User Guide

56
CITY PROTECTION
Great economic management of a city is worthless if the city is captured by rivals or
barbarians. Therefore, part of your management plan must concern the defense of each
city. The minimum city defense is one army, preferably one with a good defense factor. A
second defender can provide back-up in case the first is taken out (see Military Units for
details of combat). An army with a strong attack factor is also useful. This unit can strike
at enemies that move adjacent to the city, perhaps destroying them before they can launch
an attack. Fortify any armies that you expect to defend a city (choose the FORTIFY option
from the ORDERS menu or press the
F
key) because fortified units gain an increased
defense strength — as we’ll explain more fully under Military Units.
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). Veteran status and terrain bonuses are figured in before this tripling takes
effect. City Walls also prevent population loss when defending units are destroyed
(see Combat).
When civilization advances make available new army types with better defense factors,
take the first opportunity to replace old defenders with better units. Since the offensive
capability of your enemies improves as they acquire new advances, your defenses must
improve to keep up.
Linking cities with roads and railroads can be very helpful in speeding the movement
of units from one end of your empire to trouble spots elsewhere. This puts your defensive
armies on “interior lines,” allowing them to move rapidly to where they are needed.
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