Having trouble taking over cities.

[teefn]

Playing on the second easiest difficulty setting and I've progressed through to 1800's and it is pretty much impossible for me to take over an enemy city. Even when i`m technologically superior e.g riflemen/marines vs musketeers, ironclads vs city defenses, and so on. The same thing goes for the computer, he can't take over my cities either. What am i doing wrong about attacking and how should i plan my attacks? right now, im just sending/making units to their deaths. Should I be combining diffrent units into an attack force?

And when people talk about trading, is it between your own cities or should i be going worldwide to other nations to trade?

 

[Specialist290]

Playing on the second easiest difficulty setting and I've progressed through to 1800's and it is pretty much impossible for me to take over an enemy city. Even when i`m technologically superior e.g riflemen/marines vs musketeers, ironclads vs city defenses, and so on. The same thing goes for the computer, he can't take over my cities either. What am i doing wrong about attacking and how should i plan my attacks? right now, im just sending/making units to their deaths. Should I be combining diffrent units into an attack force?

The problem may be City Walls/Coastal Defenses. Build some Cannons/Artillery (depending on what tech level you're at), some Riflemen to guard them, and some fast, 2 MP units (Cavalry). Use the Cannons/Artillery to take out the defensive units and your fast units to actually take the city. (IMPORTANT: Don't stack all these units on the same square! Split your attack force between 4-5 different squares, or more depending on how large it is.)

As for coordination, using my approach above it's almost necessary.

Also, reading this this might help, as it has a lot of good things to say about waging war in Civ2.

And when people talk about trading, is it between your own cities or should i be going worldwide to other nations to trade?

Either is good, but foreign trade has a few bonuses:

1. Bigger "one-time" cash bonus

2. You also get a one-time science boost equal in beakers to the amount of gold you get

Someone else can name a few that I may be leaving out, as well as explain it in more detail.

 

[Peaster]

Teefn - Also, attack with lots of units [maybe 10 or so?] all on the same turn. If you spread the attacks out over several turns, you give the enemy a chance to heal up. You might also try to sabotage the walls with diplomats or spies. I usually try to conquer in the ancient period (with crusaders) before walls, musketeers, etc - so I don't know exactly which units to suggest to you. Specialist290's advice seems sound though.

 

[ElephantU]

teefn: Welcome to CFC! You've come to the right place to ask questions.

Regarding attacks, some good points have been made already. Try to get an idea of what is in the city before you attack, and put together a force that can kill them all in one turn, otherwise a Barracks can resucitate them. A Diplomat dies getting you a look at the city screen, but a Spy only loses a movement point. Look also at the city improvements screen, not just what units are inside. Also note the terrain the city is on - rivers and rough terrain multiply unit defense 50-200%.

When talking about trade, you can do either foreign or domestic trade, but you get less when you trade between your own cities. There is a built-in penalty on both the bonus payment and the trade route. That can often be made up in the later game when you can build Superhighways, Airports and critical road/rail links between your own cities faster and wiser than the AI can. Read some of the threads here and at Apolyton.Net on trade issues.

 

[geofelt]

The easiest way to take a city is to bribe it with gold. To take by force, you need strong attackers, particularly if the city is defended by city walls. First, always try to build barracks(or sun tsu's) to get veteran units; they are 50% stronger. Arrange things so you attack with a full movement point left. If you only have 2/3 movement left, you are weaker. Always attack in enough strength to take the city in one turn.
Learn what units can defeat others. A vet cannon will take out most early defenders. It might take two cannons per rifleman. I attack most with vet catapult/cannon/artilery/howitzer and don't bother to try to take down city walls.