Hello all
Since everybody seems to be making a suggestion list for units, I thought of compiling my own “wish-list”. The main goal I have in mind is to increase the playability of the game – not to increase historical accuracy, despite the fact that in some cases my ideas are indeed influenced by history. I will also in general avoid to consider so much the resource requirements because I think that after a point in the game they become much less relevant and much more map-dependent. Thus, I will focus more on the research tree of the units.
FIRST OF ALL – ABOUT RESEARCH
One of the problems I see in the general research system of the game is that the cost is constant, and doesn’t take into account the number of units that are affected by this upgrade. In other words, it costs the same to upgrade Tacs from Level 3 to Level 4 irrespective of whether I have 1 tac or 15 tacs. This allows the players to profitably spam only their favorite units and then upgrade only them, making the gameplay really boring.
My suggestion here is radical: each upgrade level to require an EXTRA cost that is dependent on the number of units of that type that you have. The exception is the Infantry tab, where there is no such extra cost (because infantry still remains infantry and the cost is not really significantly bigger). If you want to make it less tedious, we can even say that each upgrade AFTER Day 7 falls into that category. In this way some upgrades will cost MUCH more than others, depending on the troops you have. This solution also scales well independently of the map – if you are strong, you have a better economy and more units, so it is only reasonable to pay more.
INFANTRY TYPE UNITS
Militia
I consider that Militia is a novice-trap, without entering into the discussion of whether they are useless or not. What is useless for me is the SIX upgrade levels they have (I will ignore Elite units throughout). They add nothing serious to their whatever functionality. Keep only three upgrade levels, in Days 1, 4, and 12, where the 3rd level also adds 5HP to them.
Infantry
Up to Level 3 it seems OK to me, but after that I think it is almost completely pointless to upgrade. I would like that Level 4 gives them a 20% bonus when fighting in mountains, cities, and forests, while Level 5 gives them a boost on the AA defense they have plus a small increase in speed. Also, Level 5 would allow (somehow, I said it is my wish-list) their conversion into Motorized Infantry and Level 6 into Mechanized infantry, if they move to a province with the necessary buildings and pay a cost.
Motorized/Mechanized infantry
The difference with the normal Infantry is that Mechanized Infantry (yes, I know that Mech Inf is not considered Infantry in the game research tabs…) gets no bonus in cities or forests and keeps the -25% in mountains, while Motorized Infantry simply gets no bonus in mountains. Motorized Infantry will also have the ability to “convert” if desired to Mech Inf, as long as it is Level 4.
AT and AA
I would like that AT gets a serious increase in AA value after Lvl4 – becoming something like 4 or 5 — and at the same time perhaps gets a small decrease in speed. Yes, I admit that here I have the 88mm AT/AA gun in mind… As for AA, I would like to see it having an increase in AT value after Lvl4, with similar reasoning. An alternative would be to have a completely new unit, in the Secret Branch, that has big AT/AA value and depends on having researched AT and AA up to level 3.
ARMORED UNITS
Here I only want to see dependencies added for the units. It is absurd, for example, to be able to research SP AA without having researched normal AA, or ever AC.
AIR UNITS
This is for me perhaps the most problematic category of the game since, the way I see it, it is always profitable to build as many air units as possible (especially tacs). It is very difficult to balance the planes’ unique abilities, but my proposal is to increase the cost of unit CREATION for each level after Level 3 and also add Rares to that cost. In that way, the planes will have to compete with other units (and research). Of course, if the initial suggestion of research cost depending on number of existing units is applied, then the research of each level of planes will become even more costly, preventing perhaps players from spamming planes.
The purist inside me would also want to have the Tacs upgrade stop at level 4, and a new unit (call it Fighter-Bomber) to appear there. Dive bombers were extinct, for a good reason even. The difference caused by the addition of a completely new unit is that it will discourage over-emphasizing on tacs earlier on.
Naval bombers should (I believe) have no attack on either infantry or armor. On the other hand, tacs need a serious boost on their attack versus ships. Remember that ships have huge number of HP, so it really takes a lot of planes to fight them.
NAVY
Since in this game there is nothing resembling the economic effects of naval blockade, it is extremely difficult to make navy worthwhile. After all, naval units are extremely expensive, have a limited range, and cannot conquer land. As the situation is now (with no need for serious naval battles) one can argue that building a few subs is the only thing you need to do.
Well, the first condition for the navy to acquire uses is fundamental: make some map that REALLY needs navy. The Pacific 50 map is clearly not the case – it might have been if Canada and USSR territories didn’t exist there. As it is now it is a effectively a land map.
Apart from that, I would like that BB upgrade levels are less (from 6 to become 4), as BB were one of the “victims” of WWII. On the other hand, I would like that DD Lvl 5 and CC Lvl5 could carry (and launch) rockets (including nuclear ones), two and four respectively. Same applies to nuclear subs.
Of course, the nuclear ships should have as a requirement the MAXIMUM (not Elite) level of the vessel.
SECRET UNITS
Disclaimer: I hate even the existence of nuclear weapons in the game. It is not a matter of been a sentimental pacifist – it is the true fact that nuclear weapons were only used twice, to force capitulation of Japan, but most importantly that the existence of ANY WEAPON without anti-measures in a game makes the game hollow and not strategic.
Given the previous disclaimer, I would love it if ANY nuclear weapon used outside a province you own (i.e. any nuclear weapon that is used offensively, instead of defensively) gives an automatic -5 morale penalty to all your provinces for 5 days. Apart from that, if you use more than 5 nuclear weapons even defensively, then each subsequent one gives a -3 morale penalty in all provinces for 5 days.
The other units that I want to see nerfed are the rockets. The first change is a fundamental one: I want rockets to cause friendly damage. Even today (despite the military hush-hush) rockets are not as accurate as they claim, and there is no way that you would fire WWII or Cold-War rockets in a battlefield without damaging your fighting troops. Secondly, I want the rockets to have only a small damage against infantry and a negligible damage vs armor – come on, what are the chances of a rocket destroying a division of tanks? Thirdly, I would like rockets above Lvl3 to be able to attack DIRECTLY on flying planes – of course, the rocket would have a blast radius and the planes might manage to escape outside it. Alternatively, there could be a special unit, like “Rocket AA”, with that ability, which would have Rocket Lvl3 as requirement. (Another very interesting proposal is a division of rockets to “strategic” missiles and “artillery” missiles, as suggested by Edependable.)
WHY ALL THIS?
Wars are, even today, fought with combinations of land and air troops – back in the WWI times it was more land and less air troops, due to the inability of the planes to operate fully in all weather conditions and at night. Rockets didn’t exist in the battlefield. Half of the war was fought in the sea. I feel that CoW is losing a big part of the “strategy” because some units are so much more efficient than others, that most of the time you focus on them and ignore everything else. I also feel that the neglect of a whole existing branch (the navy) is not to the best interests of the game.
Those proposals have as target to make it more difficult not only for the planes, but for any one-dimensional strategy. I know that some (especially the ability to “upgrade” a unit and the research cost depending on number of units) require a mechanism that doesn’t exist, but the rest are I think relatively easy to implement (especially the dependencies, the friendly damage of rockets, and the terrain-based bonuses).
Happy gaming!
Since everybody seems to be making a suggestion list for units, I thought of compiling my own “wish-list”. The main goal I have in mind is to increase the playability of the game – not to increase historical accuracy, despite the fact that in some cases my ideas are indeed influenced by history. I will also in general avoid to consider so much the resource requirements because I think that after a point in the game they become much less relevant and much more map-dependent. Thus, I will focus more on the research tree of the units.
FIRST OF ALL – ABOUT RESEARCH
One of the problems I see in the general research system of the game is that the cost is constant, and doesn’t take into account the number of units that are affected by this upgrade. In other words, it costs the same to upgrade Tacs from Level 3 to Level 4 irrespective of whether I have 1 tac or 15 tacs. This allows the players to profitably spam only their favorite units and then upgrade only them, making the gameplay really boring.
My suggestion here is radical: each upgrade level to require an EXTRA cost that is dependent on the number of units of that type that you have. The exception is the Infantry tab, where there is no such extra cost (because infantry still remains infantry and the cost is not really significantly bigger). If you want to make it less tedious, we can even say that each upgrade AFTER Day 7 falls into that category. In this way some upgrades will cost MUCH more than others, depending on the troops you have. This solution also scales well independently of the map – if you are strong, you have a better economy and more units, so it is only reasonable to pay more.
INFANTRY TYPE UNITS
Militia
I consider that Militia is a novice-trap, without entering into the discussion of whether they are useless or not. What is useless for me is the SIX upgrade levels they have (I will ignore Elite units throughout). They add nothing serious to their whatever functionality. Keep only three upgrade levels, in Days 1, 4, and 12, where the 3rd level also adds 5HP to them.
Infantry
Up to Level 3 it seems OK to me, but after that I think it is almost completely pointless to upgrade. I would like that Level 4 gives them a 20% bonus when fighting in mountains, cities, and forests, while Level 5 gives them a boost on the AA defense they have plus a small increase in speed. Also, Level 5 would allow (somehow, I said it is my wish-list) their conversion into Motorized Infantry and Level 6 into Mechanized infantry, if they move to a province with the necessary buildings and pay a cost.
Motorized/Mechanized infantry
The difference with the normal Infantry is that Mechanized Infantry (yes, I know that Mech Inf is not considered Infantry in the game research tabs…) gets no bonus in cities or forests and keeps the -25% in mountains, while Motorized Infantry simply gets no bonus in mountains. Motorized Infantry will also have the ability to “convert” if desired to Mech Inf, as long as it is Level 4.
AT and AA
I would like that AT gets a serious increase in AA value after Lvl4 – becoming something like 4 or 5 — and at the same time perhaps gets a small decrease in speed. Yes, I admit that here I have the 88mm AT/AA gun in mind… As for AA, I would like to see it having an increase in AT value after Lvl4, with similar reasoning. An alternative would be to have a completely new unit, in the Secret Branch, that has big AT/AA value and depends on having researched AT and AA up to level 3.
ARMORED UNITS
Here I only want to see dependencies added for the units. It is absurd, for example, to be able to research SP AA without having researched normal AA, or ever AC.
AIR UNITS
This is for me perhaps the most problematic category of the game since, the way I see it, it is always profitable to build as many air units as possible (especially tacs). It is very difficult to balance the planes’ unique abilities, but my proposal is to increase the cost of unit CREATION for each level after Level 3 and also add Rares to that cost. In that way, the planes will have to compete with other units (and research). Of course, if the initial suggestion of research cost depending on number of existing units is applied, then the research of each level of planes will become even more costly, preventing perhaps players from spamming planes.
The purist inside me would also want to have the Tacs upgrade stop at level 4, and a new unit (call it Fighter-Bomber) to appear there. Dive bombers were extinct, for a good reason even. The difference caused by the addition of a completely new unit is that it will discourage over-emphasizing on tacs earlier on.
Naval bombers should (I believe) have no attack on either infantry or armor. On the other hand, tacs need a serious boost on their attack versus ships. Remember that ships have huge number of HP, so it really takes a lot of planes to fight them.
NAVY
Since in this game there is nothing resembling the economic effects of naval blockade, it is extremely difficult to make navy worthwhile. After all, naval units are extremely expensive, have a limited range, and cannot conquer land. As the situation is now (with no need for serious naval battles) one can argue that building a few subs is the only thing you need to do.
Well, the first condition for the navy to acquire uses is fundamental: make some map that REALLY needs navy. The Pacific 50 map is clearly not the case – it might have been if Canada and USSR territories didn’t exist there. As it is now it is a effectively a land map.
Apart from that, I would like that BB upgrade levels are less (from 6 to become 4), as BB were one of the “victims” of WWII. On the other hand, I would like that DD Lvl 5 and CC Lvl5 could carry (and launch) rockets (including nuclear ones), two and four respectively. Same applies to nuclear subs.
Of course, the nuclear ships should have as a requirement the MAXIMUM (not Elite) level of the vessel.
SECRET UNITS
Disclaimer: I hate even the existence of nuclear weapons in the game. It is not a matter of been a sentimental pacifist – it is the true fact that nuclear weapons were only used twice, to force capitulation of Japan, but most importantly that the existence of ANY WEAPON without anti-measures in a game makes the game hollow and not strategic.
Given the previous disclaimer, I would love it if ANY nuclear weapon used outside a province you own (i.e. any nuclear weapon that is used offensively, instead of defensively) gives an automatic -5 morale penalty to all your provinces for 5 days. Apart from that, if you use more than 5 nuclear weapons even defensively, then each subsequent one gives a -3 morale penalty in all provinces for 5 days.
The other units that I want to see nerfed are the rockets. The first change is a fundamental one: I want rockets to cause friendly damage. Even today (despite the military hush-hush) rockets are not as accurate as they claim, and there is no way that you would fire WWII or Cold-War rockets in a battlefield without damaging your fighting troops. Secondly, I want the rockets to have only a small damage against infantry and a negligible damage vs armor – come on, what are the chances of a rocket destroying a division of tanks? Thirdly, I would like rockets above Lvl3 to be able to attack DIRECTLY on flying planes – of course, the rocket would have a blast radius and the planes might manage to escape outside it. Alternatively, there could be a special unit, like “Rocket AA”, with that ability, which would have Rocket Lvl3 as requirement. (Another very interesting proposal is a division of rockets to “strategic” missiles and “artillery” missiles, as suggested by Edependable.)
WHY ALL THIS?
Wars are, even today, fought with combinations of land and air troops – back in the WWI times it was more land and less air troops, due to the inability of the planes to operate fully in all weather conditions and at night. Rockets didn’t exist in the battlefield. Half of the war was fought in the sea. I feel that CoW is losing a big part of the “strategy” because some units are so much more efficient than others, that most of the time you focus on them and ignore everything else. I also feel that the neglect of a whole existing branch (the navy) is not to the best interests of the game.
Those proposals have as target to make it more difficult not only for the planes, but for any one-dimensional strategy. I know that some (especially the ability to “upgrade” a unit and the research cost depending on number of units) require a mechanism that doesn’t exist, but the rest are I think relatively easy to implement (especially the dependencies, the friendly damage of rockets, and the terrain-based bonuses).
Happy gaming!
The post was edited 1 time, last by atreas1 ().