Can my ranged unit melee attack if I want it to?

Question

While playing Civilization with my friends tonight, one of them asked me:

"Can my archer physically attack if I want him to?"

meaning, of course:

Ranged units default to attacking using their ranged attack. Do they have a normal, melee attack? Can I force them to use it?

Answer

No, you cannot force them to melee attack (but they can range-attack a unit in the adjacent hex).

They can be engaged in melee, but this uses the main strenght stat, not ranged strength, which is much lower - expect them to lose, so it's best to keep them out of melee range.

The same applies for all updated version of the archer, the catapult/artillery set of units, and all combat ships/submarines.

All these units can, I believe, capture civilians by entering their square - and in the case of ships they can destroy any embarked unit with the same method. This counts as the unit attacking, so they lose an attack until the next turn.

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