(July 14, 2014 at 1:47 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(July 14, 2014 at 1:26 pm)Napoléon Wrote: Tried taking a capital city, war waged on for at least 20, maybe even 30 turns. Ended up I got the health as low as it could go but I ran out of reinforcements and had some dick of a trireme peppering my units from afar. Ended up I had no melee units to rush in and take the city so I had to go back. Man that pissed me off.
But, I've regrouped and rebuilt. Now I have a force 4 times the size of what I initially used. I won't be making the same fucking mistake twice you bastard Persians I guarantee you that!
What era are you in and what units are you using?
Myself, if I don't take a city *very* early, I'm not getting serious about city siege until I have artillery - and then I get very serious about it.
It doesn't necessarily take a large force, but it does take the *right* force. You need melee and ranged units to protect your siege units and act as cannon fodder for city ranged attacks. Lay siege until the city health bar is near zero - don't bother attacking it with melee units until then. I try to destroy any defending forces outside of the city before I bother attacking the city proper - they can't flank you if they have nothing to flank you with.
Also don't forget to pillage to regain health with your units. Your melee units will often withstand city bombardment for a few turns extra if you pillage city improvements.
