Remove Roads?

Is there any way to remove roads in the game?

Is there any way to remove roads from territory that is either yours or neutral?

Part of the reason for this is my mild OCD and the urge to make the road links between my cities aesthetically pleasing.  The other part is to create buffer zones in neutral lands so enemy armies take longer to get to my territory.  This didn't really become an issue until I researched the tech that automatically builds roads between all your cities AND started capturing enemy cities.  As soon as I capture an enemy city, a road links up to the rest of my empire regardless whether I want to keep the city or raze it right off the bat.  I raze most of the AI cities I capture because they tend to be built in suboptimal locations but this leaves roads leading back into the heart of my empire.  As I retreat I'd like to have the option to remove some of the roadwork so enemy troops can't follow me too quickly.  Also, I've often wanted to cut off enemy cities from the direction that likely reinforcements are to arrive from.

So, is there any way to do this in the game?  My pioneers don't seem to have the option, and neither do my Mancer units with the "road building" trait.  Also, there's no drop down option like "Raze" when my units are on a road.

Anybody have similar compulsions and figured out how to do this?

52,669 views 31 replies
Reply #1 Top

I agree this should be something to consider in the future. I know it existed in one form or another previously and gave Stardock some trouble. Check the mods. I play without mods most of the time so I won't be much help here. 

Reply #2 Top

I would say that generally the player benefits more from roads than the AI does, so in general it is to the player's advantage to leave them in.

Not that I wouldn't like to be able to delete roads, but I would put that really low on any priority list.

Reply #3 Top

Quoting Raiddinn, reply 2

I would say that generally the player benefits more from roads than the AI does, so in general it is to the player's advantage to leave them in.

Not that I wouldn't like to be able to delete roads, but I would put that really low on any priority list.

I'd say if they added multiplayer (not that I want this) there would be a case for the ability to remove roads. 

Reply #4 Top

I don't believe there is a way to remove roads but there is a way to force the game not to build roads unless you make them. See capitar trait

Reply #5 Top

This sounds like a problem that is meant to be solved by using outposts.

Outposts force enemies to go through an area at regular speed even if there are roads present, and the roads still help the outpost owner.

Caltrops make outposts even more effective at this function.

If you place the caltrops strategically around your important cities, their zone s of control will just conquer them again right away if they get captured.

If you can't get around from one area to another quickly enough there is always Cloud Walk and Call of the Titans that can get you around the map to defend your stuff.

I think the developers gave us these tools so we could overcome the advantages that roads give opponents.

Reply #6 Top

right off the bat.

 

This is what irks me more than the inability to remove roads. I think if StarDock decides to do some more programming on roads they should consider adding a rule so that roads take a few turns to build instead of just magically instantly connecting every single city immediately. Have the relevant city build one tile worth of road a turn. This should also fix OP's problem.

Reply #7 Top

I always thought it was pretty weird that capitals of two nations on opposite end of Island will magically have roads to each other capital as soon as they agree to economic treaty even when it paths through like 100 Fire elemental nests.

 

Even more weirder is that some caravans actually manage to survive and reach the capital at end of road.

Reply #8 Top

Yes, I really, really hate that they just appear. 

Would rather that we have to build them and that they slowly appear. 

PLEASE. Or give us an "engineer" unit that can build roads and outposts (obviously more expensive, or something) 

Reply #9 Top

I don't see any good reason a pioneer shouldn't be able to build roads.

I wouldn't mind having an easier time taking road building as a trait for trained units either.

I am fine with the roads being made instantly and all that other stuff.

Reply #10 Top

Quoting Raiddinn, reply 9
I don't see any good reason a pioneer shouldn't be able to build roads.

I wouldn't mind having an easier time taking road building as a trait for trained units either.

The Capitar faction gets the road building trait for their pioneers. As well as the ability to design troops with the road building trait. Providing this trait for the other races, just weakens the Capitar faction (makes them less unique)

Reply #11 Top

Quoting parrottmath, reply 10


Quoting Raiddinn, reply 9I don't see any good reason a pioneer shouldn't be able to build roads.

I wouldn't mind having an easier time taking road building as a trait for trained units either.

The Capitar faction gets the road building trait for their pioneers. As well as the ability to design troops with the road building trait. Providing this trait for the other races, just weakens the Capitar faction (makes them less unique)

 

Besides, since you can build roads "on the fly" which basically can quadruple the movement points of the building unit (of anyone who has the trait build road), its proably good its restricted :)

Reply #12 Top


I use outposts as mentioned.   They let you take advantage of the roads movement bonus.   You  can tell neutral AIs to get out of your territory if they are using your roads.   Enemy AIs will probably just take the outpost, at which point you lose the road movement bonus.   I wish there was a message that notified you of this happening but there is not.

Reply #13 Top

Would Raise/ Lower Land work for removing roads? I've not actually tried it.

Reply #14 Top

Quoting merlinme, reply 13

Would Raise/ Lower Land work for removing roads? I've not actually tried it.

No it will not since the raise and lower land does not actually create mountains or impassable terrain.

Curgen's Volcano on the other hand will destroy roads.

Reply #15 Top

Raise/Lower Land preserves roads (since you can't actually create impassible terrain with it.)

EDIT: gotta watch those ninja parrots :-P

Reply #16 Top

I would rather see Capitar unique in some other way.  Maybe they could have a racial bonus of +4 gold per turn or something.

Reply #17 Top

If you want to really mess with the opponents, take both Master Scouts and Earth Magic and judiciously use Raise Land to make everything into hills.  

Put it all over your own and neutral territory on every tile of non-enemy ground.

It will reduce their movement considerably while not affecting your own.

You can limit their movement to a crawl with outposts (your territory), raise land, and caltrops.

Even if they do manage to conquer the outposts, they will still be stuck with raised land.  The land won't prevent you from re-conquering the outposts.

This strategy is pretty mana intensive, so you will probably not want to have a Mage sovereign if you do this.

Reply #19 Top

I would never be that cruel.

Seriously, though, I wish it were possible to make it so the game would never generate any swamp tiles.

Even if you pick mountainous you will still get swamp tiles.

If you pick swamp that means you have a large possibility of getting screwed by swamps yourself and that is just horrible.  Better to just pay the mana to craft your own terrain based defenses.

Reply #20 Top

Quoting Raiddinn, reply 19

I would never be that cruel.

Seriously, though, I wish it were possible to make it so the game would never generate any swamp tiles.

Even if you pick mountainous you will still get swamp tiles.

If you pick swamp that means you have a large possibility of getting screwed by swamps yourself and that is just horrible.  Better to just pay the mana to craft your own terrain based defenses.

Thats why I made swamp tiles... specific buildings for cities that build specifically on swamps and provide bonuses like fire and poison to attacks. Walking through them is still a problem, but I'll have to ponder a way to get around that... and I just might have an idea.

Reply #21 Top

This isn't an answer for the original poster, but you can make a really cheap army that only builds roads.  Give them a wooden club and the road building perk.

 

They're pretty efficient for 3 dudes with wooden clubs.

Reply #23 Top

Quoting Primal_Savage, reply 22
And I think CoS may have a race w/ no swamp penalty (Lizardmen?).

In the Stormworld (for base FE) mod, Greenskin and Lizardmen factions/races had no movement penalty in swamp. The Greenskin faction is not in CoS, and the Lizardmen race no longer has the ability.

 

Reply #24 Top

Quoting mfrast, reply 21

This isn't an answer for the original poster, but you can make a really cheap army that only builds roads.  Give them a wooden club and the road building perk.

 

They're pretty efficient for 3 dudes with wooden clubs.

I already answered the original posters question, simply put there is no way to destroy roads once placed on the map, except through the use of Curgen's Volcano or some other absurd method not available.

You can however build your own roads with the Mancers (as you already know).

@Primal_Savage -- Yes some of the generic tiles include swamps. If you want you can edit all these stamps in the stamp folder and turn off the generic option whenever the tile itself has a swamp. Then you can have maps without swamps coming from stamps. From the actually generator that fills in the gaps, well who knows if that will stop the swamp creation in general.

Reply #25 Top

I have so far played without mods, so swamps still prevent me from building things.

I snake all my cities, so it prevents me from putting crystals and whatever else inside the walls.