I've got a confused newbie question for you, internet. In my current running game, the Ardent Mages decided to sneak some military forces onto my island and sucker punch me. While dealing with those guys, the Cultists proudly proclaimed that they would like to be next on the list for a butt kicking and declared war as well. So, I decided to use my Vaulters' unique defensive techs and make my lands into fortresses through which no enemy may pass. Watchtowers, fortifications, tons of armies, the works. But I'm running into a problem. I know how fortifications work: they add another layer of hp onto the defending garrison. But invading enemies just lay siege so they can chip away at that layer. If I leave them alone too long, they'll start losing their own hp as well. I also understand that, if I get the garrison together into an army, and send them out to run the ugly kids out of town, they lose the fortification bonus. Even if they only participate as reinforcements for an assisting army, no bonus. So, my question is how do I best make use of fortifications? How do I apply this so I can get some use out of my city upgrades? Because, way it seems now, it's probably of greater benefit to have lots of roaming armies intercepting enemy threats and simply retaking my cities the turn after they're lost.

Pondera wrote:
I also understand that, if I get the garrison together into an army, and send them out to run the ugly kids out of town, they lose the fortification bonus. Even if they only participate as reinforcements for an assisting army, no bonus. So, my question is how do I best make use of fortifications? How do I apply this so I can get some use out of my city upgrades?

You´re sending them out of the fortifications, why would they have any bonus? =D They would bring little towers around their waists?



Fortifications are that - walls so that instead of losing a city in one turn, it takes the enemy 3, or 5, etc. What will really defend your lands is how you use your armies.



Movement points and counting tiles are very important things so that you can keep your armies always moving out of the worst threats and into reinforcement positions and checks. It´s all basically chess. You want to look at the different armies the enemy has and engage the right ones with the right metas (spears vs cavalry, axes vs ranged, cavalry vs ranged, flying vs infatry, etc...).



You want to win battles more than you want to kill enemies - undermine invading armies and keep your health up by fighting smartly and manuevering inside each battle so that you can confuse the enemy army´s movement, avoid attacking high defenses, force low attackers into attacking, force enemies into fighting in a lower ground, etc...

Because, way it seems now, it's probably of greater benefit to have lots of roaming armies intercepting enemy threats and simply retaking my cities the turn after they're lost.

Mostly, that, but you really don´t have to lose that many cities.

It's as I suspected. I've got a reasonably good idea on how to defend my territory, I was just fretting over city defense enhancements. Call me crazy, but the flavor text just makes the process so interesting; Vaulters up on parapets, coordinating with one another, using dust magic to ♥♥♥♥ with the enemy...



So, if I'm understanding this right, there is no way to actually use the health benefit provided by fortifications unless the enemy gets impatient and attacks instead of sieges? That its just a delaying action until you can move armies in to break the siege? Come to think of it, that's kind of how Endless Space did it, and they could skip right to attacking with their drop troops too...

@Pondera: yes, the fortification bonus only works if the enemy gets impatient, as you have said. So, as a generic solution for all empires, it is very important to research "Right of Way", and get those roads built... This way, if a city get's sieged, you can gather your armies quickly arount the attacker, so they don't get besieged for so long... Another interesting stuff is to use the vaulter's holy resource ability to transport armies across your lands, instantly. Remember, however, that teleport is limited to 1 army per city destination per turn, so it's not a completely failsafe way to reroute armies...

Pondera wrote:
So, if I'm understanding this right, there is no way to actually use the health benefit provided by fortifications unless the enemy gets impatient and attacks instead of sieges? That its just a delaying action until you can move armies in to break the siege? Come to think of it, that's kind of how Endless Space did it, and they could skip right to attacking with their drop troops too...

This is a funny way to think of it.



How come you´re not using the health benefit provided by fortifications, if such health benefit is the one thing preventing the enemy from taking your city?

Pondera wrote:
So, if I'm understanding this right, there is no way to actually use the health benefit provided by fortifications unless the enemy gets impatient and attacks instead of sieges? That its just a delaying action until you can move armies in to break the siege?

That's a good assessment. You need to have a army strong enough to defeat the invader. Garrisons and Fortifications stop them from running over the city on turn one.