User Guide

fied as appropriate for terrain and special abilities) and gener-
ates a result. If the defender is victorious, the attacker is
destroyed and the defender remains where it was. If the attack-
er is victorious the defender is destroyed and if the space is now
vacant of hostile units the attacker moves into it. Certain spe-
cial abilities may allow for different outcomes; we’ll discuss
these later.
HOSTILE UNITS
Units are considered “hostile” if their two civilizations are at
war with each other. Otherwise, the units are neutral, and can
occupy the same space without combat. Barbarian and animal
units are always hostile to everybody.
HOW TO ATTACK
To attack another unit, order one of your units to enter its
space. If that unit is hostile, combat will ensue immediately. If
that unit is neutral, the program asks if you want to attack the
unit or move peacefully into its space. If you choose to attack,
you declare war on the unit’s civilization and fighting begins.
Note that some special rules come into effect if you are attack-
ing a space containing more than one defending unit (see
below).
Most Units Can Make Only One
Attack per Turn
In general, units can make only one attack, per turn, even if the
unit has movement points left after the first attack.The “Blitz”
promotion (see page 137) allows a unit to make more than one
attack in a single turn.
A unit can defend against any number of attacks in the same
turn, as long as it survives.
DETERMINING THE ODDS
Basically, if an attacker and defender have the same (modified)
combat strength at the start of a battle, each has an equal
chance of winning the combat. If one unit has double the
strength of the other, it has a 2-1 chance of obtaining victory.
And so on.
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However, as discussed, a variety of things might modify a unit’s
strength during a combat. Here are some of the most important:
INJURY
When a unit takes damage in battle, its combat strength is
reduced until that unit “heals” (see below).
FORTIFICATION
Some units can “fortify” – build temporary defenses such as
trenches or light walls. A fortified unit gains a defensive bonus
of 5% per turn it remains motionless, to a maximum bonus of
25%. A unit loses this bonus if it attacks or moves from its
square.
FORT
If a unit occupies a space in which a worker has built the “fort”
improvement, it gains a defensive bonus of 25%.
DEFENSIVE TERRAIN
Many units gain bonuses when they are attacked while occu-
pying certain kinds of terrain. Melee, archer and recon units
get a defensive bonus of 50% when defending in forest or jun-
gle, for instance, while mounted and siege units do not.
CITY DEFENSES
Units defending inside cities may get defensive bonuses for a
city’s fortifications or for its “cultural defensive bonus” (see
“Cities,” page 45).
UNIT TYPE BONUSES
Some units receive bonuses when fighting specific unit types.
For example, spearmen units receive a hefty +100% bonus
when facing mounted units.
PROMOTIONS
A unit may have received one or more “promotions” (see
below) which give it combat bonuses.
MULTIPLE UNIT COMBAT
If a unit is attacking a space containing more than one defend-
er, the computer figures out which defending unit has the
best odds of defeating the attacker, and then those two units
fight it out.
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