Macromilitary Modpack Concept
The purpose of my mod-pack will be to move the game to a different level of management. I want to manage armies more than units. The mod-pack is still under design and play-test, but I wanted to share the ideas I am working on in case anyone else wants to pick up on them, and to solicit any suggestions anyone might have to help me get where I am going. Sorry this is so long.
One of the underlying questions that has bothered me throughout playing civilization is whether I am dealing with a unit or an army. Generally speaking, they play like units, since they can be easily wiped out in defeat. Civ III has teased us by introducing the concept of an Army, but unfortunately, the concept was not well-integrated into the game design.
My goal is to eliminate the feasibility of routinely stacking 20 or more units into an attack, and then having to sit and watch while all of those units move. My theory is that this gives an unfair advantage to the AI because moving all of the units doesnt fatigue the AI, while I, the human player, get fatigued and bored and lose interest in the game.
I am working to integrate units and armies, and placing a ceiling on the number of units that a player can manage affordably. The player will have the choice of creating units quickly at minimal cost that can help defend cities or perform special missions, but each of these units will count against your overall unit total. Armies will be more costly, but will have much more firepower.
The changes I propose:
1) Amend the unit allowances and costs per unit for each type of government. I am currently testing 3 to 4 free units per city for all governments, with an add-on cost for excess units of 2 gold per unit for despotism, 3 for monarchy and communism, and 4 for republic and democracy. Note that settlers, workers and ships are counted as units. So a republic with 20 cities would be able to generate 60 to 80 units for free, and then start paying 4 gold per turn for each additional unit/army.
2) Units can be purchased cheaply (10 shields for all ancient units, 20 for all middle age, 30-40 for industrial, and 50-60 for modern). I am keeping all of the base units in the game that previously existed. The idea is that a unit can be produced in one or two turns, and thus be quickly assigned to assist in the defense of a city or sent on a special mission to slow down an approaching army.
3) Armies can be created to represent each particular type of warfare. Each army cost approximately 2 to 4 times as much as a unit, and 1 population point. When the army becomes obsolete or is not needed, it can rejoin the city. My armies include the following. Two notes: I have done away with a unit called the Infantry (infantry is now distinguished by the types of weapons they have) and archers, bowmen, and armor all now have a bombard value. All values are all tentative and subject to change.
Army Name Comment Off/Def/Mv Bombard Pwr/Rg/Rof
Warrior Band Basic fighting with stones 3/3/1 none
Phalanx Hoplite type, primarily defensive unit 4/7/1 none
Spears & Arrows Spearmen and Archers 7/7/1 2/1/1
Mounted Warriors Anyone can fight better with horses 6/4/2 none
Legion (Swordsmen) The roman model 12/10/1 none
Siege Army Add catapults to the Legion 15/12/1 4/1/1
Longbowmen An offensive counter to the dominance of swords 16/7/1 4/1/1
Knights Army...Put suits of armor on horses 21/15/2 none
Musket Infantry See those rows of British soldiers 20/25/1
Gunpowder Army Add cannons to the muskets 25/25/1 8/1/1
Rifle Infantry Trade in muskets for rifles 30/36/1 none
Rapid-Fire Infantry Trade in rifles for repeating rifles and machine guns 40/55/1 none
Rapid-Fire Army Add artillery to rapid fire weapons 55/55/1 12/2/2
Armored Division this will be more expensive 80/50/3 12/1/2
Marine Division An amphibious assault force 50/45/1 none
Mechanized Infantry A faster army with light armor 60/70/2 8/1/1
Armored Infantry Tanks supported by infantry 80/80/2 12/1/2
4) Each of the civilization unique units (UU) is now a unique army. These unique armies are similar to an army available to all civs, but will perform better for the unique civs. Note two changes in UUs; English get long bowmen and Americans get minutemen. I wanted to give a UU that would provide a golden age prior to the industrial age. Have done so for everyone but the Germans.
Unique Army Civ Comment O/D/M P/R/Rof
Jaquar Warriors Aztec a faster warrior band 3/3/2 none
Hoplites Greek the best phalanx 5/8/1 none
Impi Zulu a faster more defensive warrior band 3/5/2
Bowmen Babylon similar to spears and arrows 8/8/1 3/1/1
War Chariot Eqypt Good offense, but lousy defense 9/3/2 none
Mounted Warrior Iriquois they can ride and fight at the same time 8/4/2 none
Immortals Persia enhanced swordsmen 14/9/1 none
Legionary Roman the best legion 14/11/1 none
English Long bowmen English (a change in UU) the masters of this art 18/8/1 5/1/1
Samurai Japanese combination of swordsmen & knights 18/16/2 none
War Elephants India equivalent to knights noone else rides elephants 19/15/2 none
Rider China equivalent to knights but faster 18/14/3 none
Musketeers French better offensively than most muskets 26/24/1 none
Minutemen American better defensively than most muskets 22/27/1 none
Cossack Russian This is the only mounted cavalry at the army level 30/21/3 none
Panzer German I like this as a UU, so it is the only industrial age UU 85/40/3 12/1/3
5) I am working to revise unit off and def values for balance. Generally speaking a unit have values about 1/3 to 1/5 those of an army. For example, a musket man unit fortified in a city should be able to hold off a legion. However, a musket man unit that runs into a legion in the open isnt going have trouble. Think of the unit/army comparison as the Alamo situation; a unit was defending the Alamo, and they were not easily overrun, but ultimately, the numbers prevailed.
6) I have increased the cost of a settler from 30 to 40 shields . This combined with the population cost of armies should slow down expansion a little bit.
7) I have increased the town/city break from 6 to 8 population and the city/metro from 8 to 16. I have also enhanced the food values of the coast, of game, and made hills irrigable. These changes make it easier to grow population to turn into military.
8) I have greatly reduced the upgrade function. Basically, most units will need to be disbanded rather than upgraded. I will make the infantries upgradeable as new weapons become available (musket-rifle-rapid fire-mechanized), but other than that there are very few upgrades. Since it is cheaper to build new units, and the cost to maintain units/armies is high, the incentive exists for you to disband obsolete units and armies.
9) With the de-emphasis on upgrading, Leonardos Workshop loses value. I see 3 possible directions to go; since the emphasis is invention, it could be used to help ships go faster, it could double the research in the town it exists, or it could produce two advances, or some combination of those things.
10) Increased movement points for modern naval units. Right now I am testing 11 as the high for the AEGIS cruiser.
11) I havent finalized my thinking yet for how to adjust the points for naval and air units yet. I plan to decrease the initial cost a little, and adjust the bombard points upward.
12) I will add a bombard feature to the submarines so that they can cripple a ship from a distance and then run away without getting caught, or move in for the kill.
13) I am creating a commando unit after the advent of espionage and a special forces unit after the advent of radio. These will be stealth units with bombard abilities so that they can go into another country and wreck some havoc high offense but very low defense so that if they get caught they will be dead.
14) Veteran hit points increased to 5; elite hit points increased to 7.
15) I am testing to decide between two Civilian Defense options. One would be to create a Civilian Defense Unit with no offense and no movement values, but a small defense value. It would cost 1 population point, but only 10 shields, and would serve as a call to arms of the citizenry to defend the city. It would rejoin the city after the attack. The other Civilian Defense option is a Civilian Defense improvement, which would require a barracks as a prerequisite, can be built at the lowest shield value (10), and it will increase the citys defense value by 50%. But, it will cost 15 gold per turn to keep it. The idea is that it can be constructed when a city is under attack and then sold off after the attack to be reconstructed the next time it is needed. The advantage of the improvement is that the defensive value of the civilian defense would improve as the weaponry improves. I havent decided on the appropriate prerequisite for either of these I was going to bring it in to play after nationalism, but I think it would be more useful in ancient times. It probably should have more value in ancient times and become obsolete in modern times.
Anyway, that's my idea at this point. All comments welcome!
The purpose of my mod-pack will be to move the game to a different level of management. I want to manage armies more than units. The mod-pack is still under design and play-test, but I wanted to share the ideas I am working on in case anyone else wants to pick up on them, and to solicit any suggestions anyone might have to help me get where I am going. Sorry this is so long.
One of the underlying questions that has bothered me throughout playing civilization is whether I am dealing with a unit or an army. Generally speaking, they play like units, since they can be easily wiped out in defeat. Civ III has teased us by introducing the concept of an Army, but unfortunately, the concept was not well-integrated into the game design.
My goal is to eliminate the feasibility of routinely stacking 20 or more units into an attack, and then having to sit and watch while all of those units move. My theory is that this gives an unfair advantage to the AI because moving all of the units doesnt fatigue the AI, while I, the human player, get fatigued and bored and lose interest in the game.
I am working to integrate units and armies, and placing a ceiling on the number of units that a player can manage affordably. The player will have the choice of creating units quickly at minimal cost that can help defend cities or perform special missions, but each of these units will count against your overall unit total. Armies will be more costly, but will have much more firepower.
The changes I propose:
1) Amend the unit allowances and costs per unit for each type of government. I am currently testing 3 to 4 free units per city for all governments, with an add-on cost for excess units of 2 gold per unit for despotism, 3 for monarchy and communism, and 4 for republic and democracy. Note that settlers, workers and ships are counted as units. So a republic with 20 cities would be able to generate 60 to 80 units for free, and then start paying 4 gold per turn for each additional unit/army.
2) Units can be purchased cheaply (10 shields for all ancient units, 20 for all middle age, 30-40 for industrial, and 50-60 for modern). I am keeping all of the base units in the game that previously existed. The idea is that a unit can be produced in one or two turns, and thus be quickly assigned to assist in the defense of a city or sent on a special mission to slow down an approaching army.
3) Armies can be created to represent each particular type of warfare. Each army cost approximately 2 to 4 times as much as a unit, and 1 population point. When the army becomes obsolete or is not needed, it can rejoin the city. My armies include the following. Two notes: I have done away with a unit called the Infantry (infantry is now distinguished by the types of weapons they have) and archers, bowmen, and armor all now have a bombard value. All values are all tentative and subject to change.
Army Name Comment Off/Def/Mv Bombard Pwr/Rg/Rof
Warrior Band Basic fighting with stones 3/3/1 none
Phalanx Hoplite type, primarily defensive unit 4/7/1 none
Spears & Arrows Spearmen and Archers 7/7/1 2/1/1
Mounted Warriors Anyone can fight better with horses 6/4/2 none
Legion (Swordsmen) The roman model 12/10/1 none
Siege Army Add catapults to the Legion 15/12/1 4/1/1
Longbowmen An offensive counter to the dominance of swords 16/7/1 4/1/1
Knights Army...Put suits of armor on horses 21/15/2 none
Musket Infantry See those rows of British soldiers 20/25/1
Gunpowder Army Add cannons to the muskets 25/25/1 8/1/1
Rifle Infantry Trade in muskets for rifles 30/36/1 none
Rapid-Fire Infantry Trade in rifles for repeating rifles and machine guns 40/55/1 none
Rapid-Fire Army Add artillery to rapid fire weapons 55/55/1 12/2/2
Armored Division this will be more expensive 80/50/3 12/1/2
Marine Division An amphibious assault force 50/45/1 none
Mechanized Infantry A faster army with light armor 60/70/2 8/1/1
Armored Infantry Tanks supported by infantry 80/80/2 12/1/2
4) Each of the civilization unique units (UU) is now a unique army. These unique armies are similar to an army available to all civs, but will perform better for the unique civs. Note two changes in UUs; English get long bowmen and Americans get minutemen. I wanted to give a UU that would provide a golden age prior to the industrial age. Have done so for everyone but the Germans.
Unique Army Civ Comment O/D/M P/R/Rof
Jaquar Warriors Aztec a faster warrior band 3/3/2 none
Hoplites Greek the best phalanx 5/8/1 none
Impi Zulu a faster more defensive warrior band 3/5/2
Bowmen Babylon similar to spears and arrows 8/8/1 3/1/1
War Chariot Eqypt Good offense, but lousy defense 9/3/2 none
Mounted Warrior Iriquois they can ride and fight at the same time 8/4/2 none
Immortals Persia enhanced swordsmen 14/9/1 none
Legionary Roman the best legion 14/11/1 none
English Long bowmen English (a change in UU) the masters of this art 18/8/1 5/1/1
Samurai Japanese combination of swordsmen & knights 18/16/2 none
War Elephants India equivalent to knights noone else rides elephants 19/15/2 none
Rider China equivalent to knights but faster 18/14/3 none
Musketeers French better offensively than most muskets 26/24/1 none
Minutemen American better defensively than most muskets 22/27/1 none
Cossack Russian This is the only mounted cavalry at the army level 30/21/3 none
Panzer German I like this as a UU, so it is the only industrial age UU 85/40/3 12/1/3
5) I am working to revise unit off and def values for balance. Generally speaking a unit have values about 1/3 to 1/5 those of an army. For example, a musket man unit fortified in a city should be able to hold off a legion. However, a musket man unit that runs into a legion in the open isnt going have trouble. Think of the unit/army comparison as the Alamo situation; a unit was defending the Alamo, and they were not easily overrun, but ultimately, the numbers prevailed.
6) I have increased the cost of a settler from 30 to 40 shields . This combined with the population cost of armies should slow down expansion a little bit.
7) I have increased the town/city break from 6 to 8 population and the city/metro from 8 to 16. I have also enhanced the food values of the coast, of game, and made hills irrigable. These changes make it easier to grow population to turn into military.
8) I have greatly reduced the upgrade function. Basically, most units will need to be disbanded rather than upgraded. I will make the infantries upgradeable as new weapons become available (musket-rifle-rapid fire-mechanized), but other than that there are very few upgrades. Since it is cheaper to build new units, and the cost to maintain units/armies is high, the incentive exists for you to disband obsolete units and armies.
9) With the de-emphasis on upgrading, Leonardos Workshop loses value. I see 3 possible directions to go; since the emphasis is invention, it could be used to help ships go faster, it could double the research in the town it exists, or it could produce two advances, or some combination of those things.
10) Increased movement points for modern naval units. Right now I am testing 11 as the high for the AEGIS cruiser.
11) I havent finalized my thinking yet for how to adjust the points for naval and air units yet. I plan to decrease the initial cost a little, and adjust the bombard points upward.
12) I will add a bombard feature to the submarines so that they can cripple a ship from a distance and then run away without getting caught, or move in for the kill.
13) I am creating a commando unit after the advent of espionage and a special forces unit after the advent of radio. These will be stealth units with bombard abilities so that they can go into another country and wreck some havoc high offense but very low defense so that if they get caught they will be dead.
14) Veteran hit points increased to 5; elite hit points increased to 7.
15) I am testing to decide between two Civilian Defense options. One would be to create a Civilian Defense Unit with no offense and no movement values, but a small defense value. It would cost 1 population point, but only 10 shields, and would serve as a call to arms of the citizenry to defend the city. It would rejoin the city after the attack. The other Civilian Defense option is a Civilian Defense improvement, which would require a barracks as a prerequisite, can be built at the lowest shield value (10), and it will increase the citys defense value by 50%. But, it will cost 15 gold per turn to keep it. The idea is that it can be constructed when a city is under attack and then sold off after the attack to be reconstructed the next time it is needed. The advantage of the improvement is that the defensive value of the civilian defense would improve as the weaponry improves. I havent decided on the appropriate prerequisite for either of these I was going to bring it in to play after nationalism, but I think it would be more useful in ancient times. It probably should have more value in ancient times and become obsolete in modern times.
Anyway, that's my idea at this point. All comments welcome!
