Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Bartleby]

If you set a city to build a settler when it is size one or two, and the city has no food surplus, you will be prompted when the build completes and you have the choice to delay or abandon. If you abandon you get the settler.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

Thanks Bartleby! Fast reply!

 

[darski]

If you set a city to build a settler when it is size one or two, and the city has no food surplus, you will be prompted when the build completes and you have the choice to delay or abandon. If you abandon you get the settler.

Thank you . I didn't know how that worked. never hit that particular spot in a game.

 

[darski]

I am discovering a whole lotta stuff about combat in Conquests... <<<sigh>>>

You may recall that I had that recalcitrant Catapult a while back and I think I have the same thing with my Trebuchet but it is possible I just don't understand how they work. They are supposed to be a step up from a Cat but it seems they can only bombard in the immediately next square... this simply does not seem plausible.

Can they only bombard cities?

Can they only bombard cities they are immediately next to?

When I tried to bombard units immediately next to my trebs it says that they cannot bomb combat units but it seems to do so -> I think????. The horsemen are doing some weird bucking bronco action... is that caused by the MDI by chance?

I had this really great game going and then I discovered that there are only 2 saltpeter sources on the whole (tiny) map and not near me of course. I tried starting a war to get it but everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

also... did they change the "J" move so that everybody goes at once? Whoa Nellie that was scary!!!

next also... can I eliminate volcanoes from my game maps but still have them show up in SG's if that map has one?

 

[Aabraxan]

You may recall that I had that recalcitrant Catapult a while back and I think I have the same thing with my Trebuchet but it is possible I just don't understand how they work. They are supposed to be a step up from a Cat but it seems they can only bombard in the immediately next square... this simply does not seem plausible.

Yes. Every arty unit until artillery has a range of 1 in Conquests.

Can they only bombard cities?

No, but range 1.

Can they only bombard cities they are immediately next to?

Yes.

When I tried to bombard units immediately next to my trebs it says that they cannot bomb combat units but it seems to do so -> I think????. The horsemen are doing some weird bucking bronco action... is that caused by the MDI by chance?

Trebs most certainly can bomb combat units. They cannot attack, but they can bombard. If the horse is doing a bucking action, you're likely trying to attack, not bombard.

also... did they change the "J" move so that everybody goes at once? Whoa Nellie that was scary!!!

Look above the box in the lower right corner. There are two buttons there: (1) Move units in stack; and (2) Move units of the same type in stack. Hover your mouse over the various buttons to see what they do.

next also... can I eliminate volcanoes from my game maps but still have them show up in SG's if that map has one?

I don't know. Someone else will have to take this one.

 

[anaxagoras]

Trebs most certainly can bomb combat units. They cannot attack, but they can bombard. If the horse is doing a bucking action, you're likely trying to attack, not bombard.

This is probably related to the stack move problem. If you mistakenly move an entire stack to the attack, and the stack includes bombard units, you will get error messages saying that this unit cannot attack, but then the units that can attack from the stack will do so.

I learned this to my detriment one game as the Koreans. I had a stack of 30 or more hwach'a (sp?) and was intending to bombard my opponent into oblivion. Instead I mistakenly dragged my entire SOD into the attack. Instead of my elite cavalry running roughshod over redlined (or dead) enemy units, they proceeded to immolate themselves on full-strength pikes and muskets fortified in a city on a hill. Even that might have been survivable, but then *MY* pikes and muskets all attacked, too. At the end of that fiasco, I still had my thirty hwach'a, but they were "protected" by one very lucky full-strength vet cav, and two or three severely wounded/redlined cavalry. None of my pikes or muskets survived.

Unfortunately, the enemy had cavalry in other cities, too, and my stack was on his turf and unable to move more than a single square. Although my hwach'a cleared the town and destroyed the surrounding road net, it wasn't enough.

Needless to say, the entire stack of hwach'a was destroyed on the interturn, and I reloaded the game. That's the kind of mistake a real battlefield commander just isn't going to make.

 

[darski]

Yes. Every arty unit until artillery has a range of 1 in Conquests.

Well now I know why people say they won't build bombard units until Artillery. So what can arty bombard... 2 tiles, 3 tiles?

Some programmer was obviously overdosed on Diet Pepsi when he came up with that "improvement" glad I found out now before I have wasted time and shields on this junk.

 

[vmxa]

The reason the treb or whatever you had refused to bombard the unit, was it does not have lethal bombardment. IOW if the unit was down to 1 hit point, you cannot bombard it with cats/trebs/cannon/art or radar arties.

You would need lethal bombardment, such as a bomber. Not even a jet as they do ot have it either.

 

[vmxa]

Well now I know why people say they won't build bombard units until Artillery. So what can arty bombard... 2 tiles, 3 tiles?

Some programmer was obviously overdosed on Diet Pepsi when he came up with that "improvement" glad I found out now before I have wasted time and shields on this junk.

BTW the only way I know of to remove volcanoes is to gen a map with the editor and remove them by hand. It may be that you could create a BIQ that did not define volcano as a valid tile type, never looked.

Now on the the bombardment units. Not building these very useful units would be a mistake. They are critical to increased kill ratios. If you play easy games then you can bypass them.

You must use them in AW games and nearly all high level games. You just cannot afford attack all the time Vs units that are at full health or superior units.

Yes I could play an Emperor level game without them, no problem. Maybe even AWE, but I would pay for it.

You can build them more judicially in a fairly peaceful game, with short wars. A few here and there would help though. The failure rate is not real great, the lack of range is annoying, but they have saved me many times.

Just learn to not expect them to hit all the time and don't compare them to arties. They will surely suffer in comparison, just was horses do compared to cavs.

 

[anaxagoras]

I have to agree with vmxa, here. Catapults are definitely not junk. Greek hoplites defending hilltop towns? A stack of ten catapults can save you three or four units a turn and give your horses and swords a fighting chance. Opponent built the Knights Templar and your knights and MI have to root them out? A stack of trebuchets can ensure the crusaders don't survive to counterattack with their superior attack strength. Don't have the tech lead and end up facing infantry with your cavalry? Bring along 20 cannons and get those odds in your favor. Your cavarly won't get to move as fast, but they'll still be around to take on the next infantry-infested town instead of dying in droves and ruining your economy.

With a stack of bombard units around, you can start a war, then end it with more units than you started with. Without them, you'll need a recovery period before you attack again, and wo betide you if the enemy senses your weakness in the meantime.

Edit: I meant to add that keeping your units from dying also goes a very long way in preventing rampant war weariness. Not such a big deal if you love Monarchy, but for folks in Republic, this can mean the difference between having the time to cripple the enemy, or having to make a desperation peace on unfavorable turns (the AI knows when you are having issues with WW, and will adjust peace offers accordingly).

 

[TheOverseer714]

Don't let a few failed attacks turn you off of arguably the biggest advantage the human player has: using massed bombardment. The AI barely builds them and definitely uses them poorly (at least the landbound variety). In Conquests, bombardment is much better. When bombarding a city, it will target military units first. A cavalry stands a fair chance of killing a red-lined infantry, whereas attacking a healthy infantry with cavalry is almost certainly suicide. Please give bombardment a chance, you'll eventually realize that it is critical to winning better and faster.

 

[Aabraxan]

Well now I know why people say they won't build bombard units until Artillery. So what can arty bombard... 2 tiles, 3 tiles? . . . .

Arty can hit targets 2 tiles out.

 

[SeriousCaller]

quick question, anyone know of a bug in vanilla that won't load your save after you have a large number of cities? I'll get the error code next time I try.

 

[jtdog]

NEW Set of Questions --

Dead (underperforming) Cities - I have a city that flipped to me early inthe game (from Japanese). It is next to river on grasslands, (one mountain tile) and cattle the other side of the river. It is 4 tiles from my capital Rome (only size 7)- This city is Pop 1 and shows 2 food and no growth for along, long, time . Yet I have cattle and grasslands, mostly roked with mines and irrigation (tryin everything) -- how is this possible???

Diplomatic communications I - Other CIVs contact me to renew peace treaties, how can I make that call? it seems its just held in perpetuity and I have no way to bring up a screen to formalize the request.

Diplomatic communications II - I keep having a hard time finding where I can ask for alliances and right of passage wit hanother CIV. Are there preprequisites before you can ask these things???

 

[anaxagoras]

I have a city that flipped to me early inthe game (from Japanese). ... This city is Pop 1 and shows 2 food and no growth for along, long, time ... how is this possible???

Often a flipped city gets assigned a clown or other specialist by the AI due to attitude problems from the citizenry on the first turn. (Especially true if you were at war when the city flipped.) If that leaves you with zero growth, it will stay that way until the game ends. The AI only reevaluates the choices when the city pop changes. You need to open the town and manually assign your citizens to work the right squares. That should give you growth. Make sure you don't have your governor for the city set to "emphasize production" or some such, or you may have this problem everytime the city grows.

Diplomatic communications I - Other CIVs contact me to renew peace treaties, how can I make that call? it seems its just held in perpetuity and I have no way to bring up a screen to formalize the request.

Can't take this one. I always set not to renegotiate, and I don't have my copy of the game here.

Diplomatic communications II - I keep having a hard time finding where I can ask for alliances and right of passage wit hanother CIV. Are there preprequisites before you can ask these things???

You must have an embassy with the other civ (whether they built it or you did) in order to entertain ROPs and alliances.

 

[vmxa]

Is the citizen working the cow? If it is acting as a specialist it is not generating food, so no grow. Two is needed for one pop and you get to food from the city center or are you saying +2 food?

In C3C you can set deals to be reviewed after 20 turns, else they stay in place till one of you brings it up for renewal or cancellation. F4 should let you bring up any deals. Look for active and then take action.

The "d" on the mini screen will bring up the diplo screen. You need to have the required techs to form alliances and RoP deals.

 

[darski]

The reason the treb or whatever you had refused to bombard the unit, was it does not have lethal bombardment. IOW if the unit was down to 1 hit point, you cannot bombard it with cats/trebs/cannon/art or radar arties.

You would need lethal bombardment, such as a bomber. Not even a jet as they do not have it either.

i was always a big user of cats, cannons and arty in Vanilla and I had learned to be patient when only 2 or 3 of 30 would hit something. But this is going to require a lot of defensive units to keep those things safe if they have to be "next to" to do anything... sorry that is just a dumb thing to have done.

The fact is they were not down any hit points because I didn't understand that the buttons had changed so I had Trebs running round like chickens with their heads cut off because they would not go on jungle and I was trying to get them to a place where they would hit something or anything.

I wasn't attacking with the Trebs because they won't do it. In my Celts game, I got that same weird bronco thing happening with horses again.

 

[TheOverseer714]

In my Celts game, I got that same weird bronco thing happening with horses again.

That sounds like Ancient Cavalry. Were they your horses, or enemy? I'd hazard a guess that that civ owns the Statue of Zeus. ACavs are arguably the best ancient age unit that isn't a UU, but can only be built if you have ivory, 3/2/2 with an extra hitpoint.

 

[againsttheflow]

That sounds like Ancient Cavalry. Were they your horses, or enemy? I'd hazard a guess that that civ owns the Statue of Zeus. ACavs are arguably the best ancient age unit that isn't a UU, but can only be built if you have ivory, 3/2/2 with an extra hitpoint.

With those qualifications? I don't think anyone would argue that.

 

[Zefyrinus]

Thx for the answers.

I only know part of the answer, I'm not sure about the aircraft damage issue. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable will answer that.

I found this using the search function regarding coastal fortresses:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=4577776&postcount=10:

Hope that answers that. They're essentially useless.

Huh, damn.

I believe ship bombardment targets airplanes, and can actually be lethal. As far as them disappearing, I've had units disappear too, it may be file corruption. Since a save is basically lots of 1's and 0's, is it hard to believe some might flip flop at random?

Have your units been intercepted by other aircraft or flown over enemy flak or modern ships? Those attacks often result in the death of the attacking aircraft, but a fair percentage of the time they only do damage. Aircraft damage is repaired like that for other units: One turn of rest heals one point of damage. Airports act like air unit barracks; that is, they produce veteran air units (less likely to die from attacks) and they heal air units completely after one inactive turn.

In addition to the ship bombardment explained by Overseer, I can't think of any other way to damage air units.

No, I had only done the "rebase mission". Maybe some of my bombers did get bombed somehow. But two of my fighters that disappeared I had moved to a city I'm positive never has been bombed. Oh well...