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  • Logistics

    Howdy folks. Haven't posted on Apolyton in years, but I was just reading one of the books in the Belisarius series (by Eric Flint), and a fantastic idea just popped into my head for Civilization (logistics play a large part in the story). I know its too late to make it into Civ IV, but I gotta tell somebody. Hopefully I'm not going to be "that guy" that comes up with the idea after four dozen others already have. But after skimming the List, I didn't see it.

    So, here's the great (and relatively simple idea):
    All units will require a set ammount of resources a turn. We'll use food, as thats the easiest. Just say that every military unit requires 1 food/turn. You can supply them as long as they're within 1 tile of your road/river network (and, of course, if you have surplus food). If they're not near your network (or if they're cut off from it, by enemy troops blocking the way) they must feed off the land. In friendly territory, they can get as much food from a tile as that tile normally produces. In neutral (unclaimed) territory, there will be a small penalty (no local farmers to help them out). In hostile territory, there will be a larger penalty (locals will be actively making their life hard). Every turn they go without food, they suffer some damage.

    This would allow for alot of realism:
    - No stone age Roman scouts pulling a Marco Polo and reaching China. You're limited to scouting the area around your Civ. Just like in real life. The Roman Empire knew Europe, North African, and the Mideast well. Subsaharan Africa was kinda foggy, as was India. China, while known, was complete darkness to them.

    - Deserts, Mountains, and Tundra become actual barriers to movement, as they produce no food. Just like in real life. The Old Kingdom of Egypt never had to bother much with a military, as they were surrounded by desert, which kept everyone out. If you try to pull a Hannibal, you can do it, but its going to hurt (just as it cost Hannibal). In CivI-III, you could march a massive army over the Himalayas and take any casualties until you actually went to battle.


    Roman Legions, assuming they can build roads (come on, we've all edited them to be able to do that at least once), all of a sudden pack a whallop, as they can keep themselves in supply much easier (build a road network and defend it). Just like in real life. The Legions were well trained, yes, but it was their logistics that made them so effective.

    Forts could also be used as mini-granaries, holding a few units of food (and whatever other supplies your troops will need as your tech progresses) for the units stationed there. Makes them more valuable (I never found them too useful). Starve off the units stationed there (could take awhile, unless theres alot there), and they have to leave or die. You then can take the fort. Whee.

    Problems with this:
    - Ships. How would supply for them be modeled? All sea squares currently produce food, so they could go anywhere based on supply. Of course, your trade abilities in CivIII expanded out from shore gradually as tech progressed, so you could use that for ships. So, a Civ that hasn't discovered Navigation or Magnetism (those were the 2 techs, right?) would have to keep its ships close to shore to keep them in supply.

    - For those units that are supplied by your Civ and not their own forraging, which cities should the food come from? The closest city? The one producing the most food?

    - The ammount of food that tiles produce would have to be increased, to allow for the massive increase in demand.


    Alright, thats my pipe dream. What'dya guys think of it?

  • #2
    I think it's too complex for Civ, but I like the idea anyways.

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    • #3
      It seems like something that could be implemented, but with an option to turn it off: "simple" Civ versus "complex" Civ. Lords of the Realm did that. If you did not want to micromanage crop rotation, you just planted all grain and marched across whatever territories you wanted to conquer; if you felt you wanted that extra layer of complexity, you went into the whole crop rotation noise.

      Some people do enjoy sending their warriors across continents until half the world is known, but I for one would enjoy the added element. It certainly would make it a lot more difficult for the f-ing AI to plant random annoying cities within my continguous borders
      Visit The Frontier for all your geopolitical, historical, sci-fi, and fantasy forum gaming needs.

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      • #4
        This seems like an interesting, rather simple idea. However, it seems like this would really slow down the early game discovery and meeting other civs.
        "Slander, lies, character assassination--these things are a threat to every single citizen everywhere in this country. And when even one American--who has done nothing wrong--is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril" - Harry S. Truman, Address at the Dedication of the New Washington Headquarters of the American Legion, August 14, 1951

        "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Lord Nuclear
          I think it's too complex for Civ, but I like the idea anyways.
          That sums up pretty much all discussion about new features for civ, really.
          Rethink Refuse Reduce Reuse

          Do It Ourselves

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          • #6
            Re: Logistics

            Originally posted by Dominus84
            I like the idea, I might try and add it to CtP2 though (since the code is out)
            Formerly known as "E" on Apolyton

            See me at Civfanatics.com

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            • #7
              Originally posted by General Ludd
              That sums up pretty much all discussion about new features for civ, really.
              Because we know that no new things have ever been added to civ...

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              • #8
                Re: Re: Logistics

                Originally posted by E
                I like the idea, I might try and add it to CtP2 though (since the code is out)
                "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." -- JFK Inaugural, 1961
                "Extremism in the defense of liberty is not a vice." -- Barry Goldwater, 1964 GOP Nomination acceptance speech (not George W. Bush 40 years later...)
                2004 Presidential Candidate
                2008 Presidential Candidate (for what its worth)

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