Would be nice to know how many bandits/fish people/foreign soldiers are attacking the colony, so I can set my troops behavior appropriately. Just got romp-a-stomped by a group of 5 or 6 bandits as my first bandit attack, my militia were utterly unprepared, I only had 3 guns, metal shop still under construction. I'm not sure how I could've held them off, it was only day 7 or so. I guess instead I should have let them take what they want, but since I had only a little iron and clay and no further deposits nearby, the chance of that many bandits not stealing an entire stack of UTTERLY CRITICAL resources seemed too high to me. Please let us know the size and or strength of approaching enemies or fix the bandits to not take the entire stack. Ooh or both. Your humble obn't servant, Cogsbronze MLXVI, colonial administrator
Doesn't the bandit event tell you how many bandits are attacking? (Added in numbers for fishpeople and foreign units as well. Let's see how this feels.)
Yes, the bandit events always have, just not the full on foreign invasions. Having some way to be able to tell ahead of time which direction they were coming from as well (even if this means building watchtowers or what have you) would also be invaluable.
Main issue is resolved then. Bandit events provide the numbers of enemies for you. The next issue(s) raised: Now for what PartTimeVillain mentioned (should this be in a new thread? or is it close enough to keep it in this one?) Issues: direction and number of major foreign invasions. Personally, it is natural to request for the advantages of knowing the number and direction of an impending hostile force if you are leading the defending force. Will CE be a better game if this is granted? Depends on how the devs want to play out combat before, during, and after. Do they want it to be a strategic chess match (which has been done in many other games) or do they want to emphasize the emotion, madness, terror of not knowing exactly how many enemies or where they would come from? Additionally, how much input does the player have VS how much the troops have in decision making concerned with this type of combat. Also, usually not everyone dies, but negative emotions/memories abound (if you are defeated during combat) if one has set up at least one barracks in a fairly reasonable amount of time. If the player risked it putting it off, well that is his/her gamble. What is that empty square? The square area on the top right of our game screen. If it will someday be a minimap with considerable range, then it might satisfy the need for enemy troop surveillance. If devs deem player to have more hands-on active strategic options: If they want the former, a watchtower (as suggested by PartTimeVillain) that requires time and resources to build or maybe something like a choice pops up during the invasion to spend prestige points and/or troops to remotely scout for information (i.e. an rough estimate of enemy troops, estimated direction, etc.). It shouldn't be free is my point (unless a beginner's level of difficulty is implemented later on). I believe that one of the themes that make CE a game people want to play is the theme of knowledge (forbidden or otherwise) always has a price and/or consequence. Level of intelligence of opposing forces: Also, not sure how smart the devs would like the bandit/hostile foreign units to be and/or if current artificial intelligence would allow it? For example, it would be reasonable to expect the bandits to practice guerilla tactics (i.e. ambushes, sabotage, hit and run tactics). Also, a wily military leader just might anticipate that coming at you in a straight line from his/her base location is just what you would expect. I would also expect that military genius to attempt to shoot down an airship if it was noticed (hard not to if it was big enough, even at altitude). Are you valuable/expendable?: How valuable/expendable is your colony to the Empire? Would the Empire be willing to expend the significant assets of having airships with high powered macroscopes monitor enemies for you almost 24/hours a game day? Or if the numbers are not favorable, count the colony off as a loss and possibly use the sentiment over your deaths to justify a counterattack at the hostile foreign nation? What I know so far regarding the foreign invasion event: I can only confirm what has happened to me in gameplays. Previous gameplays left me either completely or near death as a colony. The last time I played and got a foreign invasion event, the order given to me by the Ministry stated "conscript everyone," so I did. I managed to build an additional barracks, use prestige to order two (yes, 2 separate at consecutive prestige event requests) sets of redcoats, my diplomacy with Fishmen were such that they sent a troop to help me in addition to the Holy landmines of Antioch the Empire sent over (all of this within the allotted 2 days). Needless to say, my 2 sets of local troops, one set of redcoat troop (the other one ran out of time and had to go home, and one set of fishpeople troops easily beat them. They never got close enough to even see the landmines. Therefore, the player currently has a range of choices from deciding to lie down/wait for the impeding armageddon to throwing the kitchen sink and seeing if the colony sees another day, all this without knowing the number and/or direction regarding this event.
