stockwellpete wrote:
Some of these ideas I have already spoken to Lysimachos about but I'll put them here now for wider consideration. I think there are two things missing from the campaign at the moment . . .
i) it should cost money to fight battles, use navies and make "allied" attacks on your enemies. Maybe something like 100 ducats to equip an army for a battle; 50 ducats to mobilise the fleet, either to fight an enemy fleet or to transport an army for an overseas attack; and maybe 50 ducats to sponsor an "allied" attack.
ii) the game needs a more detailed political instability rule that would allow a "civil war" within a power that was performing badly. The current stability rating could have a trigger point (maybe at 5 or 6) where a civil war would be initiated and a second trigger point could be if a player (using his own faction's army, not including allied attacks) suffered consecutive strategic defeats - in this case, the stability rating of the power would not be taken into account at all. Once a "civil war" had been established you could either use the lottery draw to see if the incumbent ruler survived or whether there was a change of ruler or you could require the player to fight a DAG battle against another player drawn by the lottery (both players using the same DAG army) to resolve the conflict. If the ruler is overthrown (defeated in the battle, drawswould be replayed) then all the provinces that he has conquered previously would revert to independent status (including any he may have conquered from other players). If he is successful his empire remains intact but he is penalised 100 ducats (or more) to represent the damage done to his territory. Note: defeat would not mean the human player would be required to leave the game, it would just mean that his power had undergone political change.
Other suggestions . . .
iii) Building an Academy should be required before diplomatic activity can take place. At the moment a player is allowed three diplomatic agreements at any one time. I would alter this by distinguishing between "diplomatic agreements" and "trade agreements" (building a Merchant's Quarter would still be necessary for these) in future. Players could still be allowed a maximum of three "diplomatic agreements" but they could make an unlimited number of trade agreements. This would help to generate more income in the game to enable players to cope with suggestions i) and ii).
iv) The random event chart for the lottery draw on the first of the month could be revised slightly to allow players the chance to gain bigger financial bonuses e.g. 100 ducats instead of 25 or 50.
v) either a player may only make one attack per campaign with any "allied" power or a player may only make attacks with an "allied" power until such time as that ally is defeated (signalling the breakdown of the relationship). This would prevent unrealistic repeat attacks.
EDIT: just one other thought. Possibly, the stability level of a power should only be affected by strategic defeats (routs) and not tactical defeats (ordered withdrawals).
Interesting ideas also here!
Going with order:
1) I've already explained my aversion about this rule given the fact that attacks already are very expensive in point of time consummation and risk.
2) a stability check may be of course be inserted in the rules and could also work well. I'd prefer anyway to link it only to the stability level (it's easier to manage).
Then a civil war battle against his own army led by another player randomly chosen could be the best solution, with the dissolving of the nation in case of defeat, the survival and the loss of 100 ducats in case of draw and that of 50 ducats in case of victory. Obviously until the battle wouldn't be finished the player wouldn't be allowed to make any other action
3) I agree that academy should be required for some kind of diplomatic agreement but, in order of not making thier construction substantially mandatory, I would limit this feature to the signing of Mutual Defence Agreements and Alliances
4) No problem in amending slightly the financial bonuses of random events
5) Maybe, instead of imposing limit of this kind, we could imagine only for this kind of attack (allied) a little cost of 25 ducats.
To recapture Emilia you will need a strategic win, a tactical win will not get you back the province. I would not be able to beat any of the players in this competition in a Milanese v Free Company match-up, let alone win a strategic victory, but you might manage it. Florence can have loads of Swiss pike and will slaughter the Milanese. I doubt that you could avoid defeat in a match-up like that.