Needed: Forward Operating Base Vehicle

Pretty much just a vehicle that puts a resource into your inventory when you deploy the FOBV onto it.

It needs to be a vehicle so it gets kicked out of different faction lands with border expansion, and can also be destroyed.

Too many times I need something specific, and there it is off on 1 little island or what not in a place that is unsuitable for a new colony.

 

I've gone back and forth on if this is a good idea. Having to expand into undesirable location is part of the game. More so this game with it's terraforming allowing you to make tundra, snow, and desert better. However I do get sick of having too many cities to manage. If this unit was a civilian unit and could be captured if not guarded it might be ok. And/or if it could be attacked without declaring war like how outposts were before the game was released. OR if this was actually a type of trade unit and would there for take up the slot of a trade unit in a city. That would make it a trade off

 

Hmmm... perhaps this could be a use for Outposts, over and above them being a delay-mechanism for founding cities.

Make outposts connect strategic resources in their territory, and have them not develop into cities unless you click on one and explicitly tell it to.

 

I think this idea would be good if FOBV had no diplomatic consequences if attacked. Would present a greater opportunity cost if you want to go all out and grab a resource near another Civs border.
Same should apply to any defending units on it.

 

I was actually thinking a lot about this recently. The way I would work it is this:

Outposts (IE what now becomes cities after x number of turns) are now called homesteads.

Explorers can now spend an expedition point to build an Outpost after an appropriate tech is researched. Outposts work like Civ V forts in that they provide a defensive bonus to units on that tile. They also project a zone of control like units do vs hostile units (IE units can only move one tile if moving through the zone of control).

Unlike Civ V forts, they also claim territory on the fort tile and the directly adjacent tiles may be purchased with energy. Outposts also extend a satellite network in a 2 tile radius (ie, the fort tile and all surrounding tiles.

Outposts cost 2 energy per turn to maintain, plus 1 energy for every tile away from your borders. This should prevent spamming outposts far outside your borders on every possible strategic resource.

Improved strategic resources are added to the Colony's stockpile as per normal. However since Outposts do not have population, no tile can be worked.

So, these outposts serve two purposes: forts a la Civ V, and as a way to claim and use resources outside your city's boundaries without founding a whole city in an area that may not be worth it.

But there's more: Homesteads founded on top of an Outpost get a head start depending on how many tiles surrounding the Outpost are already controlled. An outpost with every tile purchased means that the city is founded instantly. Cities founded on Outposts also get a medium sized production boost towards it's first building.

Additionally, there would be three upgrades possible for Outposts purchasable upon researching an appropriate technology. These would increase the maintenance by 2 energy.

Firebase: The Outpost becomes a Firebase, doubling the defensive bonus and orbital network, and providing the city healing boost to units on and around the Firebase.

Research Post: The Outpost becomes a field Research Post, increasing the line of sight by 2, providing +1 science for each improved strategic resources, and +1 science for every alien and alien nest in it's LoS.

Trading Post: The Outpost becomes a Trading Post, which acts like a culture/production Station, and levels up in a similar manner.

If someone can mod this they have my full permission to use these ideas

 

Does anyone know if you can have a 0 population city?

 

SMAC had somthing like the OP was suggesting, with Supply Crawlers (or Supply Rovers, Supply Foils, etc).

They could be brokenly powerful, but that was mainly because they allowed you to build and exploit boreholes outside your city radius (and thereby avoid the Planet penalty for having them in your radius), and because (IIRC) the AI didin't know how to use them effectively.

If those problems were avoided, I don't think they would be OP.

As non-combat units they were vergy weak (defence 1, with a 50% penalty due to no weapons or armour, which also applied to psi combat), so you had to protect them.

I disagree about being able to attack them without declaring war - they still belong to you (or your rivals), so destroying or capturing them should be treated as a hostile act. If the AI uses them properly, the ability to grab resources will be used against you as much as by you, so it should be balanced. (Although it might also be a good idea to introduce some sort of spec ops/assassin/privateer/terrorist type unit that can get away attacking neutral or friendly units).

 

I'd say a Crawler type unit per city would be okay to save the spam. And I'd think they could only be used in territory you own. This might be a good idea.

 

I think this could work for an orbital. We could use a reason to want increased orbital range, and having a reason to want to go deep into neutral territory with coverage.

 

Didn't Crawlers only work in your own territory? , it could be a satellite but I think it should only effect the tile underneath having something that effect multiple tiles would be powerful.

Oh excellent idea with the explorer though maybe an upgrade?

 

You know, this sounds exactly like the niche stations are filling conceptually. It'd be much more interesting if stations would have (small) borders, spring up around resources more commonly and conveyed these to their top trading parter.

Add to this some diplomatic pizzaz so you can actually declare them protected and a way to found them and you'd fill this need and enhance the station system at the same time.

 

That seem like it could work well. Found a station so I can get something out of an area without it costing me to maintain because it's independent. Also it can be killed by anyone because it's independent, and anyone could use it too.
Also we really need to know how much others are getting from station to know if they're worth killing. Then we'd get some proxy wars going.

 

They could also be a different affinity and gift you the odd unit.