The pillaging offensive strategy

[betazed]

Originally posted by yurko
In fact, AI do attack the army with artillery. I tried this trick and my army with 4 Mech.Infantries was hit with Cruise missiles and Artillery couple of times. It did not help them though

Fortunately, they did not have Bombers (they moved all of them to another area) as in Civ3C bombers can kill.

Correct the Ai will attack an army only under two conditions

(a) It is attacking with an army
(b) It is attacking with units that it cannot lose (i.e. artillery, bombers, missiles etc)

But as you mentioned it does not help them much.

Also, in many of my games I do build battefield medicine. So the armies have a chance to heal in enemy territory after they have been hit. This helps.

 

[soren]

something i've always done is pilliging via bombers.

 

[yurko]

Originally posted by soren
something i've always done is pilliging via bombers.

Well, bombers can do the job either. But since in Civ3C they can <b>kill</b>, it maybe more profitable to use them against the enemy units.

 

[soren]

Originally posted by yurko


Well, bombers can do the job either. But since in Civ3C they can <b>kill</b>, it maybe more profitable to use them against the enemy units.

i just forgot: pilliging around the capitol with anything won't work cuz they can build an airport. but still, it can be done with resrouces (strategic and luxury) and pilliging can take out the food...

also, you can send it paratroopers. they're a defensive unit mostly, but weak.

 

[13thWarrior]

Sure, but Pillaging is still an effective way to isolate a city or group of cities from military reinforcements.

Basically, by destroying the transportion infrastructure, you can put yourself on equal tactical footing with the enemy, on their territory.

Pillaging can be used to divide-and-conquer. I LOVE marching an Army (with explorers and cav) along a mountain ridge, and pillaging all the way). You can cut a country in half and attack the weak side.


OR..

Pillaging can also be used defensively. Defend part of your border and launch your spearhead invasion somewhere else.

I like to stage explorers and cavalry near the border prior to going to war, and taking out all the rails & roads on the enemy side on the first few turns.

When the AI attacks they will be stuck on unimproved terrain and you can blast them with artillery before they even reach their destination. Plus they're stuck there while you attack the far side of their country.

and if that wasn't enough..If you have railroads up to your border, you can return your units to your cities.


I agree that it's almost too effective, but that doesn't stop the Pentagon from using Special Forces, so who am I to argue?

 

[Pook]

First post ever on this site.
Brilliant strategy, thanx to Betazed for pointing it out. In his opening post he stated:
"(Usually, rifles seems to be the least powerful defender with which I have this working. However, I see no reason why it should not work with muskets too, although I have never tried it with muskets)."
Yes, it works well with muskets too. The AI really does behave as though it doesn't even see a musketman army. This strategy might even be more effective with muskets than with rifles, because musketmen require iron and saltpeter, riflemen don't. If the AI is importing either one, they're in deep trouble.
One other thought on this strategy. Depending on geography, while pillaging on the way to your opponent's capital you may be able to cut all but 1-2 of the roads leading into your country. This channels the AI's army into coming down those paths, where your fortresses, fortified musketmen, and cannons/trebuchets are waiting for them. I have used this strategy to hold off a vastly numerically superior foe while I built up enough forces to launch a real offensive.

 

[Pook]

After using Betazed's strategy with devastating, almost unbalancing effect, I tried it with a twist. In two different games, I used an army of offensive units (first knights, later cavalry) and made a dash for the enemy capital. Results were the same- AI will bombard but not attack the army. The AI still acts like it doesn't see the army. The advantage is that this method works faster because of the faster speed of the units in the army. It also eliminates the need for offensive units to be stacked with the army, although I still attach a couple of Dora the Explorers (thanx for the idea, Grille) for added pillaging pleasure.
Maybe it works differently at higher levels, comments are most welcome. I'm playing emperor level on a standard size world with raging hordes of barbarians and random everything else, including which civ I play.

 

[Pook]

Using the same strategy again, with three cavalry stacked in an army. The AI would not attack me when the army was at full strength. However, once my army got down to 6 hit points (I attacked a unit that had the nerve to be fortified on an iron deposit), the AI did attack.

 

[CornishGuilt]

Why is artillary so effective? I never build any (literally). I ussually put my faith in bombers, jet fighters, and tank / MA units as the backbone of my armed forces. What don't I understand.

 

[Aabraxan]

Welcome to CFC, Cornish Guilt!

Artillery allows you to redline defenders without risking your attackers. One of the common tactics advocated around here is to send a big stack of rock-throwers and bombard the enemy so that they're easy pickings for your attackers.

 

[MAS]

Artillery gives a relatively slow advance into enemy territory, but it increases your win to loss ratio. Making it ideal for republic and democratic wars. It is also very helpful if you are fighting an more advanced and way more powerful enemy.

 

[opie984]

I have found that using bombers on carriers work great when fighing across the pond. The only thing to make sure of is that the civ you are attaking is does not have the ability to produce fighters, becuase air superiority can wreak havoc on your attempts to bomb them. Then the army would be a much better idea.

 

[valeryth]

This strategy sounsds like it works but why not just rush the capital???