interchangeable parts for units?

[aggieman323]

I'm new here but I had thought of an idea to revolutionize combat for Civ. I had thought of the idea of being able to have basic units like infantry and armor for example but be able to specialize them. As an example you could have a basic infantry unit but give it special armor piercing munitions for fighting tanks. Or a tank that could be fitted with anti-aircraft missiles. Basically just mix and match possibilities with a variety of armaments and units. I know it would be a big change but I think it would definitely be a cool new way of waging war because it would be more like today's battlefield with the variety of weapons and unit specializations. This is just a general idea and others could go in to deeper detail of how it could be done, what it would require, and other possibilities but I think it would put a nice twist on the regular old units that we're just handed.

[patcon]

promotions

[Smellycowsquid]

Patcon

[Tattila the Hun]

Alpha Centauri?

[Nugog]

Originally posted by patcon
promotions

CIV is not a wargame - even though I usually play with a warmongering perspective. I would find the game very boring if it was all about war, was skewed to a military, unit specialising game. I'm sure there are other games out there that do that very well, but CIV is purposely not one of those.

[Ijuin]

We already have promotions for anti-meelee, anti-archery, anti-gunpowder, anti-cavalry, and anti-armor. An anti-air promotion would be nice to have though--the AA Infantry unit is the only ground unit with an anti-air bonus.

[Nugog]

Originally posted by Ijuin
We already have promotions for anti-meelee, anti-archery, anti-gunpowder, anti-cavalry, and anti-armor. An anti-air promotion would be nice to have though--the AA Infantry unit is the only ground unit with an anti-air bonus.

Also maybe some additional techs, or mini techs, that allow for alternative promotions?

[iapetus556]

Or certain units that automatically gain promotions or bonuses when a certain technology is discovered.

In real life, early musketmen were vulnerable to cavalry attack, and needed to be protected by pikemen. The development of the bayonet, and other improvements, meant that a well-deployed musket square was almost inpenetrable to cavalry attack.

So perhaps they could automatically be given an anti-calvalry bonus, or the "formation" promotion, when you discover "bayonets".


Also, judging by the unit's appearence and uniform, the "Rifleman" should be using the early muzzle-loading rifles that took about four times as long as a musket to reaload, and so were very vulnerable to cavalry or massed infantry assault without musketmen to protect them. I think it could be quite fun if the Rifleman was modified to better represent their role as light infantry and snipers.

Maybe reduce their overal strength, but give them "flanking I" for free, (opening up the opertunity of Scouting. And Commando, which I think should have Flanking as an alternative prerequesit).

Oh, and finally, the Redcoat ought to be a Musketman, not a Rifleman. Brightly coloured uniforms were used by heavy infantry who fought in large groups in open country, where you needed to be able to see who was on which side. Light infantry (including riflemen) normally fought in dark green or other drab colours, as an early form of camoflage.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_infantry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A4ger_%28military%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_coa...ritish_army%29

[aggieman323]

iapetus556, thank you, that's exactly what I was trying to say but couldn't think of a way to put it as well as you did. What iapetus said portrays exactly how each unit is just a general unit with no specialization persay except with the occasional +25% vs. ____ unit. It would be more interesting if there were specific units made, not just promoted, for specific jobs exactly as iapetus put it.

[Urban Ranger]

That sounds like the Unit Workshop in Alpha Centauri. For example, both Axeman and Maceman have the same basic infantry "chasis," so all you need to do is to give Axeman the better weapon "mace" and probably some slightly better armour to get Maceman.

[Azuarc]

Originally posted by iapetus556
Or certain units that automatically gain promotions or bonuses when a certain technology is discovered.

In real life, early musketmen were vulnerable to cavalry attack, and needed to be protected by pikemen. The development of the bayonet, and other improvements, meant that a well-deployed musket square was almost inpenetrable to cavalry attack.

So perhaps they could automatically be given an anti-calvalry bonus, or the "formation" promotion, when you discover "bayonets".

This is an idea I wouldn't mind. While it would make the tech tree unnecessarily cluttered with information and more difficult decision-making, I do think that certain techs could help out certain units. Plus, I'd also like to see scouts not be utter fodder once non-warrior barbs came along. (It's a while til you get Explorers, and does anyone really use those?)

Still, when I tried to think about what precisely one would do for bonuses - where they would come from and for which units - I was drawing a blank. The tech tree does a surprisingly good job of representing this already.