Military, Standing Armies, Etc.

[orlanth]

Yes that sounds good. It could be a nice touch to have a variety of special Promotions good against certain Unitclasses or Unitcombats, with an element of rock-paper-scissors mechanic where one super-unit isn't good against all others, but instead some types are good against other types. (ie you'd want to gradually train a good variety of combined forces to handle various foes in an Invasion; eg some foot soldiers with Pike Square Formation or Caltrops to resist Cavalry charges, maybe some shield units with Testudo that are especially good against Archers, infantry with Boiling Oil to resist a siege or Escalade to attack enemy fortifications, etc etc. The REF could have a variety of different buff troop types and ships where you'd need to have developed the right combos of Techs and Promos to counter them all properly.

 

[Kailric]

Posting this here to keep the ideas in correct place.

I had another thought about the barracks at the castle.

What if it could train Serfs (like a school) to become Levies.

The Serf would lose his field work bonus, but gain a combat bonus. I don't know what exactly, maybe 10% strength or some kind of defensive bonus (representing their ability to stand together and work as a trained unit.)

On this idea, my plan is to introduce a whole Military Expansion where we expand on all aspects of Military and Combat. One will be to introduce a new YIELD_TRAINING where you can train units to give them experience. The Barracks perhaps would do this with addition buildings giving bonuses plus allowing for new Promotions. Like an Archery Range would allow for Archery training.

I never liked how actual combat was the only way to train your Troops. This is not historically correct. And in vanilla Col, some of the best promotions hardly ever see much active service as only at the end does the major battles take place and you only get to do battle for 100 turns.

So, I want to introduce a system that works with both Combat Experience and pre-combat training. There could be a Veteran Promotion that only units that have survived combat gain, with different levels and these levels allow for some of the Top Military Promotions in your Military Academies. The REF would need to be buffed to compensate for this as well, which would actually require you to train your troops or when you do face off against the REF you units may be too poorly trained to be effective.

I haven't studied much about how real life units train but I am sure that if you have survived combat once, you are way more prepared for any future combat and have learned what to expect, what to do, and what not to do.

This way when your troops are ready for war, they are Ready for War. The AI will have access to this also so that they are not at a disadvantage.

Yes, I like that plan!

I like the way you say a Whole Military Expansion... sounds... sexy

A lot of medieval combat seemed to be a fairly mechanical affair. Learning to fire X (I think it was 10 or 12) arrows a minute. strengthenig your arms to repeatedly chop or thrust and take hits on your shield, and huge amounts of formation drilling.
Apart from the nobility it was mostly about stand still and hold the line.

I like the idea of 'Veterancy Levels' (I am sure other mods in civ have done this sort of thing) That you get from surviving actual combat. That can access certain high end promotions.

As well as 'Training Levels' that unlock certain training promotions, etc. and generally effect the discipline of your army.
Certain Unit or Profession types could be 'capped' at certain training levels and only being accessed at higher levels of training.
With the better professions costing significantly more in upkeep (and equipment too)

We could also introduce through civics the Choice of a Professional or Feudal/Levy Army.

(it is almost there already with the different lux. and food units)

So the Pro Army would be much more expensive, have a much better standard of equipment and training across the board. (Like the recruit, cavalryman, commander set up)

The Feudal Army would be much cheaper (with your nobility shouldering most of the cost) with the Knights being highly skilled and equipped, and the levy being cheaper and with less training levels and equipment. Mostly leather armour snd such.

The question is, just how to implement the costs of the different military systems. I have been wanting to add a new Civic xml option that lets you set a Profession Equipment discount based on CombatType instead of per Profession. So, that you could have a discount on all Combat Melee types, Combat Mounted, etc. And also a Military Wide Equipment discount. These could be used to make the Military types cost more, like Professional Armies could cost +25% more to equipment, but gain a bonus Promotion for being Professional.

Also, there could be a YIELD_GOLD requirement for Professionals. Say, 50 gold, and each turn this amount is reduced by 1 to represent the soldier being paid. Once it hits zero the refill cost is charged to the Players bank. This goes around to all Units costing Gold and if the Gold runs out the Unit could lose its Profession and or other adverse effects. A text display would show the current cost of troops that turn and the next so the player will know how much is required to maintain his army.

I also really liked the ideas about the 'combat abilities' like parry and block. I haven't had a chance to experience much of this yet, but I have seen that knights carry the Block ability

Well, if you have done any battles with units with combat abilities then you have experienced it. The only thing is that its mostly hidden effects. After battle you can go back and look at the combat log and it will tell you of these things, like Glancing Blows for half damage and such. I want to implement a system that keeps a better visual track of these things but haven't put any thought into it much yet.

 

[DARCK-PHOENIX]

1 )the great general has no real use . U should use great general to make some buildings to train soldiers .. The 20 xp 1 time use is ....

2 ) units ouside of cities should cost upkep of food . now u can have 1000 soldiers all u need is some weapons and/or tools .. it is too easy

3) i dont like immortals units . units should have age( expiration date )