A morale/ideology system for military units

[Suspiria]

A Morale/Ideology system

If you ever look back at the wars throughout history you can see how certain governments with their different ideologies motivated their soldiers and their nations to fight wars in defense or invasion.

For example Russia during WW2 - Communism gave the troops an ideology to defeat the nazis. In fact communist governments with their unique propaganda and rhetoric usually give some sort of ideology to their troops to fight to the death for our cause no matter what. It may be a different case for different nations over different times, but im just using a general example.

So i was thinking how about certain civics/buildings/situations giving a certain ideology bonus to the unit - meaning they perhaps fight harder and more dirtier, which perhaps give them some sort of small strength bonus overall. So for example say you had the Police State civic enabled, perhaps this civic would automatically give all of your units a +10 strength Ideology bonus in combat?

Apart from ideology another important bonus should be a morale system for a military unit. Good morale of a unit would give them a small strength bonus, whereas low morale would weaken them somewhat. This could work in the same way as an ideology bonus, being effected by certain civics/buildings/governments/situations etc.

For both systems let me list examples -

IDEOLOGY BONUS

+10 strength or something similar, could be applied to all your military units depending on (or a combination of factors)

If you have a certain type of civic/religion selected
If you enter into war against a hated civ
If you enter into war against a civ with a rival religion/ideology/civic

-10 strength penalty

If you have a certain type of civic/religion selected
If you enter into war against a friendly/neutral civ (modern times only)
If you enter into war against a considerably weaker civ (modern times only)
If you enter into war against civ with same religion/civic (modern times only)


MORALE BONUS

+10 strength or something similar, could be applied to all your military units depending on (or a combination of factors)

If you have a certain type of civic/religion selected
If you have built a certain type of building or wonder
If you posses certain special resources (for eg, wine could give your soldiers in ancient times a morale bonus)
If there is a large percentage of happiness in all of your cities
If your nation has had more than 3-4 victories in a row
If your nation takes a rival city
If your nation defeats a rival civ


-10 strength penalty

If your nation has had more than 3-4 defeats in a row
If an enemy nation takes one of your cities
If an enemy nation defeats one of your friendly neighbour's/ally's
If there is a large percentage of unhappiness in all of your cities

Let me just say i think these ideology/morale bonuses should apply to all of your units the moment they are selected/triggered. The moment that they are unselected/or that the event stops, is when the bonus/penalty ceases to effect your unit. I also think with an action of war should trigger happiness/unhappiness in cities (pretty much how it does it now in civ4 to a lesser degree.)

What do you think? Kind of gives a realistic motivation for your soldiers and nation to enter into combat and likewise give them some kind of strength bonus/penalty for the situations they are in.

 

[Mewtarthio]

Ten strength seems a bit much. Anyway, I've proposed several times that Civ should give the people themselves more opinions: Go to war with a nation the people like, and you suffer unhappiness. Trade with a nation that eats babies, kills the popular guys, and is morally opposed to you in every way results in unhappiness. The concept of "morale" is probably too complex to implement (for instance, if you start losing cities, do your soldiers get disheartened, or do they acquire a thirst for vengeance?), but something affecting the happiness and productivity of your citizens (and, as a result, the effeciency of your war machine) could be simpler.

 

[Suspiria]

I agree ten strength is probably a little bit too much. Maybe 5% or a small accumulative bonus of 2% that can be multiplied by several factors. Not a Huge difference but a realistic one overall.

And i dont think morale is too complex. it can be a simple, fun, and realistic way of combat. "If you start losing cities, do your soldiers get disheartened, or do they acquire a thirst for vengeance?" I would say they would get disheartened. But overall i dont think it would be a too complex system.

 

[Khan Quest]

Sorry it doesn't make sense to me.

A civ is communist or fascist may ispire troops, but so would countering that idealology. The US didn't go to war with Germany because they didn't like German's they did it because they abhored Nazism. US "capitilast" troops are among the highest motivated troops in the world.

In game terms, if a civ hates you wouldn't you equally hate it, and both get bonuses?

Morale should always start out high and change dynamically with respect to the outcome of battles.

 

[Suspiria]

Sorry it doesn't make sense to me.

It makes plenty of sense.

In game terms, if a civ hates you wouldn't you equally hate it, and both get bonuses?

There be an easy rule system in place to it all...You would need religious buildings, wonders, or civics to enable it. And yes both nations could have an ideology, but there would also be nations without the bonus. I could also imagine a few different cumulative bonuses with both Morale/ideology so not every civs army would have the same bonuses. So it wouldnt necessarily cancel itself out as you are referring to.

 

[Talkie_Toaster]

I think this is already in the civ 4.5 mod