Before we begin...
_____PREAMBLE_____
I’ve always been in love with strategy games. Risk, Axis & Allies, you name it! I won’t say I was always the Pro, or that I never fell flat on my face, but my love for them has endured great empires and tragic defeats. With the dawning of the age of digital strategy, I no longer had to rely on the availability of others – computer AI became my nemesis. My brothers and I have always shared interests, overlapping to some degree, and where one brother’s interest fell short of the Fantasy elements of AoW, the other became thrilled (he’s the only one of us to have read Lord of the Rings, if that tells you anything).
It became a competition between us to develop the best map – rudimentary as they were – to try to best each other. He was always the better artist, so his typically took on a more creative flare, leaving me far behind. Mine were bland and brutal, lots of blood and little scenery. His took into account the flow of strategy and the plethora of options available to those with eyes to see. And then there was Athendore…
Eventually I found the ability to edit the Mapset.
The oddities and intricacies of the game suddenly became my playthings. I could change so much and bring to life a new level of strategy. My brother and I quickly rearranged the combatants to suit our silly whims, but over time we looked to practicality, logistics, and balance. As we moved through our lives into adulthood and through university and into marriage, we fell from our games. He more than I, for I still can’t get enough of them – for him, they are childish memories best left in the past.
With this in mind, I plan to recreate – and improve – the choicest pieces of our Mod, instilling all that I’ve observed in the multitude of other games I’ve experienced along the way. This is not a Mod for everyone, and I don’t expect to make many fans or curry for their favor. This is my project and I will shamelessly utilize all the products of other AoW fans along the way, and I plan to eventually force it upon my brother for one more rematch.
So, welcome to the Requiem Mod .
ON DURABILITY, GROWTH, AND EXPERIENCE:
(Starting Note – “Level” refers to skill/experience levels, be it a Hero level or a Silver/Gold Medal. “Tier” refers to the Production level of a unit, coinciding with the number of hexes of a city, or the installation rate in Guilds.)
I remember a rather long time ago reading up on a couple of reviews from such staple classics as Age of Empires and Warcraft II – and later Warcraft III. The views of such professional gamers gave me reason to take stock of my own adventures in less mainstream games like Lords of the Realm, Age of Wonders, and perhaps less known Total Annihilation: Kingdoms (another game I edited heavily). The wonder of Age of Wonders is that it sort of combines the two into a turn-based setting. Age of Empires gives you a hearty load of units, all with basic core principles and strategies, while Warcraft II gives you tons of cannon fodder… but it is her later sibling Warcraft III that hits on my points here. They saw that the units in WCII were not likely to survive a couple of fights whereas they took efforts in WCIII to keep units around longer. They effectively slowed the pace of the fighting so that you could get those clear little nuances out of each unit.
Age of Wonders has the same basic layout faction-to-faction as Age of Empires, but I feel it often leaves your frontline forces with the pointless longevity of those Warcraft II grunts. So with that in mind, I’m adding +1 HP to every unit in the game, regardless of its race, role, tier, or cost, or alignment.July 3 2018: A much less blanket addition is now the goal.June 3 2020: I'm now considering a more nuanced +1 HP per Tier, but I haven't so much as looked at the game in 2-ish years. Now, that isn’t to say those parameters won’t dictate other changes, but for starters every unit getting additional HP gives it a little longer to stand in the fight. This gives you more harrowing battles as every punch and kick builds the anticipation of victory or defeat. It also balances the weaker hordes against the immense titans of damage, like Dragons or Heroes.
And, so that they might yet live to fight another day…
Of Abilities & Attributes
We all grow. We all learn. We all get better through practice. This is as it should be, and I’ve always been quite annoyed that the people at Triumph Studios (TS) never felt the same way. A Tier 1 Swordsman who survives to Gold is pretty valuable, and rare. That means he either felled a handful of other swordsmen, more than one mounted warrior, or – good gods – a Giant or somesuch. He might even have carved the heart out of a Hero! Either way, that fellow is a certified badass.
So… why doesn’t this badass have more useful skills? Sure, he’s become an expert swordsman, but a well-rounded warrior knows other tricks of the war-time trade. I used to give all Gold Swordsmen Wall Climbing so as to simulate the ability of grappling hooks to take the Ramparts in a siege. All this seems to do, however, at least for the AI, is putting a valuable killer solo over the walls against all the nasty evil defenders who can pick him off with ease. I eventually diversified a bit, including giving levels of Concealment, avoidance, enchantments (sans actual Spell Casting), and so forth. For example, Dark Elves might keep Wall Climbing as they’re used to scrabbling over rough cavernous terrain, so their light and agile frames can easily find footholds and such. Meanwhile, Lizardmen Archers are rougher, scaly bastards so they might be able to whip an attacker with their tail, either as a Strike or Parry feature. Minimal damage, but still some way of fighting back. These are just a couple of examples, but there’s to be a steady supply of Abilities with continued Experience – hopefully for ALL units, but that might be OP in some cases.
Meanwhile, there’s been plentiful discussion in how to nerf the Uber-Heroes of the Level 25-30 range. Level 5 Spells, 10 Attack, 10 Defense, etc, etc… it all makes a couple of Heroes and whatever nasty baddies they’re travelling with a very, very broken part of the game. Look, I’m all for Heroes and Leaders being awesome ass-kickers, but there’s a question of balance. I should not be able to take a Doom Stack and wipe out 3 other empires in totality. I just did this in one of the later campaigns, when you’re up against Azracs/Lizards/Frostling, shortly before the Valley of Wonders – with 2 level 20 heroes, a Troll, a Warlord, 3 Hell Hounds, and a Doom Priest – all Gold medals. And that’s not even a full group, much less packed out with the bigger, scarier guys. No Tier 4, no Dragons – hell, no flyers at all. And I broke no less than 7 lvl 20 enemy heroes and whole stacks of Tier 3 units with hordes of the other guys. This is ALL TS 1.36, not my Mod.
So how do you address this imbalance? Well, I’ve been trying to find a way to edit the Skill Point value of certain things. It is easy for the Abilities (Spell Casting, Wall Climbing, Archery, etc) – the sort of skills you add to your fellows as they grow, BUT I have yet to find a way to edit the Skill Price for the Attributes (Attack, Defense, Resistance, Damage, Movement, Hit Points). I’d very much like to change those, to double their required skill points. Why double? Because it is still PLENTY for an all-out warrior, and even enough to safeguard a Mage-type hero without breaking them beyond control.July 3 2018: Still very much want to do this.Pretty sure Warlock's Mod changed that, and other things, like Parry. Need to look at that.
Of Magical Ability
So if I am able to and the combat attributes are doubled, what about Spell-Casting? It will require 50 Skill Points.July 3 2018: Thinking 40 points might be more balanced, especially if I can't up the attribute costs at all. That’s 5 levels, yes! Why so much? Because Mages get the shaft in this game, and I mean something awful. But won’t this give them more of a shaft? No, it will require a Hero to DEDICATE him/herself to Magic. Now, before you lose it and say it’s not worth it, I plan to COMPLETELY overhaul the Spells themselves. Right now Spell Casting 1 might get 2 (at most!) combat spells per day. That’s just sad. I could have taken Archery and Marksmanship and had unlimited ranged attacks, at least until I’m dead, or a bunch of Attack and HP. Spell Casting heroes who dedicate themselves to Magic under the 1.36 get a handful of spells, or one big one, and then hope they don’t get creamed by someone with 10 Attack and 10 Damage.
So I plan to make all Combat Spells cheaper, by up to 50% in *most* cases.July 3 2018: Most combat spells, ideally, will be able to be used at least twice per combat. Which will be necessary with tougher units running around.
My goal here is to make it so that Battle Mages are exactly that. You’re level 22-23 before you get Spell Casting 5, which means by that point there are a LOT of stronger units running around, making it a bit more balanced when your Summoned Hordes come along, or your Masteries, or nasty Storms, etc. It also means that a Combat Hero will have to watch himself a bit more around other Mage Heroes. Before, I could just run up and bash the fool in the face a few times, maybe get hit with one spell – or forced the Mage to use his mana against a bunch of useless Swordsmen – and he’s dead. Done is done. Now, with many cheaper spells, and more spells thrown around on the battlefield – a LOT more – then the Mage is far scarier than a single Warrior Hero.
Now do you see why Spell Casting is 50 points a level? Just imagine Chain Lightning going off about 12 times in a single battle…. Yeah, you get the idea. But before we get too bogged down in Magic, let’s switch (to) gears.
ON MACHINES AND SIEGE:
We’ve all been there. Beset on all sides by superior forces, both numerical and mythological. How on earth are you supposed to defend the walls against Titans and Cavaliers with just a few measly archers and warriors? Well obviously the goal is to snipe the siege. This is made infinitely harder by the presence of long-range bombardments from catapults, and it’s hard to sally forth when they are defended by ballista. This, to me, sort of ruins the hype of the siege. I mean, yes, it’s tactically preferable to open up a wide avenue for your attacking forces, to avoid chokepoints, blah, blah, blah… but it’s not nearly as fun. Same for when you assemble a firing line of Ballista. Only Dragons or Heroes can storm a two-rank Ballista battery, and they might not even make it.
So, with that in mind, I’m going to be a bastard and force the up-close-and-personal sort of sieges. By removing Ballista and Catapults from the standard Racial line-up. No longer will every race have access to these weapons in their Cities – the only place most will be able to find them is at a Builder’s Guild.July 3 2018: Well, the only place they'll be guaranteed for EVERY race's access. Which makes those locations HIGHLY strategic. Used to, I’d simply rush in and raze it to the ground, mostly to deny the enemy access to a horde of Flamethrowers. Never made sense to me. But now, I’ll do my best to grab that Guild and keep it for myself!
But, wait, what?! Cutting out all the Ballista and Catapults? Why would I be so foolish? How could I be so cruel?
Well, it forces some key changes to strategy (such as holding the Guilds, and not just cities, and less reliance on keeping other races happy), and returns the grit and determination of Wall Crushing sieges over the Hurl Boulder sieges. Let me explain.
Of Battering Things
1) It puts more reliance on Battering Rams for exciting sieges and not simple back-field bombardments. Anyone can sit back and wreck a few portions of wall. That's not fun. Especially as the AI is silly and stupid, for when the walls come down, they'll run out from behind the relative safety of the rest of the walls. Forcing attacks on the Walls up close with Rams will give the defending AI a better chance to NOT throw away potential victory by charging the guns, so to speak.July 3 2018: I mean, it will reduce the likelihood, but that AI is still stupid.
Not only does removing the City access to these siege weapons keep the AI from killing itself, but it leaves the RACIAL prowess of certain races intact - like the Dwarves with their cannons or the Lizardmen Turtles.
2) It also opens up to two additional slots for RACE-specific units. Some of the replacements will give different strategic/tactical options for the player. This Race-specific nature also forces players to be a little more attuned to Diplomacy,June 3 2020: I know the Diplomacy system is infantile, but still. as their lacking of some siege units will force them to rethink that Occupation/Migration... That means one less army out in the field raging, but you'll get what you need eventually, whether it be a happy populace or a couple of siege units from another race – ya know, before you Emigrate them.
(Indeed, if I can figure out how, the Race Relations will get a nice overhaul, too, because in most mythologies Dwarves and Elves are NOT the bestest of friends… among other things. We’ll get to this if I am able to crack the code, but there’s no point in harping on it now.)
In short, it brings another dynamic to balance during your conquests.
Now, with more reliance on the Battering Ram, a few Stat changes are needed. Now that the ram is a later-game requirement, the Ram will get a couple more hitpoints or added defense as they'll now see more action. I think probably +2 HP. Or in the case of the Dwarves, they'll get the Drill, now Tier 1, because... well, it's a drill – not, say, a Cannon.(I'd also considered making the Drill the Tier 1 siege for the Goblins and Dark Elves, seeing as they're both underground races as well, but am unsure here. Seems to me the tech bonus of a drill should be Dwarven alone, but then the other races aren't inherently stupid or oblivious to the needs of their environment... so maybe a Dwarven version that's just stronger? I don't know, but I digress.)
But it's not just siege, is it? What do you do when confronted with a super Hero or swarm of dragons? Hell's Teeth, man, you shoot them down with a battery of Ballistas, right?!
Only if you've thought ahead and grabbed a Builder's Guild. Or if you're lucky enough to be able to field the Orc Shredder Bolt or some such. Again, this is Racially motivated, otherwise you'll see the same basic, stagnant tactics. Just my opinion, of course. So let’s talk specifics.July 3 2018: Really, I'm curious what a doomstack of Heroes and Dragons is going to do in the Rebalance. Only one way to find out!
Of Factories & Guilds
As stated, I’ve never had a terribly high opinion of the Builder’s Guild. To me, it is merely another source of income – or an annoying distraction for the AI. Why sit and build so many Flamethrowers that take so long when you could be using that gold and time for so much better?! Well, that’s the point here.
The Drill is really nothing but a Tunneling Battering Ram – and Tunneling isn’t usually a make-or-break skill. That’s it, that’s all it is. As such it is now Tier 1, and all other stats remain roughly the same. Note that this is NOT the aforementioned Dwarf Drill – that particular Drill is more inherently armored, to represent the Dwarven technological initiative. This (regular) Drill is merely a minor improvement over the Battering Ram. At Tier 1 it will allow for a forward army without siege weapons the opportunity to take a Guild and produce said siege equipment, as Guilds cannot be fortified.July 3 2018: Essentially, what I've always sort of wanted to see, were these forward siege camps where an army could create the weapons they need in the field.
The Builder will remain, but given it's ability to literally build roads and recreate sundered cities, it is now Tier 3. Why? To ensure it is taken seriously for its value, and it is guarded and worth its time and effort. It's essentially a mobile city, so it ought be a large investment on its own. This also makes it a valuable target for your enemy, being perhaps the most expensive noncombatant unit in the game.
The Drill will still be at the Builder's Guild, maybe the same dumbed-down version the Gobbos and D.Elves get? Regardless, itmust be made available to other races, as Tunneling may be required.
The Flamethrower I think could stay or be reassigned to the Dwarves. Not sure, it is a machine after all, and if the Drill machine is available to others, no reason the Flamethrower couldn't be.July 4 2018: By this point all machines will have a racial version for what I had previously planned.
But this brings me back to the problem at hand of those two machines - the Catapult and the Ballista.
The Builder's Guild only has room for 4 slots. I could put both units here, but that means replacing one of the other three. The Builder is a must, as is the Drill. The Flamethrower is not, however, as it is merely a small AoE unit. This is why I think it would serve well with the Dwarves alone, which would fix nicely supplementing their Cannon. The Cannon is both siege (like the Catapult) and ranged damage (like the Ballista). So giving them a slightly altered strategy of the AoE Flamer makes sense, and frees up the room for the two units needed at the Guild.
Thus the Ballista and Catapult round out the Builder’s Guild line-up:
Drill (1), Ballista (2), Catapult (2), Builder (3).
There are NO Tier 4 machines at this Guild. There might be other guilds, however that remains to be seen at this juncture.July 4 2018: I have since kind of decided that the racial siege will scattered over T2 and T3, so it might be that the Guild Siege is a different Tier than their racial counterparts.
Of Ships and Transport
While we're on machines, Ships are machines, no? Each successive ship gets bigger and scarier ought to be more than just bigger and scarier, in my opinion. As it is, you’re in for the same bland tactics as mentioned above, so I want to shuffle some things – and probably add a secondary Shipyard for more diverse options.[July 4 2018: Really don't want more guilds, honestly, or any sort.
1) Transports should be like Builders in my opinion – unarmed and in need of protection. But why would I keep to the Transports when all the other ships can fight and transport troops all the same? Because the Transport is now going to be the ONLY ship with Transport Capacity more than 2. Yep, you read that correctly. With just 2 slots, it makes the other ships far less effective at naval transit, and more designed to do the fighting and protecting, leaving the Transport’s 7 slots more desirable and a much protected unit later game. As a transport, it is neither tough nor agile, so nothing changes there.
2) Dragon Ship is, well, sort of pathetic. A Dragon Ship is meant to be a small, fast craft with the purpose of raiding. Whether it be raiding shipping or raiding shorelines, the Dragon ship isn’t a brawler and doesn’t carry heavy weapons. So no Javelin for this ship, she’ll have to make do with Archery + Marksmanship. They’ll have to get in close before they can harass the enemy, but they have excellent speed. Not a viable transport, it has only 2 transport capacity.
3) Galley loses Javelin as well. A Galley utilizes oarsmen far more than sailpower, theoretically anyway. In Ancient Days, they carried capped rams on their bow to smash the hulls of their targets. Now, the graphics on the ships in Age of Wonders are all sporting some sort of prow and oars, but I feel this one is best suited. Not too heavily armed, but can take some abuse while it smashes enemy planks. No javelin, but Strike + Charge, and enough damage to make it worthwhile… if a little slow.July 4 2018: A trireme, essentially, or something of the like. Should keep archery since it's losing ballista. June 3 2020: Flamethrowing... some range for aerial defense.
4) Galleon is the penultimate surface ship, and as such actually stays largely the same. It keeps the armor, HP, and yes, it is the sole warship with a Javelin. Why? Because that's what makes it special... Expensive, quicker than all others at the Shipyard – save the lightning quick Dragon ship – and carries a long range punching power with Javelin + Marksman.
But there are so, so many ways to engage in war on the waves, it can all get a bit… chaotic. Other variants might include:July 4 2018: Probably just going to nix the rest of the naval stuff. It's unneeded clutter.
June 3 2020: Thusly nixed.
A) Cannon Galleon is exactly what it sounds like. A Cannon instead of a Ballista. To set it apart, it’d be more expensive, slower, but with more Marksmanship to start with so you can really blow the enemy out of the water.
B) Fireship with Flamethrowing to simulate Greek Fire, basically a Galley, but with the short ranged attack. Marksman to make it worthwhile against mega-HP warships. No transport capacity either, because who wants to be onboard with all the combustables?!
C) Submersibles could potentially force a more thorough overhaul of the naval strategy as it currently exists in-game. We’d have to try it out first, if I can find the appropriate Sprite and set of skills. Underwater Concealment is a MUST, but that also means a lower movement, lower HP… and would it be Ranged like the Ballista or Melee like at ramming speed? Or could it be something along the lines of a chap popping out of a hatch with a musket? Hmm…
D) Demolition Ship... except the Self Destruct skill doesn't do enough boom for its buck when we're talking the couple dozen HP of warships and the likelihood of 1v1 naval battles. Which brings me to another point…
Ever notice how the most ships you ever see in a single battle is, I don’t know, maybe 4? Most naval encounters are 1v1. And that’s boring. The reason for this is because units with Transport Capacity CANNOT STACK with other units with Transport Capacity. Imagine a Transport ship carrying around a flotilla of Galleons. It just doesn’t work that way. Same reason Air Galleys can’t stack. This is the primary reason that the only ships with transport capacity in this Mod are the Transport itself and the raid-designed Dragon Ship.
With the ability for warships to stack with one another, and a drop in price and Tier – thus production time – it is my fervent hope that we’ll see sizable naval battles alongside the typically large land battles. Think: cheaper ships and faster production means more action on the waves, and this might make some of those water maps more exciting. It also means Lizardmen will now have their hands full with warmachines to counter them at sea.
So assuming a couple of things – such as a secondary naval factory, and the submersible and such, here’s the vision:
Shipyard: Transport (1), DragonShip (1), Galley (2), Galleon (2) [June 3 2020: Galleon now also a Tier 2 unit.
Foundry: Demolition Ship (1), Fireship (1), Submersible (2), Cannon Galleon (3) June 3 2020: Again, Nixed.
Again, there are NO Tier 4 ships yet. They simply take forever to make. I’m not a fan. Though I’m going to have to test some of the ships at the Foundry to see if they need to be pushed up a level, thus Fireship might be 2, Sub 3, and Cannon 4. But we’ll see. Might toss in an Ironclad just for giggles.
*All Machines 8 HP Minimum.*July 4 2018: Or not.
With the Naval Digression of Machines over, we can get back to the Racial aspect I was initially on about. The premise here, if you remember, was removing the standard slot Catapults and Ballista from every Race, thereby opening up additional options for Race-based units. A reimagining, if you will, of how these Races could have (should have?) functioned in the first place.
I’ve always been in love with strategy games. Risk, Axis & Allies, you name it! I won’t say I was always the Pro, or that I never fell flat on my face, but my love for them has endured great empires and tragic defeats. With the dawning of the age of digital strategy, I no longer had to rely on the availability of others – computer AI became my nemesis. My brothers and I have always shared interests, overlapping to some degree, and where one brother’s interest fell short of the Fantasy elements of AoW, the other became thrilled (he’s the only one of us to have read Lord of the Rings, if that tells you anything).
It became a competition between us to develop the best map – rudimentary as they were – to try to best each other. He was always the better artist, so his typically took on a more creative flare, leaving me far behind. Mine were bland and brutal, lots of blood and little scenery. His took into account the flow of strategy and the plethora of options available to those with eyes to see. And then there was Athendore…
Eventually I found the ability to edit the Mapset.
The oddities and intricacies of the game suddenly became my playthings. I could change so much and bring to life a new level of strategy. My brother and I quickly rearranged the combatants to suit our silly whims, but over time we looked to practicality, logistics, and balance. As we moved through our lives into adulthood and through university and into marriage, we fell from our games. He more than I, for I still can’t get enough of them – for him, they are childish memories best left in the past.
With this in mind, I plan to recreate – and improve – the choicest pieces of our Mod, instilling all that I’ve observed in the multitude of other games I’ve experienced along the way. This is not a Mod for everyone, and I don’t expect to make many fans or curry for their favor. This is my project and I will shamelessly utilize all the products of other AoW fans along the way, and I plan to eventually force it upon my brother for one more rematch.
(Starting Note – “Level” refers to skill/experience levels, be it a Hero level or a Silver/Gold Medal. “Tier” refers to the Production level of a unit, coinciding with the number of hexes of a city, or the installation rate in Guilds.)
I remember a rather long time ago reading up on a couple of reviews from such staple classics as Age of Empires and Warcraft II – and later Warcraft III. The views of such professional gamers gave me reason to take stock of my own adventures in less mainstream games like Lords of the Realm, Age of Wonders, and perhaps less known Total Annihilation: Kingdoms (another game I edited heavily). The wonder of Age of Wonders is that it sort of combines the two into a turn-based setting. Age of Empires gives you a hearty load of units, all with basic core principles and strategies, while Warcraft II gives you tons of cannon fodder… but it is her later sibling Warcraft III that hits on my points here. They saw that the units in WCII were not likely to survive a couple of fights whereas they took efforts in WCIII to keep units around longer. They effectively slowed the pace of the fighting so that you could get those clear little nuances out of each unit.
Age of Wonders has the same basic layout faction-to-faction as Age of Empires, but I feel it often leaves your frontline forces with the pointless longevity of those Warcraft II grunts. So with that in mind, I’m adding +1 HP to every unit in the game, regardless of its race, role, tier, or cost, or alignment.
And, so that they might yet live to fight another day…
We all grow. We all learn. We all get better through practice. This is as it should be, and I’ve always been quite annoyed that the people at Triumph Studios (TS) never felt the same way. A Tier 1 Swordsman who survives to Gold is pretty valuable, and rare. That means he either felled a handful of other swordsmen, more than one mounted warrior, or – good gods – a Giant or somesuch. He might even have carved the heart out of a Hero! Either way, that fellow is a certified badass.
So… why doesn’t this badass have more useful skills? Sure, he’s become an expert swordsman, but a well-rounded warrior knows other tricks of the war-time trade. I used to give all Gold Swordsmen Wall Climbing so as to simulate the ability of grappling hooks to take the Ramparts in a siege. All this seems to do, however, at least for the AI, is putting a valuable killer solo over the walls against all the nasty evil defenders who can pick him off with ease. I eventually diversified a bit, including giving levels of Concealment, avoidance, enchantments (sans actual Spell Casting), and so forth. For example, Dark Elves might keep Wall Climbing as they’re used to scrabbling over rough cavernous terrain, so their light and agile frames can easily find footholds and such. Meanwhile, Lizardmen Archers are rougher, scaly bastards so they might be able to whip an attacker with their tail, either as a Strike or Parry feature. Minimal damage, but still some way of fighting back. These are just a couple of examples, but there’s to be a steady supply of Abilities with continued Experience – hopefully for ALL units, but that might be OP in some cases.
Meanwhile, there’s been plentiful discussion in how to nerf the Uber-Heroes of the Level 25-30 range. Level 5 Spells, 10 Attack, 10 Defense, etc, etc… it all makes a couple of Heroes and whatever nasty baddies they’re travelling with a very, very broken part of the game. Look, I’m all for Heroes and Leaders being awesome ass-kickers, but there’s a question of balance. I should not be able to take a Doom Stack and wipe out 3 other empires in totality. I just did this in one of the later campaigns, when you’re up against Azracs/Lizards/Frostling, shortly before the Valley of Wonders – with 2 level 20 heroes, a Troll, a Warlord, 3 Hell Hounds, and a Doom Priest – all Gold medals. And that’s not even a full group, much less packed out with the bigger, scarier guys. No Tier 4, no Dragons – hell, no flyers at all. And I broke no less than 7 lvl 20 enemy heroes and whole stacks of Tier 3 units with hordes of the other guys. This is ALL TS 1.36, not my Mod.
So how do you address this imbalance? Well, I’ve been trying to find a way to edit the Skill Point value of certain things. It is easy for the Abilities (Spell Casting, Wall Climbing, Archery, etc) – the sort of skills you add to your fellows as they grow, BUT I have yet to find a way to edit the Skill Price for the Attributes (Attack, Defense, Resistance, Damage, Movement, Hit Points). I’d very much like to change those, to double their required skill points. Why double? Because it is still PLENTY for an all-out warrior, and even enough to safeguard a Mage-type hero without breaking them beyond control.
So if I am able to and the combat attributes are doubled, what about Spell-Casting? It will require 50 Skill Points.
So I plan to make all Combat Spells cheaper, by up to 50% in *most* cases.
My goal here is to make it so that Battle Mages are exactly that. You’re level 22-23 before you get Spell Casting 5, which means by that point there are a LOT of stronger units running around, making it a bit more balanced when your Summoned Hordes come along, or your Masteries, or nasty Storms, etc. It also means that a Combat Hero will have to watch himself a bit more around other Mage Heroes. Before, I could just run up and bash the fool in the face a few times, maybe get hit with one spell – or forced the Mage to use his mana against a bunch of useless Swordsmen – and he’s dead. Done is done. Now, with many cheaper spells, and more spells thrown around on the battlefield – a LOT more – then the Mage is far scarier than a single Warrior Hero.
Now do you see why Spell Casting is 50 points a level? Just imagine Chain Lightning going off about 12 times in a single battle…. Yeah, you get the idea. But before we get too bogged down in Magic, let’s switch (to) gears.
We’ve all been there. Beset on all sides by superior forces, both numerical and mythological. How on earth are you supposed to defend the walls against Titans and Cavaliers with just a few measly archers and warriors? Well obviously the goal is to snipe the siege. This is made infinitely harder by the presence of long-range bombardments from catapults, and it’s hard to sally forth when they are defended by ballista. This, to me, sort of ruins the hype of the siege. I mean, yes, it’s tactically preferable to open up a wide avenue for your attacking forces, to avoid chokepoints, blah, blah, blah… but it’s not nearly as fun. Same for when you assemble a firing line of Ballista. Only Dragons or Heroes can storm a two-rank Ballista battery, and they might not even make it.
So, with that in mind, I’m going to be a bastard and force the up-close-and-personal sort of sieges. By removing Ballista and Catapults from the standard Racial line-up. No longer will every race have access to these weapons in their Cities – the only place most will be able to find them is at a Builder’s Guild.
But, wait, what?! Cutting out all the Ballista and Catapults? Why would I be so foolish? How could I be so cruel?
Well, it forces some key changes to strategy (such as holding the Guilds, and not just cities, and less reliance on keeping other races happy), and returns the grit and determination of Wall Crushing sieges over the Hurl Boulder sieges. Let me explain.
1) It puts more reliance on Battering Rams for exciting sieges and not simple back-field bombardments. Anyone can sit back and wreck a few portions of wall. That's not fun. Especially as the AI is silly and stupid, for when the walls come down, they'll run out from behind the relative safety of the rest of the walls. Forcing attacks on the Walls up close with Rams will give the defending AI a better chance to NOT throw away potential victory by charging the guns, so to speak.
Not only does removing the City access to these siege weapons keep the AI from killing itself, but it leaves the RACIAL prowess of certain races intact - like the Dwarves with their cannons or the Lizardmen Turtles.
2) It also opens up to two additional slots for RACE-specific units. Some of the replacements will give different strategic/tactical options for the player. This Race-specific nature also forces players to be a little more attuned to Diplomacy,
In short, it brings another dynamic to balance during your conquests.
Now, with more reliance on the Battering Ram, a few Stat changes are needed. Now that the ram is a later-game requirement, the Ram will get a couple more hitpoints or added defense as they'll now see more action. I think probably +2 HP. Or in the case of the Dwarves, they'll get the Drill, now Tier 1, because... well, it's a drill – not, say, a Cannon.
But it's not just siege, is it? What do you do when confronted with a super Hero or swarm of dragons? Hell's Teeth, man, you shoot them down with a battery of Ballistas, right?!
Only if you've thought ahead and grabbed a Builder's Guild. Or if you're lucky enough to be able to field the Orc Shredder Bolt or some such. Again, this is Racially motivated, otherwise you'll see the same basic, stagnant tactics. Just my opinion, of course. So let’s talk specifics.
As stated, I’ve never had a terribly high opinion of the Builder’s Guild. To me, it is merely another source of income – or an annoying distraction for the AI. Why sit and build so many Flamethrowers that take so long when you could be using that gold and time for so much better?! Well, that’s the point here.
The Drill is really nothing but a Tunneling Battering Ram – and Tunneling isn’t usually a make-or-break skill. That’s it, that’s all it is. As such it is now Tier 1, and all other stats remain roughly the same. Note that this is NOT the aforementioned Dwarf Drill – that particular Drill is more inherently armored, to represent the Dwarven technological initiative. This (regular) Drill is merely a minor improvement over the Battering Ram. At Tier 1 it will allow for a forward army without siege weapons the opportunity to take a Guild and produce said siege equipment, as Guilds cannot be fortified.
The Builder will remain, but given it's ability to literally build roads and recreate sundered cities, it is now Tier 3. Why? To ensure it is taken seriously for its value, and it is guarded and worth its time and effort. It's essentially a mobile city, so it ought be a large investment on its own. This also makes it a valuable target for your enemy, being perhaps the most expensive noncombatant unit in the game.
The Drill will still be at the Builder's Guild, maybe the same dumbed-down version the Gobbos and D.Elves get? Regardless, it
The Flamethrower I think could stay or be reassigned to the Dwarves. Not sure, it is a machine after all, and if the Drill machine is available to others, no reason the Flamethrower couldn't be.
But this brings me back to the problem at hand of those two machines - the Catapult and the Ballista.
The Builder's Guild only has room for 4 slots. I could put both units here, but that means replacing one of the other three. The Builder is a must, as is the Drill. The Flamethrower is not, however, as it is merely a small AoE unit. This is why I think it would serve well with the Dwarves alone, which would fix nicely supplementing their Cannon. The Cannon is both siege (like the Catapult) and ranged damage (like the Ballista). So giving them a slightly altered strategy of the AoE Flamer makes sense, and frees up the room for the two units needed at the Guild.
Thus the Ballista and Catapult round out the Builder’s Guild line-up:
There are NO Tier 4 machines at this Guild. There might be other guilds, however that remains to be seen at this juncture.
While we're on machines, Ships are machines, no? Each successive ship gets bigger and scarier ought to be more than just bigger and scarier, in my opinion. As it is, you’re in for the same bland tactics as mentioned above, so I want to shuffle some things – and probably add a secondary Shipyard for more diverse options.
1) Transports should be like Builders in my opinion – unarmed and in need of protection. But why would I keep to the Transports when all the other ships can fight and transport troops all the same? Because the Transport is now going to be the ONLY ship with Transport Capacity more than 2. Yep, you read that correctly. With just 2 slots, it makes the other ships far less effective at naval transit, and more designed to do the fighting and protecting, leaving the Transport’s 7 slots more desirable and a much protected unit later game. As a transport, it is neither tough nor agile, so nothing changes there.
2) Dragon Ship is, well, sort of pathetic. A Dragon Ship is meant to be a small, fast craft with the purpose of raiding. Whether it be raiding shipping or raiding shorelines, the Dragon ship isn’t a brawler and doesn’t carry heavy weapons. So no Javelin for this ship, she’ll have to make do with Archery + Marksmanship. They’ll have to get in close before they can harass the enemy, but they have excellent speed. Not a viable transport, it has only 2 transport capacity.
3) Galley loses Javelin as well. A Galley utilizes oarsmen far more than sailpower, theoretically anyway. In Ancient Days, they carried capped rams on their bow to smash the hulls of their targets. Now, the graphics on the ships in Age of Wonders are all sporting some sort of prow and oars, but I feel this one is best suited. Not too heavily armed, but can take some abuse while it smashes enemy planks. No javelin, but Strike + Charge, and enough damage to make it worthwhile… if a little slow.
4) Galleon is the penultimate surface ship, and as such actually stays largely the same. It keeps the armor, HP, and yes, it is the sole warship with a Javelin. Why? Because that's what makes it special... Expensive, quicker than all others at the Shipyard – save the lightning quick Dragon ship – and carries a long range punching power with Javelin + Marksman.
But there are so, so many ways to engage in war on the waves, it can all get a bit… chaotic. Other variants might include:
B) Fireship with Flamethrowing to simulate Greek Fire, basically a Galley, but with the short ranged attack. Marksman to make it worthwhile against mega-HP warships. No transport capacity either, because who wants to be onboard with all the combustables?!
C) Submersibles could potentially force a more thorough overhaul of the naval strategy as it currently exists in-game. We’d have to try it out first, if I can find the appropriate Sprite and set of skills. Underwater Concealment is a MUST, but that also means a lower movement, lower HP… and would it be Ranged like the Ballista or Melee like at ramming speed? Or could it be something along the lines of a chap popping out of a hatch with a musket? Hmm…
D) Demolition Ship... except the Self Destruct skill doesn't do enough boom for its buck when we're talking the couple dozen HP of warships and the likelihood of 1v1 naval battles. Which brings me to another point…
Ever notice how the most ships you ever see in a single battle is, I don’t know, maybe 4? Most naval encounters are 1v1. And that’s boring. The reason for this is because units with Transport Capacity CANNOT STACK with other units with Transport Capacity. Imagine a Transport ship carrying around a flotilla of Galleons. It just doesn’t work that way. Same reason Air Galleys can’t stack. This is the primary reason that the only ships with transport capacity in this Mod are the Transport itself and the raid-designed Dragon Ship.
With the ability for warships to stack with one another, and a drop in price and Tier – thus production time – it is my fervent hope that we’ll see sizable naval battles alongside the typically large land battles. Think: cheaper ships and faster production means more action on the waves, and this might make some of those water maps more exciting. It also means Lizardmen will now have their hands full with warmachines to counter them at sea.
So assuming a couple of things – such as a secondary naval factory, and the submersible and such, here’s the vision:
Again, there are NO Tier 4 ships yet. They simply take forever to make. I’m not a fan. Though I’m going to have to test some of the ships at the Foundry to see if they need to be pushed up a level, thus Fireship might be 2, Sub 3, and Cannon 4. But we’ll see. Might toss in an Ironclad just for giggles.
*All Machines 8 HP Minimum.*
With the Naval Digression of Machines over, we can get back to the Racial aspect I was initially on about. The premise here, if you remember, was removing the standard slot Catapults and Ballista from every Race, thereby opening up additional options for Race-based units. A reimagining, if you will, of how these Races could have (should have?) functioned in the first place.
[This message has been edited by Troyer IV (edited 06-03-2020 @ 12:06 PM).]