Small questions thread :D

[Tomice]

If I start building a unit and then switch production to something else, are the invested hammers preserved indefinitely? Could I create a "shadow army" of units that are 1 turn before completion? (I know, that's close to cheating)

Is the military ranking in the demographics screen accurate when using GEM? How important is it to determine the likeliness of AI attacks (I'm pretty sure it is, just as confirmation)?

Do any defensive bonuses apply to horse units, e.g. the bonus from forts/citadels?

 

[agc28]

I believe there is hammer-"degradation" over time

 

[Thalassicus]

Defense bonuses apply to all units. The difference is swords can fortify, while horses can't. There are no hidden penalties for horses.

 

[Tomice]

Oh! Wasn't it different in Civ4? Looks like I found a major hole in my strategic knowledge

So, ANY of the land combat classes of GEM (Foot melee, Foot ranged, Mounted melee, Mounted ranged) receive the following bonuses:

• Rough terrain bonus
• Open terrain penalty
• Fort/citadel bonus

What's with the basic promotions for rough and open terrain? Am I right that the versions for melee units helps both on defense and offense, while the ranged versions are purely offensive?

And most importantly, how much is the fortify bonus? 25% on the first turn without movement and 50% from the second on? I haven't payed too much attention until now, I'm usually only looking on the 2 health bars...

Finally, a unit in a city on a hill doesn't defend better, right? With ranged units, is it the basic strenght that increases the city's strenght rating? Or the ranged strenght?




In other words:

The foot melee class gets all bonuses on defense.
The foot ranged class can fortify, but gets no defensive bonus from their baseline promotions.
The mounted melee class can't fortify, but gets def bonuses from basic promos.
The mounted ranged class get's only the basic defense bonus or malus the tile offers (plus citadel/fort).

Right?

 

[mystikx21]

A unit in a city doesn't "defend" at all, so no, it doesn't matter what the terrain is.

Basic strength is what increases city strength ratings. The advantage of ranged units is they can shoot without taking damage and risk for losing positioning, and this is (very partly) balanced by usually providing less of a boost to the city strength when garrisoned.

I'm pretty sure the ranged promotions are purely offensive yes.

Fortify is 20%/40%. It defaults at 25/50 but the AI isn't very good at using it, so the bonus was reduced slightly.

The mounted units defensive penalty I believe was a fairly recent change to get rid of it, so if there's a hole in your strategic knowledge, it's not that severe.

I believe that summary looks right to me for defensive purposes, yes. There's one exception for MGs that they are ranged units but get melee promotions, so they would get defensive promotion effects.

 

[Tomice]

The mounted units defensive penalty I believe was a fairly recent change to get rid of it, so if there's a hole in your strategic knowledge, it's not that severe.

Thx a lot for the info! I did feel quite a bit stupid for not knowing so many details, but the system is surprisingly intuitive, so it was mostly unnecessary to know them even up to immortal

Is it a G&K or a GEM change? Just my curiosity.

 

[mystikx21]

It was a GEM change back a couple versions ago. I think it accompanied buffing spears/pikes (and removing their defensive bonus) and a slight reduction to horseman/knights as the balance justification.

 

[Tomice]

A few more questions:

I guess shooting cancels the fortification for archers?

If I sell a luxury the turn before it gets pillaged, I gain a almost enough gold to buy an archer. If I now repair the improvement a few turns later, is the ressource available again FOR ME or does the trade agreement still stand and the AI gets the extra happiness?

 

[mystikx21]

I assume it breaks the trade agreement, but it grants you the gold. When an AI/CS loses a resource via pillaging/conquest you stop getting it. A bit of an exploit that way I should think.

And yes, it should break fortification. Typically not an issue as archers are rarely on my front line and they do damage at no risk to themselves, which is usually going to be better than standing there waiting to be attacked.

 

[Tomice]

I'm keeping an eye on the pillaged ressource thing and as far as I have seen until now it seems you're right. I agree it's close to being an exploit (and a very helpful one if used!).

IMO the AI should get the ressource for the rest of the 30 turns after reconnection.



Regarding archers: THX for the confirmation. I agree they should almost always fire if possible, but there are rare situations when fortification might be important, especially right after you're DOW'ed.

 

[mystikx21]

Right well if you haven't fired yet, fortification should be in effect. And I agree the trade agreement should go back in force. I've not experienced selling one that's about to be pillaged. Worth more testing.

 

[Tomice]

I'm considering to write a defensive combat guide, so I'm doing some research about details and uncommen strategies. Thx for your help!