The research balancing update has made steel more scarce in early game - simple consequence is nobody builds fortresses any more during the first days.
Later on there is more steel in circulation, but then who wants to build fortresses in mid and late game with wars being highly mobile, long borders to defend, rockets threatening forts and alternatives you might also want to spend your steel on (e.g. heavy tanks and rockets) available?
Two proposals:
* Increase the amount of steel a country has at the start of the game and decrease the amount of goods a country has at the start. If that's a difficult change, almost the same could be achieved by modifying the automatic initial offers on the market.
* Reduce steel build costs for IC level 2/3/4/5 by 500 and increase goods build costs by 500.
That would bring the value of steel and goods back to balance throughout all game phases. So fortresses would again be an option in early game and less of an option later - just like in reality, where they played a bigger role in the 1930s and only a minor one in the 1940s.
Yet more steel being available in early game for fortresses means also more steel available for production of mechanized units in early game. Which wouldn't be positive. So also at least one of the following would have to be done:
1) Reduce the amount of oil a country has at the start of the game and increase the amount of food a country has at the start of the game, and/or
2) increase oil build costs for infrastructure by 500 and decrease steel build costs by 500.
Later on there is more steel in circulation, but then who wants to build fortresses in mid and late game with wars being highly mobile, long borders to defend, rockets threatening forts and alternatives you might also want to spend your steel on (e.g. heavy tanks and rockets) available?
Two proposals:
* Increase the amount of steel a country has at the start of the game and decrease the amount of goods a country has at the start. If that's a difficult change, almost the same could be achieved by modifying the automatic initial offers on the market.
* Reduce steel build costs for IC level 2/3/4/5 by 500 and increase goods build costs by 500.
That would bring the value of steel and goods back to balance throughout all game phases. So fortresses would again be an option in early game and less of an option later - just like in reality, where they played a bigger role in the 1930s and only a minor one in the 1940s.
Yet more steel being available in early game for fortresses means also more steel available for production of mechanized units in early game. Which wouldn't be positive. So also at least one of the following would have to be done:
1) Reduce the amount of oil a country has at the start of the game and increase the amount of food a country has at the start of the game, and/or
2) increase oil build costs for infrastructure by 500 and decrease steel build costs by 500.