Bombard, Collateral Damage, and Magic

[rocklikeafool]

Catapult/mage balance is fine. Catapults come earlier, don't need to wait for 10xp and are effective at what they do with their high retreat chance and high fortification reduction, they just move slow (which is realistic.)

That I certainly agree with. I, unlike some others, still use catapults. Granted, I only attach two per army (my armies are usually like 20 units each and I tend to have 3; small but elite is my tactic), but I still find it useful sometimes. Plus, seige weapons only get better with cannons. And now with the battering ram for Khazad, it's even better. I jus wish there was more diversity in seige weapons.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Catapults don't really seem earlier to me. Of course, I tend to play advanced start games and try to get KoTE and build a Mage Guild Before the game even starts, so I can build the Catacomb very quickly. I also tend to try to get Writing and Education and buy Libraries (and so quickly build the Great Library) and Elder Councils so my research starts high. Construction isn't often high on my list of priorities.


Catapults aren't the only siege units though. Do you find Cannons particularly useful compared to the units at their tech level?


Logically, high withdrawal makes no sense for siege units. These are slow units may require time to assemble/disassemble, and so should have the lowest withdrawal. The only explanation for their withdrawal is to mimic ranged attacks. I think that using Air Combat models this much better. I'm also thinking that Bombing would work better than Bombarding.

 

[Uberslacker]

What if ranged siege weapons got a 100% chance of withdrawal when attacking?

Then when bombarding, a chance for one of these to occur:

1) An X% chance of destroying walls and pallisades and such outright when bombarding instead merely nerfing the city defense.
OR
2) An X% chance of happycap dropping by one after a bombard attack. Would last for a few turns and could stack.
OR
3) An X% chance of sickness increasing by one after a bombard attack. Would last for a few turns and could stack.

To replace the promotions that boost retreat chance, create a new one that buffs the chance for a bombard critical.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

There combat limits basically practically do give them a 100%.

I still don't think they should actually have a withdrawal chance.


If you use Bombing instead of Bombarding, I believe there already is a chance to destroy buildings.

I think it would be much too hard to try to make it decrease health or happiness, but using Bombing would mean that you could destroy buildings that had provided these bonuses.

 

[uberfish]

Basically the withdrawal is a better mechanic for representing siege attacks. The attacked units always have a chance to raid the enemy camp and destroy or damage the offending siege weapons. Air bombardment is not a good mechanic to use for this as it implies that you need specialized equipment to attack the bombarding unit.

Yeah I know spell casters don't get counterattacked but it is implied that they cast one powerful spell and then retreat, whereas artillery would need to sustain bombardment for a while to do significant damage.