The design goal for the religions is for the religions to be distinct. Mahdi is made distinct by having it spread only through conquest; its a warmonger religion.
If it had missionaries, it would be just like the others.
Yes and no. Mahdi seems to be some what of a spontaneous folk movement, and so I understand why there is no priest unit.
Except that the BG created most of the myths that made it, one of the things they spend their time doing. I think they should be able to spread it, even if other civs cannot. Making up and spreading superstition and religion is their main hobby.
.... in a mod about Dune?
"Realism" doesn't really work well in a system with shields. We have to have something that works with civ-style gameplay.
I toyed with some different ways of modelling shields, but none worked well in the end.
Anything, can be interpreted with realism in mind, including science fiction. I think that Frank Herbert meant for his books to be as "realistic" as possible, given that he was writing about technologies and techniques that had not yet been developed, and therefor might or might not ever exist.
Shields might work some day, or they might not. They are not yet unrealistic, given that we don't know about their relative possibility.
But perhaps the world realism is misleading. "Consistency" might be better. For science fiction to be 'realistic' it must be internally consistent.
Anyway, I don't think what I am suggesting about shields requires any complicated game mechanisms. I merely suggest that shielded units should be given bonuses and/or immunity vs. units that rely entirely on weapons those shields easily defeat, such as air units.
As it stands, the current balance of melee vs. guards seems to reflect Dune "realism" quite well. I merely question whether ornithopters deserve a +melee bonus, and whether all shield promotions, and innately shield-equipped units shouldn't have more protection and bonuses vs. artillery and air.
Not quite... Fremen women and children basically destroyed the Fremen raid on the palmeries.
In the books, they really are just Better. Not very balanced though.
That is one way to interpret it, and I suppose many Dune fans would choose to think of it that way. However, given how much the books focus on belief, perception, the interpretation and reinterpretation of history, I don't think it is contrary to the spirit of the books to suggest that it is only Fremen heroic myth that makes all Fremen better than Sardaukar, and that in actuality, numerical superiority, guerrilla warfare and a variety of operational factors operating in favour of the Fremen allowed them their victory.
Acknowledging beforehand that you may simply choose the first interpretation of the novels, where the Fremen are just Better, and therefore dismiss the following, let me illustrate my point from human history, something I am sure Herbert would approve of:
American history popularly likes to claim that in America's Revolutionary War, the American/Rebel army was just Better that the British/Hessian forces in the same way, if a lesser degree than the situation in Dune. They like to undercount their own numbers, and exaggerate British-Hessian strength by not bothering to account for losses to sickness, previous battles, outpost and picket detachments, etc. They follow the usual practice of exaggerating enemy losses, and generally lacked the trained staff and accounting procedures to properly track their own, so they provide paltry and optimistic assessments. This all gets passed off as fact, repeated in reputable books, and taught in schools.
However, rigourous historical examination, including examination of first person accounts, shows that rebel forces almost always outnumbered the British, and that, when one checks strength and loss returns, and accounts of officers present, the British-German forces were causing more casualties per man than the Americans, and were actually a more effective fighting force, as one would have expected from their training.
Similarly, it is reasonable, and not contrary at all to the spirit the books were written in to suggest that the Fremen merely
remember beating larger Sardaukar forces, in much the way Americans
remember accomplishing similarly mythical events, and that actually, numerical superiority, greater ability to sustain themselves in the field, greater operational mobility due to adaptation to desert conditions lesser supply requirements and a lesser rate of non-combat casualties caused the Fremen triumph. Which is not to argue that the Fremen weren't ferocious, and much better fighters than other non-professional forces.
Historically, no informally trained tribal peoples, even very warlike ones, have ever been the equals, much less the betters, of well trained long service professionals with high esprit d'corps. The Zulu War of 1879 well illustrates this. The Ama Zulu were the most warlike and ferocious tribal society in southern Africa. Every male was a warrior, and they trained, in theory, from a young age. Yet, Zulu accounts of that war make it very clear that man for man, they were no match for British professionals in
hand-to-hand combat which was something the Zulus specialized in, and only one of two equally important combat skills for the British. Zulus recall being almost universally defeated in one-on-one bayonet vs. spear fights, and recount that when they did win, it was almost always the result of getting a second man to take the British soldier from the rear.
By the same token, I suggest that perhaps the Fremen's environment gives them more innate talent for war than natives of Salusa Secundus, and therefore the very best and most experienced of Fremen warriors, like the Fedaykin, are better than Sardaukar, but that most Fremen are simply good enough to be able to stand against the Sardaukar without panicking and breaking, allowing them to stay in the fight long enough to win through their various operational advantages, but that that actually, warrior for warrior, the average Sardaukar would be better than the average Fremen.
As to the women and children thing, I think that is merely one more example of a continuing theme in Dune, one which does have some historical basis, that women are actually more ferocious fighters, and that, given the advantage of fighting in their own sietch, (a honeycomb of cave passages, and therefore a really great place to ambush people who didn't know the layout), they could overcome otherwise better-trained Sardaukar.
I think that Paul's boasts to the Sardaukar captain that his ordinary people were just Better was a propaganda ploy designed to raise his own force's morale and demoralize the enemy. Those Sardaukar were being flanked and surrounded, and in the scene actually shown, were outnumbered.
So, while you may prefer to say the Fremen are just Better, (neither if us can check with Herbert to "prove" our view) you might also consider the above interpretation as not being inconsistent with the Dune universe either. My interpretation has the added advantage that it allows for a more play balanced world, and therefor fits the current state of the mod.
Just a thought.
I don't think that city-nuking is really possible in the espionage code, nor would it be very balanced.
There's just no good way to model lasgun/shield interaction. About the only place it shows us is that lasgun units get a bonus vs melee, because the melee guys turn their shields off.
I defer entirely to your judgment about what is possible with the espionage code. However, I don't think that making it balanced would be hard, if you
could do it. Given the tenets of the Great Convention, everybody would be horrified if someone did something like that, and quite likely, all the Great Houses would band together to destroy them. Having all or most of the other factions declare war on you, and stay permanently at war if your spy was found out would balance things quite a bit, I think. That would come with the standard unhappiness penalty your people get for everyone thinking you are a villain, as when you defy the UN/Landsraad resolutions.
Regarding melee fighters turning off their shields: that is not what I saw happening in the books. Shield fighters used their shields. Rather, it was the lasgun troops who tried to avoid shooting at the shields, and therefore used their lasguns less, and with much more discretion, hence the whole close combat theme of war in Dune.
If I have a shield on, and some guy is pointing a lasgun at me, the obvious answer is just to rush him. He may shoot me, and die with me, and maybe both our units too, but likely he will just draw his kindjal and try to survive the encounter. So the advantage goes to the shielded troops. I would add that currently, I think the mod reflects this anyways. Melee troops are generally more effective.
A funny thought regarding ranged bombardment: the AI's inability to handle this is a realistic reflection of the Dune universe! In the Dune setting, artillery has almost entirely disappeared from the Great Houses' Orders of Battle, due to shields. Baron Harkonnen had to specially manufacture his artillery to surprise the Atreides. Therefore, most likely, artillery doctrine has been largely forgotten and most forces don't know how to use it properly. An ironic coincidence.
Anyway, carry on with the fine work gentlemen.
