Attacking and conquering cities from the sea

[wieder]

If the units can attack from the sea it greatly changes the balance of the game making the cities on the shores really vulnerable to naval attacks.

So... Would the following feel too weird?

We could have an unique unit that would be able to attack from the ships. It could be a swordsman like but with maybe just 1 or 2 moves. We could have alternative graphics for that but it would also work with the swordsmen graphics. You could attack and take cities from the sea but because you could only have one unit able to attack from a ship, this would need some serious planning.

This unit would also be really expensive like costing 60 or 70 shields.

[Corbeau]

Didn’t we already have this discussion?

[wieder]

I think we didn't have it about unique units?

[Corbeau]

Oh, I missed the “unique” bit. Ok, interesting idea. Still, strong amphibious attacking unit makes the game more of a lottery or a deathmatch than strategical planning. An attacker can hit anywhere and defender can’t afford to defend everything enough so whoever attacks first, wins.

This could be evened out a bit with this being a unique unit, but then again, maybe not. I’ll stick to my amphibious Warriors proposal.

[Wahazar]

I’ll stick to my amphibious Warriors proposal.

I second this. On the other hand, idea with unique strong unit with marine flag is worth to consider for medium stage of the game. For example "corsairs" enabled with gunpowder advance.

[wieder]

It doesn't really matter how powerful the unit is if it's able to conquer an empty city by attacking from a ship. The strategy is to use frigates to empty the cities and then use any unit that's able to conquer. After that the player can move in powerful defenders. That's why warriors able to attack from ships would pretty much equal with swordsmen able to do the same. The unique flag would only limit the effect but maybe it's better to leave it out.

[wieder]

Maybe for middle game we could have an unique rifle unit able to attack from ships? That wouldn't change too much but it would be available before marines.

[Corbeau]

Use frigates to empty the city? What am I missing here?

[wieder]

It's a very popular strategy to build frigates and kill the defenders with those. The frigates are now slowed down by city walls but only coastal defense. The frigates kill the defenders and then a unit able to attack from the sea takes the city.