05Apr13 - Updates

The ability to change armor in the field would also have relevance to the types that offer defense against specific troop types.  It is possible to make a good guess on the type of troop that will be arriving based on its movement speed.  If equipment could be changed out in the field, then it diminishes the strategy involved in predicting beforehand what types of units might be attacking.  Of course, units can be added to slow down cavalry to make it look like not cavalry, but it is hard to speed up spears to make them look like cav.

One question would be whether the army would need to "carry" all the spare equipment, thus making it unavailable for other armies.  The ability to switch equipment instantly between armies hundreds of squares apart would mean that people might choose to maintain smaller supplies of equipment -- especially since you could conceivably prestige caravans carrying equipment between cities and use one set for armies from multiple cities.  It seems unlikely that most people would go to that kind of trouble, but I'm sure someone would do it someday.

Rill, in the city reinforcement example, it's impossible to guess ahead of time how the city will be attacked. The exception is if the attack is enroute and you are close enough to switch gear prior to dispatching reinforcements. That doesn't seem to happen very often.

I don't see anything wrong with a player watching an incoming army, guessing its composition, and then re-arranging gear. You can do that inside your own city, so why not in the field? Rotating gear is exactly what any good commander would do. I also think it's reasonable that an army might switch to War Axes for a sally forth, and then back to terrain or defensive weapons to continue protecting the city. It's also reasonable that your infantry would stable their riding horses once they'd reached the destination, rather than risking them in battle, especially inside the walls of a friendly city.

I think it's reasonable that the army or commander would need to take all the gear with them. Perhaps the drop rate on stored gear in the field could be 100%, thus allowing your opponents to recover treasure from your baggage train.

Even if the option were restricted to Commanders, I think it's cool and adds some additional flavor to deploying crafted items.

I am ambivalent about switching gear. It seems way too much for troops but feasable for commanders, however there should be a limit. Perhaps a checkbox when doing the original equiping, wherein one could select a second set to bring along. I suppose if this were the case the skill required could be stepped up and allow the "squire" to bring more with higher skill levels.

The automatic stabling of riding horses in a friendly city during reinforcement is a great idea. I think this might be limited as well, though. You could allow this to work only if the friendly city has the horse trainer building?

It was 'useful' in that you could act upon latest scout reports and change your equipment while your army was en-route: perhaps you could remove the equipment if you foresaw certain defeat, or add equipment if you forgot to do so before sending.

I'd support 'overloading' equipment, so that a choice can be made in the battlefield.

Minor point: There's then a tricky simulation question of when opposing armies change equipment. Given that our simulation is fairly simple, and presents only limited opportunities for 'phases' for decisions, we could have a situation where both sides change equipment, based on what they see of their enemy, and are no better off after the change.

Edited by Albatross - 05 Apr 2013 at 12:59