Reservists, Crusades, and Etc.

[sir_schwick]

These ideas have been briefly discussed other places, and I just was interested in gathering them all here. It also makes it easier for Firaxis to notice this suggestion.

Reservists - Whenever the technology comes up your cities will recruit reservists. 1 for towns. 2 for cities. 4 for metropolises. Reservist troops are regulars of defensive troops. They cost four times as much to maintain and use up population(like drafting) whenever they are called. Like drafting, you call out reservists one at a time from cities. They do not cause unhappiness of any kind. You can "send them home" when you are done with them. This adds the population point back, but the unit goes back to Regular experience. Also, while reservist troops are out, they count against the number a settlement can have.

Insurgents - Whenever insurgents can arise(occupying army, seperatist movement), a number of population points will be lost and "insurgents" will be generated. These forces would be controlled by the former owner of the city(occupied territory) or the nation that backed the rebellion. They would only be visible in their home territory if a unit is within personal viewing range(mostly adjacent square). They also treat the cities cultural borders as ROP. In these insurgent armies, there are mostly "follower" units and a "ring-leader" unit. Once the "ring-leader" is dead, the other insurgents will rejoin the city a couple at a time.

Crusades - Religious crusades of one kind or another often drew up massive common and noble support. With appropriate religious advances, you can declare crusades against those whose religious views don't match yours. Crusaders can now be created. They will use up population. There are two types; noble and common. Noble units are Regular(veteran with barracks) of the best land attack unit. Common units are conscripts of the defensive kind. These units will never return home, but must settle in "infidel" land or die trying. They cost the normal support. The units that can be generated from cities is as follows: (Noble/Common) (1/1)Town, (1/2) City, (2/4) Metro.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Reservists - Whenever the technology comes up your cities will recruit reservists. 1 for towns. 2 for cities. 4 for metropolises. Reservist troops are regulars of defensive troops. They cost four times as much to maintain and use up population(like drafting) whenever they are called. Like drafting, you call out reservists one at a time from cities. They do not cause unhappiness of any kind. You can "send them home" when you are done with them. This adds the population point back, but the unit goes back to Regular experience. Also, while reservist troops are out, they count against the number a settlement can have.

Umm.. Just use conscription, it's almost exactly what you're talkign about, drafting your citizens. It becomes available with Nationalism.

 

[Warman17]

he wants the drafted units to return to the city though, and not cause unhappiness

 

[sealman]

Why would there be no unhappiness. Families, and to some extent, friends, of reservists who are called to active service and never happy about it.

 

[dylanhatesyou]

Sealman, you're right. Its almost as bad as a draft, because reservists never join with the intent of actually fighting, just to get a paycheck and to get buff. Ha.

 

[sir_schwick]

I agree that most reservists(until recently) don't expect to realistically fight, they still had a choice to join up. They were not forced to go into the military. Families of reservists are also unhappy because of war weariness, not b/c of the additionfal factor of having family members and friends forced into the military.

I still say you still have Conscrition(I use it all the time), but many modern armies(especially the US) rely a large part on the "part-time military" that reserves provide. They should be a more economically viable(you get the lagbor back) and less painful way to reinforce occupied regions or provide native defense. Also, reservists are much better trained then conscripts, a lesson we learned from Vietnam. It also provides a way to return the defenders to work once the situation is secure. Maybe b/c its such a good option, it should only be avaliable with a small wonder after Fission is discovered.

Crusades would be an interesting model since many times in history they did result in massive migrations of peoples from one region to another. Look at the invasion of the Moors of Iberia and the resulting counter-invasion of the Reconquista. It would also provide a relief from headaches from occupation in some wars.

 

[sealman]

I agree that most reservists(until recently) don't expect to realistically fight, they still had a choice to join up. They were not forced to go into the military. Families of reservists are also unhappy because of war weariness, not b/c of the additionfal factor of having family members and friends forced into the military.

I think you may be wrong there. I know many a reservist who has been called up in recently and not one family was happy about it and it has nothing to do with "WW". But that is just my opinion.

I still like your idea for reservists, but think that calling them up should have an effect on the local population.

 

[Matternich]

The idea of insurgents has promise and could be included in some sort of overall introduction of 'civil wars'. As for the crusaders, I think even if realism is not essential, some sort of political or military conflict based around religious differences needs addressing if only tokenly. Then again Buddist against Sikh. Jew against Muslim, Hindu against Christian and Pagan against everyone- it all might prove too sensitive an inclusion.
All your ideas however might just begin to make the game too complex and thats the danger with many of the suggestions in this forum great though they be. Remember one of the tenets of the Civ franchise is its accessibilty to new wide eyed player.

 

[sir_schwick]

In Desert Shield families of reservists did not like seeing there spouse/parent leave for a many months. Now they are a lot more unhappy because they see combat. Maybe reservists would cause unhappiness if only duty for more then 20 turns, or if they see any combat(even casualtyless combat). That would make them more preferable for being 2nd Teir defenders at home, so the "full time" defenders could fight overseas.

I think the current resistance model is kinda weak, considering it only slows down conquering rather then hurts them militarily. Many players bypass the flipping problem by parking units outside. True resistors and insurgents would not stay as citizens in the city. It is also a throughback to the Partisans of Civ II, but more open. Of course it would also figure well into Civil Wars.

You might be right about inter-religious conflicts being too sensitive a topic for a mainstream audience(I personally deplore censorship of this kind to appease an audience, and that wasn't meant as an attack of any kind). Of couse I think the Tech Tree is a bit insulting to those who have not descended from the legacy of Western Civilization. The Tech Tree is based mostly off of the developement of Mesopotamia/Greece/Rome/Europe and their descendants. Especially when it comes to religoius developement(which may be changed) and the wonders of the world. THere are some non-Western wonders, but mostly it favours Western Civilization.

That was a bit off-topic so I'll answer the questoin with a solution for complexity. Crusades could happen automatically once the appropriate GW was built(by anybody). Whenever you get in a war with a different religion, these units spawn themselves. Same rules about only resettling in the city of the infidel. Maybe crusades could only arise again once the pre-crusade pop level was restored. Of course players would have to have the option to toggle this on/off before the game. Or it could be like Mobilization, it happenss all at once at your command.

 

[Chauliodus]

Crusades would be an interesting model since many times in history they did result in massive migrations of peoples from one region to another. Look at the invasion of the Moors of Iberia and the resulting counter-invasion of the Reconquista. It would also provide a relief from headaches from occupation in some wars.

I'd rather see "Crusades" as what they are as you said, mass (or agressive by nomadic cultues) migrations and not the dramitized, focused military conflicts they are typically thought to be today.