Newbie question

[Augie]

Hi, I'm new...about 40 hours in with Civ V G&K.

Can anyone tell me where to get info on:
what are unit levels?
where can I see my (and my enemies) healing points?
what is the best way to determine how much resources it will take to wipe out an enemy unit or city? (I spent an hour beat up a city, but still didn't win it....clearly, I didn't have enough units or they weren't strong enough, or both.....so how can I tell)?

Thanks,

Augie

 

[Tre]

1. Unit levels refer to the number of promotions the unit received (i think). They are honestly not to relevant (veterans please correct me) because the upgrades they receive aren't game breaking.
2. I think that all units have a base of 100 health and and if they are given the orders to heal, they heal 20 per turn. Other then that, there are few natural/man made that let units heal, if any at all (again not sure).
3. I'd say 5 city-breaking units (i.e. catapults, cannons, etc.) a few archers/their upgrades and then maybe 1 unit to match each of the opponents units are enough as long as you play the war safe.

 

[bdporter]

Units heal 10 HP/turn outside of friendly teritory, 20 inside, and 25 in your cities. Scout promotions can increase the 10 HP/turn rate outside of borders.

 

[MerchantCo]

1. Each time your unit levels up, you are granted a promotion. You can choose one of several promotions for your unit. You can see the level of your unit in the lower left corner of the screen.

2. Look at the lower left screen to see the HP level of a selected unit. To see the HP of an enemy, let your mouse hover over that unit. You can also look at the HP bars besides each unit on the screen.

3. Look at the city strength. 10-19 = weak. 20-29 = medium. 30-39 = moderately difficult. 40+ is hard. Also check if a ranged unit is garrisoned inside the enemy city, because that unit can whittle down your armies. Generally, I would bring at least five ranged units and one melee unit. One melee unit is absolutely necessary, because otherwise you won't be able to capture the city. Ranged units are great, because they can attack a city without losing any health.

 

[Augie]

Awesome feedback....thanks! Been playing the game a month and never noticed the healing bars...wow! I seen some cities with strength in the 60's.....I gather that they are not to be messed with LOL

 

[Browd]

Oh, they can be messed with, but you need to bring more advanced units, including cannons or artillery. And some melee to actually take the city after you reduce its health to zero (mounted units are great for this).

 

[arand86]

It's difficult to label whether a city is takeable or not, as strength is relative. A strong early city may have 20 Strength while later in the game 100 strength cities are common.

With a little experience you'll have a grasp of how many units you need to take cities of different stregnths.

 

[Augie]

Where do I see what the 'health' is of an opponent? For even my own units, I see the level and experience, but where do I see other things like healing, so I know when to move in the melee units?

 

[VainoValkea]

1. Unit levels refer to the number of promotions the unit received (i think). They are honestly not to relevant (veterans please correct me) because the upgrades they receive aren't game breaking.

This isn't the case, really, when the unit starts getting more of those promotions. An infantry unit with the cover promotions, for example, can be a real pain when relying on ranged units to ward off threats.

Also, air units benefit from promotions a lot, especially bombers. Logistics all but doubles the unit's damage output by allowing a second attack (and also makes it earn experience twice as fast!) and air repair reduces the down time for repairs significantly.


Augie: all units have 100 hit points when fully healed, and the HP bar shows how much of that they've got left. Cities can have more than that, from buildings like walls, castles, arsenals and military bases.

 

[b7fanatix]

Something i just discovered from watching Marbozir's Youtube vid is just how powerful promotions can be in the case of China's unique unit, their crossbow replacement, the Chu Ko Nu. They're doubly interesting because it's a renaissance era unit, giving you the option of expanding then rather than waiting for +3 range artillery, or even better, bombers, to capture cities.

What is a Chu Ko Nu?

It's like a Crossbow, with the same 2 hex range, but it is able to fire twice per turn. Each attack hits for about 30% less damage, but with two attacks ... do the math!

More importantly, when upgraded to Gatling and then Machine guns in the renaissance era, they retain this two shots per turn characterisitic , where those units normally only get to fire once.

But the real reason for loving Chuk's is that they get XP twice per turn, because they can fire twice per turn. This means you can get access to high level promotions you'd never normally see - IE. the +1 range promotion - while still in the renaissance era.

With the +3 range and the ability to fire twice per turn, you have no need to build siege units!

My Tips for Chuk abuse -

1) Make sure you take the Honour policy that gives +50% XP in combat.

2) Build archers in the Ancient era and roam the map hunting Barbarians with them , to get some initial XP. After level 3, and 30 XP, you stop getting experience from fighting barbarians, but it's a good start.

3) Upgrade these units to composite bowmen, use them in any early wars you get into but above all else, keep them safe, you don't want to loose all those hard earned xp! Withdraw them if in any danger, and sacrifice other units to save them if needs be.

4) Make Machinery a priority tech, since it unlocks the upgrade from composite bowman -> Chu Ko Nu

How to Spend the XP

The all important +1 Range upgrade becomes available after you've maxed out either the ACCURACY (+damage on open tiles) or BOMBARDMENT (+damage in hills, forest, jungle tiles) upgrades. These max out at tier 3.

So, when your ranged unit gets it's first upgrade, pick either ACCURACY or BOMBARDMENT, and then stick with that same upgrade for the next two level ups. This means when you level up a fourth time, it is not possible to choose a higher tier of the damage promotion so the game offers +1 Range instead.

Don't do what i just did, and scatter the upgrades amongst cover, accuracy, and bombardment, then wonder why my level 7 units still couldn't upgrade range.

Please note that at the same time the +1 Range upgrade appears, the "Logistics" +1 attacks per turn upgrade appears. Unfortunately it has no effect on this unit , though it might be nice to have on a normal archer. Chu Ko Nu can never fire more than twice per turn, and when upgraded to Gatling guns they always fire twice per turn (unlike normal Gatlings which can only shoot once) whether you chose this upgrade or not. So, for subsequent upgrades pick something else.

I tend to pick "March" (also not available at lower levels) which means units heal even if they've moved or fired that turn, and put some survivability in with Cover.

 

[b7fanatix]

In answer to the OP's question, "how many units does it take to capture a city", I've been able to do it with 3 cho-ko-nu and 3 melee units. As we get into the Industrial era size 20+ cities will become common and we'll need more muscle, but by that point i should have bombers to do the heavy work.

I'm 400 hours in now and starting to get sense of how to approach an enemy city. Destroy his army first, then fan out in your chosen formation to surround the city 3 hexes out , then move in and start the bombardment. I'm getting to learn how hills and forest can block line of sight for ranged units, and how pillaging and defensible terrain can help your units withstand the city's defensive fire.

I'm also learning how "zone of control" can be used to block enemy melee units getting to your ranged. Basically enemy units can only move 1 hex per turn when within 1 hex of one of your units, so it's not necessary to form a complete wall of melee units between your ranged units and the enemy, so long as no enemy unit can get to the ranged without passing within 1 hex of one of your melees.

The ranged units get the promotions as described in my last post.

The melee units are basically "meat shields" and get no + damage promotions, only the COVER (reduces incoming ranged damage) and MEDIC (all adjacent friendly units get additional healing per turn). I dont usually attack the city till it's already at 0 health from the ranged bombardment. One goes in first to absorb the bombardment 2 hexes out from the city, and the AI will tend to keep shooting at that one because it's lowest health, ignoring my ranged. I stand additional melee units with MEDIC promotion just behind the one absorbing the attacks to help heal it, and if it gets low on health i swap them over. But the melees are ultimately expendable.

3 ranged but 3 melee doesn't sound like a lot but I also need something in defence or i tend to get backstabbed by other civs.

My closest city to the striking force doesnt need to worry but other frontier cities need a minimum of 1 unit per city to discourage opportunist warmongers. Sometimes two for the worst offenders.

Anyway, i have hard time keeping positive gold income even with such a "modest" force.

 

[VainoValkea]

Capturing a city can be done in so many ways, but my favorite is "rotation" - bringing a decent-sized force, with a part attacking the city at all times and wounded units being taken back to rest and recuperate. It takes less units to take cities in this way, compared to direct assault with no retreats. Typically, the enemy city will focus its attacks on a single unit partaking in the siege, this unit should fortify to take as many punches as possible (if it's a ranged unit, keeping firing can be a viable option too) while the rest of the units keep shaving off the city's HP. When any unit is in the risk of being killed, retreat them while keeping up the pressure with the other units.


edit: although this is mostly for the medieval era. In modern eras, things get a lot more complex with the addition of 3-range artillery for both sides, air force, higher chance of naval support...

 

[mintcandy]

Can anyone tell me where to get info on:
where can I see my (and my enemies) healing points?

I still haven't played the latest expansions, but here goes...

The game will never tell you explicitly how many hit/health point a particular unit/city has remaining.

However, there is a colored meter next to a city/unit that will give you the relative health of the entity in question.

The colored meter will not show up for a unit/city at full strength. As the unit/city takes damage, the meter goes down.

For cities, I believe the meter is right underneath the city name on the world map.

For units, it should be next to the unit's shield on the world map.

what is the best way to determine how much resources it will take to wipe out an enemy unit or city?

Extensive gameplay experience, unfortunately.

When attacking, the order in which you choose which units to attack with is crucial.

Always lead with ranged attacks, and if necessary follow up with melee attacks...the other way around is wasteful.

 

[VainoValkea]

Yeah, in general you should mostly avoid melee attacks on cities, but they can be useful if the city is weak enough to not do much damage against your units and you have enough troops to cycle around, replacing the wounded ones efficiently.