Phasing out 'generic militia' models by the mid-game.
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2023 4:47 pm
As it stands I see a fair amount of use of generic militia units in the game, way past the point that such units should really be being used. For some reason a system exists for milita by which they get to eventually use, typically obsolete models of their own faction, but no system exists for instance rebels to do the same, so we end with generic militia even late in the game. Yes, I am told that the stats of the militia do slowly upgrade, but based upon turn number rather than the actual technology progress of the game.
Generic militia units should only be used where there isn't a model available, which means they would only appear in the early game.
Make the 30 turn militia system universal for minor powers
Instead of only applying to militia units of a given faction, NPC factions get access to models of the closest major civilisation to their zone if they were in use 30 turns ago. The distance is measured from it's zone boundaries to the city, not to the zone boundaries and there is a 20 square 'gray zone', so that if two major powers have settlements and the total distance is within 20 squares of eachother, they are both considered to be the 'closest civilisation'. The minor faction will borrow the model that 'is best' for it's own use, all else being equal, but if it has access to multiple civs models it will prefer the models of it's protectors, then those it at peace with, then those it is on uncertain relations and finally those it as war with.
This is basically because it is easier to get weapons from those you are not hostile towards.
Imitation models
Those zone who do not have cities and non-aligned zones (not rebels) use the above rules but with a difference. They use imitation models of the nearby powers with cities, rather than the actual models themselves. Imitation models have individual stats that are around an average of the actual model they are imitating and the generic militia version of that model. In most cases this will mean that the models are weaker than the models they are copying. These rules represent the irregular nature of their imitation process, not all members of the unit necceserily have the 'proper' equipment of the unit they are trying to emulate.
Alien models
Aliens use the normal rules for acquiring models, but they create new derivitive models that are stronger/weaker than the model from which they were derived, according to the biological differences of the aliens.
Depreciated models
Newly spawned rebels use the old models of those against whom they are rebelling (with an exception, see below). However a random penalty of between 10% and 75% is applied to each type of unit when it spawns, consistant for each rebel stack but not between stacks. This represents the overall shortage of equipment the rebel army suffers due to the difficulty of smuggling a sufficient quantity of equipment to actually equip a proper example of said unit model. Because the depreciation penalty is highly random, it should not be possibile to easily calculate the overall strength of the rebel army based upon it's numbers and guessing what models it is going to be using (which is good).
Depreciation is a penalty that will reduce over time, given the right conditions. If the rebel forces are within a certain distance of a city with a happiness of below 50 whose owner fielded those models fielded those models , or a city belonging to a player using those models that is at war with those against whom they are rebelling, then the depreciation penalty gradually goes away. In the former case, the formula is the extent their happiness is below 50, divided by four and then increased by the % of their unrest. So a city with 40 happiness and 50 unrest will cause nearby rebel forces to lose 10% of their depreciation per turn.
If rebels conquer a city, they lose all the depreciation on their units.
Using old owners models
Rebels from cities that were recently conquered by a faction less than 30 turns ago use the old models not of their own present owners but the models of their former owner, provided that owner previously owned the city for 30 turns or they *created* the city to begin with. This has interesting consquences given the above rules, it is harder for them to lose depreciation on their models based upon city unrest/unhappiness but instead they will be relying upon the nearby cities of players hostile to their present owner that use/used those models, likely those of their former owners. To compensate however, the depreciation of rebels spawned using the old owner rules are half of what they normally would be, so 5% to 32.50%, to represent the greater availability of acquiring arms in a warzone.
This rule does not apply to peacefully acquired cities.
Battlefield looting/upgrades
If an army kills two units with the same models as itself has or has one said model capitulate, it gains a point of battlefield loot. This cancels any depreciation that one of it's units of that model suffers from (see above).
If an army kills units of a better model derivitive from their own model, it gets an upgrade point on the above basis. This allows it to transform into the more advanced model it defeated, potentially skipping several steps in the process.
These rules only apply to updradable units however. Rules for things like vehicles that have to be replaced are tighter. In that case you cannot gain anything by destroying the unit, only by forcing it to capitulate. What then happens depends on the type of faction you are. A major faction's regular forces will send the captured unit off to it's SHQ if it can, allowing it to be assigned to units at it's discretion. Militia on the other hand will instead make a calculation regarding whether the captured unit is good enough to be 'worth keeping' and then sacrifice a certain amount of manpower from it's own ranks in order to add that unit to it's own army, where applicable (not robots).
If you have a captured unit model in service for 30 turns, then you then gain the ability to actually produce that unit model yourself, provided you have all the technology required researched.
Generic militia units should only be used where there isn't a model available, which means they would only appear in the early game.
Make the 30 turn militia system universal for minor powers
Instead of only applying to militia units of a given faction, NPC factions get access to models of the closest major civilisation to their zone if they were in use 30 turns ago. The distance is measured from it's zone boundaries to the city, not to the zone boundaries and there is a 20 square 'gray zone', so that if two major powers have settlements and the total distance is within 20 squares of eachother, they are both considered to be the 'closest civilisation'. The minor faction will borrow the model that 'is best' for it's own use, all else being equal, but if it has access to multiple civs models it will prefer the models of it's protectors, then those it at peace with, then those it is on uncertain relations and finally those it as war with.
This is basically because it is easier to get weapons from those you are not hostile towards.
Imitation models
Those zone who do not have cities and non-aligned zones (not rebels) use the above rules but with a difference. They use imitation models of the nearby powers with cities, rather than the actual models themselves. Imitation models have individual stats that are around an average of the actual model they are imitating and the generic militia version of that model. In most cases this will mean that the models are weaker than the models they are copying. These rules represent the irregular nature of their imitation process, not all members of the unit necceserily have the 'proper' equipment of the unit they are trying to emulate.
Alien models
Aliens use the normal rules for acquiring models, but they create new derivitive models that are stronger/weaker than the model from which they were derived, according to the biological differences of the aliens.
Depreciated models
Newly spawned rebels use the old models of those against whom they are rebelling (with an exception, see below). However a random penalty of between 10% and 75% is applied to each type of unit when it spawns, consistant for each rebel stack but not between stacks. This represents the overall shortage of equipment the rebel army suffers due to the difficulty of smuggling a sufficient quantity of equipment to actually equip a proper example of said unit model. Because the depreciation penalty is highly random, it should not be possibile to easily calculate the overall strength of the rebel army based upon it's numbers and guessing what models it is going to be using (which is good).
Depreciation is a penalty that will reduce over time, given the right conditions. If the rebel forces are within a certain distance of a city with a happiness of below 50 whose owner fielded those models fielded those models , or a city belonging to a player using those models that is at war with those against whom they are rebelling, then the depreciation penalty gradually goes away. In the former case, the formula is the extent their happiness is below 50, divided by four and then increased by the % of their unrest. So a city with 40 happiness and 50 unrest will cause nearby rebel forces to lose 10% of their depreciation per turn.
If rebels conquer a city, they lose all the depreciation on their units.
Using old owners models
Rebels from cities that were recently conquered by a faction less than 30 turns ago use the old models not of their own present owners but the models of their former owner, provided that owner previously owned the city for 30 turns or they *created* the city to begin with. This has interesting consquences given the above rules, it is harder for them to lose depreciation on their models based upon city unrest/unhappiness but instead they will be relying upon the nearby cities of players hostile to their present owner that use/used those models, likely those of their former owners. To compensate however, the depreciation of rebels spawned using the old owner rules are half of what they normally would be, so 5% to 32.50%, to represent the greater availability of acquiring arms in a warzone.
This rule does not apply to peacefully acquired cities.
Battlefield looting/upgrades
If an army kills two units with the same models as itself has or has one said model capitulate, it gains a point of battlefield loot. This cancels any depreciation that one of it's units of that model suffers from (see above).
If an army kills units of a better model derivitive from their own model, it gets an upgrade point on the above basis. This allows it to transform into the more advanced model it defeated, potentially skipping several steps in the process.
These rules only apply to updradable units however. Rules for things like vehicles that have to be replaced are tighter. In that case you cannot gain anything by destroying the unit, only by forcing it to capitulate. What then happens depends on the type of faction you are. A major faction's regular forces will send the captured unit off to it's SHQ if it can, allowing it to be assigned to units at it's discretion. Militia on the other hand will instead make a calculation regarding whether the captured unit is good enough to be 'worth keeping' and then sacrifice a certain amount of manpower from it's own ranks in order to add that unit to it's own army, where applicable (not robots).
If you have a captured unit model in service for 30 turns, then you then gain the ability to actually produce that unit model yourself, provided you have all the technology required researched.