how do you prepare for war ?

[kristopherb]

i always do the following before i declare war but iwant to know what you do

i stack on my troops in one spot

come up up with ip(invasoin plan) like 1 york2 london etc (get the first 3 cities the civ found)bareing in mind i have 2 stacks

scout around for their army

if ican find the army i split my stack in 2

place my troops in place and attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1

 

[Spraggy]

i always send in a scout first if I have open borders just to see which cities are most defended. I then position two large stacks close to the weak cities outside their borders. Then attack. After I have saved the game just in case it all goes belly up.

 

[Betafor]

Early game = 4 average units(units that get about a 1:1 power ratio with the other civ's defenders) on the border, or 2 very good units for the time (praetorians)

Middle game = 4 seige units, 6 most powerful units, 2-3 supplementary(I.E pikeman for defence against knights)

Late game = have a huge standing military at all time, and only counterattack.... if i had wanted a conquest victory i would have won by now

 

[CHRISROOM]

I would have like 6 stacks just outside their borders and (like Spaggy) send a scout to see which city is most defended. I usually call it "The Happy Blockade".

 

[bkwrm79]

1. "Oh no, I'm being invaded!" (I'm usually a builder.)

2. "Hey, want to buy some tech, cheap? Say, want to join a war?"

3. Upgrade.

4. Destroy invading army.

5. Pick targets; decide which I want to capture, which I want to raze.

6. Execute plan, using mixed stack of units (at the very least, my best fighting unit plus siege unit).

7. If wiping them out would take too long, try to get tech or at least gold and world map in the peace treaty.

The sequence is quite different if I'm going for Domination, of course.

 

[Black Attila]

I'm a total sledgehammer.

I never attack until I researched construction which I beeline for after Iron Working. Usual force will consist of at least 5 Swordsmen and 5 Catapults with a smattering of other units. Oftentimes my attacking stack is SO large that it will have the ...at the end to represent more units.

I usually do send out 2-3 horse archer ahead to try and pick off any catapults , but I tend not to worry about collateral damage as 2-3 cats are almost inconsequential to the inevitable...me conquering their land.

Also I rarely ever pillage unless I need money to fund the war. Once, I was Genghis Khan on the Earth Realism map and expanded so rapidly that at 40% research I was still losing 20-30 gold/turn. I sent my Keshiks out and pillaged their cottages to fund my war. Normally I prefer to keep their lands intact as I plan on using them soon enough.

 

[Sisiutil]

I usually discover Bronze Working, build 4-6 cities (at least one near copper), barracks, and then build Axes. Each city gets a Combat I Axe for defense and barb-whomping first, then after that it's City Raider all the way. Meanwhile, my first Warrior or Scout does his best to recon the target, preferably with Open Borders, or using hills without OB.

I usually go after my nearest, strongest neighbour (especially if they have a holy city) once I have about 4-6 CR I Axemen and one spear to defend the stack from mounted units. You can easily take out a city defended by Archers with a 20% cultural defense bonus without Catapults. The longer you wait, the stronger your opponent will be--or the next opponent after that.

Meanwhile, I build reinforcements and research towards Construction so I have Catapults to take down cities with strong bonuses. Sometimes the cats take too long, though, and I have taken 60% culture cities by sacrificing several green CR I Axes so the CR II adn CR III veterans can mop up.

 

[Gumbolt]

I usually build 4-5 cities and go the axemen way. Normally i attack the AI with the religion next to me or the biggest cultural threat. I try to stack 4-5 axes to attack a city picking off small ones. Onces Ai down to 1-2 cities i will heal units during peace and finish off 10 turns later if cultural defence is not too great.

I find if you split a stack later game units get picked off too easily.

Late game wars can involve weakening military power first. Its hard to attack a Ai that has 30-50 units sitting about for a counter attack. Even weaker units can bring down a riflemen, gren, cannon stack with enough catapults and macemen/ knights.

Come round 2 of the war your happily stealing the better cities. 10 turns peace is a pain though. It would be better if you had an ally attacking from the rear who started war.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Recently its been more like, "Oh no if you even think about building that close to my land you'll regret it computer"...ah you have what a shame..hold alt, click on appropriate name...then think about which guys your going to send to fight..its more fun this way