Why is attacking cities so hard?
Conquering cities in Civ4 can be very difficult because of all the bonuses available to defenders in cities; not only can those units have promotions, including City Garrison I, II, and III, that increase they defensive strength, they also get bonuses from the defense strength of a city, terrain, and fortification. All told, these can easily add up to over 100% in accumulated strength bonuses. This makes it even more critical to soften the defenders up through the use of siege weapons, as well to have a variety of units with promotions to combat different scenarios faced. It won’t hurt to have modern units either! When attacking cities, don’t waste your units uselessly by attacking when the odds are clearly against you – not only will you most likely have your units killed, but you’ll end up giving the enemy free experience for the defenders!
