JustinianVII
Prince
With the bronze/iron argument on Macemen, either metal might work because of the sheer blunt force trauma caused by whacking somebody with a large, heavy metal clubhead.
The maces in Civ4 (also called chain-maces) appear to have a ball at least six inches in diameter dangling from a handle about two feet long. Now an iron ball of that size would weigh about 29 pounds; could you hold such a ponderous weight hanging from such a handle held horizontal ? And could you swing it around in combat ? If you could, but missed, how many times would you spin round before regaining control ?
Metric equivalents for non-Americans: 15cm diam, 13.2Kg, 60cm handle.
...
Secondary, required resources are "funny". Crossbowmen need iron (why???), while macemen need either iron or copper.
Macemen are stronger than crossbowmen, so they should have more building limitations than the others; they wear iron armors and use iron maces. Besides, Crossbowmen could also be built with copper only; they don't seem to wear iron armors, and their weapons are made with wood (and maybe a little amount of metal).
I swap their requirements, enabling crossbowmen with either iron or copper, and macemen with iron only.
These two little changes would drastically change the middle ages game. Crossbowmen would be easier to build, and would be enabled by a completely different tech path than macemen. In addition, macemen would pay their superior strength with an higher resource requirement.
I also have a question about macemen.
If you put a good maceman (ball and chain guy) against a good sword like maximus Decimus Meridius (Gladiator, haha) the guy with the sword would win more often because of the agility.
Since CIII Conquests, I have though that the maceman should come and then the swordsman should be next in line.
Thing to not overlook is that Civ graphics resemble individual combat, but the game represents battalions of soldiers. A mass of macemen meeting a mass of swordsmen is going to favor the macemen.
The morning star mace is not as large as it is portrayed and it makes no difference if it is bronze or iron. What matters is that on the end of the chain, the momentum of the weighted end is so great that the force of the impact will do serious injury against any armor or helmet that a man can wear. While despite what you see in movies and tv and read in fantasy books, a sword will not cut through metal armor ( or most non metal armors ) when swung with human strength.
As far as needing bureaucracy, that's about organization. The mace is a difficult weapon to learn and training masses of men to use them is a major undertaking.
Also, most ancient crossbows had bows made of wood. Iron was not necessary, and the earlier times did not have the ability to make spring grade steel. I forget when spring grade bronze was available, but there is bronze that is better than steel for springs.
Oh, I know how I *can* change it I just meant that I'm not sure simply removing that pre-requisite is the most appropriate and still balanced solution to the "problem".
A noble fighting unhorsed was unconceivable.