Nargott
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Interesting scheme, as someone not versed in turn-based combat, I really like it!
I think introducing, as you put it, "exotic" roles is a very interesting step: because it greatly expands tactical possibilities and moves the battle closer to chess. Because the more, so to speak, "types of pieces" there are, the more vertices the graph of all possible events over n, n+1... moves will have.
I might have missed it in the discussion at some point, and it was suggested (a 104-page topic, after all), but wouldn't expanding the grid help such development of combat? Or would the balance need to be completely recalculated then?
In any case, it's really cool that you've returned to work: I thought that since February the project would cease to exist, like many other good things in other good places
Why are these specific speeds used in the mod (3-5 for small and 4-6 for large, except for flyers)? These speeds were obtained empirically - these values are pleasant to play with.
Previously, it seemed that this way the battlefield was effectively expanded (more moves were required to get from one edge to the other).
But now another aspect comes to mind.
What does speed provide?
1. In a melee confrontation, speed allows you to strike first (which can be neutralized by the heavy class). But from this perspective, the magnitude of speed is unimportant, as only the greater/lesser relation matters.
2. The confrontation with shooters (who have a direct shot range of 6 cells) is far more interesting:
- A slow melee unit (speed 3) can be easily attacked by any shooter (by moving into direct shot range), as the extreme distance of a direct shot is always safe against such speed
- A mobile melee unit (speed 4) can also be attacked by any shooter (by moving into direct shot range), but not from all positions (it cannot be safely attacked from adjacent vertical lanes, where the shooter shoots at 5 cells, while a run of 4 cells in a straight line + a diagonal strike already reaches the shooter)
- A fast melee unit (speed 5) can no longer be safely attacked by a shooter from direct distance (without protection), but also, as a rule, cannot safely attack the shooter (except for adjacent vertical lanes, which are easy to block)
What happens next, as speed increases? Starting from speed 6, the possibilities of bypassing protection increase sharply (you need to block many cells adjacent to the shooter); as a rule, the unit becomes unblockable, which is exactly why small flyers have this speed (and a melee unit with speed 6+ is almost equal to a flyer in this regard, which is why such creatures are not present here).
Concerning large creatures, due to their size they need to cover more distance while going around obstacles, therefore the +1 speed bonus is fair and does not fundamentally change their relationship with shooters: cavalry with speed 6 is still easily blocked on cells diagonal to the shooter. At the same time, speed 3 for large units is too slow, making them too clumsy on a field with obstacles (not differing much in capabilities from speed 2 for small ones).
So what happens when the battlefield size increases?
The range of a direct shot increases. This means that infantry speeds need to be raised proportionally to maintain the same ratio for reaching direct shot range. For example, on a 14x14 field, the direct shot range is 8 cells; consequently, an analog of a small speed-5 unit would need speed 7 on such a field to not fear shooter approaches. But if we raise speeds from 3-5 to 5-7, then in terms of movement across the field, the difference between slow and fast sharply decreases (from +67% to +40%).
If we lower the minimum speed, to 4-7, this creates an additional, 4th speed tier. And as can be seen in the scheme, such a tier is redundant - currently, small infantry is quite densely covered by 3 tiers (due to the presence of the heavy class). Spreading across 4 tiers would lead to the form on the right (for large creatures), where not all roles are filled within each speed group. This option is also not bad, but within each individual speed group it is still worse, creating less diversity. Moreover, infantry with speeds 4 or 5 have no fundamental difference against shooters with a direct shot radius of 8, since both are equally well shot at from a safe distance by a direct shot.
For these reasons, at this stage I have settled on the standard battlefield size. However, a larger field has an advantage regarding obstacles, allowing for more interesting landscapes by utilizing more obstacles. Therefore, an extended version will also be supported, with a 14x14 field and a +1 bonus to the speeds of all creatures (this will affect unit balance, slightly strengthening shooters and slightly weakening area attacks, but it is unlikely to break it). From the perspective of the relationship between speeds and field size, both options are almost equivalent.
Update:
Why is this relationship important at all? Because it allows shooters to actively maneuver, attacking more vulnerable infantry from direct shot range. Rather than having them stand in the corner, as in the original, because most units are so fast that they can easily punish them. This is especially true for shooters with high initiative (12+), of which there were too few in the original, but many here. The only ones that pose a high threat to shooters are enemy flyers. But even against them, "tank" shooters (with good defense) work well, which, unlike the original, are also widely represented. Here it will be interesting to give 2 examples:
1) Special Tank shooters of the heavy class (javelin throwers and harpooners) - they are not afraid of flyers at all and can freely move into direct distance, as damage from a run (or flight) is halved (and moreover, they have no penalty in melee combat)
2) Active Tank elven shooters (specifically - hunters), marked as tanks in the scheme, but their tankiness will largely be provided by agility:
- thanks to high speed, they can receive a huge defensive bonus after running (reducing incoming damage to themselves by more than 2 times, including ranged damage)
- and thanks to high initiative (14), the "cost" of their run (spending a turn) is significantly reduced: while a powerful shooter with initiative 7 fires once with a 50% shot, the elven hunters will have time to run once, receiving a defensive bonus, and attack once from direct shot; I find this combination particularly interesting
Added after 19 hours 9 minutes
Shooters vs Infantry
Visual illustrations regarding speeds and direct shot above.
S - shooter, P - infantry, green cells - direct shot radius.
Numbers - required speed for infantry to reach this cell.
The first column shows situations where the shooter needs to get to direct shot distance to attack infantry.
The second column shows situations where infantry needs to get to a safe distance to attack shooters.
In the first column, it is clear that speed 3 poses no threat to the shooter from any position.
Speed 4 is dangerous only in one of the situations (adjacent line).
Speed 5 poses a threat from all positions.
In the second column, it is clear that speeds 3 or 4 are always insufficient to attack a shooter from a safe distance.
And speed 5 can do this in principle, but only from one position (which can be easily blocked).
Thus, shooters:
- are always dangerous against speed 3 (slow infantry)
- are almost always dangerous against speed 4 (mobile infantry)
- are mutually dangerous against speed 5 (fast infantry)
- are afraid of high speeds, starting from 6 (flyers)
Added after 21 hours 7 minutes
During development, I will publish some updates.
I will provide the creature strength (cost in gold).
There are some changes relative to the previous version (for example - strengthening archers, swordsmen, monks), but for convenience I will still indicate changes relative to the original.
Please note that a level 1 hero requires a whole 5 attacks to kill 1 goblin! A level 20 hero requires the same number of attacks to kill 1 dragon.
This is normal, considering that the scale of troops here is 5 times lower than in the original. This scale was chosen to enhance the role-playing component, the atmosphere (realism).
The power (hero) should be grounded "closer to the people", not wiping out creatures in droves.
In the current model, a hero's attack is comparable to free 1st circle chaos spells, with zero skill and low sorcery.
This is the minimum baseline, which is strengthened with leveling up (for chaos - sorcery) and upgrading relevant abilities (for chaos - the school of magic).
1st tier (per attack the hero kills 20% of the creature per level)
100 Goblin (light), Fairy (light flyer, caster)
120 Imp (light), Gremlin (shooter)
150 Recruit (light), Skeleton (heavy, shooter)
200 Guard (heavy), Scout (light, semi-shooter)
2nd tier (per attack the hero kills 10% of the creature per level)
200 Gargoyle (heavy flyer)
250 Zombie (light), Demon (heavy), Archer (shooter)
300 Dancer (light), Brute (heavy), Spearman (heavy shooter)
400 Beast (light)
Compared to the original, centaurs have been raised to the 4th tier, and orcs (brutes) have been lowered to their place.
3rd tier (per attack the hero kills 6% of the creature per level)
400 Bone Crusher (heavy), Succubus (shooter, caster)
500 Shamaness (light caster), Swordsman (heavy), Hunter (shooter)
600 Ghost (light flyer), Golem (heavy)
750 Minotaur (heavy)
Compared to the original, orcs have been lowered to the 2nd tier, and shamanesses have been lowered to their place.
Bears have been raised to the 4th tier, and bone crushers have been lowered to their place.
Cerberi have been raised to the 4th tier, and succubi have been lowered to their place.
4th tier (per attack the hero kills 4% of the creature per level)
500 Mage (shooter caster), Cerberus (light)
750 Monk (shooter caster), Centaur (large shooter), Predator (large light), Bear (large heavy)
1000 Druid (shooter caster), Vampire (heavy flyer)
Compared to the original, shamanesses have been lowered to the 3rd tier, and centaurs have been raised to their place.
Succubi have been lowered to the 3rd tier, and cerberi have been raised to their place.
Bone crushers have been lowered to the 3rd tier, and bears have been raised to their place.
Griffins have been raised to the 6th tier, and monks have been lowered to their place.
5th tier (per attack the hero kills 3% of the creature per level)
1000 Unicorn (large light), Knight (large heavy)
1200 Chieftain (heavy), Priest (shooter), Genie (large light flyer, caster), Nightmare (large heavy)
1500 Witch (light flyer, caster, shooter), Lich (large shooter, caster)
Compared to the original, monks have been lowered to the 4th tier, and knights have been lowered to their place.
Hydras have been raised to the 6th tier, and witches have been lowered to their place.
6th, 7th tier - all large
6th tier (per attack the hero kills 2% of the creature per level)
1500 Reaper (light), Griffin (heavy/light flyer)
2000 Rakshasa (light), Balrog (heavy, caster), Wyvern (light super flyer), Tank (heavy flyer)
3000 Ent (light), Hydra (heavy)
Compared to the original, knights have been lowered to the 5th tier, and griffins have been raised to their place.
Witches have been lowered to the 5th tier, and hydras have been raised to their place.
7th tier (per attack the hero kills 1% of the creature per level)
3000 Necro Dragon (light flyer), Angel (light super flyer, caster)
6000 Northern Dragon (light), Cyclops (heavy, shooter), Titan (heavy, shooter), Forest Dragon (light super flyer), Dark Dragon (light/heavy flyer), Devil (heavy flyer, caster)
Compared to the original, angels have been weakened and increased in growth (1 to 1 is not a match for titans, dragons, and devils).