Boiling Oil...

[Whacker]

Then I guess I'll throw in my pseudo-dissent. I love boiling oil, nor do I think it's cheap. Why? Hurts me just as much as it hurts the AI. Besides, in later versions of RTW, the AI would always use a number of methods to get through/past/onto your walls. Also, I had a number of instances where I tried to *push* my way through a gate when I thought I had a good chance or an opening, only to have the AI hold me right in place, and my guys would get murdered hand over fist. Unbalanced? Disagree completely.

As for overall "balance", I don't know how to say this exactly except that I don't care about balance. I do care, in the sense that I expect units to have relative levels of power/attack/defense/abilities/etc, but not "balanced" in the sense like one would see in Starcraft, or Warcraft. I know CA has self-labeled the games as strategy, not simulation, but I think these games are closer to the simulation aspect that the RTS aspect. Sure there are some mechanics like Zenicetus pointed out, the limited scope of the battlemaps, the "capture the flag" of the town center, etc.

As Jambo said, I want these things in, but the AI needs to be able to handle it. In my personal experience, in the later RTW patches, the AI was able to "handle" boiling oil, whether or not it was specifically programmed to.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I heard boiling water was how they did it, regarding the price of oil...

It will be a welcome [re]feature.

[Zenicetus]

I heard boiling water was how they did it, regarding the price of oil...

I'm sure it varied by region, based on what was handy and cheap... water, oil, sand, lead, rocks, whatever.

FYI, the boiling point of water is 212 deg. F.

Olive oil smokes at about 400 deg. F and actually boils at around 570 deg. F. Which one would you rather be hit with? Not to mention the "area denial" factor and general nastiness of slick hot oil on the ground.

BTW, the difficulty of actually reaching a high enough heat to boil oil, is why I don't think it should be more than a one-shot, or at most two.... not unlimited recurring damage if your attacking force is stuck at the gate.