tyrantpimp said:
The fort as a unit, that is an interesting idea. Give it a high maintenance cost etc. A list of reasonable promotions. Towers etc. The higher its level the more it costs to maintain. Interesting idea, i like it.
Hmm.
Forts are interesting.
I think this modeling is best. It is complex and would require much SDK work, but I feel that it simulates sieges very accurately.
Treat forts as units. Buildable in cities would be the non-combat "architect". These cost 100 shields and have the "build fort" ability (in anyone's (or no one's) territory) which destroys them.
These forts are immobile. (duh)
Forts are also nearly useless all by themselves, because they start out with strength 0 and always automatically defend the tile (note a fort's defensive capacity starts as 1).
But forts with units in (on) them act like civ3 armies. Whenever a fort is attacked, the strongest 2 (this number is the defensive capacity of a fort, and it changes through various things) of them have their base strength added to the base fort's strength for the battle. If the fort wins the battle then any received damage is divided among the two strong units. The experience is divided among the two defenders. If the fort loses the battle then the two strong units are reduced to 10% hp, the fort's hp is reduced by 1/2, and the defensive capacity of the fort is reduced by 1. The defensive capacity is the number of strong units whose strength is added to its for defense. If the defensive capacity would be reduced to 0, instead the fort itself is destroyed.
Each fort costs one maintenance a turn for each unit in a fort, with double maintenance being paid for each unit above the defensive capacity.
So how does defensive capacity increase?
Various technologies allow your forts to be upgraded. These upgrade can only be done by building another architect and bringing him to the fort. The various upgrades include--
+1 defensive capacity
+1 base fort strength (for forts with small garrison that want to be effective anyways)
+1 level. Yes, forts level up not through combat, but through architects. The available promotions are combat I-V, shock I, cover I, drill I-IV, and sentry I-III.
Technological progression of forts:
Architects allowed with Construction: Basic fort-0 strength, 1 defensive capacity, max level 1
Military strategy: Level max +1
Engineering: Max capacity +1, max base strength +1
Blasting powder: max base strength +2
Machinery: Max capacity +1
Metal casting: Level max +2
Notes--Building a fort and every subsequent upgrade removes the improvement/forest in a square, but in the meantime the square can be reimproved without harming the fort.
--Siege weapons get +100% withdrawal, +100% strength, and +100% collateral damage when attacking forts. This means that they can bombard with impunity and damage the units in it moderately. Otherwise forts would be too hard to take.
--A fort's base strength will heal as though it were a normal unit. The only way to restore a reduced defensive capacity is an engineer however.
--Totally undefended forts are captured, not destroyed.
So how will sieges of forts function?
Example scenario:
My basic fort is defended by 2 warriors, against 4 warriors.
First warrior attacks, loses to terrain advantage.
Next warrior attacks, same thing.
Now both defenders are injured.
3rd warrior attacks, wins the battle. Instead of killing the defender, the fort is destroyed, and the defender is hurt.
4th warrior attacks, killing the other injured warrior.
So instead of both defenders dying, only one does.
But higher level forts really swing the tide of the battle:
8 axemen attacking a 2 capacity, level 1, strength 1 fort, defended by 4 axemen.
First axeman attacks, loses horribly (4 vs 9). 2 defenders injured slightly
Second axeman attacks, loses (4 vs 9). other 2 defenders injured slightly
Third axeman attacks, loses (4 vs ~7). 2 defenders injured
Fourth axeman attacks, loses same way
Fifth axeman attacks, loses (4 vs ~5). 2 defenders injured
Sixth axeman attacks, loses same way.
Seventh axeman attacks, wins (4 vs ~4). 2 defenders nearly killed, fort strength reduced to .5, fort capacity reduced to 1.
Eight axeman attacks, wins (4 vs ~2). 1 defender nearly killed, fort destroyed.
So this fairly low level fort helped half as many units defend without dying, although they all were injured. This also shows the necessity of mass assaults on forts before the units (and fort) have a chance to heal.
This would not be too hard to teach the ai to use IMO, just code when to build forts (easy), how much to garrison in them (easy), and how to attack them (mass assault, not too hard)
Okay, so now I've explained how these forts accurately show sieges, but how do they protect the countryside without a ZoC?
1. Terrain improvements can be built "on" forts, allowing them to protect them during times of war.
2. Attacking a neighboring stack and then retreating into a well defended fortress is a way of attacking with impunity.
3. Mages in fortress can attack nearby units with spells, or even defend a fortress entirely alone through summons. Summoning a skeleton to defend the fortress and then fireballing nearby enemies is very safe and deadly.
3. Two strong forts can between them create a bottleneck where enemies can be attacked at will. Or you can just make giant (and expensive) walls of forts around your border with an enemy.
4. Forts can now be offensive weapons. Bring 10 architects with a small invasion force and set them up outside of their capital. Theyll have to besiege you to get you out of their lands.
*out of energy now*
