Ii Naomasa
08-15-2001, 02:29
One thing concerning me about the Crusades as a Total War game (the general idea of, I love, btw) is how certain elements will be taken into account.
While there is a strategic element to the Total War games (and the developers have managed to make it fun too), the main focus of the game has always been the tactical battlefield. The strategic level has little to do with the tactical level aside from the number and quality of the troops in the tactical battles.
What worries me is that the Crusades would definitely need a more involved strategic level. Beyond the obvious needs to better alliances and other strategic options, the strategic map needs to affect the units in the game.
In Shogun, it's easy to accept that armies moving from point A to point be will never lose any troops. We just assume the number is more an abstract than a definite number and that, while casualties to injuries, sicknesses, and other natural causes would make the number less as they moved, the size and nature of Japan would keep them from being horrific. The problem I foresee is that any long term/distance crusade would not be so easy to abstract.
If you take a fully armored European knight who's 100% healthy, happy, rested, cool, satiated for drink and food, and generally in 'mint' condition, you have a warrior that would be a deadly and nigh-invulnerable opponent for almost all but the best of non-European troops. Historical records and tales from the period of the crusades tell of how knights on a good day were nearly invincible; how their armor would be covered in arrows yet they would still come or how the curved, light, slashing blades of the eastern warriors never seemed to pierce the Europeans' metal hides.
Yet crusaders often lost. Part of the reason was overall strategic planning, other times it was brilliant tactical decisions, and a good portion had to do with fighting on familiar ground in often defensive, or guerilla positions. But other times it just came down to knights being beaten physically by the Saracens and other Arab soldiers who under different circumstances didn't much of stand a chance. The reason being that the knights rarely arrived (or were given the chance) to be in good shape. The knights who made it to the Holy Lands often arrived in decimated units who were worn and tired from the trips. The nature of the battles and the climate itself turned them into overheated, bothered, sweaty, filthy, grumpy, thirsty, and not in the best of sorts. Either they fatigued themselves in their heavy armor or they went without the best of its protection.
I hope that the developers don't just adjust the units to make the balance more correct. This would be wrong, in my most humble opinion, especially if the game isn't focused on the Mediterranean and you'll actually have fresh units tramping about Europe. What they should do is either add additional stats to reflect general condition and morale or simply have the actions of the strategic map affect the morale and energy level of the troops involved. For example, say you take a 60 unit bunch of knights from France and put them on a boat to head off to help fight at Jerusalem. Now, these 60 knights recently formed should be at full energy (what Shogun troops start off at the beginning of every battle) and in good spirits. After all, they're going to glorious battle in the name of their king, the pope, and their god. Their nice little cruise does wonders for their morale, as well as the health of a good portion. When they arrive, they probably should be fewer in number (let's be really nice, and say 50 instead of 60, now) and their morale should be hit a little. They couldn't land close to Jerusalem, so now they have a nice hike through hot, dry climes. Let's be optimistic and not kill off any for the moment, but this journey should definitely lower their morale further and also definitely eat away from the 'totally rested' status. If forced into action without proper rest (and such won't be easy to come by in hostile territory), these knights should be easy pickings to a Saracen force that may have thought twice about attacking these knights if they were gaily parading around Paris.
Of course, the problem would lie in multiplayer, unless any battle that included middle-eastern forces would immediately affect the European forces. I'm not entirely sure how to get around that at the moment, but I wanted to voice this concern and see what others think. After all, it was the distance and supply lines (or lack of such) that, along with the fact that they weren't organized into one unified force, helped make most of the Crusades a disaster.
While there is a strategic element to the Total War games (and the developers have managed to make it fun too), the main focus of the game has always been the tactical battlefield. The strategic level has little to do with the tactical level aside from the number and quality of the troops in the tactical battles.
What worries me is that the Crusades would definitely need a more involved strategic level. Beyond the obvious needs to better alliances and other strategic options, the strategic map needs to affect the units in the game.
In Shogun, it's easy to accept that armies moving from point A to point be will never lose any troops. We just assume the number is more an abstract than a definite number and that, while casualties to injuries, sicknesses, and other natural causes would make the number less as they moved, the size and nature of Japan would keep them from being horrific. The problem I foresee is that any long term/distance crusade would not be so easy to abstract.
If you take a fully armored European knight who's 100% healthy, happy, rested, cool, satiated for drink and food, and generally in 'mint' condition, you have a warrior that would be a deadly and nigh-invulnerable opponent for almost all but the best of non-European troops. Historical records and tales from the period of the crusades tell of how knights on a good day were nearly invincible; how their armor would be covered in arrows yet they would still come or how the curved, light, slashing blades of the eastern warriors never seemed to pierce the Europeans' metal hides.
Yet crusaders often lost. Part of the reason was overall strategic planning, other times it was brilliant tactical decisions, and a good portion had to do with fighting on familiar ground in often defensive, or guerilla positions. But other times it just came down to knights being beaten physically by the Saracens and other Arab soldiers who under different circumstances didn't much of stand a chance. The reason being that the knights rarely arrived (or were given the chance) to be in good shape. The knights who made it to the Holy Lands often arrived in decimated units who were worn and tired from the trips. The nature of the battles and the climate itself turned them into overheated, bothered, sweaty, filthy, grumpy, thirsty, and not in the best of sorts. Either they fatigued themselves in their heavy armor or they went without the best of its protection.
I hope that the developers don't just adjust the units to make the balance more correct. This would be wrong, in my most humble opinion, especially if the game isn't focused on the Mediterranean and you'll actually have fresh units tramping about Europe. What they should do is either add additional stats to reflect general condition and morale or simply have the actions of the strategic map affect the morale and energy level of the troops involved. For example, say you take a 60 unit bunch of knights from France and put them on a boat to head off to help fight at Jerusalem. Now, these 60 knights recently formed should be at full energy (what Shogun troops start off at the beginning of every battle) and in good spirits. After all, they're going to glorious battle in the name of their king, the pope, and their god. Their nice little cruise does wonders for their morale, as well as the health of a good portion. When they arrive, they probably should be fewer in number (let's be really nice, and say 50 instead of 60, now) and their morale should be hit a little. They couldn't land close to Jerusalem, so now they have a nice hike through hot, dry climes. Let's be optimistic and not kill off any for the moment, but this journey should definitely lower their morale further and also definitely eat away from the 'totally rested' status. If forced into action without proper rest (and such won't be easy to come by in hostile territory), these knights should be easy pickings to a Saracen force that may have thought twice about attacking these knights if they were gaily parading around Paris.
Of course, the problem would lie in multiplayer, unless any battle that included middle-eastern forces would immediately affect the European forces. I'm not entirely sure how to get around that at the moment, but I wanted to voice this concern and see what others think. After all, it was the distance and supply lines (or lack of such) that, along with the fact that they weren't organized into one unified force, helped make most of the Crusades a disaster.