Town siedges and capturing... a cost-effective way to do so.

[Balor]

When you'll become an enemy to a town (huge negative reputation), you'll will not be allowed inside.
However, when you'll 'enter' such city, and will have a battering ram (will be issued to you when you'll advance in the army ranks high enough, or can be bought at high levels), you'll have an option to assault the city... and then the battle will auto-calculate the results depending on size of your troops, their quality and your tactics skill. Of course, even rather minor towns will have large garrisons... and the ultimate goal would be to capture enemy capitol. (It may require you to have nearly maxed-out tactics and leadership + best troops... and several tries, to boot.).
This way, no additional graphics will be required, and not a whole lot of coding.
Captured town will pay you a certain daily tribute, and will buy and sell goods for no additional cost (0% trade penalty) and you'll be able to recruit troops there for free (but that'll deprive the city of garrison).
They may revolt or be recaptured by war parties will left without a garrison, and I suggest leaving companions with high leadership and trainer skills there (as governors) - leadership will make citizens more content and increase their loyalty (and productivity should be based on loyalty - see my idea on economy), and trainer skill will allow faster training of recruits and promotion.

 

[pck]

The city management ideas are good, but automatically resolved sieges sound really unsatisfying. Ok for a temporary solution though, but I really hope real city fights will be included later on.

 

[Balor]

Well, that's exactly what I meant.
But that sertainly beats not having it at all.

 

[Whitmire]

Or perhaps the cities would just change sides once a faction won enough battles in the area? This would be even simpler, and the player could do a lot more to affect the outcome. And I agree: just randomizing the result would be anti-climatic.

 

[ShadowMoses]

Or perhaps the cities would just change sides once a faction won enough battles in the area? ....

yeah, i was thinking something along these lines but with boundary lines on the world map. So each town has a territory and border lines around it so if you win a battle within a border the size of the territory decreases untill eventually the city changes sides.

This way you have to balance defending your faction's territory and attacking another's.

Maybe you could even start your own faction and attempt to take over the whole land!

 

[Balor]

That's what I've been thinking about myself. At first eliminate the opposite faction, then turn on your previous allies and dominate the whole "world" .

 

[Waldschrat]

Yeah, really great ideas here! In addition: if you prevent caravans from reaching the city, there would be less or worse armies (because the inhabitants are starving or less wealthy).

Or you could have different cities, some are protected by wooden palisades, others by stone walls and some might even have a castle. But this would only affect the look of a city and the number of armies protecting it.

 

[ShadowMoses]

Yeah, really great ideas here! In addition: if you prevent caravans from reaching the city, there would be less or worse armies (because the inhabitants are starving or less wealthy).

yeah great idea Waldi!

I guess it could become much more strategy.... if when you progressed through the ranks you had more control over more soldiers you could perhaps see their line of sight and give them orders on the world map - attack this army, protect this area etc. but they would also have their own AI so you wouldn't have too.

so at say Rank 1 you can see and control peasants on the world map
then progress up the ranks untill you have control over knights etc.

Or maybe your rank progression could be tied to your class - so a merchant has a duty to protect and control caravans etc. and supply the right towns.

 

[Magnachar]

I don't think 'capturing' a city and ruling it is so great...

Anoter option :

1 - Siege handling.
Have some special troops (Sapper or engineer, may evolve to veteran sapper/engi, master sapper/enginer) and choose between different options for each day of siege (build catapults, tunneling, build Ram). Resolution should be automatic day after day until : you make a breach, you're able to smash the door or some troops attacks you... You can have some wounded/deaths due to arrows... you can also kill/wound guys in the garnison.
2 - Raid city.
Fight outside the city versus a garnison if there's not fortifications, or have a small-scale fight inside the city in a breach or at a battered door (fun battleground). Size of the garnison is dependant of the loot you get plundering the town... No capture yet.
3 - Capture.
When you have sufficient Rank (nobility at last), you can get big credit by puting some nobleman in place, thus changing the town's faction. Must have some big fight in town, or must raid the town numerous times...
4- Technical :
You just may have to give each town a Size (Small, moderate, big, capital) that will indicate the size of garnison and loot. You should also have skills for siege handling (bonus at siege of course, based on INT) and maybe some spying skill for knowing size of garnison and have a chance of infiltration via a secret tunnel or with the help of a traitor (Based on Cha, low chance cause you avoid siege and go to fight directly, or really dirty fight, one at a time in a tunnel). Troops laying siege would be in battle state vs the town...

I guess it may be the most efficient (and effortless) way to implement this. And you don't have to manage the towns which is better IMO.
Could also give some high-end missions (attack town, capture town, retake town, break the siege), and gives us the opportunity to play the raider party

 

[Balor]

Great ideas. I think both should be impemented - I mean, both capturing and raiding.