Mid-Late game pangea defense

[MIS]

Assuming you are winning in a non-domination way, what is your plan for late game defense? Do you prefer melee or archer units in cities/forts? How much do you value mobility from skirmishers/knights? Do you build roads/railroads all along the border, or just to link your cities?

 

[tlix]

by mid-late game im guessing ur refering to late industrial to modern era.
gatling/machine guns are key for defending since they have covering fire. cover promotions on fusiliers/riflemen with medic beside them makes it difficult to kill an entire unit unless they commit all their attacks to it. if thats the case just plant down a citadel.
artillery has high range, so use it for chip damage in the backline away from danger. make sure to have antiair nearby so that they wont just die immediately to bombers.
railroads can be a little pricy but they are very important to allow your troops to cycle and heal. u can also have light tanks on the railroads to move in first for chip damage, and then tanks to move in for the kill before backing out.
AIs tend to just push in with everything they have at once, so when that happens just keep rotating the most injured units back to safety, and focus fire on 1 unit at a time for the kill. you dont aways have to hold the border if you are getting overwhelmed, enemy units heal less inside your territory anyway.

 

[Diomedes_]

Gatling guns and Field Guns are going to be the key for defense in industrial. Gatling Guns are the better option in open territory because they have higher RCS, covering fire, and can get medic promos (which are incredibly helpful in defensive combat), while Field Guns are better when you have rough territory and/or are defending against naval units because they've got indirect fire and no naval target penalty. Cavalry and Light Tanks can be good, but they really require an extensive road network and a lot of space to be as effective as possible. I feel like normal ranged units are generally just the safer option, i.e. they have a higher floor but a lower ceiling.

Railroads are definitely super important as well. I always try to connect my Forts and Citadels to my road network, and I always try to build roads through forested and desert areas. I don't think its necessary or even always worth it to build roads over flat grassland/plains areas, except when they're connecting cities or Forts/Citadels of course.

For what units I put in Citadels and Forts, I almost always put any melee units with good defensive promos in them (i.e. Stalwart/Cover 2) as they can survive an incredible number of attacks and draw in AI units that take a ton of damage from ending their turn next to Citadels and from ranged units stationed behind.

Once you get to flight, I think Bombers are the best option. They don't use supply and can strike anything without having to move, and are just incredibly strong in a defensive scenario where they likely don't have to worry as much about being intercepted. Fighters are also quite good here, especially when set to intercept. Artillery are also quite good, but I would personally prioritize training Bombers over new Artillery, but would definitely spend my gold on upgrading my field guns.

 

[alchx]

Roads on almost every tile for the fastest possible rotation and movement of troops. Railways between cities and to strongholds of defense (Citadels), but not throughout the entire territory of the empire, otherwise caravans will choose unpredictable routes, and they need to move through trading posts and towns.

Many, many Citadels, allowing you to send 2/3 of an army to fight on another continent, often with only garrisons in cities and a few units to control the borders.

 

[KlHannibal2]

by mid-late game im guessing ur refering to late industrial to modern era.
gatling/machine guns are key for defending since they have covering fire. cover promotions on fusiliers/riflemen with medic beside them makes it difficult to kill an entire unit unless they commit all their attacks to it. if thats the case just plant down a citadel.
artillery has high range, so use it for chip damage in the backline away from danger. make sure to have antiair nearby so that they wont just die immediately to bombers.
railroads can be a little pricy but they are very important to allow your troops to cycle and heal. u can also have light tanks on the railroads to move in first for chip damage, and then tanks to move in for the kill before backing out.
AIs tend to just push in with everything they have at once, so when that happens just keep rotating the most injured units back to safety, and focus fire on 1 unit at a time for the kill. you dont aways have to hold the border if you are getting overwhelmed, enemy units heal less inside your territory anyway.

I like railroads for city connections but regular roads along the front for tactical movement. The main point is to remove the terrain movement penalty. Roads are often good enough for that.

 

[tlix]

I like railroads for city connections but regular roads along the front for tactical movement. The main point is to remove the terrain movement penalty. Roads are often good enough for that.

can agree on this since in my current game i actually ran a little dry on gold placing down war railroads lol. railroads are 3x more expensive afterall, maybe except on towns and villages. at least, it is possible to remove railroads and replace with road after.