Plunder Revisited

[siRkid]

After our last discussion on plundering, I've been very careful about setting my units to plunder and I'm still plundering my own provinces ever now and then. I see no use in allowing units to plunder friendly provinces, so I would like to have it hard coded that friendly units cannot plunder friendly provinces. Just my 2 cents.

[ian77]

ORIGINAL: Kid

After our last discussion on plundering, I've been very careful about setting my units to plunder and I'm still plundering my own provinces ever now and then. I see no use in allowing units to plunder friendly provinces, so I would like to have it hard coded that friendly units cannot plunder friendly provinces. Just my 2 cents.

Reasons may include desparation, no cash, no food, and the desire to avoid units being disbanded; or a scorched earth policy, I am about to loose a province and want to leave the enemy as little as possible... Just my 2 cents.

Ian

[siRkid]

ahh, you've given me at least one good reason, the scorched earth. A very useful tactic that justifies leaving it in. But there has to be a way to safe guard accidental plundering. Take for example, I start the turn in an enemy province and set my unit to plunder. During the turn I am forced to retreat and I retreat into a friendly province. At the end of the turn they plunder my own province. How about this, a plunder setting that only works in enemy territory and a Scorched Earth setting that work in any province?

[ian77]

Oh yeah, I agree the teleport plunder is a real pain... I think Eric is planning on 1.2 cancelling plunder orders upon surrender... but with regard to scorch earth, I think we should have it, and it should knock a level or two off farming, and greatly reduce the forage level for months...

I also think that the forage level should refect the level of farms, a provinces ability to continue to support a foraging force seems to be infinite, I feel this is wrong. The more months that troops eat in a province the greater the level of attrition should be, and the lower the ability of the province to provide forage. Weather can adjust a provinces forage rate downwards, so it would seem that the game has the where with all already to cope with reducing forage values.

My suggestion would be that the longer troops forage in a province, the greater the chance that the province forage value drops 50%, this would be offset by the level of farming present, and by whether or not it is a national home province...... all provinces could continue dropping by 50% every month if needs be, but would automatically reset to the original level at the September turn, once the harvest is in! An army of 70 or 80,000 men living off the land indefinitely is unsustainable, .. well its a thought, if we wanted to make supply tougher!

Ian

[zenmaster]

I generally do not plunder so I don't have this issue.

It may be hard to code, but having "Plunder" and "Plunder Friendly territory" as seperate options may resolve the issue.