Slitherine

Hello FOGE fans

This game is really a very good one, for me perhaps the best strategic one with "for the glory" (improvement of Europa Universalis II)

there is just one or two great things thats seems to improve, one of these for me is :

ennemy armies encounters in a region : 1) Maneuvers by the two opponents are a reality before a battle can occur 2) for exemple if an outnembered army know the ennemy is near He will try to escape 2) I think it could be an opportunity in FoGE to permit a TRY to avoid battle if a side want to, and fall back to the nearest region on control if succeed (if any so prpare well a d-day ,-). Defense or / and velocity values of the general must be taken into account, and so for the other general if he want battle. Perhpas cavalry compositions too 3) If no one want the battle each one fall back !

I think it's not very complicated to program but i may be wrong. Perhaps when a battle is possible the message "do you want to fight or try to avoid ?" could be comprehensive even for beginners

Battles occurs when each side want it, so...

except for ambush but "lac trasimène" is an exception not a rule in antic battles , we will thinking of ambushed battles later but the terrain must be a part of the strategic reflexion about this

The game is with great armies (perhaps too enormous) , so perhaps overkill chances of smaller ones is in the spirit of the game, but it's near a lottery when you displace armies. Perhaps because of a too generous supply capacities too.

i will be glad to exchange with others players about that. (when i was young my friends and I have improved a magic strategic board game for Rome : Imperium Romanum II, a must with tons of funny scenarios...but only magic with tactical improvments

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/149 ... romanum-ii

I still have it at home

We have a lot to do on our plates, but your feedback is always welcome. We need to be wary though of not making the game too 'grognard' with options only a few would use or understand.

yes I understand, this game is a marvelous one yet, and I understand the balance between "grognard point of view" of old wargamers (like me,-) and the necessity to have an attractive and no so complicated game. But I think beginners don't want to have pretty armies to be overkilled too rapidly without reacytion too with a good defensive général with ten units of cavalry ,-) Thanks for your response, and other "mystery thing" for me too : I don't understand CDR for Seleukos, i'm on turn 4, the HCV ratio is 665/239 (ratio 2,78...positive) and becomes 61/78 in the middle of the screen and i've already 2 bad tokens in turn four, but with ALL citizen in culture. Not funny for the Seleucids and hard to explain for me. Isnt'it a bug ?

I second kokkorhekkus suggestions that there needs to be some more dynamism to how battles resolve. In an "ideal" Grog game, two (or more) armies could actually occupy the same region and NEVER engage in direct combat, depending on what postures/strategies/movements the two organizations were engaging in. As I'm sure you are all aware, that IS the historical reality, and especially when we consider the time-division that is the base for the game (one year).

The game is wonderful and strikes an excellent happy medium between streamlined playability/accessibility and realism, but this "auto combat once per year" dynamic is the least beneficial aspect of the balance.

There are many ways you guys could alter it, but perhaps it is best left for mods . . . I prefer to work with source code, or I'd contemplate making a mod for this game myself.

Thanks Seamus

Reinforcements (in the same turn and region) could be fun too if transposable to FTG II...I don't understand why sometimes the AI have some reinforcement or more surely part of the basic army in the battle in late turns (too late indeed ,-) and never the human player. It could be fun and realist to combine with "avoiding possibilities". (I try to resist because of reinforcement arrive soon or I try to avoid battle ?) With Empires alone we see reinforcements when a draw occurs for one or two turns of battle resolution...

Yes it's a little more complicated, but very logic when you play and see movements of armies, and far better than "my 15 units army breaks down, then the 5 units cavalry reinforcement go to the wolf mouth without hesitation like a forest gump horse"