How are melee units supposed to attack cities after Civil Engineering makes them obsolete??

[vefme]

I can't build siege towers or rams anymore, but my melee units still get the -85% malus. How do melee units attack cities in the late game?

[vefme]

Or mid game, I mean

[awase149]

With the help of artillery or battleships, you can soften up the city prior to attacking with a melee unit.

[gmsh1964]

you have to reduce the walls. Catapults, bombard, arty, etc... And if you surround the city with melee ZOC, the wall damage does not recover.

[vefme]

Do existing battering rams help? If I had some left over before obsolescence?

[zxcvbob]

Originally posted by vefme:

Do existing battering rams help? If I had some left over before obsolescence?

They used to, but the game was patched last year; once your victim researches Steel (I think it's Steel) your rams and siege towers stop working. It's kind of disturbing when that happens in mid-siege.

[gmsh1964]

not sure. Check out Civilopedia.. I think become uselsess.

[gimmethegepgun]

Remember that you'll still do damage to the city center, even if city defenses are still up. Once they get Steel your melees are going to be garbage at damaging the defenses, but if you knock a good portion off they'll still deal decent damage to the city center. It's pretty common once Steel comes to not even come close to bringing down the wall defenses all the way before taking it with a melee unit. Just shell it some to reduce the walls and then swarm it with melees.

You will definitely need ranged units though, particularly siege damage or naval ranged (regular land ranged units lose -17 strength AND do half damage to walls so they aren't great at it, but siege damage and naval ranged don't have either penalty).

[cerberusiv]

You have to change tactics and, as said, pound the city into submission with battleships or artillery (artillery needs observation balloon to give +1 extra range to stay out of reach of city counterfire). Battleships are generally game winning at this point if you have enough of them. Bombers are also very effective, unless the enemy deploys defensive fighters (but the AI is useless with air units).

Once the city defences are down to zero almost any melee unit (even an obsolete one) can just walk right in. For coastal cities it is better to attack with a naval melee unit rather than with a land unit from the sea.

[John]

I think they buffed air units at some point and now bombers are super effective against district defenses.

[hopsblues]

Originally posted by cerberusiv:

You have to change tactics and, as said, pound the city into submission with battleships or artillery (artillery needs observation balloon to give +1 extra range to stay out of reach of city counterfire). Battleships are generally game winning at this point if you have enough of them. Bombers are also very effective, unless the enemy deploys defensive fighters (but the AI is useless with air units).

Once the city defences are down to zero almost any melee unit (even an obsolete one) can just walk right in. For coastal cities it is better to attack with a naval melee unit rather than with a land unit from the sea.

Bombers are the bomb, now fighters a better as well/

[vefme]

Originally posted by zxcvbob:

Originally posted by vefme:

Do existing battering rams help? If I had some left over before obsolescence?

They used to, but the game was patched last year; once your victim researches Steel (I think it's Steel) your rams and siege towers stop working. It's kind of disturbing when that happens in mid-siege.

Ah that'd make sense. I was still using rams/towers left over from before the civic, and they were working. Your hypothesis definitely fits with that.

[Juraks]

Similar question to the one already posed; can you take a city in one turn if there is no garrisoned unit? If the city has walls and no garrisoned unit? I've taken cities before with melee units and their defenses never fell, but their health fell to 0. But I can't recall if the victim had the steel tech or not.