Features I Wish To Be Implemented

[Huffman3829]

Introduction:

This is a proposal, based on both the changes and additions I believe should be implemented, and features which I think are needed. First will be on maybe a Retreat Function, Second will be a Surrender Function, (or enslaving function) Then increased health per unit and more Citizen-Soldier Variety.

1: Retreat Function

I discovered from research that very (and I mean very) few armies required fighting until death, and relatively few men died in any sort of combat. At most would be 10 percent in regular combat, on average (this statistic is for the Roman Army only, but may be applied for most Iron Age armies) 2.6 percent. This is mainly because of a retreat, where the remainders of the forces would have been treated, then redeployed after reinforcements were given to this force.

I want to have at least a few survivors left from combat, but it seems none of them do. No matter how many men I send into battle, (more men generally mean less losses in battle) I seem to lose them all. This is very unrealistic, and I would really like to have a retreat function ingame. Maybe when the E button is pressed, units will run to the nearest friendly Civic Center and garrison, or maybe a Temple. There doesn't even have to be a garrison, maybe you can decide a meeting point somewhere by pressing E when not in Combat and then clicking on a point within the map.

2: Surrender Function

This is less of a priority and more of a trivial feature for me, but it would be great to have it. In Ancient Warfare, most Battles ended either in Surrender or Retreat, with very little losses in battle. 

For what I had in mind for the game, when units are in battle, (only units in battle, it would be weird if you pressed S and all your units Surrender to the nearest enemy) pressing S will cause them to change color to the attacking unit's color. They will no longer carry weapons, (Dropping them? Enemies stripping them of their Weapons? Disappearing Weapons?) and will be controlled by the enemy Civ. They will pretty much be slaves and gather resources, or build.

3: More Health Per Unit

As keeping with the subject, lower casualties in battle, I think all units should have a little more health. Not something drastic, like hundreds of points, but maybe 10-25% more health for all units. Maybe that does sound a bit drastic, but it wasn't supposed to be an absolute.

4: Citizen-Soldier Variety

I believe this is needed, for most Ancient armies consisted of not usually one kind of unit, but since most had a Militia, many kinds of Soldiers. In the Bronze and Iron Age, weapons most commonly used were Spears, Axes, Halberds, Daggers, Dirks, Bows and Arrows, Swords, Wooden Clubs, and Mallets. I’m not asking to have all of these weapons, but some more variety seems good.

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading. These are just some things I wanted you to add, and just some suggestions. What I would like the most out of these is the Retreat Function, where it would be easier to cut losses, and make battle more realistic. Any thoughts on this?

[Gurken Khan]

I assume that the majority here will agree that retreating is a skill (when microing your units) and should not be automated.

And while I'd be ok with not having to kill each and every unit of a civ to defeat it, I also wouldn't want my units to convert to the enemy.

Complete genocide is just the standard/default, although other modes are possible.

[Radiotraining]

I don't know if such a feature can be implemented, but just for discussion the retreat mode 1 is not bad actually. It reminds me of total war when an army is en route when overwhelmed by an enemy. I guess it could work with a similar trade-off in case: you let your army fly away from combat, but you lose control of them while they disperse in all directions and you have to wait a few minutes to be able to control your units again after their "panic mode". 

Alternatively, you can decide to retreat your troop manually using your skills and keep full control of your troops.

In this case you have 2 strategic options to chose, so it wouldn't be simply an automatization 

[Lion.Kanzen]

2 hours ago, Radiotraining said:

I don't know if such a feature can be implemented, but just for discussion the retreat mode 1 is not bad actually. It reminds me of total war when an army is en route when overwhelmed by an enemy. I guess it could work with a similar trade-off in case: you let your army fly away from combat, but you lose control of them while they disperse in all directions and you have to wait a few minutes to be able to control your units again after their "panic mode". 

Alternatively, you can decide to retreat your troop manually using your skills and keep full control of your troops.

In this case you have 2 strategic options to chose, so it wouldn't be simply an automatization 

several alphas ago (6-8 alpha) we had a behavior / stance to avoid the enemy.

[Freagarach]

You basically want morale?

[Radiotraining]

Yeah but not necessarily a complex system with morale. It can be just very rudimental for the situation mentioned in the original proposal here for the retreat: you press a shortkey for the function, but at the cost of losing control for a defined amount (1 min?).

Basically it works like the morale for the situation at hand but without the need of a whole system, bar of energy ecc..

I didn't know that such a system had been implemented!

Anyway it was more a comment on the original proposal. Personally I don't think is  a particularly important feature, but I don't mind if implemented. I was just trying to give my opinion on it if that was the case

 

[Huffman3829]

No, I was thinking of a feature, like if I press E, all units run to the area chosen for them. I have tried retreating my units, but none of them survive. Once I did retrieve 3 Javelineers from a 60 man Army though. Usually my forces are 100-150 in size, yet I never seem to retrieve any.

[alre]

I'd like the E key retreat, it would be especially useful when being invaded, as the best way to save men is usually to garrison them in barracks and temples and buildings, so those are also safe from capture. On the other hand, it would be nice if the "call to arms" button would also ungarrison all the men who retreated, so they can all come out and push back at once.

@Huffman3829 in your case a newly added key stroke won't save your men, it seems like you wait too much before calling them back anyway. If they are hugely outnumbered a retreat may prove pointless anyway, as your men will be slaughtered anyway on their way back. Call back your men as soon as the battle shift away from your favour, don't wait any longer. This is a critical skill. Never commit to a losing position.

The success of a retreat also clearly depends on the speed of your men compared to the speed of those chasing them.

[Huffman3829]

Yes, @alre. I also believe that the reason why I can't retreat the majority of my troops is because they walk, (or is that a jog?) not run, as I would like them to, away from the enemy.

[Huffman3829]

But I agree with @Gurken Khan. The function shouldn't be autonomous, like moral. I was thinking raw function.

[MakeKemetGreatAgain]

I agree with the OPs sentiment/historical perspective, and I just play the game that way to get into it.  I attack with forces usually 40-80 strong, capture some towers and barracks or temples and hold them, and then retreat.  If an area is pacified I capture a food storehouse and put the veterans to work in the nearby fields.  If the survivors are numerous enough and I can build my own civ center on the enemy frontier quick, I do that and settle them into work. 

 

I dont play multiplayer though, you guys must be on some other level of game play. 

[the-x]

On 28/10/2021 at 11:50 PM, Huffman3829 said:

 

2: Surrender Function

This is less of a priority and more of a trivial feature for me, but it would be great to have it. In Ancient Warfare, most Battles ended either in Surrender or Retreat, with very little losses in battle. 

For what I had in mind for the game, when units are in battle, (only units in battle, it would be weird if you pressed S and all your units Surrender to the nearest enemy) pressing S will cause them to change color to the attacking unit's color. They will no longer carry weapons, (Dropping them? Enemies stripping them of their Weapons? Disappearing Weapons?) and will be controlled by the enemy Civ. They will pretty much be slaves and gather resources, or build.

Very realistic and interesting function: When lets say it is more than 6:1 they automatically change colour.

On 28/10/2021 at 11:50 PM, Huffman3829 said:

3: More Health Per Unit

As keeping with the subject, lower casualties in battle, I think all units should have a little more health. Not something drastic, like hundreds of points, but maybe 10-25% more health for all units. Maybe that does sound a bit drastic, but it wasn't supposed to be an absolute.

Very good Idea, longer battles, not so stressful, less clicking

On 28/10/2021 at 11:50 PM, Huffman3829 said:

4: Citizen-Soldier Variety

I believe this is needed, for most Ancient armies consisted of not usually one kind of unit, but since most had a Militia, many kinds of Soldiers. In the Bronze and Iron Age, weapons most commonly used were Spears, Axes, Halberds, Daggers, Dirks, Bows and Arrows, Swords, Wooden Clubs, and Mallets. I’m not asking to have all of these weapons, but some more variety seems good.

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading. These are just some things I wanted you to add, and just some suggestions. What I would like the most out of these is the Retreat Function, where it would be easier to cut losses, and make battle more realistic. Any thoughts on this?

Maybe more scissor paper - or more different units, not the same - balance HP and attack and ,... for every Civ individually.