AU mod: the guerilla unit

[sabrewolf]

for a change a short, not too discussion-intensive thread: the guerilla unit.

- in the PTW-AU-mod, guerilla got it's attack increased to 8, exactly like the infantry. (the 8-attack infantry has already been adopted in the C3C-version of the mod)

- everything is the same for the guerilla unit, except that it now upgrades to TOW-infantry (A:12,D:14). but this come a lot later with rocketry and usually far more than 50 turns away (after replacable parts follow AT, electronics, radio and the whole upper branch).

so my proposals:
a) give the guerilla an attack of 8
OR
b) treat all terrain as road and keep attack value at 6


b is a more risky idea, but because i see the AI often running around with guerillas, at least it could use it as a great sabotaging unit (pillage). of course this should only be allowed if the attack stays at 6. with 8 the guerilla would be the same or faster than cavalry!

[sabrewolf]

in addition:
in the PTW version mod, the guerilla got ZOC...

[ducki]

I like the ATAR idea, especially since they are guerillas. Besides, by the time they come around, everything should be roaded anyway and probably railed, no?

Does ATAR work in enemy territory?

[Theseus]

Cool idea.

[lockstep]

Originally posted by ducki
Does ATAR work in enemy territory?

I haven't tested it myself, but from the stories about how great Conquistador armies are in C3C, I guess it does work.

[Jaybe]

Movement of 2 and all terrain as grassland also works well for guerillas.

[Risa]

Proposal b may be a cool idea, but IMO it doesn't suit the philosophy of AU mod. Guerillas are just upgraded archer or longbowman, the resourceless offense (and defense) units of industrial era. It should be a slow-mover.

[alexman]

Agreed. A guerilla with high movement will encourage players to build some guerillas even when they have rubber, which is probably not what the designers intended.

I think the PTW AU mod solution was a good one. So increased attack plus ZOC in C3C seems fine.

[lockstep]

Originally posted by alexman
I think the PTW AU mod solution was a good one. So increased attack plus ZOC in C3C seems fine.

As a consequence thereof you should give ZoC to the TOW Infantry.

[ZargonX]

Agreed. A guerilla with high movement will encourage players to build some guerillas even when they have rubber, which is probably not what the designers intended.

Conversely, if our goal is to make the game more challenging, giving the AI guerillas with better movement tends to help. As the AI often tends to get stuck without rubber, giving them this speedy unit just means they can harrass the human player a little better, which in turn gives the player one more thing to worry about. I've played with this modification myself, before, and from my personal point of view, it does make the game more interesting. More so than simply raising the attack.

[sabrewolf]

another idea, but maybe still too radical for AU, but definetly more realistic:
give it ATAR, but remove some defensive points.

the art of guerilla warfare is striking fast at unexpected places. after all, some call it terrorism. having guerilla as defense not realistic at all.
the disadvantage of this idea: it could weaken the AI if he has to build riflemen instead...

[pauli]

hmm. i like the idea of all terrain as roads for the guerilla; however, that would also need to be the case for tow infantry, which probably shouldn't be able to out-move mech inf on open ground.

also, guerillas have a use already: defensive bombard makes them a decent addition to defensive compliments when artillery aren't available.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Jaybe
Movement of 2 and all terrain as grassland also works well for guerillas.

I like this idea. I've been using 2-move guerillas in my own mod ever since PTW came out. Definitely a better feel than stock, and the AI uses them quite effectively.

[alexman]

Under consideration:

A) No change
B) Increase attack to 8.
C) Increase attack and add ZOC. Add ZOC to TOW Infantry.
D) Increase movement to 2, all terrain as grass.
E) All terrain as roads.

Let me know if I should add any other proposals to the list. Voting (by putting above proposals in order of preference, e.g. ABCDE) starts in a week.

[nbarclay]

Guerillas already have a radically lower defensive value than their same-time-period infantry counterparts. It is only in comparison with now-obsolete riflemen that their defense looks respectable.

I see no logical rationalization for the higher movement rate for guerillas that some people are proposing. Guerillas are good at attacking by surprise and then disappearing, but that is a very different thing from being able to cover long distances quickly.

Thinking some more about the ZOC issue, the incompetence of Civ 3's pathfinding mechanism (unless it's been fixed in C3C) makes ZOC a much bigger nuisance than it ought to be. Given a choice of equal-movement-cost paths (especially on railroads), the pathfinding algorithm seems to pay no attention at all to whether or not it is moving through an enemy ZOC. That poses two problems. First, it makes ZOC a bigger threat to AIs than it ought to be. And second, it makes ZOC a bigger micromanagement hassle for human players than it ought to be. Under those circumstances, I don't think the legitimate benefits of giving guerillas and/or TOW infantry ZOC in situations where crossing their ZOC is truly necessary outweigh the liability when the pathfinding algorithm moves units through a ZOC through sheer stupidity.

Nathan