for those that don't run the perfect war combo, it can be helpful.

 

[mirthadir]

Another alternative is mass flanking (choppers) followed by hiding behind a pack of CG III troops with cultural defenses. Kill the siege and let the AI SoD kill itself. Another option is to distract the AI SoD with another AI and then just mop up.