Modern Era pillaging

[Delphi456]

My Cossack army is getting bombed and arty'd when I try to pillage the AI capital. Should I be using a Modern Armour army instead?

 

[Raliuven]

The invincibility of armies begins to lose its edge when bombers make an appearance. The AI will bomb your armies down until they calculate they have a chance to take it out with regular units. The same will happen if you have an army on the coast and they have ships that can bombard them - learned that the hard way.

If you have a MA army, why not attack the capital directly rather than pillaging tiles? A MA army will usually take any defender unless it is MI fortified in a large city (size 12+) on a hill. Even then I put my money on the MA army.

By the time of AI modern armor, you cavalry/cossack armies are pretty much done. Properly placed, I think that tanks will still avoid them though, IIRC?

 

[Bartleby]

The AI will always bombard armies. A higher-defence army will last longer but if they can bring enough bombardment to bear they will eventually be able to attack and kill your armies.

 

[GamezRule]

The AI is using arty offensively?

 

[Raliuven]

Well, Delphi456 was pillaging the capital tiles - so the arty was probably in the capital. When the army moved within 2 tiles, it was a target. That was how I took it.

 

[ChaosArbiter]

The AI is using arty offensively?

No; they build Bombard units, but they won't look for opportunities to use them, they just park them in cities and take potshots at nearby units. They will use Bombers offensively, although not terribly effectively.

 

[Fiddlin Nero]

My Cossack army is getting bombed and arty'd when I try to pillage the AI capital. Should I be using a Modern Armour army instead?

Doesn't matter what unit you have in your armies, the only solution is to get them out of their before they get knocked down to much.

 

[TheOverseer714]

Solution to bombers is pillage their oil, then set up a bomber trap. Send a group of strong defenders stacked with SAMs or flak just over their border, they hit the top unit and then it cycles to the next, each time having a shootdown chance. Each turn, retreat the wounded and replace with healthy units, eventually you'll get them all. Then you armies will be safer.

 

[del62]

Solution to bombers is pillage their oil, then set up a bomber trap. Send a group of strong defenders stacked with SAMs or flak just over their border, they hit the top unit and then it cycles to the next, each time having a shootdown chance. Each turn, retreat the wounded and replace with healthy units, eventually you'll get them all. Then you armies will be safer.

Or even send some SAMs with your armies, they will only move 1 square but you can pillage a few squares and end up back under protection,

 

[creamcheese]

Or even send some SAMs with your armies, they will only move 1 square but you can pillage a few squares and end up back under protection,

SAMs move 2. So do radar arty and mechs, so they can keep up with each other on the attack.

 

[del62]

SAMs move 2. So do radar arty and mechs, so they can keep up with each other on the attack.

If SAMs move 2 thats even better, I can only think of one game when I have seriously faced bombers and I think I used the Flak Units to protect stackes, If I am going to kill the enemy I prefer to do this before they get flight.

 

[Delphi456]

If you have a MA army, why not attack the capital directly rather than pillaging tiles? A MA army will usually take any defender unless it is MI fortified in a large city (size 12+) on a hill. Even then I put my money on the MA army.
QUOTE]

Destroying the capital buys me very little. I want to cut all lux and strategic resources so the civ will implode on itself. My MA will only have to fight against guerillas if I can pillage the capital.

I think I will rush some MA armies and stack them with SAMs. This won't eliminate the arty attacks, but it will solve the bomber issue.

 

[scratchthepitch]

The way I usually dealt with AI bombers was to destroy them where they are based. First I send fighters to destroy any fighter protection they have, then bombers. They are much easier to destroy when they are on the ground. If they are in a coastal city, naval bombardment wipes them out pretty fast.

 

[Raliuven]

If you have a MA army, why not attack the capital directly rather than pillaging tiles? A MA army will usually take any defender unless it is MI fortified in a large city (size 12+) on a hill. Even then I put my money on the MA army.
QUOTE]

Destroying the capital buys me very little. I want to cut all lux and strategic resources so the civ will implode on itself. My MA will only have to fight against guerillas if I can pillage the capital.

I think I will rush some MA armies and stack them with SAMs. This won't eliminate the arty attacks, but it will solve the bomber issue.

I must still be missing something - or maybe it is just a fundemental disagreement. Taking the capital is a deathblow to the AI. I cannot ever recall an AI recovering from the loss of their capital. Well by then they have usually lost half of their core too. Or are you just striking deep pass the front line?

Disconnecting the capital seems like a lot of work to me if you have MA, Bombers and RA for a frontal assault.

 

[Bartleby]

I guess the idea is to pillage the capital to cut off trades, when you don't have enough forces to take the whole empire down right away...for example if the rest of your forces are occupied elsewhere.

 

[Delphi456]

It's as Bartleby said.

 

[bigFRANK]

Modern armour army would give you the advantage of being able to move in pillage and move away in the same turn (flat ground) but you would still be in range of artillery for half a turn (thus shot at and bombed regardless of where you are). If your wanting to cut the enemy capital off without getting into artillery range its either bombers or your own artillery to do the job or take the hit on the ground units and live with it (explorers are a good ground unit (move 5 spaces, all tiles like roads, can pillage but not fight (pillage ends the turn)) for cutting off capitals and strategic resources.

 

[creamcheese]

Modern armour army would give you the advantage of being able to move in pillage and move away in the same turn (flat ground) but you would still be in range of artillery for half a turn (thus shot at and bombed regardless of where you are). If your wanting to cut the enemy capital off without getting into artillery range its either bombers or your own artillery to do the job or take the hit on the ground units and live with it (explorers are a good ground unit (move 5 spaces, all tiles like roads, can pillage but not fight (pillage ends the turn)) for cutting off capitals and strategic resources.

6 spaces (since road movement is x3), and pillaging takes one of two movement points, but yes they are good at resource denial. I would not use them to cut off a capital though. Bombers work way better for that. The AI rarely build enough fighters and is too stupid to put up an effective air defense. Of course, an ICBM works better than all of those... assuming you don't care about fighting the world...

 

[Lord Emsworth]

If you have a MA army, why not attack the capital directly rather than pillaging tiles? A MA army will usually take any defender unless it is MI fortified in a large city (size 12+) on a hill. Even then I put my money on the MA army.
QUOTE]

Destroying the capital buys me very little. I want to cut all lux and strategic resources so the civ will implode on itself. My MA will only have to fight against guerillas if I can pillage the capital.

That is an error. If you disconnect the capital from the rest of the empire, then trades with foreign civs are no longer possible. However, the rest of the cities of the empire still can share their luxes and resources amongst each other.

 

[Delphi456]

That is an error. If you disconnect the capital from the rest of the empire, then trades with foreign civs are no longer possible. However, the rest of the cities of the empire still can share their luxes and resources amongst each other.

Holy crap, you're right!! I just pillaged my capital and it didn't affect my other cities because none of my resources are imported. I guess I will have to learn to decipher the Misc screen in CA2 to figure out if pillaging is worth it.