[Freeciv-Dev] Re: suggestion / idea

[Tony Stuckey <stuckey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, Jan 29, 2000 at 09:40:50AM -0500, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> Daniel Burrows (Daniel_Burrows@xxxxxxxxx) wrote:
>>I think the problem really is that ships ignore city walls.  I don't *think*
>>this was the case in CivII (if it was, I missed a major tactical consideration
>> when I was playing it :-\ )
> 
> In Civ1, only Battleships ignored city walls; other ships had to face
> triple-strength defenders.  (But in Civ1, city walls were less common,
> because they had an upkeep of 2 and cost more shields to build.)

        Unfortunately, I don't have a Civ1 manual on hand to check.  But I
didn't think anything ignored City Walls in Civ1.  Battleships were simply
big enough at 18 attack that a Veteran Battleship could kill anything, even
given the triple City Wall defense.

> The Civ2 manual implies that ships do not ignore city walls, but it does
> not actually state that.  (And I can't remember from gameplay.)
> 
> Civ2, p. 56: "A city's defense can be substantially increased by building
> City Walls, an improvement that triples any defender's strength against
> most attackers (although not against Howitzers or air units)."
> 
> Civ2, p. 34: "For instance, when a ship bombards a ground unit on
> shore, the firepower of both units is reduced to one.  This simulates
> the low accuracy of shore bombardment.  Similarly, ships defending in
> port have their firepower reduced to one, because of limitations of
> maneuverability."

        You didn't look far enough:
Civ2 manual, page 106:
City Defenses
        The City Walls improvement triples the defense strength of units
within against all ground units except Howitzers, and it protects a city's
population from reduction.  The Coastal Fortress doubles the strength of
all units within a city against shore bombardments by enemy ships.  The SAM
Missile battery doubles the defense strength of all units within the city
against all air units except Nuclear Missiles.  See Nuclear Attacks for the
scoop on SDI Defense improvements.

Civ2 Manual, page 107:
Pearl Harbor
        When air units or ground units attack ships in port, [...] the
attackers' firepower is doubled against the defending units, and the
defenders' firepower is reduced to one, to represent the defenders'
vulnerability.

Civ2 Manual Page 107:
Shore Bombardments
        Other than Submarines, any naval units with an attack factor
greater than zero can attack enemy land units on adjacent land squares
(they are conducting shore bombardments).  Cities along the coastline are
vulnerable to shore bombardments, too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

        Combining the statements on pages 34, 56, and 106-107 strongly
implies that City Walls in Civ2 do not affect naval shore bombardment.
        Firepower for the naval vessels is reduced to one.  Ironclads only
have a one to start with.  So yes, Ironclads do stand a very good chance of
defeating even a Veteran Fortified defending ground unit operating without
the protection of Coastal Fortresses.

> (I don't know whether "shore" here includes cities, or just land units
> standing on the beach.)

        Both.
-- 
Anthony J. Stuckey                              stuckey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"And they said work hard, and die suddenly, because it's fun."
        -Robyn Hitchcock.