Osvaldo Manso
Warlord
Most Sid Meier's Civilization players are aware of the "rule of stacking units": when two or more units are located in the same square (stacked), if attacked, only the unit with the highest defense value enters the combat. If this unit loses, all other units are lost. The only exception to this rule occurs at cities: in this case, when attacked, units defend one at a time, starting with the unit which has the highest defense value. If this unit loses combat, then the next unit enters the action, until the enemy unit is defeated or, if things go poorly, all units are lost (and most probably the city will fall into the enemy).
Now, I think I found an exception to this exception, I mean an exception to the rule I explained above, when units are stacked in cities. The case is this: if a city has a population of only 10,000 (size 1), even if it is defended by more than one unit, all units will be lost if the best defensive unit loses the combat. Of course, the city is destroyed as well.
In my present game, it happened that one of my newest cities was only defended by a non-veteran Phalanx and was under attack by barbarian Cavalry units. Usually, a single fortified Phalanx inside a city is enough to defeat a barbarian Cavalry unit. However, to see what could happen, I moved a nearby Settler unit and a Diplomat unit to the city. Guess what... the barbarians killed my Phalanx unit, immediately city size dropped by one point causing it to disappear and I got the message that 2 units were destroyed (the Settler and Diplomat units). Please note that the barbarian Cavalry attacked only once.
This was new to me, because I was expecting that the Diplomat and the Settler unit would survive the attack because they were in a city by the time of the attack.
It's amazing how after 22 years of playing, I'm still learning new things!
Now, I think I found an exception to this exception, I mean an exception to the rule I explained above, when units are stacked in cities. The case is this: if a city has a population of only 10,000 (size 1), even if it is defended by more than one unit, all units will be lost if the best defensive unit loses the combat. Of course, the city is destroyed as well.
In my present game, it happened that one of my newest cities was only defended by a non-veteran Phalanx and was under attack by barbarian Cavalry units. Usually, a single fortified Phalanx inside a city is enough to defeat a barbarian Cavalry unit. However, to see what could happen, I moved a nearby Settler unit and a Diplomat unit to the city. Guess what... the barbarians killed my Phalanx unit, immediately city size dropped by one point causing it to disappear and I got the message that 2 units were destroyed (the Settler and Diplomat units). Please note that the barbarian Cavalry attacked only once.
This was new to me, because I was expecting that the Diplomat and the Settler unit would survive the attack because they were in a city by the time of the attack.
It's amazing how after 22 years of playing, I'm still learning new things!