Mid Game war... not that fun for me...

[TrentL]

This last game I played was the first where I actively went to war rather than fight defensive wars.

I was very aggressive with my bowman, all the way up to crossbow men, but eventually I was forced to try and use Cannons and the like, and I have to admit, I hated it.

I eventually stopped my war mongering ways at this point, and teched up to Rocketry, and then the AI denounced me and that was enough for me to go declare war and take over the whole continent. And later build a navy and own the sea's with mass amounts of Submarine's (I love naval combat) backed by Battleships/missile Cruisers and Carriers.

• I find that siege units are pretty lack luster.
• I found that bombers aren't very handy for taking over cities, I tend to use them only as a last resort.
• Fighters the only thing I find them useful for is to put them on intercept to take on incoming bombers

Anyone else find the mid level war tedious? (With Cannons/Calvary/Muskets/Gatling Guns etc.)

 

[Light Cleric]

Ehh, it depends on the game. In some games, like this one, I get a lot of satisfaction from pushing through enemy territory and finally taking their capital in a siege. In other games like this one, it really blows(that was spam wave 2 of 3, also ignore the awful BPT, it was an experiment on ignoring Education lol) can be very unpleasant to deal with when they just spam and spam so much that I can kill 3 units a turn and they end up with 4 more.

All I can say about siege units is you really need to bring them en masse and just swarm all your units at the same time. Okay, one of your Cannons might die, the other 3-4 will blow the crap out of their capital. Seems like a fair trade to me.

 

[TrentL]

I guess I just don't consider it fun, for the longest time I did until I got G&K and started a new game, and followed some advice I found online, got more agressive with bowmen and was shocked at the outcome.

Gone where the need for catapults and trebuchet's... I'm not sure how to change it, I like that they made some late game ranged units (Gatling guns and the like) but I'm just disappointed with the siege I wish they had range 3 instead of 2, or 2 and no setup required.

 

[smallfish]

This last game I played was the first where I actively went to war rather than fight defensive wars.

I was very aggressive with my bowman, all the way up to crossbow men, but eventually I was forced to try and use Cannons and the like, and I have to admit, I hated it.

I eventually stopped my war mongering ways at this point, and teched up to Rocketry, and then the AI denounced me and that was enough for me to go declare war and take over the whole continent. And later build a navy and own the sea's with mass amounts of Submarine's (I love naval combat) backed by Battleships/missile Cruisers and Carriers.

• I find that siege units are pretty lack luster.
• I found that bombers aren't very handy for taking over cities, I tend to use them only as a last resort.
• Fighters the only thing I find them useful for is to put them on intercept to take on incoming bombers

Anyone else find the mid level war tedious? (With Cannons/Calvary/Muskets/Gatling Guns etc.)

... what level are you playing on? Bombers/Fighter combo are absolutely essential to demolishing runaways in the later eras, Stealth Bombers/Jets etcetera

Depends. When you are fighting 10+ unit waves of cannons, musket/riflemen, cavalries and gatlings with nothing but knights, trebuchets and crossbows, it tends to get very exciting quickly.

 

[TrentL]

I play on King plan on moving up to Emperor when I get the micromanaging of my empire under control.

I find fighters are ESSENTIAL for killing Anti-Tank/Armor weapons (Guns / Choppers) and for intercepting enemy bombers.

The bombers themselves are awesome as well but I find not so much for CITY bombing, but for taking out units as the AI seems to just spam them to the cows come home.

I think what I mean is I don't like to attack AI's with weapons that need to be deployed because their range is lack luster (2?) and they need to set-up which means the enemy always gets 2 shots off.

I mean my favorite seige weapon is the Mongol's horse archer... that thing is gross can move in shoot, then move out and never get shot. Reduce an enemy city to nothing and never take a shot.

But Catapults and the like are pretty lack luster in my mind.... I always bring multiples 2-3 + archers + melee units to pose a threat to the city(multiple targets for the AI to shoot), take it over as well as taking care of extra armies the AI brings.

 

[smallfish]

I play on King plan on moving up to Emperor when I get the micromanaging of my empire under control.

I find fighters are ESSENTIAL for killing Anti-Tank/Armor weapons (Guns / Choppers) and for intercepting enemy bombers.

The bombers themselves are awesome as well but I find not so much for CITY bombing, but for taking out units as the AI seems to just spam them to the cows come home.

I think what I mean is I don't like to attack AI's with weapons that need to be deployed because their range is lack luster (2?) and they need to set-up which means the enemy always gets 2 shots off.

I mean my favorite seige weapon is the Mongol's horse archer... that thing is gross can move in shoot, then move out and never get shot. Reduce an enemy city to nothing and never take a shot.

But Catapults and the like are pretty lack luster in my mind.... I always bring multiples 2-3 + archers + melee units to pose a threat to the city(multiple targets for the AI to shoot), take it over as well as taking care of extra armies the AI brings.

That's the problem of dealing with siege units that are not rocket artillery. Build some more and plan your attacks accordingly. Don't blindly plunge into a city before clearing out the defenders, then move your units in. Use Barracks/Armory/Mil Academies to give them promotions like Fortification (Wall Buster) to help speed your city sieging up.

Fighters also help you sweep an area beforehand so your highly promoted Bombers survive much, much more... unless the AI doesn't build SAMs or have intercepting Fighters on King?

Good luck on Emperor and above.

 

[maak]

I have found bringing 3-5 catapults works much better when you spend 1 movement point to get in range then fortify them all. Then which gets bombarded move out of range and attack with the others plus have 1-2 melee and bowmen in the party. Doing this and keeping them alive through the era's tends to make well promoted artillery and artillery with double shot and or plus 1 range can really be a very strong weapon at your service. I am by far no expert but I have learned the value of heavily promoted units.

 

[TrentL]

That's the problem of dealing with siege units that are not rocket artillery. Build some more and plan your attacks accordingly. Don't blindly plunge into a city before clearing out the defenders, then move your units in. Use Barracks/Armory/Mil Academies to give them promotions like Fortification (Wall Buster) to help speed your city sieging up.

Fighters also help you sweep an area beforehand so your highly promoted Bombers survive much, much more... unless the AI doesn't build SAMs or have intercepting Fighters on King?

Good luck on Emperor and above.

Yeah the AI Spams SAMS even though I rarely use Planes I focus on ground / naval, the planes I do use (Fighters) mainly to intercept or take out anti-tank units.

I know plans have some sweep ability but I haven't really got it to work for me.

 

[The Pilgrim]

Stealth bombers still rock!

I do agree to the extent with OP statement. Early wars are quick due to few units on both sides. Late wars are quick due to units high strength. Mid game wars lack both, so they tend to be long and tedious. A little pity, since LS rush used to be the thing. Not so fun anymore. On the other hand, there is some sort of epicness in these long and exhausting wars and winning one (eventually) can be very satisfying.

 

[Matthew.]

That is one of my favorite times to go warring. I can see why you'd feel the disconnect, as there is a definite change going from bows/xbows into later technologies.

I don't find cannons bad, you just need more infantry than in earlier eras. You can't use a handful of cannons the same way as composites/xbows.

Bombers are great. Their strength is in being able to stack unlimited numbers in a single city. Where as any other unit is limited by one-unit-per-tile, bombers can pile onto a single city, dropping even the highest of defenses.

Half the use of fighters is the intercept ability, so not sure why complaining they are doing their job.

 

[TrentL]

I often move my bombers up to the edges of the edges of my empires to assist, and I do find them handy don't get me wrong. Just I think they excel more in taking out ground units than cities.

As for mid game, I wouldn't say it gets harder, just more tedious(which can sometimes be awesome, or just sometimes be meh), I also bring lots of melee units with me whenever I go to war that's not the issue, I just find cities that take out Catapults and Trebuchet so quickly are silly IMO.. (Which I know is just my opinion)

 

[ork75]

I like this era quite a bit. You often end up with mismatched units (knights beside rifles, gatlings next to pikes, etc.) and that helps it. Yes, cannons are annoying to use, but you need to bait the AI with conscripts or units capable of withstanding assault.

In response to keshiks being the best siege, camel archers are better. I'd rather have the significantly higher strength than the extra mobility. Also, you still can dash in, shoot, and retreat.

 

[Mike III]

siege units are awesome when you give them the bonus for city attack. They really do well, and can support an advance. Rocket artillery is great, and to maximize the stealth bombers, promote the B17s or use Brandenburg gate. You will really liquidate your enemies. Or you can do it the easy way and spam nukes.

 

[smallfish]

siege units are awesome when you give them the bonus for city attack. They really do well, and can support an advance. Rocket artillery is great, and to maximize the stealth bombers, promote the B17s or use Brandenburg gate. You will really liquidate your enemies. Or you can do it the easy way and spam nukes.

Spamming nukes is... a little tough, especially if your foe can reform a carpet of doom in something like half a dozen turn. But one can't go wrong with high promo SB/nuclear missile/bomb shelter combo

 

[SouljahAtWar]

I usually build about 50% siege, 30% melee 20% ranged, and 10% navy. That's the ratio up to Industrial, where air units come to play. Perhaps that could help you gain an early attack.

 

[TrentL]

Early attacking is pretty easy its mid attacking I'm not 100% fond of.

I can see camel archers are the same tech level... but 5 more range damage kinda nice. THough I have to admit I REALLY like the fact that Keshik's earn XP 50% faster they get so discusting with March, and extra attack or March and Extra Range. They get pretty nasty.

And again once I get rocket artillery and stealth bombers the game is pretty much into easy mode Its that inbetween land fights (Where you can't bombard from the sea) so you have to drag cannons with you.

I've gotten into the habit of during peace time building roads towards my next "Challenge" so that I can get a siege train going ... not the most cost affective, but at least it's quick to connect the city to the trade network when I get it.

 

[BrotherInJah]

I usually build about 50% siege, 30% melee 20% ranged, and 10% navy. That's the ratio up to Industrial, where air units come to play. Perhaps that could help you gain an early attack.

And that's 110%! WOW..!

In my current game sage unit was a must. Early war with Dido was only CB's but with Nebby some turns later x-bows were to weak. Maya was cruched by cannons (upgraded cats). If u play offens sage unit is the thing, when playing d-wars u can skip them. Cannon era is one of my fav eras to go to war.

And Korean UU, it's like having snipers everywhere.

 

[Jimbo30]

The real problem is bow units are too good.