Greeting, rulers of Mesopotamia!
Welcome to another preview of the upcoming 1.4 Update. And this time it will be big because we will look at the probably most discussed mechanics of the update, the battles.
First of all, let me recap our design approach for this topic. Nebuchadnezzar always was about non-rushed city-building with a focus on planning ahead. And we wanted to preserve that.
So, how to transfer this approach to something chaotic as a battle? As we said in the announcement, there won’t be any RTS features, because we do not want to force players to rush gameplay.
We also did not want to give both players and their AI enemies a tool to overturn a well or badly fought war at the strategic and economic level by a single tactical victory. Instead, in Nebuchadnezzar wars must be fought with good planning and a strong economic base. So the strong city-builder aspect of the game will be preserved in military campaigns too.
In terms of visuals and controls, we wanted the fights to resemble real battles so we decided for a form of battle abstraction using two fronts and flanks.
As you can see in the image, the battle screen is divided into several army slots. The left and right columns represent the flanks, the middle column represents the center of the battle line. The upper and bottom rows represent back lines and the middle rows are front lines.
Battles are turn-based. At the beginning of each round, both players (human player and enemy AI) can move their companies. They can be moved within a single row or from back line to front line. However, in each round, the company can be moved by one slot only.
Then the round is evaluated. Companies fight with each other based on their slot and type. And then the new round then begins. That means there is no turn order and the actions of both players are symmetrical. During the setup phase, each player sees only the army deployment from the end of the previous round.
The goal of the battle is to wipe out the enemy center front line slot (representing the collapse of the battle line) or to destroy any of three wall sections in case of the siege of a fortified city.
So what is the point of the flanks if the main target is mostly the center line? Quite big. Because if a front flank is destroyed, it cannot be used by the enemy anymore and the player can then attack from his flank to the enemy center with a huge damage bonus.
So players always have to decide. Should I hold the center in safety but risk losing the flanks and suffering a big disadvantage for the rest of the battle? Or should I defend the flanks or even try to break through the enemy flanks but risk losing the whole battle, instead?
Currently, there are six different companies. Each is recruited from a specific social class within the player's city. So there is a great connection between economy and warfare and yet the player still has the option to adjust the composition of his army to suit him.
Some companies are great for range attacks from the back line, some are strong in the front line, and some have even additional flanking bonus when attacking from the flanks to the center. Some are needed to destroy enemy walls. Good army composition and following battlefield deployment are thus critical for winning any battle.
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Until the next time!
