T
The Dark Lord
Guest
I think that with all the innovations that Civ III will add to the series they could do much more to improve the combat system. I'm sorry if anyone has already suggested this but I'm new to the forums and haven't had the time to read everything. Actually I'm a big fan of Civ I and play it since I have a computer (1994). I've played Civ II at a friend's and have SMAC but wasn't involved in the online community until a couple of days ago I stumbled upon CivFanatics while looking up something... Anyway the upcoming release of Civ III struck me real hard (as hard as it can get, I didn't even know about it being in development...)
I managed to read *some* posts which caught my attention. Ideas and sugestions of all sorts like artillery range, planes being able to fly over enemy positions and subs going under enemy ships, retreating from combat (like in AC) and a big deal of other stuff. Anyway, with the inclusion of armies and all that s*** I was thinking of the inclusion of backup forces when units are already engaged, adding the attack rating of the backup force to the defence/attack rating of the defender/attacker...
Now here's a simple way to calculate the possibility of arrival of backup forces. First and most of all backup has to be able to get there (in the cell of the defender) in the same turn. Secondly the backup force has to be faster than the troops already involved in combat. It wouldn't make sense for infantry to join up in an air-to-air combat, would it? The "speed" of the unit equals its movement rate, so a bomber would have a speed of eight (8) as that's the exact number of squares it can move in a turn. In order to join in a unit's speed rating has to be two times bigger than the overall speed of the battle (the comulative speed of all units divided by the number of units taking part in the battle). So two combatting armies each composed of two Rifleman (or other infantry that have a movement rate of one) units have a speed of one ( 4*1 / 4 = 1 ) and an armored division of yours (or a foreign one) within range can join in if the respective "good guys" start losing...
It's pretty simple. If you have a group of two Phalanx (2/1/1) (please excuse me, I'm using the Civ I values) being attacked by three Legions (3/1/1) the odds are pretty much against you - 9:6 (assuming the Phalanx are fortified). But you can throw in a Chariot if you start losing pretty badly (after your troops have taken substantial casualties). The chariot is fast enough (2) to join in and its attack rating (4) is added to the Phalanxes' defence rating... This kinda turns the tables, doesn't it?
And now some exceptions for artillery and bombers. Since artillery units don't need to be mobile to fight, Catapults, Cannons, Howtizers and Battleships don't need to have a greater speed than the overall speed of the battle, they just need to be in bombardment range. BUT in the earlier parts of the game (even in the beginning of the 1900's) before more soffisticated artillery guns were employed and before "Smart" Bombs were invented there will be a 50% chance that a Bomber joining in or an Artillery laying a barrage will damage your own troops too. When GPSs are invented and when your airforce doesn't employ "carpet bombing" the chance of self damage is reduced to a meer 5-10% only due to unforseen wind changes, quickly shifting positions during combat and misinformation (which doesn't happen too often in the computer age).
Also, another feature that can be added is the covering of retreating forces. Picture this: your best infantry divisions are engaged with enemy armour. They cannot retreat and will surely be crushed even if you send all troops you've got nerby (that means there's a lot of enemy armour). If you can provide some backup to slow the enemy chasing the infantry you've got it made! Of course sending a single armored division to slow the hordes of enemy tanks down isn't wise as you will sacrifice it for the infantry's sake and with that much armour on your back you'll surely be needing all tanks you can get. You can try and cover their retreat with an artillery barrage or a bombing run or with units that would not get directly involved in the battle - units such as aircraft, artillery guns and ships. Of course this action will not always be succesful (30-50% chance) and furthermore: it WON'T destroy the enemy units. All it will do is to slow them down and inflict light damage so that your units can retreat and regroup and, possibly, occupy a better location where the odds are a bit more even.
Please excuse me if any of these things have been said and please reply and tell me your opinions.
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The Dark Lord has spoken
I managed to read *some* posts which caught my attention. Ideas and sugestions of all sorts like artillery range, planes being able to fly over enemy positions and subs going under enemy ships, retreating from combat (like in AC) and a big deal of other stuff. Anyway, with the inclusion of armies and all that s*** I was thinking of the inclusion of backup forces when units are already engaged, adding the attack rating of the backup force to the defence/attack rating of the defender/attacker...
Now here's a simple way to calculate the possibility of arrival of backup forces. First and most of all backup has to be able to get there (in the cell of the defender) in the same turn. Secondly the backup force has to be faster than the troops already involved in combat. It wouldn't make sense for infantry to join up in an air-to-air combat, would it? The "speed" of the unit equals its movement rate, so a bomber would have a speed of eight (8) as that's the exact number of squares it can move in a turn. In order to join in a unit's speed rating has to be two times bigger than the overall speed of the battle (the comulative speed of all units divided by the number of units taking part in the battle). So two combatting armies each composed of two Rifleman (or other infantry that have a movement rate of one) units have a speed of one ( 4*1 / 4 = 1 ) and an armored division of yours (or a foreign one) within range can join in if the respective "good guys" start losing...
It's pretty simple. If you have a group of two Phalanx (2/1/1) (please excuse me, I'm using the Civ I values) being attacked by three Legions (3/1/1) the odds are pretty much against you - 9:6 (assuming the Phalanx are fortified). But you can throw in a Chariot if you start losing pretty badly (after your troops have taken substantial casualties). The chariot is fast enough (2) to join in and its attack rating (4) is added to the Phalanxes' defence rating... This kinda turns the tables, doesn't it?
And now some exceptions for artillery and bombers. Since artillery units don't need to be mobile to fight, Catapults, Cannons, Howtizers and Battleships don't need to have a greater speed than the overall speed of the battle, they just need to be in bombardment range. BUT in the earlier parts of the game (even in the beginning of the 1900's) before more soffisticated artillery guns were employed and before "Smart" Bombs were invented there will be a 50% chance that a Bomber joining in or an Artillery laying a barrage will damage your own troops too. When GPSs are invented and when your airforce doesn't employ "carpet bombing" the chance of self damage is reduced to a meer 5-10% only due to unforseen wind changes, quickly shifting positions during combat and misinformation (which doesn't happen too often in the computer age).
Also, another feature that can be added is the covering of retreating forces. Picture this: your best infantry divisions are engaged with enemy armour. They cannot retreat and will surely be crushed even if you send all troops you've got nerby (that means there's a lot of enemy armour). If you can provide some backup to slow the enemy chasing the infantry you've got it made! Of course sending a single armored division to slow the hordes of enemy tanks down isn't wise as you will sacrifice it for the infantry's sake and with that much armour on your back you'll surely be needing all tanks you can get. You can try and cover their retreat with an artillery barrage or a bombing run or with units that would not get directly involved in the battle - units such as aircraft, artillery guns and ships. Of course this action will not always be succesful (30-50% chance) and furthermore: it WON'T destroy the enemy units. All it will do is to slow them down and inflict light damage so that your units can retreat and regroup and, possibly, occupy a better location where the odds are a bit more even.
Please excuse me if any of these things have been said and please reply and tell me your opinions.
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The Dark Lord has spoken
