How about an "escort" action to protect non-military units

[akjone02]

Ever wanted to send a trade unit through hostile territory and you *gasp!* DIDN'T take the ultrasonic fence upgrade? Tired of sending your courageous merchants off unsupported to their certain doom?

How about auto-moving a colonist and a soldier to a new city location, only for some reason you notice that your military unit and your settlers started taking separate routes. They probably just succumbed to the obvious attraction, had a passionate encounter, then the inevitable breakup drove them apart... but now your precious colonist unit is going to get eaten by 4 ton of angry alien wolf beetle.

What about the marines you had guarding that worker... the ones who dozed off while the mine was being built and neglected to follow the construction crews as they moved on to the next job? Oh, would you look at that? It's 2 stacks of raptoOHGODMYBEAUTIFLEFACEITSEATINGM......

Please... can we get an "escort" or similar unit action for military units? Let them stack up with vulnerable civvy units like settlers and workers so that we don't need to micro-manage every movement. Further... let them stack up with a trade unit to defend against route pillaging by aliens or enemies.

This request brought to you by the family and friends of the units we have lost...

 

[AriochIV]

It wouldn't work. Trade units ignore terrain and can move through other units and foreign cities. There's no military unit in the game that could stay stacked with a trade unit.

If you choose not to take the ultrasonic fence upgrade for trade units, you're choosing to randomly lose some of them to aliens. That's the opportunity cost of getting a 3-hex ultrasonic fence.

 

[KingCraig]

It could work for workers and colonists, who do have the same movement points.

And extra points for making me smile. It is a game, after all, and we're supposed to be having some fun with it!

 

[AriochIV]

It could work for workers and colonists, who do have the same movement points.

Yes, but is it really that much trouble to manage military units who are guarding workers or colonists that it requires new automation?

Put another way -- is this really at the top of your list of things you'd like the developers to fix or add automation for? You wouldn't rather have, say... automation for Trade Route renewal?

 

[cazaderonus]

Often thought of such a thing but yeah... Really not a must have compared to other possible enhancements.

ALso, i enjoyed placing military units strategically in BE's early turns to ZOC aliens out from my commercial route paths. Makes for an interesting thing to do.

 

[Mustakrakish]

I still think the best solution to this is to abandon the whole trade "UNIT" thing. They need NOT be an actual unit. The trade route is a constant GPT, having a semi physical unit run back and forth 2 hex per turn is just weird. WEIRD I say! And annoying. Just leave the actual physical route (the path indicated by arrows), that could be interrupted by hostile units when they end their turn on the path, leeching the GPT as long as they remain there.

Anyone? Anyone? Huh? Come on!!!

EDIT: If someone manages to mod that, I will parse the crap out of them.

 

[KingCraig]

Often thought of such a thing but yeah... Really not a must have compared to other possible enhancements.

Agreed.

I still think the best solution to this is to abandon the whole trade "UNIT" thing. They need NOT be an actual unit. The trade route is a constant GPT, having a semi physical unit run back and forth 2 hex per turn is just weird. WEIRD I say! And annoying. Just leave the actual physical route (the path indicated by arrows), that could be interrupted by hostile units when they end their turn on the path, leeching the GPT as long as they remain there.

Also agreed. We already have the Trade Routes screen. It would be better to have a start/stop button on each possible trade route there, and no icons moving around. There are other ways to threaten / interrupt / siphon / protect trade routes - maybe more like how naval blockades work now. It would also reduce micromanagement if the trades continue until stopped.

 

[forty2j]

I've been wanting a way to pair a military unit with a non-combatant since Civ V vanilla.

Agree with others above that trading is a completely different issue and requires another solution. Personally in this game I can't see ever picking an option other than "Reverse Polarity".

 

[akjone02]

A removal of the caravans as a unit might work. Personally I enjoy seeing the trade units moving around the map, but it would be easy enough to modify the current trade arrows to make them LOOK like trade units moving around the map. Anyone play Medieval II Total War? I loved the way your roads would look filled and busy when your trade got cranking.

As a slightly different take on it... what about an "armed caravan" type unit that has an actual defense value?

And I'd still love to see it for the non-trade units. There are certainly other improvements I'd like to see more, but, as forty2j said, we've been waiting on something like this since vanilla V.

And extra points for making me smile. It is a game, after all, and we're supposed to be having some fun with it!

 

[joncnunn]

Moderator Action: Moved to Ideas & Suggestions

 

[JosEPh_II]

Yes, but is it really that much trouble to manage military units who are guarding workers or colonists that it requires new automation?

Put another way -- is this really at the top of your list of things you'd like the developers to fix or add automation for? You wouldn't rather have, say... automation for Trade Route renewal?

Yes, escort or guard capabilities far outweighs Automated trade routes renewal. A simple popup msg that trade route X has expired would eliminate most of the trade route complaints. This is after all still supposed to be a 4X game not a sim, and some management is required.

JosEPh

 

[Pheylan]

I think they should remove the US Fence quest reward and replace it with a unit upgrade that provides the physical unit with strength so it would have to be attacked and fought rather than just disappearing when a hostile unit steps on it.