What is the best unit to attack cities protected with Longbowmen?

[kivanc]

I don't know why a medic unit should need more promotions, although utility promotions that would be a waste for combat units (sentry for example) could be useful. I still prefer explorers. Their major drawback is that they have to receive the exp at training point, since they won't get new exp anywhere.

inside enemy land, let's say your 2 stacks are about to capture 2 cities, commando might be good.
yet, i've never used commando as it's too late.

i mostly use a mounted unit with mobility+medic 2. i don't attach GGs much.

 

[EsaKo]

inside enemy land, let's say your 2 stacks are about to capture 2 cities, commando might be good.
yet, i've never used commando as it's too late.

i mostly use a mounted unit with mobility+medic 2. i don't attach GGs much.

Commando would be good but since most of my units don't have it and I tend to have a cheap medic II explorer with each stack that needs one, that doesn't really matter that much.

 

[mariogreymist]

I've had some vicious commndo Mech Inf in huge/marathon warmongering games. Getting more than a few of them, even in that kind of game, is difficult. Julius Caesar is a good leader for this, as lots of early GGs (often a by-product of IMP/Prats) mean ridiculous experience out of the gate for an HE/settled GG city, not to mention upgraded prats. Playing CHA leaders, I've had pretty good numbers (8 I think is my record) of commando cavalry. (and similar numbers of tanks) But again, that's a huge/marathon warmongering game. It's an irrelevant promotion in most game set ups.

If it were easier to get, it would be a much stonger promotion. Of course, if it were only required to have C3 to get it, it would be way overpowered for any CHA leader. I do wish it just had a "level 6" rereq, as i'd love to give it to my mobility horsemen, who regularly get to level 6.

 

[kivanc]

I've had some vicious commndo Mech Inf in huge/marathon warmongering games. Getting more than a few of them, even in that kind of game, is difficult. Julius Caesar is a good leader for this, as lots of early GGs (often a by-product of IMP/Prats) mean ridiculous experience out of the gate for an HE/settled GG city, not to mention upgraded prats. Playing CHA leaders, I've had pretty good numbers (8 I think is my record) of commando cavalry. (and similar numbers of tanks) But again, that's a huge/marathon warmongering game. It's an irrelevant promotion in most game set ups.

If it were easier to get, it would be a much stonger promotion. Of course, if it were only required to have C3 to get it, it would be way overpowered for any CHA leader. I do wish it just had a "level 6" rereq, as i'd love to give it to my mobility horsemen, who regularly get to level 6.

commanda and mobility are very powerful. still, the disadvantage with them is that all units in a stack may not have it. so you have to divide the stack.
but anyway, it is still good. you can capture one worker which is 2road squares away and then return to stack

 

[mariogreymist]

Units with those promotions are excellent for two things: pillaging and surprise attacks aided by espionage. The latter requires at least a handful of units. The nice thing about mobility is the ability to generate them out of the gate with vassalage/theo/barracks/stable. I love this move with Spain... a horde of Mobility conqs will seriously ruin your neighbor's day.

 

[EsaKo]

Units with those promotions are excellent for two things: pillaging and surprise attacks aided by espionage. The latter requires at least a handful of units. The nice thing about mobility is the ability to generate them out of the gate with vassalage/theo/barracks/stable. I love this move with Spain... a horde of Mobility conqs will seriously ruin your neighbor's day.

I would use this BUT I happen to know that the AI is incapable of feeling annoyance over lost cottages... sure, they're weakened, but that effect is achieved by taking their cities too

 

[mariogreymist]

I actually prefer them as espionage/city attackers as opposed to pillagers. I'll pillage key resources, but like to keep the cottages intact, as they work nicely once the city is mine. And those iron mines can be rebuilt quickly. The thing that makes mobility conqs is the synergy between mobility (ability to move quickly in hills/forest/jungle) and the conq defensive bonus. Watching an enemy send pikes out to get your conqs on a forested hillside is sort of comical.

 

[rfcfanatic]

Sorry for a necro bump, but after a failed game where I used Catapults against Longbows I really have to let some steam out. Catapults vs Longbows suck badly. They suck even more than Horse Archers vs War Elephants or Chariots vs Spearmen.

 

[kochman]

What is the best unit to attack cities protected with Longbowmen? There doesn't seem to be any unit that gets a bonus against arrow units.

Late to the game here, BUT, the cover improvement gives +25% as far as I remember.
Beyond that, you just want a unit that can have city raider bonuses.

 

[nfw]

Spy to incite revolt, then knights, you'll probably still lose quite a few, that's just how stupidly OP longbow is

 

[strijder20]

Spy to incite revolt, then knights, you'll probably still lose quite a few, that's just how stupidly OP longbow is

Unless your opponent is protective, fortified maces aren't much worse than Lbows. The main problem is that knights can't get cover.

 

[SamSniped]

Personally, the reason why I love Justinian is for his Cataphracts. A 12 knight with the right promotions, and you can easily get 70%+ chance after following standard siege procedure (cats or trebs weaken the city's defenses, suicide a couple cats or trebs, then attack).

 

[Chase_2_Rabbits]

Giant Death Robots.

 

[bay23]

The answer is tactical nukes.

 

[Ambidexter]

Musketmen can't get city raider, but they can get cover and combat, which is almost as good.

If the musketmen started off as something else, swordsmen for instance, they can have city raider. Once a unit gets a promotion, they don't lose it even if they're upgraded to some other unit which isn't eligible for that promotion. In my present game I've got some mech infantry with city raider which they got when they were swordsmen or, in one case, a basic warrior.

 

[Kallikrates]

AFAIK no pre-gunpowder unit upgrades to musketmen, so they cannot get CR. But Grenadiers and Rifles can, of course and then Infantry and Mech inf

 

[joanne]

You guys do realize that this thread is seven years old, right? I was looking at the names on the first page and thought, "hmm... lots of new members today" until I saw the timestamps, lol

Sorry for a necro bump, but after a failed game where I used Catapults against Longbows I really have to let some steam out. Catapults vs Longbows suck badly. They suck even more than Horse Archers vs War Elephants or Chariots vs Spearmen.

Did you make sure to bring other units? Catapults post-vanilla can't destroy units and capture cities outright, you need other units for that. HAs or chariots can eventually kill WEs or spearmen if you have enough of them, but any number of catas can never ever kill anything: it's hard-coded into the game, they can only do up to max damage to the top defender and collateral damage to other units (if any) in the same stack, then either die or withdraw.

 

[Pangaea]

They can kill when attacked though.

 

[digitalcraft]

For cities defended with longbows you're likely just going to have to pour hammers on them in the form of siege, just the way it is.

 

[rfcfanatic]

Did you make sure to bring other units? Catapults post-vanilla can't destroy units and capture cities outright, you need other units for that. HAs or chariots can eventually kill WEs or spearmen if you have enough of them, but any number of catas can never ever kill anything: it's hard-coded into the game, they can only do up to max damage to the top defender and collateral damage to other units (if any) in the same stack, then either die or withdraw.

Yes, I do bring other units and btw, I'm playing BTS where siege cannot kill while attacking. I just have noticed that Catapults suffer horrible death rate when trying to soften up Longbow city defenders. In the worst case I lost 8 Catapults on 1 Longbow.

With City Raider I, Catapults have 1% withdraw chance and CR II only increases it to 2-5%. In addition to that, Longbows have the nasty first strike ability. As a result, many Catapults will die without dealing any damage. So that's why Catapults suck completely against Longbows. That's the main reason I don't even try Elepult rush. Construction comes way too late, but Feudalism comes way too early.

Trebuchets are the way to go and Cannon is even better.