TL;DR - altering some mechanics could keep invasions and ground armies as a necessary part of the strategic game, while removing a lot of the micro and clicking, and making it easier for the AI to use.
Proposal Part 1: roll planets and habitats into systems and sectors for combat purposes
The org chart would look like this.
Proposal Part 2: Once a system is occupied, “invade” planets and habitats automatically from a pool of available empire armies.
Advantages of this system over the current one, as I see it
Proposal Part 1: roll planets and habitats into systems and sectors for combat purposes
The org chart would look like this.
- Empire
- Sector
- System
- Planet
- Planet
- Habitat
- System
- Planet
- System
- Planet
- System
- Sector
Proposal Part 2: Once a system is occupied, “invade” planets and habitats automatically from a pool of available empire armies.
- Armies are available in “barracks” on planets/habitats/stations. Building one of these buildings will put a certain amount of armies into the empire pool, like defense armies work now.
- You could either have different buildings for defense armies and assault armies, or have a fixed pool of armies and change their jobs based on where they are.
- This might mean an empire could deploy all its armies forward and leave itself vulnerable to counter-attack, or hold too many back and not be able to advance as quickly as it needs.
- An empire will deploy armies from its pool as needed until it hits its limit. Deployed armies cost more energy credits/minerals in upkeep.
- If an empire has more invasion fronts than armies, or more defensive fronts than armies, they will be split evenly, but:
- Players can prioritise certain systems manually if they want to concentrate on key choke points or important worlds.
- Armies will fight each other somewhat as of now, and as they win they will tick up the “occupation level” of a system over time.
- If a planet is not falling fast enough, the "bombard" mechanic can still be used by a fleet to provide orbital support to the ground invasion force.
- A “connectedness” metric can be used to dictate how many armies can get there.
- Paths to Empire or Sector capital systems, or systems with a lot of military buildings, mean armies can be reinforced.
- Broken paths and cut off systems mean armies are not reinforced and deplete.
- At 0% occupation but with control of the starbase, control of the system flips over but system resources are reduced to 0.
- As occupation increases, the system starts producing resources again, proportional to the occupation level, i.e. If the original owner retakes the system, they have to work occupation the other direction, expelling the other empire over time.
- Under normal war, a system will tick up to 75% occupation and stop there until the war ends. If a system is 50% occupied or higher and claimed, it can be transferred as part of the war ending.
- Exterminator/Assimilator/Total War would be able to tick up to 100% while the war is ongoing.
- After the war ends, the work of increasing occupation to 100% still continues, necessitating a deployment of armies and a cost in energy credits, which will gradually come down as systems hit 100%.
- Taking sector/empire capitals increases the rate at which occupation rates increase in all systems below them in the tree.
Advantages of this system over the current one, as I see it
- Maintain “ground combat” and army effectiveness as mechanics, remove transport ships and manual invasions as mechanics.
- Deepens strategic game, i.e. where to build army-supporting infrastructure, while removing a lot of tedious micro.
- Easier for the AI to handle
- Makes occupation slow to start with acceleration as capitals are taken, hopefully reducing drawn out wars in SP and manually having to click invade on every planet in an empire.
- Provides another metric other than "war exhaustion" for measuring war progress.
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