Matty R
Veteran Newbie
Something I'd like to see in future games is full battles taking place. Not individual units fighting each other, but stacks attacking each other together.
I played a game called Dynasty Tactics a few years ago. It was similar to Civ combat in that a single character on the battlefield represented an officer and a large number of units. There were Archers, Cavalry, Spearmen, Pikemen etc. Each type of unit was effective against a certain type of unit. When battles took place, the screen would change from the grid layout showing the characters into a cut-scene of the units attacking each. I think something like this could make combat much more interesting and more tactical.
For example, lets take a stack of early game units attacking an early game city.
The city itself would have walls with Archers on the walls. A single Archer unit could maybe represent 3000 Archers. Inside the city could be Spearmen.
So the stack defending the city could be :
3 Archer units (9000 Archers)
3 Spearmen Units (9000 Spearmen)
So what do we need to attack the city?
We need something to deal with defending Archers, so lets say we get a couple of Archer units ourselves. Then we'll need something to deal with the Wall defences. So thats a few Catapult units. Maybe a Catapult unit could represent 10 Catapults. Then we'll need something to deal with the Spearmen.
This is something else I think could do with an overhaul. Instead of the "strength" of units being the only thing taken into account, I think Defence should also be taken into account. Spearmen carry shields, which could protect them from archers. Axemen don't have shields. So if we sent in Axemen to attack the defending Spearmen, the Archers would most likely kill many of them before they got anyway near their targets.
So how about ordering units with shields to help protect those without? The Spearmen and Axemen could move together, with the shields of the Spearmen acting as an umbrella from the defending Archers. Then when the attacking units get close to the city walls, possibly triggering the defending Spearmen to attack, the Axemen can seperate and use the superior attacking power to carve through the defending Spearmen.
So lets have a look at the attacking stack.
2 Archer units (6000 Archers)
3 Spearmen Units (9000 Spearmen)
1 Axeman Unit (3000 Axemen)
2 Catapult Units (20 Catapults)
Right then! Lets go into battle.
We tell our units to attack, and instead of seeing a unit attacking another unit, the screen changes to the battlefield.
We see the thousands of Spearmen and Axemen advancing on the city, our Catapults at the edge of the battlefield periodically lobbing rocks at the city wall with each impact accurately depicting the damage.
We see our Archers firing volleys of Arrows over our advancing melee fighters and striking defending Archers, while the defending Archers split their fire between our Archers and melee fighters.
Arrows bounce of the Spearmen's shields as the Axemen shelter underneath. Some of the fighters occasionally fall as arrows find their way through gaps in the umbrella.
Then as the melee fighters approach the city gates, the gates swing open and waves of Spearmen flood out.
The umbrella lifts and our Axemen charge forward to meet the Spearmen. Arrows continue to rain down, striking some charging Axemen.
And then we see the outcome. Maybe our Axemen defeat the defending spearmen, with whatever survivors their are surrendering.
Maybe the Spearmen were less in numbers but had more experience, defeated our Axemen and moved to attack the Spearmen.
Eventually the battle would be over. Whats left of the defenders could surrender the city and (if allowed by us) leave to join another of their cities.
Or our forces could be decimated, surrender and then be executed. Release, imprisonment or execution could depend on the leaders, possibly with some of the more spiritual leaders like Monty using our captured soldiers as sacrifices to their gods.
The ends of the battles, and using siege weapons to attack civilians in cities instead of outer walls, could change global views of us. If we indiscriminately attack innocent people in cities, we could be seen as a tyrant and get others civs temporarily working together to try to destroy us. Or we could be merciful and be seen as ambitious, leading to more peaceful leaders making extra efforts to negotiate.
Maybe leaders could have agressive and passive ratings, with passive leaders more likely to defend rather than attack. So attacking one of their cities would be more difficult as instead of sending Spearmen out, they would focus on defences. In that case, using something like battering rams could be used. The more aggressive leaders could ignore defensive units altogether and send out large numbers of attackers.
Sorry if this is really long. I got a bit carried away.
I hope someone likes it.
I played a game called Dynasty Tactics a few years ago. It was similar to Civ combat in that a single character on the battlefield represented an officer and a large number of units. There were Archers, Cavalry, Spearmen, Pikemen etc. Each type of unit was effective against a certain type of unit. When battles took place, the screen would change from the grid layout showing the characters into a cut-scene of the units attacking each. I think something like this could make combat much more interesting and more tactical.
For example, lets take a stack of early game units attacking an early game city.
The city itself would have walls with Archers on the walls. A single Archer unit could maybe represent 3000 Archers. Inside the city could be Spearmen.
So the stack defending the city could be :
3 Archer units (9000 Archers)
3 Spearmen Units (9000 Spearmen)
So what do we need to attack the city?
We need something to deal with defending Archers, so lets say we get a couple of Archer units ourselves. Then we'll need something to deal with the Wall defences. So thats a few Catapult units. Maybe a Catapult unit could represent 10 Catapults. Then we'll need something to deal with the Spearmen.
This is something else I think could do with an overhaul. Instead of the "strength" of units being the only thing taken into account, I think Defence should also be taken into account. Spearmen carry shields, which could protect them from archers. Axemen don't have shields. So if we sent in Axemen to attack the defending Spearmen, the Archers would most likely kill many of them before they got anyway near their targets.
So how about ordering units with shields to help protect those without? The Spearmen and Axemen could move together, with the shields of the Spearmen acting as an umbrella from the defending Archers. Then when the attacking units get close to the city walls, possibly triggering the defending Spearmen to attack, the Axemen can seperate and use the superior attacking power to carve through the defending Spearmen.
So lets have a look at the attacking stack.
2 Archer units (6000 Archers)
3 Spearmen Units (9000 Spearmen)
1 Axeman Unit (3000 Axemen)
2 Catapult Units (20 Catapults)
Right then! Lets go into battle.
We tell our units to attack, and instead of seeing a unit attacking another unit, the screen changes to the battlefield.
We see the thousands of Spearmen and Axemen advancing on the city, our Catapults at the edge of the battlefield periodically lobbing rocks at the city wall with each impact accurately depicting the damage.
We see our Archers firing volleys of Arrows over our advancing melee fighters and striking defending Archers, while the defending Archers split their fire between our Archers and melee fighters.
Arrows bounce of the Spearmen's shields as the Axemen shelter underneath. Some of the fighters occasionally fall as arrows find their way through gaps in the umbrella.
Then as the melee fighters approach the city gates, the gates swing open and waves of Spearmen flood out.
The umbrella lifts and our Axemen charge forward to meet the Spearmen. Arrows continue to rain down, striking some charging Axemen.
And then we see the outcome. Maybe our Axemen defeat the defending spearmen, with whatever survivors their are surrendering.
Maybe the Spearmen were less in numbers but had more experience, defeated our Axemen and moved to attack the Spearmen.
Eventually the battle would be over. Whats left of the defenders could surrender the city and (if allowed by us) leave to join another of their cities.
Or our forces could be decimated, surrender and then be executed. Release, imprisonment or execution could depend on the leaders, possibly with some of the more spiritual leaders like Monty using our captured soldiers as sacrifices to their gods.
The ends of the battles, and using siege weapons to attack civilians in cities instead of outer walls, could change global views of us. If we indiscriminately attack innocent people in cities, we could be seen as a tyrant and get others civs temporarily working together to try to destroy us. Or we could be merciful and be seen as ambitious, leading to more peaceful leaders making extra efforts to negotiate.
Maybe leaders could have agressive and passive ratings, with passive leaders more likely to defend rather than attack. So attacking one of their cities would be more difficult as instead of sending Spearmen out, they would focus on defences. In that case, using something like battering rams could be used. The more aggressive leaders could ignore defensive units altogether and send out large numbers of attackers.
Sorry if this is really long. I got a bit carried away.
I hope someone likes it.
