28-05-2002 03:20									#1
	Combat Thread 2 Tired of ads?

Vel won't be around here for a few days and so he asked me to mind the shop for a while ... I hope you'll all be good.

The first item on the agenda is a new Combat Thread. The old one produced some excellent discussion, but is far too long and that discourages new people from entering the debate.

So without further preamble I present to you ...

*fanfare*

The 2nd Combat Thread!

OK then ... here's the way things are shaping up. As it stands now The Courts of Candle'Bre will have three levels of the Combat Engine, with each one growing in complexity.

These versions are:

1) An Auto-Calculated Strategic version. This is being used for the Alpha playtest versions and will be useful feature for playing out battles you know you will win easily when you can't be bothered to go through the full system.

2) A Strategic Combat Model (see below)

3) A Tactical Combar Model (see below)

This is being done partly because it's easier to code it that way, as doing it by increments will reduce the likelihood of our poor coders having nervous breakdowns. Another reason is because this will give people the option to play the game any way they like. The plan is to have all three versions as viable options for playing your way through the game.

First is the description of the Strategic Combat System copied and pasted directly from the first combat thread. I don't think this model changed much during that thread since we were mostly talking about the Tactical system. I'm not sure how many of the cool ideas for the Tactical system could or should be incorporated into the Strategic version. Some of them seem suitable for adaptation (Generals, for instance), but others don't. I suppose that's one other thing we could discuss here.

If you want to read the full version of the strategic system then you can download a word doc of the original rules from a thread in this forum. I'll bump it when I'm done fixing this thing together.

If I make any mistakes that other people pick up on then please let me know and I'll edit these posts.

	28-05-2002 03:23									#2
	Put an end to popups!

STRATEGIC COMBAT MODEL
originally posted by Vel

In designing the game, I created a set of units that had a series of interconnected abilities that essentially "trump" each other (reflective of real life). This pretty well REQUIRES combined arms, if you wanna be successful.

Also, the combat system is set up around the idea of "firing tiers" such that those on a higher tier get to fire and cause casualties before those on a lower tier. Thus, planning and strategy enter into the equation in terms of force balancing.

Examples (real units and abilities from the game)

Archers: Exist of the highest tier. Their advantage is they get to shoot first. But, they're expensive.

Cavalry:Most expensive unit in the game. Main strength is that it's a heinously well-rounded unit with a special (charge) that virtually guarantees hits, but slows them down (attack every other round).

Infantry: Grunts who get a LOT better with the acquisition of tech. Mostly, they exist to cover the losses of your more expensive troops.

Pikemen: Infantry with 'tude. Their special (Wall) prevents Cav from charging so long as they exist on the board. Also, archers MUST target them first, so having them will help protect your expensive cavalry.

Light Infantry: Starts out as the worst unit in the game, whose only initial saving grace is 2-moves. But with tech, they become terrifying.

*Conjecturally discussed unit: Light Cavalry: Special ability is that they "pair up" with an infantry based unit (light infantry) and act as a fighting team. The more "pairs" you have in your army, the greater the overall bonus FOR the army (IE - 1 "pair" would give every unit in the army a -1 bonus (low rolls are good in our combat system), 2 pairs = -2 bonus, etc....such that it's in your best interest if you're gonna use Light Cav/Light Inf, to have a lot of them to boost the effect. Note though, that precision strikes will wreck your bonus, making this vulnerable (unless you include Pike...and there's that combined arms thing again!).

Where terrain is concerned. I was thinking that what we might be able to do is to not outright disallow any unit types from attacking in any type of terrain, but apply an aggregate penalty to their movement rate and/or damage values depending on terrain. Example of what I mean: Let's say I'm moving a large, mixed force through rough (mountainous terrain). I've got cavalry, and even tho we say "cav can't move thru mountains" I can still move the army through.

In the mountains, my opponent has a force set up defensively to hold me in check. I move into that province and battle is joined.

A popup appears and the computer generates the terrain for the battle map based on some forumla that samples the prevailing terrain of the province (this prov is 80% mountain, 15% Forest, 5% plains)...so the battle map looks a lot like that.

Now, we've already said that cav can't charge in the forest, but what actually occurs in this case is that cav see their charge damage reduced 15% (they can still do it, just not as well), and while they can move into this province, they see their movement rate reduced by 80% (per the provincial terrain breakdown). All this stuff would happen behind the scenes....the player wouldn't be bothered by it, but, this way, terrain would most definately have a big impact on the army's performance, and would cause players to think seriously about exactly what troop types they were moving into which provs.

	28-05-2002 03:28									#3
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Version 2.6 of the Candle'Bre Tactical Combat System
originally posted by Vel

Unit Specifications

Unit Name: Infantry
Attack Rating: 35
Armour Rating 40
Speed 10
Hit Points 8
Tactical Movement Rate 4
Damage 1-8
Experience 0 (at start default)
Morale 60% (conscript default)

Special Ability Slot 1 (None)

Special Ability Slot 2 (None)

Cost: 10g

Notes: The grunts of the realm, infantry are cheap to train and generally plentiful in number. As the game grinds on, tech advances make this one of the most cost effective units on the board.
…

Unit Name: Mercenary
Attack Rating: 40 * (see below)
Armour Rating: 30
Speed 14
Hit Points 6
Tactical Movement Rate 5
Damage 1-6 * (see below)
Experience 0 (Default at start)
Morale 50% (conscript default)

Special Ability Slot 1 Bounty. Mercenaries may receive either a 1g or 2g incentive, paid for all mercs in your force. Once paid, the mercs will get a +5 increase to their attack rating, and +1 damage per gold bounty offered.

Special Ability Slot 2: Mercenary units do not gain the benefits of increases in unit technology.

Cost: 10g

Notes: Mercenaries may NEVER outnumber your regular troops (though the numbers may be equal) in a given province. If they do, the mercenaries will wrest control of the province and toss your troops out.

The Mercenary is something of an oddity in Candle'Bre. Their warrior code places strict rules on what is and is not acceptable, and as such they shun newfangled advances in armour and weapons. They begin the game as slightly superior to Infantry (once you pay the bounty anyway), but end the game lagging quite far behind....the price of adhering too long to outdated traditions.

…

Unit Name: Pikeman
Attack Rating: 20
Armour Rating: 60
Speed: 6
Hit Points: 12
Tactical Movement Rate:4
Damage: 2-5
Experience 0 (Default Start)
Morale 60% (Default Conscript Morale)

Special Ability Slot 1: No Morale loss if charged by Cavalry.

Special Ability Slot 2: Deal double damage to Cavalry units.

Cost: 14g

Notes: Pikemen are stoically brave and sturdy, platemail clad soldiers who think nothing of facing down a cavalry charge. Not so hot on the offense, but if you're looking for defensive stopping power, look no further.
…

Unit Name: Skirmisher
Attack Rating: 25
Armour Rating: 25
Speed: 16
Hit Points: 12
Tactical Movement Rate: 10
Damage: 2-7
Experience 0 (Default Start)
Morale 70% (Default Conscript Morale)

Special Ability Slot 1: Initiative – Skirmishers get an extra attack the first time they engage an enemy unit in a given battle. They may return fire up to two times when attacked, with no loss of morale (game standard is that a given unit stack may return fire as many times a round as it is attacked, but it loses 5% of its morale per strike after the first).

Special Ability Slot 2: Ambush - Skirmishers are invisible in hill or forest terrain (tactical battle map). In battle, units moving into such terrain containing a hiding Skirmisher will be attacked by surprise (Double the skirmisher's attack value, ignore defender's armour value). Being subject to an Ambush costs the unit being ambushed all of its remaining movement points for that turn, and the unit is unable to attack. * (see below)

* Skirmishers can detect other skirmishers - Chance of detection is Morale % of the scouting unit. Scouting units can "check" all areas within their LOS in a given turn, but they must forego all other activities that turn (no movement, no attacking) - Note that an Ambush is not an attack per se, and would be allowable even if the unit was checking for hiding enemy skirmishers.

*Rangers (see below) stacked with hiding Skirmishers make them impossible to detect by any means. Not that a Ranger stacking with a "searching" Skirmisher stack would negate the abilities of a Ranger stacked with a hiding Skirmisher stack.

Cost: 18g

Notes: The ultimate tag along troop for your expensive cavalry units, these guys make superb scouts and are wonderful in an attrition/harassment role. With enough tech advances on the board, the even eclipse Infantry in terms of value for the money.
…

Unit Name: Archer
Attack Rating: 45
Armour Rating: 25
Speed: 12
Hit Points: 6
Tactical Movement Rate: 5
Damage 3-6
Experience 0 (Default Start)
Morale 60% (Default Conscript Morale)

Special Ability Slot 1 Ranged attack: Archers may strike targets up to four hexes away for full damage, and up to six hexes away for half damage.

Special Ability Slot 2 The first non-ranged unit to attack a stack of Archers get shot at twice (The archer stack gets to defend itself twice (without morale penalty) from the first attacking stack. Once per combat only.

Cost: 20g

Notes: Essentially "Light Artillery Support" for your Infantry and Cavalry, you can never have too many archers in the field.
…

Unit Name: Cavalry
Attack Rating: 60
Armour Rating: 60
Speed: 14
Hit Points: 16
Tactical Movement Rate: 10
Damage: 5-12*
Experience 0 (Default Start)
Morale 75% (Default Conscript Morale)

Special Ability Slot 1: Charge – Takes one full combat round to set up. Doubles damage dealt to the stack subject to the charge, and reduces morale of the survivors by 20%

Special Ability Slot 2

Cost: 25g

Notes: The undisputed master of the battlefield. No other unit in the game is more well rounded, tough, and durable. Of course, no other unit in the game is more expensive either. Until the late game Infantry-Eclipse, it will your Cavalry charges that your enemy remembers.
…

*****

· Change to tech Rules: Any time a new technology refers to giving a unit type a bonus of +1/+1 to it’s A/D values, this should be converted to +5 to Attack Rating and Armour on the chart above.

Unit Experience

Units represent the lowest form of mobile unit on the map. As such, they tend to learn (gain experience) from most anything…and, they learn pretty quickly, at that. For every 3 victories or 5 defeats, surviving units gain 1 point of experience.

Experience
0-1 Conscript None- Use Default Entries
2-4 Regular +10% Morale, +1 Speed
5-9 Veteran +5% Morale, +5 Armour, +1 Damage
10+ Champion +5% Morale, +1 Speed, +5 Armour, +2 Damage

· For every point of experience above 10, the unit gains +1 Hit Point

· When a unit gets 10 or more Experience Points, each time that unit participates in combat, there is a 2% chance of generating a War Captain.

War Captains

War Captains are legends of the battlefield. They are exceptional individuals who rise through the ranks of the Army, and through the hardships of battle, have come to understand the art of war and gain the respect of their peers.

War Captains are attack-capable units! Your War Captain unit may have special abilities that are reflective of the unit type that spawned them. For their basic stats, consult the table below:

Synopsis of abilities when upgrading from Elite units:

· +30 Morale
· +10 Attack
· Multiply Hit Points by two (2)
· “Dice up” damage

War Captains also provide benefits to whatever stack they are traveling with. These benefits are outlined below:

· +1 Speed for every 4 experience points the War Captain has

· The Morale value of the War Captain becomes the Morale Value of the stack he’s with

· Morale loss due to combat is halved for units containing a War Captain (this effect is cumulative with a General's ability to reduce Morale loss due to combat, if a General is close enough to effect the unit stack in question).

Other Notes: Note that if a War captain is assigned to travel with a unit, he will almost assuredly have a higher speed than the unit he’s traveling with (this, and his enhanced movement rate, can facilitate rapid mid-battle transfers to turbulent spots on the battlefield). This means that the stack containing the War Captain can attack twice per turn…an important consideration for purposes of hammering down enemy unit stack morale.

War Captain Experience

These individuals gain 1 point of experience per two victories, or three losses. When a War Captain reaches 20 Experience points, he is automatically promoted to a General.

Generals

When a War Captain gains 20 Experience Points, he is automatically promoted to the rank of General, and becomes one of the following “character classes” (Myrmidon, Ranger, Knight, or Rogue—see table below). The 20 Experience is divided evenly between the two cornerstone abilities of a General (Tactical Ability and Command Ability – All Generals a player gains via promotion begin with scores of 10 in each ability). Each time a General gains a level of experience, the owning player gets 20 additional points to assign to these abilities. These points may be assigned any way the player wishes (see below for exact effects of Command Ability and Tactical Ability)--at level four, the two numbers will sum to 80.

Upon reaching second level, the player owning a general gets to choose a special ability for the General, from the following table:

Synopsis of Abilities gained when upgrading from War Captains:
· +15 Attack
· +10 Armour
· Hit Points Doubled
· +2 Movement
· “Dice up” +1 Damage
· +2 Speed
· +10 Morale

Summary of a General's Abilities as they relate to other units on the field/stacked with the General:

General attributes are as follows:

A. Generals share all traits in common with War Captains (above)

B. All units stacking with the General gain +1 hex of movement per combat round.

C. Depending on the General's experience, he may effect nearby units just as though he were in the stack WITH those units. To determine the extent of the General's abilities in this regard, consult the table below:

Sum of TacAbil and CommAbil:
20-45: General can effect all friendly units within a 1 Hex radius as though he were stacking WITH those units

46-69: General can effect all friendly units within a 2 Hex radius as though he were stacking WITH those units

70-80: General can effect all friendly units within a 3 Hex radius as though he were stacking WITH those units. Additionally, any enemy units inside that radius see their morale drop by 5% per battle round, calculated AFTER all other modifiers have been applied (ie - the presence of an enemy War Captain in an enemy stack that is inside this General's radius of command does NOTHING to counter the loss of Morale caused by this General).



Experience

Generals gain experience in two ways. First, by leading men to victory (15pts per battle won), and second, by demonstrating their own combat prowess (1pt per unit killed by the General on the field of battle). There is no experience gain for battles lost of withdrawn from. Victory is the General’s measure of success.

Level Experience Range
1 0-40
2 41-120
3 120-250
4 251-750

· 1600 Experience Required to advance each level beyond 4

At Second level, the General may choose to gain a special ability from the following list:

Myrmidon
Personal Improvement: For each level the General increases (Max. of four), gain +10 to Hit Points, Attack Rating, Armour Rating and Morale. Gain +1 Speed and + 1 Move

Frenzy: All friendly units with this General gain +2 on their damage rolls, and the ability to execute Flank/Charge orders. (bonus is +3 at level three, and +5 at level 4)

Terror: Enemy troops automatically lose an additional 3% morale every round combat occurs when facing this general (becomes 5% per round at level 3, and 7% per round at level 4)

Ranger
Personal Improvement: For each level the General increases (Max. of four), gain +10 to Hit Points, Attack Rating, Armour Rating and Morale. Gain +1 Speed and + 1 Move

Pathfinding: Units traveling with this general are not bound by any terrain restrictions.

Herbalism: Damaged units traveling with this general may heal their wounds even while moving (2hp per day – Complete healing if not moving). Per day rate increases to 4 at level three, and complete at level 4.

Knight
Personal Improvement: For each level the General increases (Max. of four), gain +10 to Hit Points, Attack Rating, Armour Rating and Morale. Gain +1 Speed and + 1 Move

Awe: All friendly troops traveling with this General gain +10% Morale. This bonus increases to 12% at level three, and 15% at level four.

Servitude: Unit upkeep costs are halved for every unit in this General’s Army.

Rogue
Personal Improvement: For each level the General increases (Max. of four), gain +10 to Hit Points, Attack Rating, Armour Rating and Morale. Gain +1 Speed and + 1 Move

Ambush!: All friendly units traveling with the General gain +1 Movement, +1 Speed, and the “Initiative” special ability. (at level 3, this bonus is +2/+2, and at level four, it’s +3/+3).

Scouting: Sum your General’s TacAbil and ComAbil, and divide that number by twenty. The result (dropping all fractions), is the number of free turns of movement and attack this General’s army gets before the opposing side can respond.

Advances beyond fourth level

The General Gets the benefits listed in “Personal Improvement”

· Other special abilities to be considered as the system evolves


The Order of Battle, Troop Placement, and Battlefield LOS

Battle Setup

Two opposing forces meet. To determine who must place their forces first, consult the following table, in order:

No special leaders present - The player with the fastest troops (highest speed) places his units last.

War Captain present - This trumps the fastest unit present on the opposing side.

General - This trumps War Captains present on the opposing side.

If two War Captains are present, then the War Captain with the highest experience places his troops last. If equal, revert to Initiative factors.

If two Generals are present, then the General with the higher TacAbil rating places his troops last. If equal, revert to War Captains present.

If everything is equal across the board, the defending side places their troops last.

Dividing the Army

An army without a leader will divide itself along troop type lines (all the Infantry in one stack, all the archers in one stack, etc.), regardless of morale levels (that is to say, units of various morale levels will stack together by type, by default....one of the effects of which is that the same unit might get multiple attacks per combat round as the Elites make their attack, then the Veterans, and finally, the conscripts), and while this can be effective--see the later notes on morale--a general commanding the army has a vast array of divisional options available. For every 5 points of CommAbil the General possesses, you get the ability to create 1 additional unit stack. (Default number of unit stacks is equal to the number of troop types in your army, so if a General with a 25 CommAbil is leading a force of Pike, Archers, Infantry, Cav, and Mercenaries (five default stacks), he would be able to divide his force into as many as ten different stacks.

Note that all unit stacks must be homogenous (must contain all of the same unit type).

The Battle Map

The Battle Map is a hex-grid, 40x40, with opponents lined up on either side. Placement is made on the first two columns of your side, modified by your TacAbil. For every 10 points in TacAbil your General possesses, you gain access to another column (such that a General with 40 TacAbil would have access to the first 6 columns on his side for troop placement (you get the first and second column free, and the next four per his ability).

There is a “Fog of War” in effect on the battle map such that trees, hills, and other terrain block your view of approaching enemy units. Given that you begin quite far from your enemy, the opening rounds of a battle are somewhat tense, with each side feeling its way blindly toward the other. Thus, high ground plays a significant role not only in the battle, but in scouting the lay of the land before the battle begins.

Terrain Effects

Terrain effects are all cumulative.

High Ground provides +5 to Armor Values of defending troops. Archers firing from high ground get +1 Range and +1 Damage on their attacks.

Low Ground - Attackers striking from lower ground are at -1 to their damage range, and –5 On their Attack factor

Forested hexes - Archers are -5 on their Attack factor and damage dealt when firing into a forested hex. Cavalry may not charge into a forested hex. Units defending in a forested hex are at +10 on their Armour rating. Cavalry is at -5, and Archers are at -10 when attacking/firing from a forested tile.

Wall, fence, or other impediment: Forces behind such walls or structures get a +5 to their Armor Ratings, and archers firing into those positions are at -10 on their Attack Factor.
All units attacking into such positions are –2 to damage dealt.

Water: Takes one full turn to cross one hex of water. All movement ends when the unit in question enters the water. Units in the water lose –15 to Armor and Attack Values

Fortifications and Ramparts: Each level of fortification (see core rules) is "worth" 80 points of damage. Fortifications may ONLY be attacked by siege engines. All units behind fortifications gain +15 on their Armor ratings, and all damage dealt to units behind fortifications suffer -1 damage for any attacks made to them PER LEVEL OF FORTIFICATION (this is somewhat abstracted....since siege ladders and archer's towers are not represented in the game, the fact that non archer units CAN damage fortified units implies the existence of these structures.

Conversely, every 80 points of damage that siege engines cause to the fortifications in place reduces the fortified army's bonus by 1.


Defender Advantages

If the defender has “fortified” ((f) command for armies), consider the following to be also in effect:

Archers: First round shot is made with a +20 Attack Rate

All troops are presumed to have fashioned whatever makeshift fortifications they could (ranging from hiding behind a barrel to a simple palisade) – See “Wall, fence, or other impediment”, above)

Unit Facing

Head-to-Head units get no particular modifiers when fighting.

Attacking from the left or right front flank gives the attacker a +5 bonus.

Attacking from the left or right rear flank gives the attacker a +10 bonus

Attacking from behind gives the attacker a +20 bonus.

	28-05-2002 03:31									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Tactical Combat Model ver 2.6 - Continuation
originally posted by Vel

Disruption, Unit Morale, Losing Morale, Routes, Captures, and Recovering Morale

Disruption
Any time a unit takes damage, it must make a morale check to see if it has become disrupted. Disrupted units are unable to move or launch attacks, but may defend at their full strength. At the start of each side's combat round, any disrupted units on that side get to make a morale check to see if they have recoverd from Disruption. Note the morale effect of leader units, and the scant chance that units stacked with leaders will become disrupted (thus, leaders provide no additional bonus when making morale or recovery from disruption checks).

Morale is used in two ways in this combat system. First, it is a measure of a unit's resolve...its willingness to stand toe to toe with the enemy. Second, it is tied in with the overall chance that the unit has of actually dealing damage to the enemy.

Morale decreases when a unit comes under more than a single attack in a given combat round (there are other things which may also cause morale to decrease--cavalry charge--but the "usual way" morale decreases is through multiple attacks occuring in the same turn.

For every attack beyond the first, a unit's morale decreases by 5%.

When a unit's morale drops to 20% or less, that unit is in danger of routing. Routed units become disorganized and panicky, and are easy prey for more stable, organized units.

Chances of Routing
Any time a unit with 20% or less comes under fire, that unit must make a morale check. Take the morale of the attacking unit, minus the morale of the defending unit, and you get the % chance that the unit will route.

Units that have routed will immediately move their full allowance of movement points back toward the side of the battle map where they were placed. This occurs each time the routed unit is subsequently attacked as well.

Attacking Routed Units
Routed units do get to fight back, but because their morale is so low, odds are that they won't do much damage. Any damage sustained BY a routed unit is considered to be half kills, half captures.

Recovering Morale
Any combat round that a unit does not move, attack, or defend itself, that unit recovers 5% of its morale value, back to whatever its standard maximum is.

Reorganizing & Recovering from a Route
A routed unit begins checking to recover from the route once it has at least a 30% morale. Whatever the unit's current morale is, that is the % chance of it recovering from the route on any given combat round.

The Presence of a War Captain with a routed unit increases morale recovery by 5% per combat round.

The presence of a General with a routed unit increases its morale recovery by 10% per combat round.

Other Notes and Miscellany

Only one 'leader' unit (War Captain/General) may stack with any unit stack (but several War Captains could be present in an army).

Only one General may be present in any army.

Cancellation of effect: In instances such as two Rogue Generals facing off against each other, each with the special ability "Scouting" (free turns), the effect is negated.

Things that Decrease Morale:
Multiple attacks to the same unit in the same turn (5% per attack beyond the first)

Cavalry Charges (20%)

Fate Cards played during a battle that declare a reduction in enemy morale (varies)

Being inside the "zone" of a powerful enemy General (5% per round)

Facing an infamous opponent reduces morale by 5% across the board at the start of the battle (the men are somewhat fearful of facing an opponent known for his lack of mercy) - start of combat

Terror - Myrmidon's special ability

Things that slow down the decrease in Morale:
The presence of a general (halves morale loss rates)

The presence of a war captain (halves morale loss rates)

Things that increase Morale:
The presence of a general (stack's morale becomes = to general's morale) - possible radial effect (if a War Captain is inside the Zone of a powerful general, then the War Captain's stack gets the General's Morale, NOT the War Captain's)

The presence of a war captain (stack's morale becomes = general's morale)

Fate Cards played during a battle that declare an increase in your morale

Spending a full combat round not moving, attacking or defending

Awe - Knight's special ability

Combat Experience (Regulars get +10% Morale, Veterans get an additional +5%, and Elites get another +5%)


Forced Marches
Forced Marches can be made both at the Strategic (main map) and the Tactical (Battle map) level.

Sometimes, it is necessary to rapidly move troops from place to place, either to counter a new threatening move or to rapidly get men to the scene of an impending engagement. Forced marches allow you to do just that, but there's a price to be paid.

First, understand that a unit can execute one and ONLY one forced march per turn (or combat round, in the case of a forced march on the battle map).

When the forced march order is given, all units get double their movement points (on the strategic map infantry units are 2 move, mounted units are 4 move - On the Battle map double the unit's movement points). When those units arrive at their destination, they do so at half morale, and minus 2HP. Note that this is a risky way to get troops into position on the tactical map!

Other Notes and Miscellany

Only one 'leader' unit (War Captain/General) may stack with any unit stack (but several War Captains could be present in an army).

Only one General may be present in any army.

Cancellation of effect: In instances such as two Rogue Generals facing off against each other, each with the special ability "Scouting" (free turns), the effect is negated.

******

Explanations to go with version 2.6 of the Tactical Combat System

Calculation of "to hit" chance is as follows:

Attack Value of attacker + (Morale of attacker * 0.75) = Base Chance to hit

Base Chance to hit - Armour Value of defender = % Chance of hitting target

	28-05-2002 22:18									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

I'll read it all more carefully later. I think its looking great. Can I pre-order now?

I was reading a joking comment about invincible spearmen in another CB thread and I just had to say something.

Whatever else happens by the end of this project, the combat has to be better than whats in CIV3. The poor (what an understatement) combat model in CIV3 has killed my desire to play it anymore.

	28-05-2002 23:09									#6
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

Here's a copy of a post that I made right at the end of the old thread, so it may have been missed:

I've got a few suggestions for you.

About the leaders: Wouldn't it be cool if leaders could start dynasties and have children, who then followed in their footsteps? Each leader could have a small chance of producing an heir who would inherit some, but not all, of their mother or fathers characteristics. A leader special ability, say, 'dynasty', would mean a greatly improved chance of creating one or more heirs. This suggestion also takes some of the pain out of your best leaders dying of old age or whatever.

However, I don't like the idea of each leader having a number of risk-free battles. I remember playing Mechcommander (not a good game by any means) and feeling really desolate aftering one of my best pilots at the end of an extremely difficult mission. What was worse, though, was losing a complete rookie, during her first mission. Her scream haunts me still. I think making all leaders vulnerable, even young ones, would introduce an element of 'tragedy', which would fit into the game environment quite well.

On experience: I think that elite units and leaders should only gain experience from defeating forces as powerful or more powerful than themselves. So a supremely powerful army wouldn't gain any experience points by defeating a ragtag bundle of peasants. The peasants on the other hand, would gain a huge level of experience if they won.

	29-05-2002 07:46									#7
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Whoops posted over onthe old thread. I think it appropriate 'bout now for the tactical comabt and pr'haps the strategic combat to organize thoughts bout how turns are perfomred. WHat order of events take place when. That kinna thing. BEst do it now so the flow happesn the way we want it and it can be coded accordingly.

Og