thoughts on combat

[Chicken_Salad]

Tank vs Spearman, etc.

I was wondering what the individual units are to represent. A division, batallion, army, army group?

I dunno, but I don't think it is suposed to represent any of these. It's just a generic group of units. Everyone knows a tank division does not consist of only tanks. Mech inf, recon regiments attached, command, suppy units, division artillery, etc. Corps assets can also be attached at division level during combat. There is no way to represent this in the game.

So: when my tank 'unit' attacks a spearman 'unit', I don't consider that to be, say, 50 tanks vs 50 spearmen. I consider the units themselves to be just a approximation of the country's combat unit organization, logistic support, command and control, equipment, etc. While my army is more advanced in the technology of conducting warfare, that does not mean my unit should easily win every battle.

Same applies to Battleship vs Ironclad. The ships are actually fleets of assorted vessels fielded by the country representing their latest advancement in naval warfare. This does not mean the battleship should not lose, imo, and does not take any enjoyment away from the game.

I hope I am not too far out of line in this thinking.

 

[God]

i guess its mainly like that. I used to wonder how many warriors in a warrior unit. I guess about 200.
Basically each unit consists of the number of soldiers, machines that would make sense.
In other words, one unit of spearmen is 150 guys with spears and shields. One unit of marines is maybe 30 guys with their guns. One unit of tanks is 10 or 20 tanks.

I chose those numebrs mainly on how many people would fight in a battle. In ancient times a thousand or so on both sides. So 3 warrior units, 1 spearmen, 2 archer, 1 horsemen, vs. similar army.
Just my thoughts.

 

[etj4Eagle]

I also don't see these units remaining static. Instead the unit name represents only what that unit is when it is first fielded. But 500 years later the unit is something totally different. Instead it is what ever would have a comparable A/D values in relation to the current top of the line units. Anywas from my introduction to this genre with SMAC, I don't look at the names, but the A/D values only. To me the name is only a label, nothing more than that.

 

[Psychlone]

The firepower and lethality of modern military units continues to increase, even as those units become smaller in number of troops, so I think God's post is on about the right track.

As one of my buddies loves to talk about, a modern US tank battalion could defeat the entire WW2 German Afrika Corps with its basic combat load of ammunition, and quite possibly without needing to stop for fuel, either.