Give/Return Units to City State

[Dray Prescot]

There are times that a City State could use some help from you, partiularly when defending itself while you have most of it's units under your own control. (The only units it currently has were built after you paid for control of their old/other military units).

I would like to suggest that you have the ability to return individual unts to the control of a City that you presently have under your control.

I would also like to suggest the idea of giving units of your own to a City State.

There are many cases where it is difficult or impossible for you to help a City State under attack by someone else, particularly City States that you are suzerain over, because they are too far away or for diplomatic reasons, but they could defend themselves better if you could give back control of their units to them (or even give them ontrol of your own units).

Please consider making this possible in Civ 6.

[IronCrypt]

I'd like to know why some City States seem to make more units then all major powers combined.

[Dray Prescot]

I have upgraded those units and they are better than my Ally (Indonesia) is using to attack them with. I just went to War with Brazil and took 2 cities from Brazil because Indonesia was not able to defeat Brazil. NOW, I have my ALLY attacking that City State, and all of it's units it needs to defend itself are under my control. I suppose, once my Alliance with Indonesia is over (30 turn period) I can declare a War of Liberation for the City State from them, but I prefer to avoid that.

In a previous game, I put my own units, some of them from the City State originally, around the City State capital to try to protect it from being captured by the Player I did not want to go to War with to defend that City State.

How many units a City State has built depends a lot on how good and large of a territory it has managed to acquire and develope for itself. Which partly depends on how close any neighbors (City Sates and Civs) are that might restrict that territory. They might not have the same maintainence costs on military units as the major Powers, which might explain how many units some of them have. (I do not know how the Civ 6 program handles the economies and military costs of City States. I also do not know how it handles the tech levels for the units a City State can build).)

[gadiantion]

I would kill for a way to tell an attacking power who is attacking your city state to back the hell off of them. As diplomacy is currently me being the suzerian of a city state CANNOT even ask another power who is attacking my city state to back off ( or offer them a concession instead of capturing it ) Otherwise my only way to defend them is to declare war and HOPE I can somehow turn the tide before they get captured. ( impractical because often times citystates are on differant continents or across entire empires ( third parties ) who wont allow me to move 50 units across them to engage the power going after my citystate.

It is a totally rediculous situation to have a city state whos bonuses your empire DEPENDS on being attacked and totally unable to do a damn thing to save them...even when I am willing to concede major luxuries, units, gold etc to save them.

[Dray Prescot]

Like I and others have said, the only way we have found to help such City States is to levy their units, upgrade them to your current tech, and then TOTALLY surround the City State capital with a ring of those levied units (now under your control). However, this still does not keep the Major Powers from bombarding that Capital City with ranged units. Then make sure that no one puts enough envoys in to take away your suzerain status and make you lose control of those units. Eventually those levied units will return to the control of the City State, and the City State will move those units around and leave gaps for attackers, but at least they will have stronger units. Unfortunately, if you want to levy those upgraded units again, they will cost a lot more to levy.

This stategy depends on the City State having built enough military units for you to levy and defend the Capital City with.

The only other way to defend a City State is to move your own (non levied) military units into the City State, if you can get to them (as you already know).

I do find City State units as a convenient way, if you have enough cash, to mount small to medium scale military operations in distant lands (on other continents, usually), or on additional fronts with an enemy that borders you directly.

[bmrigs]

That is why I have stopped being the suzerian of a C.S. that isn't adjacent to me. I am not wasting envoys if I can't defend it properly and it gets taken.

[gadiantion]

Just seems rediculous that options for actually intervening in a major power / CS conflict are so limited....how do the devs not find this to be an issue ?

[Dray Prescot]

If they have your up to date tech units that you updated their levied units to, they are a lot more survivable. Even a long way away from you.

I (Pericles-Greece) am very late (I am about to enter Info Age in Tech and Civs) in my current game and there are about 12 City States still around, and I am suzerain over all but 2 of them (several of those suzerainships are very recent though). I am currently working on a Domination Victory since it would be impossible (very difficult) to beat Russia in a Culture Victory without conquering most of Russia. Strangely with only 5 Religions, the Religious Wars were very quiet in this particular game. I used the Caps Lock Mod on a Standard size map with continents and maximum number of City States. The Caps Lock Mod seems to have worked well on starting positions.