Alternate commando effect

[King Flevance]

Selective targeting does sound like a good idea. At least then it would be worth saving up for.

 

[Yeekim]

I thought a bit about this, and I think that it would be the best, if Commando was available only for units with GG attached, Marines and Paratroopers. CIII seems about the right prerequisite then.
Also, Paratroopers should be able to attack on the same turn they perform Paradrop, with or without Commando. Right now they are the next thing I find nearly useless...

 

[Balderstrom]

Sure sounds good...until the AI takes out your level 14 Great General thats slightly wounded

That'd be enough to make me KVETCH for HOURS!

 

[King Flevance]

After having tried a game of this each way, I have to agree with you Balder.

Combat-I seems a little lowball for commando though, I could possibly see Combat II, or even if there was a way to say a promotion was available to any unit of X-experience(level). So any level 3/4 unit.

I think it really gives agressive a strong edge as I said before having to be able to get commando from 5 xp. But it also forces you to specialize your early experience on the feature. As anyone can get 10xp off just simply killing barbs. But the real killer for combat 1 for me was commando on cavalry. They can pillage SO much! And having the requirment only sitting at combat 1 just made cavalry armies too fast - too easy. (C2 makes you decide on unit creation, would you rather have Flanking 1&2, or be ready for commando. This does give cavalry a new edge though that I feel they were lacking before. I also like being able to have commando muskets and commando crossbows.

 

[TheDS]

By requiring units with C4, you can be sure a Commando IS powerful. The AI doesn't produce very many highly promoted units.

OTOH, seeing as how a commando is supposed to be able to live off the land and infiltrate and eliminate at need, I think the use of enemy roads should be included with Combat 5, which allows extra healing in enemy territory.

Commando as it is should be available after Sentry. This will give you mobility and spotting ability WITHOUT making the units combat-monsters. The last thing this game needs is to be able to make anything into a highly mobile combat monster - that's the job of the Modern Armor.

 

[King Flevance]

Well, I wouldn't say commando cavalry is a combat monster. They just have really good mobility in a war. To me, commando represents advanced logistical training. That's why I had it unlock at compass. If you don't understand how a compass works your logistics suck real bad.
I wanted to bring it in earlier and easier to unlock because it honestly is one of the few promotions in the game that do not help your unit stay alive in some way. It helps them rush off to either glory or death faster. But the promotion helps them in no way doing this. Not even in mobility really as the enemy will be able to move just as fast as you can if you are getting the mobility out of it. (In their turf) If you put commando in a unit, he should be on the front lines at all times. Because otherwise, you just wasted experience.

Your idea of having C4 automatically grant commando is interesting. I have already noticed I am now going to have to figure out how the AI values and assigns its promotions. Having it be automatic may help the AI utilize this. Next time I am toying with this, I am gonna try out C4 unlocking commando or maybe have C4 work as C5 does now and then having C5 unlock commando.

 

[Virtual Alex]

I am very interested in a mod that make this promo useful.

I kinda like it coming after sentry since sentry is a dead end promo anyway. It would make a pretty unique tactical units who could withdraw from combat, see far, and scout enemy territory.

However making it come after C1 or C2 puts it within reach of a regular game, and actually makes it feasible to have a stack of all commandos who could do some serious damage.

I am currently making notes for a mod I want to make, so I am paying close attention to how you make this happen.

 

[King Flevance]

The downside to having commando so early is the AI so far. I DO see them use it, but I can't find ryhme or reason to it. Another issue I am considering is that opening commando so early, means it probably isn't a good idea to road/rail everything.(which the computer currently does.) And I can imagine this will be some stuff that will take me a while to figure out a way I like. I am also looking to find a way to add a new action "Pillage road" beside "Pillage Improvement" when a unit can pillage.

 

[LateGameWarMong]

I say get rid of the commando promotion, and add the benefit to Blitz.

Then your tanks can really get a lightning war going...

 

[Virtual Alex]

Sounds like tanks that powerful might break the game after the modern era.

 

[Dearmad]

For me it worked to simply drop commando to requiring combat2 promotion first.

 

[LateGameWarMong]

Sounds like tanks that powerful might break the game after the modern era.

Maybe add the ability to cut your own rail lines?

Once you get that DOW, you better cut off the lines to your city.
It would also encourage people not to use the worker automation (which spams railroads), and only build a few rail lines, with roads branching off.
Or the interior cities of your empire have extensive rail networks, while border cities have only roads and a single rail line to the interior.

The road and rail network would need much more thought put into it if commando was more common.

Maybe you could make it more common, but nerf the effect by 50% - so you get a road and rail bonus, but not as much as the defender.

-or- make the bonus equal only to the road bonus - assume the (invisible but assumed to be there) locomotives cannot be used by enemy units (ie they flee and cant be commandered).

There are a lot of options for commando- right now it sucks- if it was on a 4+ movement unit, it would be good for running ahead, cutting a rail line before the attack, and running back to the attack stack - ie what gunships are somewhat effective at doing.

 

[Eclipse-X010]

Perhaps there should be a commando level I and level II,

Descriptions:

Level I:

Allows use of enemy roads, requires combat level II

Level II: Can use enemy roads and railroads, negates the culture bonus enemy units get when defending in cities (a commando does more then just move on enemy roads), requires combat level IV and commando level I

spies get commando level I but not level II

railroads will act as regular roads for commando level I

 

[NeverSurrender]

Someone on page 1 said it right. It is quite possible to churn out commando units every turn in your military city. Agg civ (+cha helps) west point, barracks, vass/theo/gg's = each turn 1 marine with 4 stars & commando. Enjoy

p.s. Boudica makes the best units overall, not only is cha/agg the best way to get commandos, you get gallic warriors with guerrilla 3 and then some, for the game.

 

[LL_LordOmega]

Hi, long time lurker, first time poster. Anyway, commando is extremely game breaking. That's why its so hard to get. In one of my emperor games with Cyrus, I was pumping out 39 exp units out of the gate. Thats commando, all combat upgrades, and a drill. By that time, I was the first to modern armor. Needless to say, I had domination victory soon after. Anyway, I would personally find early commando units annoying. And, like most things in this game, I'm sure the human player would abuse it, and the AI wouldn't know how to use it properly.

In case you're wondering how I get so many great generals...I build the great wall, settle my second city on a hill as close as possible to my craziest neighbor and engage in war that last thousands of years. Its fun, try it sometime.

Here's a pic btw, notice how lucky I was to be on a giant continent. The only time I went across the ocean was to burn Mansa's culture cities, lol. He was seriously one turn away from winning when I burned Timbuktu.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

That just proves commando all the more impractical. That continent could have been swept with 5 XP cavalry or cannons ages ago.

Commando is not great vs the AI, but potentially strong if you can do a magic city razing run on someone. Balancing it isn't easy though...if you could get it en-masse', you could break AIs to pieces in 1-5 turns of war consistently, however if you can't its worth is almost nil.

 

[Trev]

Commando is good as it is, when railroads are built everywhere, I send in my strongest unit with commando and pick off isolated defenders, workers etc, maybe pillage a resource and return to my territory before the 10 moves are up. If it was made more available or more powerful it would be far to powerful in effect if used properly.

 

[ICNP]

Commando is good as it is, when railroads are built everywhere, I send in my strongest unit with commando and pick off isolated defenders, workers etc, maybe pillage a resource and return to my territory before the 10 moves are up. If it was made more available or more powerful it would be far to powerful in effect if used properly.

The Germans of Rhye's (real world scenario) have the Panzer get commando rather than the normal bonus against armor. Needless to say, the Russians were much displeased.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

The Germans of Rhye's (real world scenario) have the Panzer get commando rather than the normal bonus against armor. Needless to say, the Russians were much displeased.

My my, a version of the panzer that's actually good, the horror .

 

[Axios]

I played as the Agg/Charismatic Celtic chick and after some serious early and mid game warring amassed enough GG to pump out Commando Rifles. They laid waste to the rest of my opponents. The extra speed is incredibly devastating as it lets you quickly move from the front lines to the next level of cities.

I'll try your strategy. Seems good.