Is there any advantage in Attacking with multiple stacks?

Hello fellow player,

If they are all moving to the same end point then they will merge after a while when doing combat.

Attackers do damage every hour (floating clock above the division). Defenders always defend when they are attacked. No matter how many different divisions attack them.

Using divisions that are moving to different end points is a good idea when you are using more of a certain unit than is SBDE efficient. Having different end points will keep them from merging.

In the case of your 4 infantry and 3 tanks you should try sending them in together. This way your tanks are around to do damage when your infantry does. And have the defenders damage being spread over both your infantry and your tanks. As long as you are not sending more of a certain unit than is SBDE efficient combining troops is always a good idea (perhaps not in relation to speed).

If at all possible you should avoid attacking with infantry all together. Their stats are 50% higher on the defense after all. Use ranged units to shoot at your enemy and put infantry between your enemy and your ranged units. For a bigger damage output of your overall army. This also means that you need less replacements for fallen units. This in turn leaves more resources that you can put into your economy.

Good luck!

Kind regards,

Edepedable

In the situation you are describing, there is a disadvantage. Units on separate paths will seldom merge, and units sent on the same path will likely attack separately rather than merge(There is always an exception to this rule, typically found that units you wish NOT To merge will in fact merge) This means you will be attacking the enemy twice per hour.

The reason for this disadvantage is:

VorlonFCW wrote:

A unit will defend itself whenever it is attacked. The defense stat is the return fire that it reacts with every single time it is attacked. A unit can defend itself an unlimited amount of times per hour.

The only time that multiple stacks are warranted is when you are exceeding the SBDE limits. There is a limit to how many units of each type are most effective per group, called the State Based Damage Efficiency.

>> Forum thread on SBDE

So if you have a dozen infantry and a dozen tanks then splitting them up makes sense. You do not have to come from different directions as that takes a lot of time. Sending them along the same road with a different end point past the target will keep them from fighting as a single unit.

One thing to note about SBDE. It limits how much damage that an attack can do, and the same for defense. However

the damage will be absorbed by ALL of your units and divided between them, So a bulkier stack will survive longer.

You might find some good reading in this thread as well

>>attack defend determination

Edepedable wrote:

If at all possible you should avoid attacking with infantry all together

Armored units lose BOTH:

1) Half of their strength. So if the chart shows they do 2.0 damage, they will only do 1.0 in a city.

2) Half of their hit points. So if a tank starts with 30 hit points, it only has 15 in the city.

VorlonFCW wrote:

Edepedable wrote:

If at all possible you should avoid attacking with infantry all together

I wouldn't say it quite that way. I agree that artillery or planes are better, but sending infantry into a city is much better than sending a tank into a city.

Besides I did not mean to use tanks instead of infantry when attacking cities even though this is the originally posted scenario. My point here is that infantry is better used in defense since their damage numbers are 50% higher on the defense when compared to attack. This makes a big difference in the damage output your army can do, especially in the beginning but also throughout a game their defensive capabilities outshining their assault capabilities should always be kept into account.

There are plenty of reasons to attack units in a province with infantry, though I think they mostly be avoided through some smart planning. To name a few:

- Wanting to take a province as fast as possible (should still be supported by ranged units fireing and/or planes).

- Preventing enemy units from being healed with gold (healing with gold is not an option when units are doing direct battle).

- Taking a certain province can sometimes only be done with combined forces, including using direct attack units.

Thats it, in every other case you will eventually be better of with using infantry defensively.

And yes to come back to the original post where THANOS is both sending infantry and tanks to a city, THANOS would be better of not sending either. Infantry is better used in defense, tanks should not ever be in a city except when they roll of the production line there.

Thank you both for the detailed explanations. Very much appreciated.

I guess I was wondering if there was any sort of 'flanking' bonus.

I've been having a read and yes, SBDE considerations aside, coming in one big stack is mostly optimal, such as I understand it.

I had wondered about the 'double defend' effect – if I defending unit defended 'the same' to every stack attacking it. At which point it would seem to make the defenders more effective.

Excellent links

thanks guys