I have always wished for the game to allow a ranged unit to stack with a melee unit. If attacked, the ranged unit would get a shot before the melee unit is hit. If the melee unit is destroyed, the ranged unit dies too. When they attack, the ranged unit would hit first, then the melee unit.
Actually, using the same mechanism they used with the Zulu Impi in Civ V, there are a number of units that should have a 'Ranged Attack Before Melee" capability.
Short List:
Roman Legion - throwing Pilum before closing
Any unit with firearms and bayonets - you fire a volley, you charge: the standard British tactic throughout the 18th Century, and could alleviate some of the problems now with rifle-armed modern Infantry that cannot now cannot even reply to Slingers..
Cavalry - once they had carbines, 19th century Mounted always had the option of dismounting and firing, remounting and charging - although only the US Cavalry did it on a regular basis.
any
Tank - the fear they inspire is from being crushed beneath the tracks, but the damage they do comes from the cannon and machine-guns they carry
Caravel - there's a reason they carried cannon, just as with the example below.
Frigate (and, if we ever get it back, the
Ship-of-the-Line) They could board you with their marines, but first they invariably blew your sails and masts and gun crews to bits with cannon fire.
With this kind of additional capability, the current Support (frequently Ranged/Seige) Unit stacking with a Melee unit could be kept, but the historical multiple threat from some of the individual units, especially the ones with firearms, could be added.
Incidentally, the 'Musketman' specifically would NOT get a Ranged/Melee combined capability. In fact, they should really be RangedSupport units only, because the matchlock musket generally did not use a bayonet and weighed up to 8 kg - a clumsy club, with which no one voluntarily went into melee. Make them officially Support units, allow them to stack with a Pike unit, and you instantly recreate the Late Renaissance's standard infantry Tercio/Battaion/Brigade used all over Europe from the late 16th to the beginning of the 18th century.
Then, at the very beginning of the Industrial or end of the Renaissance Era, add the
Fusilier - the infantry carrying a flintlock musket - as a Ranged Attack Before Melee Melee unit, to which BOTH Musketmen and Pikemen can be Promoted: with the fixed socket bayonet and dense 2 - 4 rank formations, they have the anti-mounted capability (almost!) of the Pikes but very increased firepower compared to the matchlock, and they can effectively engage in melee combat. They were THE standard infantry of the entire 18th century (7 Year's War, American Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, just for a few Minor Events) and first 1/3 of the 19th century.
