[GS] Unit class rebalance

[criZp]

Oh right, they use aluminium to "fuel" the planes. I modded that dumb idea out long ago so I forgot.

 

[Mik1984]

Those three are indeed are used as power, but they are also part of the set {coal, oil, aluminum, uranium} that are used to fuel units.
2 is just too little IMO- you can have 2 planes per aluminum mine.
Iron and horses also give 2, but if we applied the consumption model backwards, would people be happy if they could have 2 swords per iron mine, or 2 horsemen per pasture?
Then why is it different for planes and helicopters? This is less of a meta game balance thing than a gameplay loop thing- the scarcity of aluminum doesn’t have any alternatives beyond “don’t have an air force.” Why do we let Aerodromes hold so many planes if you’ll never really be able to fill them?

I also think we really need to be able to trade for resource income, otherwise there’s just no stability at all. (and it’s almost cruel to sell the AI oil knowing they’ll build units they cannot fuel.)

In later game I always found securing enough aluminum to be challenging. Coal wasn't also easy, but a little less challenging.

 

[CoconutTank]

Oil and Al scarcity is a pain in the butt late game :< makes it really hard to get a decent air force most of the time. The extraction bonus from Corporate Libertarianism isn't enough either, especially since it scales with the number of nodes one can get in the first place.

 

[AntSou]

Regarding Anti-Cav:

- Remove all cavalry promotions and bonuses against anti-cav.

- Make melee bonus vs anti-cav a promotion. No base bonus.

- Give anti-cav extra bonuses when fortified, and the ability to fortify with one movement point as a promotion.

- Anti-cav has large base bonuses vs light cavalry, small vs heavy cavalry, and no noticeable difference vs melee. But suffers vs ranged and has no promotion to counter ranged attacks.

- All Cav units can move after attacking. Heavy have 3 base mp, Light have 5 mp.

- Heavy Cav shreds through everything, but they still have a slight disadvantage vs fortified anti-cav.

- Heavy Cav have additional penalties when attacking forest tiles.

- Melee can Ambush in forest tiles. (Promotion needed). Unit remains hidden until enemy unit moves into it. High penalty to any unit taking damage this way.

Something along those lines.

 

[Jarms48]

My ideas on unit rebalancing were (though these were fairly old):

My ideas on unique units:
Recon:
- Ranger / Highlander: Production cost reduced to 370.

Melee:
- Ngao Mbeba: Strength increased to 36.
- Legion: Can use "builder charge" to place a road. Roman forts count towards Ballistics eureka.
- Berserker / Khevsur / Samurai: Can upgrade from Swordsman.
- Garde Imperiale / Redcoat: Can upgrade from Musketman. Can upgrade into Infantry.

Ranged:
- Maryannu Chariot Archer: Production cost reduced to 110. Does not replace Heavy Chariot (I think they did this now).
- Saka Horse Archer: Increase attack range to 2. Production cost increased to 120. Can upgrade into Crossbowman.
- Crouching Tiger: Unlocked at Gunpowder. Increase attack range to 2. Can upgrade from Crossbowman. Can upgrade into Field Cannon. Production and gold cost increased to reflect new changes.
- Machine Gun: Increase attack range to 2.

Anti-Cavalry:
- Spearman / Hoplite: Production cost reduced to 60.
- Pikeman: Production cost reduced to 160 (might not be required as I believe the Knight’s production cost went up).

Heavy Cavalry:
- Winged Hussar: Can upgrade from Knight. Can upgrade into Cuirassier.
- Rough Rider: Can upgrade from Cuirassier. Can upgrade into Tanks.

I need to update this list for GS.

My ideas on unit resources:
Melee:
- Warrior: Nothing.
- Swordsman: Iron to build. Iron to maintain.
- Musketman: Nitre to build. Nitre to maintain.
- Infantry: Nothing. Infantry should be the “Warrior” of the Modern Era, they should never go obsolete.
- Mechanised Infantry: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.

Light Cavalry:
- Horseman: Horses to build. Horses to maintain.
- Courser: Horses to build. Horses to maintain.
- Cavalry: Nitre to build. Horses to maintain.
- Helicopter: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.

Heavy Cavalry:
- Heavy Chariot: Nothing.
- Knights: Iron to build. Horses to maintain.
- Cuirassier: Nitre to build. Horses to maintain.
- Tank: Iron to build. Oil to maintain.
- Modern Armour: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.

Melee Ships:
- Galley: Nothing.
- Caravel: Nothing.
- Ironclad: Iron to build. Coal to maintain.
- Destroyer: Iron to build. Coal to maintain. (Representing pre-WW1 and WW1 coal fire Destroyers)
- (Add) Modern Destroyer: Iron to build. Oil to maintain.

Siege:
- Catapult: Nothing.
- (Add) Trebuchet: Nothing.
- Bombard: Nitre to build. Nitre to maintain.
- Artillery: Nothing. Artillery should be the “Catapult” of the Modern era, they should never go obsolete.
- Rocket Artillery: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.

Range Ships:
- Quadrireme: Nothing.
- Frigate: Nitre to build. Nitre to maintain.
- (Add) Dreadnought: Iron to build. Coal to maintain.
- Battleship: Iron to build. Oil to maintain.
- Missile Cruiser: Iron to build. Oil to maintain.

Raider Ships:
- Privateer: Nitre to build. Nitre to maintain.
- Submarine: Iron to build. Oil to maintain.
- Nuclear Submarine: Uranium to build. Uranium to maintain.

Aircraft Carriers:
- Aircraft Carrier: Iron to build. Oil to maintain.
- Modern Carrier: Uranium to build. Uranium to maintain.

Fighters:
- Biplane: Nothing to build. Oil to maintain.
- Fighter: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.
- Jet Fighter: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.

Bombers:
- Bomber: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.
- Jet Bomber: Aluminium to build. Oil to maintain.

GDR:
- GDR: Uranium to build. Uranium to maintain.

All other units should cost no resources to build or maintain to give players options if they’re in positions with no resources.

 

[The googles do nothing]

What if... the role of non-resource unit was switch to melee from Anti-Cavalry? Remove the bonus that Melee attacking Anti-Cav. Anti-Cav then gets and additional bonus of +5 (or +10, not sure about the balance) against all when attacking. Lacking resources, specifically iron early, now is now not really a penalty but having them is a bonus.

I might give Melee a bonus attacking against city and districts.

Pros:
Lacking early strategic resources puts you in a bind where you need to acquire resources, but cannot without resources. This elevates this because you now have a unit strong enough unit to survive until you acquire some.
No oil contention between Heavy Cav and Infantry.
Makes Anti-Cav almost always useful. Right now they are mostly useful in one situation, civ attack, which you don't have any control of it happening.