So I will preface this with saying I have only fought in a battle of about 200v200 once.
My current party size is about 80. So I don't have a huge experience of the current command system, but I feel like it is enough to know how it works and in what way I like/dislike it and what I hoped to see the battle system be in an MB Sequel so here we go.
(feel free to school me on any thing I get wrong!) (I have also seen the perk that lets you set starting positions for troops so I am curious to see what this system looks like too!)
The Current System:
So the current command system is more or less what it was with MB, using the Fnum and number keys to move through the action lists and unit groupings. Now I am generally pretty slow and I forget which numbers do what and I suck so whup whup for me but, it still feels like I am mostly rushing to try and do stuff and then find my units getting clapped in an irksome way because they are not really reacting to things because I am not telling them what to do at that moment. E.g. There are a bunch of looters throwing rocks at my infantry shield wall form about 20 feet away and they are just standing there taking it, and something hinky has stopped my archers firing at them too (I think this second part is just a bug though so moving on).
So my plan to arrange and manoeuvre groups goes out of the window and I just default to CHARGE. Not the best solution if the dream here is to have a tactical, strategy third person battle simulation. I am now just sitting without a command role because everyone is charging.
Now MBBL has improved this situation by adding the COMMAND order
(Though it really should be called Delegate as Command seems more involved "I Command you to do something specific",.but this is "just go and do what you think is best!". Anyway digression.)
So now I can just tell the unit to 'express yourself' rather than simply charge. This has led me to observe some interesting choices like wheeling to face the single cavalry man rather than shooting that blob of archers that are having a field day freely shooting you. (I have also heard some anecdotes of units actually doing some clever things like taking high ground or river crossings to counter act a cavalry charge.)
However this leaves me in the same spot as a player as using CHARGE. I don't really have anymore commanding to do...
Desired Goal:
So the goal here is to bridge the gap between telling my guys how to do EVERYTHING, or letting them just go and do whatever and play no more part in their command. I want to tell them where to move and position themselves, what formation to take, but also give them some leave to take initiative by say moving to melee those guys 10 feet in front of you.
Proposed Solution:
Stances:
So these would give you some steps of control/autonomy.
Example:
Hold/Defend/Attack/Free
or
Passive/Defensive/Aggressive/Free
Pretty standard RTS system.
So these would be set under the Command tab. (Now I am Commanding!)
Hold/Passive = Dumb, the current system, "you stand there and don't do a damn thing unless I tell you to!"
Defensive = Project a small defensive 'aura' around yourself, advance and stab those guys 10ft away then withdraw to your designated original position. Orient to face an incoming charge, etc.
Aggressive = Project a large offensive 'aura' around yourself move further to engage enemies, perhaps do not return to original position, but perhaps stay within a certain distance of your original position (like a 50m circle for example) moving freely in formation engaging and staying in this 25-50m radius of where I told you to start.
Free = The current Command... command. Just go and do whatever you think is best.
Perhaps a fifth stance between hold and defend that will hold position but wheel/rotate/turn to face threats. Reactive maybe (perhaps this name switches with Defensive)
Perhaps a sixth for Skirmishing where unit actively tries to move away from targets within a certain 'aura' range of starting position. for ranged units to maximise firing times particularly.
These 'Passive' commands and action rules would only take effect if they do not have an Active Order, e.g. charge or move to location.
Another Order may be a move order that does not override the passive Stance Order, a bit like the Move and Attack setting of most RTS games.
They will move to the location you suggest, but they won't do it blindly, if someone is in their 'Aura' range they will move to attack or otherwise respond to the threat in accordance with their stance.
So that is my main wish and I don't think it is too complex seeing as the AI already has some fairly complex thought processes, this would just be able to give you a tighter rein on the otherwise 'unknown/random' delegation decisions.
Now onto some of my wilder 'Dream Game' feature thoughts. It's late so I will rattle some of these off quick.
Sprint:
Short increase of speed to allow for increased 'impact charges' as speed effects damage. Good for a Spearman charge, initial shield bash, or general choppy choppy goodness. perhaps as a balance you cannot block while sprinting. Increased Damage/Decreased Defence. This could also come into play with the stances. Defensive will not sprint charge an enemy, aggressive will sprint charge the enemy.
Formation Buffs/Debuffs:
Some people may not like this idea, but it was always on my wishlist.
Simulate increased cohesion/focus in certain Formations that cannot otherwise be fully represented in the MBBL Engine. E.g. interlocking shields in a shield wall.
Suggestions/Ideas:
Line: (can't think of something interesting off the top of my head!)
Minor increase to Defence/Damage Resistance
Shieldwall:
Major increase to Defence/Damage Resistance with Shields (front face shield block direction could also add non-front rank side units block to flank). Reduced Speed Damage Modifier (cavalry/charge shock). Reduced Movement Speed, No Sprint.
(No bonus non-shield units or cavalry)
Spearwall:
[Could be a variation on the shieldwall if pikes or other two handed polearms come into play.]
Invert Cavalry Speed Damage modifier and increase (don't know if this is already a thing with hitting someone running at you)
Essentially increases damage done to cavalry who attack the front.
Phalanx(arrowhead) [I forget the actual name... Sciam? Something like that]:
Increased Speed Damage Multiplier. Charge Shock.
Skirmish:
Increase to Ranged Weapon effectiveness. Something like increased damage or range or rate of fire... not sure what exactly missile fire can already be pretty scary! Speed Damage Multiplier Increased Against them.
(essentially weak verses a charge, particularly cavalry)
Column:
Increased movement speed and/or sprint duration. Reduced attack and defence.
Circle:
Increased Defence, reduced Movement.
Square:
Effective against Cavalry, reduced speed impact modifier, behaviour to absorb into square and envelope enemy cavalry.
Scatter:
Increased movement speed, greatly reduced defence.
Free Form:
No buffs/debuffs
Note: Some debuffs could be relative to other formation types rather than actual negatives to baseline. Not sure. Sleepy!
Companion Captain/Sergeants:
When placed into a specific Unit Group Companions skills apply bonus to units stats or weapon damage or some kind of buff. Relative to relevant skill levels of Companions. (Applicable weapon type, horse riding, leadership and tactics could apply speed or buff boosts to formation types).
This would present a choice for making Tall vs Wide Armies. Tall would be using companions to boost less armies to higher individual unit effectiveness. With Wide being each leading a separate party to increase overall troop count.
My current party size is about 80. So I don't have a huge experience of the current command system, but I feel like it is enough to know how it works and in what way I like/dislike it and what I hoped to see the battle system be in an MB Sequel so here we go.
(feel free to school me on any thing I get wrong!) (I have also seen the perk that lets you set starting positions for troops so I am curious to see what this system looks like too!)
The Current System:
So the current command system is more or less what it was with MB, using the Fnum and number keys to move through the action lists and unit groupings. Now I am generally pretty slow and I forget which numbers do what and I suck so whup whup for me but, it still feels like I am mostly rushing to try and do stuff and then find my units getting clapped in an irksome way because they are not really reacting to things because I am not telling them what to do at that moment. E.g. There are a bunch of looters throwing rocks at my infantry shield wall form about 20 feet away and they are just standing there taking it, and something hinky has stopped my archers firing at them too (I think this second part is just a bug though so moving on).
So my plan to arrange and manoeuvre groups goes out of the window and I just default to CHARGE. Not the best solution if the dream here is to have a tactical, strategy third person battle simulation. I am now just sitting without a command role because everyone is charging.
Now MBBL has improved this situation by adding the COMMAND order
(Though it really should be called Delegate as Command seems more involved "I Command you to do something specific",.but this is "just go and do what you think is best!". Anyway digression.)
So now I can just tell the unit to 'express yourself' rather than simply charge. This has led me to observe some interesting choices like wheeling to face the single cavalry man rather than shooting that blob of archers that are having a field day freely shooting you. (I have also heard some anecdotes of units actually doing some clever things like taking high ground or river crossings to counter act a cavalry charge.)
However this leaves me in the same spot as a player as using CHARGE. I don't really have anymore commanding to do...
Desired Goal:
So the goal here is to bridge the gap between telling my guys how to do EVERYTHING, or letting them just go and do whatever and play no more part in their command. I want to tell them where to move and position themselves, what formation to take, but also give them some leave to take initiative by say moving to melee those guys 10 feet in front of you.
Proposed Solution:
Stances:
So these would give you some steps of control/autonomy.
Example:
Hold/Defend/Attack/Free
or
Passive/Defensive/Aggressive/Free
Pretty standard RTS system.
So these would be set under the Command tab. (Now I am Commanding!)
Hold/Passive = Dumb, the current system, "you stand there and don't do a damn thing unless I tell you to!"
Defensive = Project a small defensive 'aura' around yourself, advance and stab those guys 10ft away then withdraw to your designated original position. Orient to face an incoming charge, etc.
Aggressive = Project a large offensive 'aura' around yourself move further to engage enemies, perhaps do not return to original position, but perhaps stay within a certain distance of your original position (like a 50m circle for example) moving freely in formation engaging and staying in this 25-50m radius of where I told you to start.
Free = The current Command... command. Just go and do whatever you think is best.
Perhaps a fifth stance between hold and defend that will hold position but wheel/rotate/turn to face threats. Reactive maybe (perhaps this name switches with Defensive)
Perhaps a sixth for Skirmishing where unit actively tries to move away from targets within a certain 'aura' range of starting position. for ranged units to maximise firing times particularly.
These 'Passive' commands and action rules would only take effect if they do not have an Active Order, e.g. charge or move to location.
Another Order may be a move order that does not override the passive Stance Order, a bit like the Move and Attack setting of most RTS games.
They will move to the location you suggest, but they won't do it blindly, if someone is in their 'Aura' range they will move to attack or otherwise respond to the threat in accordance with their stance.
So that is my main wish and I don't think it is too complex seeing as the AI already has some fairly complex thought processes, this would just be able to give you a tighter rein on the otherwise 'unknown/random' delegation decisions.
Now onto some of my wilder 'Dream Game' feature thoughts. It's late so I will rattle some of these off quick.
Sprint:
Short increase of speed to allow for increased 'impact charges' as speed effects damage. Good for a Spearman charge, initial shield bash, or general choppy choppy goodness. perhaps as a balance you cannot block while sprinting. Increased Damage/Decreased Defence. This could also come into play with the stances. Defensive will not sprint charge an enemy, aggressive will sprint charge the enemy.
Formation Buffs/Debuffs:
Some people may not like this idea, but it was always on my wishlist.
Simulate increased cohesion/focus in certain Formations that cannot otherwise be fully represented in the MBBL Engine. E.g. interlocking shields in a shield wall.
Suggestions/Ideas:
Line: (can't think of something interesting off the top of my head!)
Minor increase to Defence/Damage Resistance
Shieldwall:
Major increase to Defence/Damage Resistance with Shields (front face shield block direction could also add non-front rank side units block to flank). Reduced Speed Damage Modifier (cavalry/charge shock). Reduced Movement Speed, No Sprint.
(No bonus non-shield units or cavalry)
Spearwall:
[Could be a variation on the shieldwall if pikes or other two handed polearms come into play.]
Invert Cavalry Speed Damage modifier and increase (don't know if this is already a thing with hitting someone running at you)
Essentially increases damage done to cavalry who attack the front.
Phalanx(arrowhead) [I forget the actual name... Sciam? Something like that]:
Increased Speed Damage Multiplier. Charge Shock.
Skirmish:
Increase to Ranged Weapon effectiveness. Something like increased damage or range or rate of fire... not sure what exactly missile fire can already be pretty scary! Speed Damage Multiplier Increased Against them.
(essentially weak verses a charge, particularly cavalry)
Column:
Increased movement speed and/or sprint duration. Reduced attack and defence.
Circle:
Increased Defence, reduced Movement.
Square:
Effective against Cavalry, reduced speed impact modifier, behaviour to absorb into square and envelope enemy cavalry.
Scatter:
Increased movement speed, greatly reduced defence.
Free Form:
No buffs/debuffs
Note: Some debuffs could be relative to other formation types rather than actual negatives to baseline. Not sure. Sleepy!
Companion Captain/Sergeants:
When placed into a specific Unit Group Companions skills apply bonus to units stats or weapon damage or some kind of buff. Relative to relevant skill levels of Companions. (Applicable weapon type, horse riding, leadership and tactics could apply speed or buff boosts to formation types).
This would present a choice for making Tall vs Wide Armies. Tall would be using companions to boost less armies to higher individual unit effectiveness. With Wide being each leading a separate party to increase overall troop count.