The Largely Overlooked Fortress

[XDrake]

Settler built fortresses have always done wonders for me, but I notice many players do not use them. They are great for blocking straits and keeping the flow of enemy soldiers at bay when you cannot or do not want to build a city there. So many times have I kept enemies inside and outside of Africa or South America on the world map. In other games I have done the same.

Whenever I prepare for massive invasions, even in the later future eras, I always set up a fortress first as a beachhead. There is no better way to do a landing zone.

 

[Lord_Hill]

Fortresses have their uses, at least for me anyway. I tend to use them much like you at choke points or if an enemy civ has become particularily strong, a whole line of them across a continent to form a kind of primitive "maginot line" to protect myself from them.

 

[Jops]

I usually use fortresses on mountains close to my cities as "kill zones", works especially well if you have a couple of close mountains so that the enemy must attack, but this is no requisite, because the AI will usually attack anyway.

 

[simonnomis]

I actually use fortresses all the time. Usually to contain aggressive nations. When I can't be bothered to devote my resources to producing military units, they declare war. But all I have to do is have one city producing phalanx or whatever to fill the fortress, and they expend (literally) hundreds of units trying to take the fortresses. Very cost effective.

 

[Theov]

Forstresses, combined with the no passing rule, can be ridiculously powerfull.
You can fortify your entire shore with a few units.