Walls

[Rohirrim]

I would love to see the ability of workers to build walls once a civ has achieved Masonry, and not just walls around cities. Imagine having the capability to build a wall across an isthmus, blocking those annoying Indians from sending wave after wave of settlers right through your territory. Or, if a neighbor seems to be building up horsemen directly across from your Iron resource, your workers can build a wall between mountain passes, blocking them. Etc. etc. etc. Of course, at some point in the modern era, they would become obsolete, or at least minor obstacles.

Walls were one of the chief elements of ancient warfare. During the Pellopennesian War, the placement and breaching of walls often decided entire battles, especially in Syracuse, but also in Athens itself.

The fun would be had once gunpowder was acheived and you were able to blow holes through walls!

 

[mastertyguy]

I agree totally to this idea. You should be able to block ennemy troups with walls, like a REAL great wall. You could redirect every thing to a fortress, which would have a very big importance.

 

[DocsDew]

I like that, great Idea!! Shield you whole kingdom!

 

[tidho]

I like the idea in theory, but I'm not sure I would in practice.

SO is the wall unscalable? What do you do when the AI goes crazy with them, lol.
During piece time you can do the same thing by lining up a bunch of scounts.

Couple pikemen and forts will ultimately do the same thing too. After all an unguarded wall is just a great big pile of ruble.

 

[DocsDew]

I see you point

 

[mastertyguy]

maybe artilley can break wallls

 

[Che Guava]

hmmm, not a bad idea, but I think I have to disagree. WHile I'm not familiar with the role of walls in the Pellopennesian War, I know that some other famous walls (the great wall and hadrian's wall) were not really meant to keep anyone out, per se, but to act as a kind of guarded 'alarm system', and to keep invaders from getting away too fast once they had already gotten in. I'm with tidho, there's no reason to add walls when fortresses do pretty much the same thing.

 

[Horus Kol]

still, it is annoying when you get stream after stream of settlers passing through your land and they get upset when you ask them to leave - but when you as much as set foot to cut a corner through their land, they pretty much demand all ouy war

 

[Komoda]

The only thing that seems to work, is to line up individual units along your borders, to keep unwanted units of the AI civs from actually entering your territory. Much the same thing needs to be done with water-based units.

I do agree, that there should be, at least some form barrier from allowing unwanted units from other civs entering your territory, but I guess the programmers do not believe in a civ wanting to be xenophobic at least at the beginning of the game.

Fortresses do not work, unless you place a unit within that fortress, and even then, a fortress only gives the unit a defense bonus, not a deterrent for other civ units from entering your territory uninvited.

 

[searcheagle]

still, it is annoying when you get stream after stream of settlers passing through your land and they get upset when you ask them to leave - but when you as much as set foot to cut a corner through their land, they pretty much demand all ouy war

Civ IV looks like they have solved the problem. It sounds like if take a step in enemy territory, it may be an automatic declaration of war.

 

[stormbind]

What is the difference in building many fortress side-by-side?

 

[StavrosMelb]

What is the difference in building many fortress side-by-side?

the time taken to build them? their strength?

I think it's a fantastic idea, maybe a negative to having walls could be that the terrain it goes through loses a shield in production/commerce/food? Prevents people from going crazy with them.

 

[.Shane.]

What is the difference in building many fortress side-by-side?

plus, in can't you build barricades that do this?

 

[Komoda]

As I normally play on huge maps, which one might think would add more islands to an archipelago type map with 70 or 80% water. An AI civ sets foot on my island, and its immediately removed. 20 turns later the AI is asking for a peace treaty. Tries it again, and gets the same result.

As for setting up fortresses all in a row, its very time consuming, unless of course you have like 50 workers running around the map. Better to just move cheap units and move them to just within your territorial borders. Its a very nice deterrant to an opposing civ from even trying to land on your shores.

Spacing out fortresses at one or two spaces apart and placing units with bombards on sentry is also a good deterrent, Though I find they are slow to react when opposing units are passing through within bombard range. Attack should be instant. Sort of like firing a grape shot across the bow of a ship as a warning that you will sink the vessel.

As in many strategy games on the market. Many allow for the building of walls across the terrain. I do not know why, considering the path that the programmers have decided for civ, that they do not allow for this. One only needs to see this in history, as barriers were either the placement of landmines, traps, barbedwire, walls, trenches and tar pits.
Some where in history there is an account of trenches being flooded with sea water, flammable oil was made to slick across the surface and then lit aflame. Nothing like creating a wall of fire and choking smoke to deter an attacking army.

 

[StavrosMelb]

As I normally play on huge maps, which one might think would add more islands to an archipelago type map with 70 or 80% water. An AI civ sets foot on my island, and its immediately removed. 20 turns later the AI is asking for a peace treaty. Tries it again, and gets the same result.

What about people, like me, who play mostly on pangea maps where everyone is on the same island and this doesn't apply?

 

[Komoda]

It should work as well for those players that enjoy playing pangea type maps. The only thing is, you would have your wall of units extending from one side to the other, in order to prevent the opposition from getting access to your lands.

 

[Spaceoff]

Thats a nice idea, although walls outside of your town have absolutely no strategic value what-so-ever

 

[GenMarshall]

Civ IV looks like they have solved the problem. It sounds like if take a step in enemy territory, it may be an automatic declaration of war.

I kind of like that idea much better since it would serve as a deturent to prevent thoes annoying settlers from crossing my land.

 

[StavrosMelb]

It should work as well for those players that enjoy playing pangea type maps. The only thing is, you would have your wall of units extending from one side to the other, in order to prevent the opposition from getting access to your lands.

The problem is that on large pangea maps, you would need a wall of 30 units to block an enemy civ, that's an entire army early in the game. It's inefficient, annoying to set up and leaves your cities vulnerable.

Walls were used in the real world effectively for thousands of years, why not in Civ?

But yeah, if there is an option to automatically declare war if you set foot in an opponents territory, it will stop the trespassing, but walls would be a way to prevent or slow down enemy attacks on your land, and wouldn't require you to sit on the tile to protect it.

 

[Ramalhão]

There's a way in Civ3 to avoid those boring settlers: if you know from where they will come, place 3~4 units in your borders, making a wall of units. When a settler tries to go to the other side, move your "wall" to that side. When this settler tries to return back and go to the open space, move your "wall" back . It's easier to do and doesn't take so many time (and expenses) as a wall could require, as you can simply make some units and place there.

Of course, AI will make more settlers and try to dribble your "wall". So, you can increase this "wall" with more units when you see the first settler arriving. And beware that AI will make galleys to move their settlers, so build as many settlers as possible quickly to get that land AI wants.