War targets; Where to strike?

[Smoking mirror]

O.k. so you have decided to finaly unleash your fury on the zulus. But where do you strike?
In WWII the invasion of Russia failed because Hitler couldn't decide between capturing Moscow (Great wonders, factories, universities Etc..) and driving down in to the russian Oil fields.
I like to aim directly at the resources, but are some more important than others? is it worth diverting your attack from the enemy capital in order to capture his coal reserves?
Just how important is oil, The AI places a great deal of emphasis on oil resources, (I once launced a war against the russians to get hold of the oil in the middle east and the whole world declared war on me! Up until then I had quite a good reputation as well). Its almost impossible to trade extra oil from an enemy civ, even if they have two extra!

 

[Chingis Khan]

I prefer to strike down as many cities as possible in each turn, even at the risk of overextending my forces. The reasoning? Simply that the less cities the AI is left with, the less production of enemy units. Also, as I sweep away his cities, any resources within their radius are lost to them anyway. However, I do sometimes like to use explorers later in the game to pillage away at specific resources. It's funny to strip away an enemies oil and rubber and then after an initial tough battle to suddenly find yourself facing puny riflemen and knights!

 

[BCLG100]

try and take as many cities in the first few turns cos once u take bout half of the enemy cities they normally agrea to acknowledge your envoy and then you can sue for peace and possibly getsome more of there cities at the same time this is really helpfull if u have loads of cities in disorder but i also agree strategic resources are quite handy to nab early on and luxury resources cos then they start geting more war weariness in there cities.

 

[SCPete]

I use a diversionary Battalion (8-12 units) to pillage and possibly take any cities near key resources.

Then I land my main attacking Regiment (40+ units) near big production cities, if possible.

Then I converge on the central city while I capture/raze everything in my path.

Depending on era I will use bombers/Battleships to soften coastal cities and cut off supply lines.

 

[Exile_Ian]

Actually, the AI has a pretty good approach to conquering, and I've successfully used similar tactics:

1) If you're able to reach their Capital City, start by pillaging the road network. The aim is to cut off the 'supply' of luxuries to other cities - which may push them into Disorder.

2) Always stack attacking units with defenders (even if they're only Spearmen). There's nothing worse than seeing your band of Knights fall before they had a chance to do any damage.

3) Beware of culture flips! Aim to take over cities that you either previously occupied (and still have a citizen presence) or that neighbour your territory and you already have a strong cultural factor. [If fact, having a strong culture is probably a pre-requisite for a successful millitary campaign.]

4) Be cautious about Alliances. While they can strengthen your campaign (perhaps by causing your opponent to fight on multiple fronts) they have two serious disadvantages: (a) You are less flexible about when you can 'make peace'; (b) You may find your ally takes advantage and captures cities that you've already weakened.

5) Don't be over-ambitious. Set your targets, commit to them, and don't be tempted to push beyond what you can reasonably retain. It's often better to take 1 or 2 immediate targets (perhaps that Saltpetre deposit you covet) and secure them, then devote your attention to preventing culture flips and save any further advancement for another day.

6) Be flexible. Unless you want to repeat 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' or 'Custer's last stand' - know when to back down. Better to go home and lick your wounds then persist with a losing plan.

7) Be careful you don't bite off more than you can chew. What's your relationship with other Civs like? Are any of them likely to be drawn in on your opponent's side? All too suddenly a one-sided battle against a weaker opponent can turn nasty if they can ally with a superior civilisation!

 

[Sanaz]

I try to take cities that will consolidate my borders - either on a single front, or where I've expanded around another civ's cities. I try to take as many cities as quickly as I can (explorers are great for finding the weakly defended cities that I can reach in a turn or two). Bombardment is great to decrease your losses. Then I'll fortify, regaining strength and changing position, while the other civ suffers a little because of their decreased output. At this time, I'll try to cut off their resources. Then I'll repeat if necessary until I have reached my goal. The goal may be more land, or that one resource or luxury that I need/want/think I deserve, or a great leader to rush a wonder, or to destroy the next largest civ so I can gain a tech lead - this changes from era to era, and depends on the situation. I will gladly suffer from a bad rep to gain a lead - sometimes I'll use MPP's just so I can have some friends, but I'd always rather be powerful and hated then lovable and weak!

 

[MrBiggBoy]

wow! TF, if you're reading this, put this in war academy! GREAT IDEAS!!! Exile_Ian, you should make a war guide!!!!!!

 

[Tassadar]

I like to do as a punishment to raze a.i. capital city and its surrending one. Core city destroy mean a crawling a.i.

 

[Dell19]

Originally posted by Tassadar
I like to do as a punishment to raze a.i. capital city and its surrending one. Core city destroy mean a crawling a.i.

This is my general tactic, strike at one side and then carry on going straight for the capital. I did have an interesting war against the Zulus once. They had about 20 cities and in the first two wars against them, I just weakened their military and took over about 3 or 4 cities in both wars. After taking 3 cities they were ready to sue for peace even though they had a military advantage. By the time the third war came, I had a much larger military of Knights that gradually wore the Zulus down. Their last 4 cities fell in quick succession when I upgraded to cavalry.

So its possible to have a gradual war against the AI, without having any culture flips and another good idea is to attack when you have just researched a new offensive unit like Cavalry because it can give you a great advantage.

 

[ainwood]

Originally posted by Dell19
So its possible to have a gradual war against the AI, without having any culture flips and another good idea is to attack when you have just researched a new offensive unit like Cavalry because it can give you a great advantage.

Expanding on that one, if the tech race is tight, it can be a great ploy to try and accumulate money (balanced agains the tech tho), and build a large force of units that are nearing obsolescence. These can be upgraded as soon as you get the requisite tech, which can give you a modern attack force of sizeable proportions. The reason this works so well (especially if you've got leonardos) is that the AI rarely upgrades units. If you're quick about it, even if they get the new tech before you, you can still use it better.

 

[Daaraa]

I will try to remove all major resources from the AI civ in the opening round of the war. If I have a choice of getting rid of either Oil or Iron, I'll get rid of Oil as more modern units need Oil than Iron. I'll drive to get luxuries and Resources. Wonders are just a bonus. If I've gotten along without them this long, I can do without them for a few more turns. (Unless the main goal of my war was the wonder)
My own prefrence is that I rarely raze an AI city. I starve the population and rush workers until it is at a manageable size.
In grabbing the AI's resources, you can then trade them to other AIs for gold or tech or even alliances against the target civ. With the added luxuries and gold you'll be able to fund your war effort longer if you are a republic or democracy. (War weariness is more manageable with 6 luxuries than 3.)
I'll also go for the capital and then the core cities.
I'll follow my own native labour force in to join captured cities to add my own native citizens to fight against culture flipping problems. (Workers can be used for a LOT more than improvments)
Using Explorers can be quite effective too as they can pillage the resources deep into the AI's territory and they move quickly. (Only really useful in the pre-modern era)
After a few turns, you should reduce the AI civ to only being able to produce Riflemen or Spearmen. for defense. This makes the resource grabbing tactic effective.

 

[Smoking mirror]

One important point that Exile_Ian raised there was how to deal with the enemy capital. In CivII, if you destroyed or captured the capital, a new palace would only be rush built in another city if that city was already building a palace. That meant that you could quickly win a war by capturing the enemy capital in one or two turns, and the rest of that civs empire would be crippled with coruption and thus easy picking.
In Civ III, capturing the enemy capital automaticly creates a new capital as long as the enemy has at least on city left. So the only advantage to be gained from capturing the capital is to move the enemy center of operation to a less usefull position (further away from the center of the empire).
Alternativly, it can take the enemy up to 30-40 turns to build a new palace under normal conditions. So the best tactic would be to beseige the enemy capital, cut off all suply and communications to the high command and disrupt resource collection, But if you are not actualy going to take the capital how much of your attacking force you can devote to the seige?

 

[cegman]

Just a question anyone ever try the middle base attack. You build a city right on top of their stuff and then rush a wall and then a temple(to keep happy) and put your men in there so they defend and take over a resource.