Let's Talk Military

[elder abuser]

Since the day I bought civ, I was always a builder. But lately I'm leaning more towards war. I'm not very experienced in the art of war, so I'm asking for tips and ideas (Unit placement, how many stacks I should bring, what cities to go for first, leaders, etc).


Cheers

 

[Gflat]

First place to look would be here. I've learned a lot of considerations and strategies from the Military section of the War Academy.

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/

 

[sourboy]

Since the day I bought civ, I was always a builder. But lately I'm leaning more towards war. I'm not very experienced in the art of war, so I'm asking for tips and ideas (Unit placement, how many stacks I should bring, what cities to go for first, leaders, etc).


Cheers

In a nutshell, send a "stack" of units. In the early ages, bring seige weapons to reduce city defenses before attacking. In the late ages, use planes to bomb ahead of time. There's also the option of provoking unrest thru spying the turn you attack for an automatic defense reduction to 0%.

After that, attack with offensive units, try to have +city attack upgrades on them. A few defensive units are always nice, but if used, then you didn't bring a large enough "stack". My rule of thumb is usually 2-3 units vs 1 of their defenders, unless im way ahead in tech.

 

[slobberinbear]

The War Academy has a lot of good articles. Read 'em.

Number of Stacks: In the early game it's hard to build more than one stack. Use Sisiutil's Stack O' Doom article for more on composition. Generally speaking, axemen are the most available, useful and versatile units in the ancient and classical eras, and I can only think of a few instances where you wouldn't want many (i.e., your foe only has archers and chariots, for example).

Leaders to Use: Any Agressive or Charismatic leader, or any civ with any early offensive Unique Unit are good places to start.

If you have BTS, try Gilgamesh of Sumeria. His Creative trait allows for easy border expansion, his Protective archers are great for defending cities, and his UU Vulture is an awesome unit. Cyrus of Persia is also a strong choice for early warmongering.

Cities to go for First: take out your foe's capitol and cities with iron, copper, and horses first. In the early game, the capitol contributes half or more of an empire's production. Until you get the hang of managing war economics, consider razing cities except the capitol and holy cities.

 

[Gooblah]

I'll go over a couple things I find useful that weren't already stated by SlobberinBear and SourBoy....

Branching Troops
This is basically having a main stack of your most experienced and battle-ready units and counters, and 2-4 smaller stacks depending on the number of cities to be attacked. The Main Stack must include 2 Medics, both of which must be the weakest units in the stack (thus, they're not selected by the computer to defend). The smaller stacks can have 0-1, since they won't see as much action. Simply let the Main Stack hit the Capital, Holy Cities, and highly defended cities in a certain area. The ports, farming communities, etc, should be taken by the Secondary Stacks. This spreads your troops in an optimal ratio to take as many cities as possible in a short period of time.

Military Teching
Simple. Beeline for BW/IW, grab improvement techs, skip Alphabet (if unrequired), then hit Machinery and Engineering. Try to get Code of Laws for the Courthouses before your first or second war, then continue. Hit Gunpowder and Chemistry for Musketmen and Grenadiers, then Rifling and Military Tradition for Cavalry, Riflemen, and West Point. Finally advance to Assembly Line (if the warring has stretched that long) for Infantry, and as a last resort, Industrialism for the most powerful units: Tanks.

 

[Tennyson]

Be careful with razing as it almost always pops a bunch of free units for the defending civ.

The important thing about siege weapons is that they are a force multiplier. The more of them you use, the fewer turns to reduce defenses, and the more you can punish the defenders before you move your real troops in. Go ahead and attack with 'em and build replacements (they are also relatively cheap).

Build attacking units and siege weapons, then declare war. Now start building defensive units and replacement catapults. Defenders go into captured cities. Before or during the war you might also want to give somebody with a Medic I promotion to go with your big stack and heal them.

 

[KMadCandy]

Be careful with razing as it almost always pops a bunch of free units for the defending civ.

OP: i don't know what version you're playing, note that this only applies to BtS. i thought it was a random event and just sometimes rather than almost always, but i haven't had many wars in BtS, so Tennyson may well be right about that part.

 

[Tennyson]

OP: i don't know what version you're playing, note that this only applies to BtS. i thought it was a random event and just sometimes rather than almost always, but i haven't had many wars in BtS, so Tennyson may well be right about that part.

Yep, BTS only. It's not very random - it happens to me more often than not. I'm 3 for 3 in my current game.