Themed military technology

[douche_bag]

I think military techs should be packed into one whole tech such as bronze working,It could be called "the bronze age" and you could reasearch all the bronze age units like spearman,leigon,hoplite,bowman and so on or for feudalism instead could be called "The feudal age" scince its still a period of time in the middle age era.With that tech you could build all those medevil units like med infantry,pikeman,knight,trebuchet and so on,and again with gunpower or "the gunpowder age" but i think the most important would be the ww2 units you have replacable parts(which you get pretty early) and then you have to wait a while for combustion to come along.It's stupid to still have galleons and ironclads as your navy and no fighter planes till a bit later.

 

[Jon Shafer]

Uhhh, why?

 

[sir_schwick]

I think I understood a possible direction of this, but not the douche bag presented here. This is my vision:

Like in db's model, some techs would introduce what I call 'military paradigms'. You choose one or many choices from a list of 'military paradigms'. Each one offers a couple different 'tactical units'. Examples might include for 'Warrior Code': 'skirmishing' which allows production of an Archer that retreats as soon as it takes any damage.

There would be different levels of units, based on tactical sophistication. This tactical sophistication would be novel at first, but then become common knowledge over time. Some units would always have that 'elite' tactics status. While a unit requires 'tactical sophisticaiton', there would need to be a barracks in the city where it was built. The War Academy wonder would now allow you to choose extra 'military paradigms' for the most recent techs and all new ones. Each MGL could be sacrificed to create a really powerful 'military paradigm'.

 

[douche_bag]

Uhhh, why?

Because it annoying having modern ww2 infantry and geurillas attacking eachother when you still have ships and other units from the 1600's as transports and warships.

 

[rhialto]

Thats why you research your techs in a balanced manner instead of beelining. Or looked at another way, its the price you pay for making an all-out effort to get a specific unit asap.

Anyway, having galleons and ironclads at the same time as not having fighters is a teeny bit realistic, no?

 

[Jon Shafer]

Having all units enabled with a single tech would mean that everyone would ALWAYS bee-line for those techs. All that your proposal will do is make bee-lining assured.

Strategy games are about making choices. If players always go for the tech that gives them all the units of the era, where's the choice? You bee-line for that tech and do whatever else afterwards. Linear gameplay is not good for a strategy game.

 

[sir_schwick]

My idea still says you still keep technologies that would have allowed certain 'tactics' seperate. Mine is more of choosing what kind of tactical thrust your military has. Fast and mobile for the open plains or tough and slow for the forests.

 

[t0mme]

Because it annoying having modern ww2 infantry and geurillas attacking eachother when you still have ships and other units from the 1600's as transports and warships.

Maybe the way units are upgraded has to change instead of the delicate science-tree

 

[Tholish]

You're talking about "Infantry" on "Galleons."
Think late 19th century. These "Galleons" are really 19th century clipper ships and the "Infantry" are a primitive prototype of the kind of infantry most typified by WW1, with bolt action rifles and early vickers guns. Did this ever happen? Franco-Prussian war era to Boer War era...no big sea battles.

What it should be, and you can mod this, is that the basic tech gets you a basic unit, then there are optional improved versions. For example, Iron Working would get you Swordsman. Then you could, if you liked, research Legionary, or Immortals, or Gallic Swordsman.

Which is moddable, so you don't need civ 4 for it.

 

[sir_schwick]

I did see a good idea so you don't have spearmen in an age of Riflemen(some would still be tactically viable in gunpowder age). Each time there is a major shift in weapons technology, the old units maintain there stats but are renamed and become really bad versions of the modern units. That way all the AIs Spears become Reserve Riflemen, but are still 1/2/1. All their Chariots turn into Reserve Cavalry, but are still 1/1/2. Also, you would rather loose a Tank to a 1/2/1 Reserve Infanty rather than a 1/2/1 Spearmen. It at least seems plausible.