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Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 7:55 am
by OxfordGuy3
Hi - I don't think I could find this information in the manual, but which units suffer a malus when defending in towns and cities and is this just a -1 malus to Hard attacks (i.e. from Infantry, basically)? I know tanks are affected (presumably ALL tanks - light, regular and heavy?), but what about mechanised units, anti-tank, recon and armoured trains? Thanks!

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 10:44 am
by BillRunacre
Tanks and Mechanized units suffer the penalty if attacked while they are in an urban area.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:21 pm
by Taxman66
Does that include other units designated as 'Light Armour' too?

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:21 pm
by OxfordGuy3
Okay, thanks. It seems a bit strange that Mechanized units don't seem to have any advantages over Tanks, only negatives, considering they now seem to be the same cost (don't think this was always the case). The only advantages I can see are that you can build them when your Tank pool runs out, and for countries that don't develop Tank Weapons tech, but do develop Infantry Weapons tech (e.g. this may be the case for Italy), they could be a better buy than Tanks, unless I'm missing something?

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 4:27 pm
by OxfordGuy3
Taxman66 wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:21 pm Does that include other units designated as 'Light Armour' too?
I wondered that too, though I don't think I've seen the malus for Recon or Anti-tank units

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 9:49 am
by BillRunacre
Taxman66 wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:21 pm Does that include other units designated as 'Light Armour' too?
Just four unit types:

Mechanized
Light Tanks
Tanks
Heavy Tanks

Mechanized units are an extra mobile striking force, not better than tanks but they still have their uses.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 3:27 pm
by OxfordGuy3
Okay, thanks!

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:59 pm
by armuss
OxfordGuy3 wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:21 pm Okay, thanks. It seems a bit strange that Mechanized units don't seem to have any advantages over Tanks, only negatives, considering they now seem to be the same cost (don't think this was always the case). The only advantages I can see are that you can build them when your Tank pool runs out, and for countries that don't develop Tank Weapons tech, but do develop Infantry Weapons tech (e.g. this may be the case for Italy), they could be a better buy than Tanks, unless I'm missing something?
Maybe it's time to cut the cost down to 225 MPP?

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 9:05 am
by OxfordGuy3
BillRunacre wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 10:44 am Tanks and Mechanized units suffer the penalty if attacked while they are in an urban area.
What is the actual affect of the penalty and is it only if they are attack by "hard" type units (i.e. usually infantry)? Does the defense bonus (even for hard attacks) of the settlement/town/city still apply first, or do tanks and mechanised units not get any defense bonus for hard attacks in urban areas i.e. are they more vulnerable in urban areas against such attacks than in clear hexes (though presumably still less vulnerable vs. air and armoured attacks?)

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 8:20 pm
by BillRunacre
Their defense value is decreased by 1. So it's not major but it will make a difference.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 9:47 pm
by OxfordGuy3
Thanks, so is that just their defence versus Hard attack reduced by one? So, they still get the usual urban defence bonuses on top of that?

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 8:48 am
by BillRunacre
Versus Soft attack too. So they will suffer a penalty against any infantry (or cavalry) attack.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:43 am
by OxfordGuy3
Thanks, but presumably that is still offset somewhat by the usual urban terrain bonuses, so not necessarily worse than being in clear terrain?

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 11:38 am
by Taxman66
Without researching into exacting numbers, I have found Tanks to be more vulnerable in urban (and swamp) hexes than if they were in clear. Best to avoid being in those terrains with them if it can be avoided.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:25 am
by BillRunacre
OxfordGuy3 wrote: Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:43 am Thanks, but presumably that is still offset somewhat by the usual urban terrain bonuses, so not necessarily worse than being in clear terrain?
Not necessarily, but it does provide an incentive to defend the urban area with a decent infantry unit if you have one available, and keep the armoured forces available for mobile operations.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 2:28 pm
by OxfordGuy3
Interestingly, I've noticed that armoured units don't seem to suffer the malus vs Hard and Soft attacks if the defending hex has both a town and forested terrain. I presume this is intentional, as the tanks (or whatever) could be defending in the forest, rather than the town itself?

Also if a unit is defending a town on a mountainous hex, does it gain the defence bonus of the town or of the moutains?

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 2:35 pm
by Hubert Cater
Generally, if a unit is located on top of a resource that is also on top of a terrain, e.g. a forest or mountain, only the resource defence bonus is applied. There is no cumulative bonus from both the terrain and the resource.

So if the bonus is a -1 for being in a city/town, then that bonus or penalty in this case should be applied.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:44 am
by OxfordGuy3
"So if the bonus is a -1 for being in a city/town, then that bonus or penalty in this case should be applied."

Well I'm pretty sure it isn't being applied for armoured units in Chernigov or Gomel, which are towns in forested hexes east of the Pripyat Marshes in Russia, or is that a display bug when viewing the unit's properties? Would be good to know which.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 1:50 pm
by Hubert Cater
My mistake, there is no cumulative effect from being on a resource and a terrain when it comes to the defensive bonuses they provide, e.g. it is the topmost item and in this case the city/town would provide the regular defensive bonus.

However you are correct in that the penalties, e.g. the -1 that would apply currently looks at terrain first and then resource.

So the -1 does not apply to a tank in a city that is also a forested hex.

I'll discuss with Bill if we should keep this as is or make an amendment here as well to follow the same logic as the regular defensive bonuses.

Re: Which defending units suffer a malus in towns/cities?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:29 pm
by OxfordGuy3
Okay, thanks, I think there's some logic in doing it either way