[Discuss] Feature request (troops and the elite)

[Matteo Turrino]

I know there is much else to do, but I'll make my appearance on the DL with
a feature request that, considering bm is supposed to appeal to causal
players, I feel is important. I hope I don't sound redundant to you vets :)
Right now the most interesting aspect of the game is war (not that the
economy is useless, the contrary; though a peaceful realm gets boring
quick); however common players have little impact on the result of a battle.
The factors which have an effect are: numbers (depending on the economy of a
realm), tactics (depending on the marshal and on the kind of battleground)
and the troops themselves (type and stats). Little is left to the knight not
in any specific position, except for which RC to pick and watch his unit
fight it out without having.
So here is what I suggest: troop personalization. To the point, when the
player is about to recruit a new unit he gets prompted with several choices:
the men themselves come from the recruitment center, the equipment does not.

The first change would be new types of equipment for all kinds of units. Not
many, though a functional few like axes (better piercing), swords
(all-around weapon), spears/pikes (good against cav) for inf and similar for
the defensive eq and the other types of units (let's not expand on this
topic yet because I don't know if the idea will be rejected up-front).
Quality would work like it does now, although that too is something to look
into. It could come either from local weaponsmiths (those of the realm) or
from the family (extra). At a cost, one's family could be able to build
private weaponsmith for extra awesomeness and showing off, with chances of
getting generally better stuff. One should also be able to swap equipment
(though not unit type - as in, not changing maces for bows) depending on
local availability (only families would be able to ship eq - not common
workshops).

The second is about the troops themselves: albeit the training depends on
the centers, every Lord is trained in the military arts and always has tips
and tricks to teach his troops. This too depends on the family; families
with longer experience on the field can teach their new characters (or
existing ones across the continents, through tractates on the military art
which used to be a common thing) before they begin their military career the
in and outs the other ones have learned (although not as effectively as the
ones who learned it themselves). Otherwise it can be acquired through direct
experience. More precisely, these masteries (I'm not calling them skills
because in my concept player/family does have one or not, which means no %,
plus they can't be taught the usual way or fogotten) could involve
particular formations (to take advantage of the peculiarities of your unit),
better usage of equipment and paraphernalia, special techniques (disguise,
faked retreat, better training, increasing training/cohesion/morale caps),
improved command over specific unit types.
Things could get out of marshal's hands. But that's the fun part, that a
noble has to assume the responsibility for his troops's behaviour on the
battlefield, be it exceptional or abysmal.

The pros:
More dynamism to battles. A Lord would get its very own unique unit. Also
this opens up the possibility of heroic actions; right now, being units so
similar, the battle is won in toto due to elements that I mentioned before
and are not up to the knight himself. With this kind of system however, you
catch a weak spot or an unit may be particularly effective, saving the day,
so you can boast around. If you're good enough you might end up with an
all-worked out legendary unit - everybody loves elite units, and here is
your chance to get one instead of simply recruiting it (possibly spending
mucho gold because you're a rich whore like Exile :D) which gives no credit
at all (think 300 - the strong point of that movie is that essentially it's
few against many.. though I didn't like it much myself. I prefer the
imperial royal guard off star wars. It doesn't do anything in the movies,
but I found the crimson empire comic quite entertaining)

The cons:
Some people might get pissed when facing uber powerful units that make
target practice out of theirs. Biggest problem is that this needs some
balancing and it might be too much of a strain on the server. I have no idea
of how much similar features would take to process. I have seen games
(browser based, from wich I stole the mastery term) with similar ones as far
as complexity, and this is why I'm suggesting it in the first place
(otherwise I'd be hiding into my cave full of pretty fishes and not boring
you with such long speeches that may not lead to anything).

(yes, I'll try to be less parenthetical next time)


Meandor
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