How to Defeat 100 Enemy Units

[Ultraman]

It was at the end of my current game. The Persians, the No 2 power, goes to war with me. Out of the border comes about 100 units, mainly Mech Inf and Calvary!

But talk about lousy AI. ALL of them head for one undefended city. In the two turns they take to reach it, my artillery is tearing chunks out of them. I move ONE defender into the city, a Mech Inf. ALL one hundred of em turn around and head for the next undefended city! Naturally under artillery bombardment all the way.

After doing this a few times, this massive enemy stack are all down to 2 and 3 hit points. In move in my Modern Armour to kill them off. About 20 survivors limped home when the Persians signed a peace treaty.

My own losses? Zero. Number of my cities captured? Zero. Will definitely deliberately leave a city undefended near the border in my next game!

 

[FenrysWulf]

I've never tried the luring trick like you did, but I have also noticed that the computer likes to use what I call the Stack of Death since the new patch came out. They will put every infantry and rifleman they have in one huge stack and park it outside your city. I imagine this attack would be devastating if you allowed it to go forth, but like you I attack first and destroy them. They seem to really strip their cities to make the Stack of Death, so when it's gone the rest of it is pretty easy, because there's hardly any units left.

 

[Ultraman]

Henceforth, this tactic shall be known as the luring trick!

Yup, notice that when the AI goes to war, every unit except for 1-2 defenders per city is mobilised. It's a good way to strip the AI of units. The same Persians, I tried attacking a few turns' earlier. Captured half his cities, but had to fight my way through, and he had a unit on every other square. His counter-offensive was devastating!

I restarted by going defensive, and stumbled on the luring trick. There's another twist to this story. He actually had two stacks; one of all his mobile units, the other of all his infantry units. I concentrated everything I had on his mobile stack, figuring his infantry stack would take forever to get anywhere. Hence I had undefended cities.

So his also hundred plus infantry units merrily marched back and forth unmolested, while his mobile stack got torn to pieces. If I wasn't thrown into anarchy by the long war, I would have turned my attention to destroying his foot soldiers in the same way. The Persians lived to fight again another day, as I mentioned, with about 20 Mech Inf and Cavalry left.

You can imagine this game was damn fun ....

 

[ainwood]

Yep, this is a good trick, although some call it an "exploit".

As you eluded to, it is also good when you are on the offensive. You take one city, then don't do anything until after the AI has counter-attacked. Not as good when the AI has mobile units, as often they can move and attack in one turn (due to the small cultural boundaries of newly captured cities). But great in ancient times.

 

[Shabbaman]

Build a fortress on a mountain near to your border and at a location where your enemy might pass. Fortify a mech. inf. in it, build a railroad to it: when the time comes, you can mass your artillery easily here.

By the way, I get the idea that the AI immediately withdraws weakened units (a very sensible thing to do IMHO).

 

[Ultraman]

Ainwood, if the AI is dumb .... Agree about ancient times. My tactic to take out the mobile units first works just as well. The AI is dumb enough to separate its fast and slow units. The risky part about leaving cities undefended, as I've learned to my sorrow, is if he still has one fast mover left somewhere - Cavalry, Tank, Modern Armour - he's gonna punch a huge hole in your frontlines.

Shabbaman, the luring tactic seems to work independent of terrain. I did read in another post that the way to break into an enemy held continent, is to land on a mountain and let em come. You lose some, but he wipes himself out.

Yes, weak units do retreat. A good way to get marauding Ironclads and Destroyers to go home. On land, I try to have something to take out units limping home. In the earlier example, the 20 plus units I was forced to let go, headed straight home and healed up and had to be faced later in the game.

 

[Shabbaman]

Of course it works independent of terrain. But when you're facing a 100 unit stack, wouldn't you like a 100% defensive bonus?

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by ainwood

Yep, this is a good trick, although some call it an "exploit".

Yup. Exploit.

 

[ainwood]

Originally posted by Ultraman
Ainwood, if the AI is dumb .... Agree about ancient times. My tactic to take out the mobile units first works just as well. The AI is dumb enough to separate its fast and slow units. The risky part about leaving cities undefended, as I've learned to my sorrow, is if he still has one fast mover left somewhere - Cavalry, Tank, Modern Armour - he's gonna punch a huge hole in your frontlines.

On the mobile-units one, I was referring to the tactic where you take a city and wait for the counter-attack before moving on to attack another city.

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by ainwood

On the mobile-units one, I was referring to the tactic where you take a city and wait for the counter-attack before moving on to attack another city.

Good tactics (not an exploit).

 

[Jason Fox]

I've always thought it was an exploit. But I'll use a variation once in a while anyway since 1.21 only if I'm badly outnumbered (typically very early) and I know the invading force is going to be game threatening problem.

I'll collapse my defenses, pulling units from a city I know I can't hold if attacked. The AI heads for the undefended city, giving me time to pool those and other units and even finish making a couple, and position them so I can get to any city the AI might attack. If it's bad enough, I may empty another city as well.

Once the AI is within striking distance of my empty city, I disband it. I still lose the city but not the gold and they don't get the option of keeping it. I'll even do a second city if I think I need to. The time I buy doing this helps me organize my defenses, which then may or may not hold at whatever point battle becomes inevitable.

I justify using this exploit with the disbanding the empty cities, figuring I'm not getting something for nothing, and the fact that it's a last ditch, potentially game saving tatic.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Originally posted by Shabbaman

By the way, I get the idea that the AI immediately withdraws weakened units (a very sensible thing to do IMHO).

Yes they do. The Persian (is it my inagination or are they especially dumb to make up for the too-powerfull UU?) attacked a city, but couldn`t take it. I brought in lotsa Arty, blew them to pieces. Only a single Cav that hadn`t made it to the attack styed unhurt - and then I realized that I had only 1 Defender left in the city that now contained over 50 Arties

I went round and round trying to find more Arty, brought them there.... only to have 7 bombards fail!!!! No. 8 took 1 HP off the Cav.....I`m using a mod where a healthy elite Cav has 13 HP, so now it was down to 12.

Enemy`s turn. He bombards with 4 Bombers, reducing my city walls to crmbs and getting my Rifleman down to 1 HP. Then

the Cavalry with 12 HP left withdraws!!!!!




Hasitings is safe!!!!!!

 

[chiefpaco]

Even funnier if you let them take the city because they won't defend it properly. The stack will just go for the next undefended town. You can easily take it back. That is, if they don't raze it.

BTW, after they get Battlefield Medicine, I find they will rest in your territory rather than head back.

I nuked the 100 stack in my territory a couple times in a game, but got nuked back many times over by that civ and another who didn't like my nuking too much. Guess I won't be so eager to do that next time...