Ok, kids. Daddy is home and he brought Christmas home early this year! In this acopalyctic post-DLC world where flavour modifications and roaming gangs of skin packs ravage the countryside, some men see opportunity. I happen to be one of those men, and in front of your feet, I bring you the most fantastic idea for a DLC ever. The DLC you never knew you wanted. The DLC that will fill the emptiness in your soul that Cheetos, your girlfriend and alcohol couldn't fix. Wait, who am I kidding, alcohol fixes everything, and if you disagree you clearly haven't experienced a good smoked flavoured whiskey lately, but I digress....
THE "SHIPS ARE TOTES AWESOME, GUYS"- DLC!
Ok, so I get that maritime warfare wasn't a defining aspect of medieval history. To be honest, the model that Paradox settled for makes a lot of sense. We are talking about small ships in very large ocean here. Statistically speaking, the chance of an organized open-sea battle is minimal. So don't get me wrong, I don't think it's neither cost-effective to revamp the system into a EU4-naval style, nor would I find it desirable to see massive fleets clash in the North Sea. This DLC would be all about making boat related events (Maybe your ruler REALLY wants to go on a boat trip, or maybe a river cruise) and skin changes. Oh, and these awesome new features of course.
Raison d'etre:
First off I want to make ships into a exciting and fun aspect of the game, instead of being just a transportation device. The vikings defined strength by the quality and quantity of ships one could muster. Some of the most important battles in Norwegian history were fought in the fjords. The Greek and the Arabs clashed several times during CK's time frame. The vikings built their forts on the grand rivers of Russia to protect trade and travel. I also want to make being raided feel a little less like swatting after mosquitoes.
Features:
Ships can now garrison a province. I am starting off with the most sexy idea I got, the one that would bring the most fun to the table. Basically a fleet can now choose to act like a wooden wall for a province. This would render the fleet momentarily immobile and demoralize it. A garrisoned fleet would engage a fleet trying to land a raiding party in that province. Not unlike how you would have to defeat the occupying force in HOI to land your own. I know what you are thinking right now. That this is a brilliant idea, and you're goddamn right!
Right now, anyone and their mother can raid Venezia, Roma and other island/isolated provinces. This would nerf raiding a bit. It would also make a bit more strategy into coastal defence. A nation with a few, very rich provinces could afford to have a standing coastal defence, while a larger realm with a long coastal border would struggle to defend their coast. This gives an exciting trade-off for the player. You can invest capital into defending your coast at the expense of your revenue and other investments. Balance would be the name of the game here.
Armies have to fight navies to cross straits. This one should lead to some discussions I hope. Either fleets would block straits completely, or, as I would prefer, armies have to rout a garrisoned fleet to pass through. Armies should get a devastating negative modifier when fighting a fleet. It would be weird for 10k men to be stopped by a guy in a canoe, so there should be a option, a costly one, to destroy a naval blockade. Strategy comes to play as it would be beneficial to put your army in a fleet while attacking across straits.
Ships can now block rivers. Right now, the only reason to expand into Rus is too check if there are any neat features and events lurking there(pro tip: there aren't). In reality, the forts along the river were adamant in controlling and safe guarding your territory. There should be a incentive for a player to control and invest in provinces along important rivers. This is were I come up a bit short. I don't know for certain how you should be rewarded. Maybe something along the lines of trade posts or just a modifier that gives you a flat income for controlling rivers. As long as it gives you a reason to care for those provinces, I'm happy. This should also effect who gets to travel along those rivers. A catholic trading nation would have an incentive to occupy and fortify the rivers, making it harder for pagans to raid their mainland and trade posts. If a trade nation invest a substantial amount into the rivers, it would take a large force to remove them. If nobody defend them, it would force the traders to spend a lot of cash garrisoning each coastal province they own or, more likely, just accept raiding as something that happens.
Different types of ships. Not something uber-fancy. Just a minor distinctions between ships being able to travel on rivers and differences in strength. Maybe we just need two different ships, one for tribes and one for feudal nations. Each with their own characteristics. It's hard to tell how this would work without testing it first, but I imagine less is best here.
Why you should invest in this DLC:
You get to smack raiders around.
It takes away a couple of gamey strategies, like treating Venezia and Roma as first come, first served buffet.
It gives you more viable strategies against raiders, making the game feel more dynamic and rewarding.
You get to shape your nation. Focusing on the coast means neglecting inland provinces. An English petty kingdom have to decide between defending against raiders or rivals.
Who doesn't like boats? Like seriously, point them out for me so we can laugh at them!
EDIT: Forgot that a DLC needs a name! Obviously, since this is my idea, it should be called Sondre's seamen! Or, because I'm chasing them green traits, "Seamen all up in your f*c*i*g face!" or something, I don't care, just make it
THE "SHIPS ARE TOTES AWESOME, GUYS"- DLC!
Ok, so I get that maritime warfare wasn't a defining aspect of medieval history. To be honest, the model that Paradox settled for makes a lot of sense. We are talking about small ships in very large ocean here. Statistically speaking, the chance of an organized open-sea battle is minimal. So don't get me wrong, I don't think it's neither cost-effective to revamp the system into a EU4-naval style, nor would I find it desirable to see massive fleets clash in the North Sea. This DLC would be all about making boat related events (Maybe your ruler REALLY wants to go on a boat trip, or maybe a river cruise) and skin changes. Oh, and these awesome new features of course.
Raison d'etre:
First off I want to make ships into a exciting and fun aspect of the game, instead of being just a transportation device. The vikings defined strength by the quality and quantity of ships one could muster. Some of the most important battles in Norwegian history were fought in the fjords. The Greek and the Arabs clashed several times during CK's time frame. The vikings built their forts on the grand rivers of Russia to protect trade and travel. I also want to make being raided feel a little less like swatting after mosquitoes.
Features:
Ships can now garrison a province. I am starting off with the most sexy idea I got, the one that would bring the most fun to the table. Basically a fleet can now choose to act like a wooden wall for a province. This would render the fleet momentarily immobile and demoralize it. A garrisoned fleet would engage a fleet trying to land a raiding party in that province. Not unlike how you would have to defeat the occupying force in HOI to land your own. I know what you are thinking right now. That this is a brilliant idea, and you're goddamn right!
Right now, anyone and their mother can raid Venezia, Roma and other island/isolated provinces. This would nerf raiding a bit. It would also make a bit more strategy into coastal defence. A nation with a few, very rich provinces could afford to have a standing coastal defence, while a larger realm with a long coastal border would struggle to defend their coast. This gives an exciting trade-off for the player. You can invest capital into defending your coast at the expense of your revenue and other investments. Balance would be the name of the game here.
Armies have to fight navies to cross straits. This one should lead to some discussions I hope. Either fleets would block straits completely, or, as I would prefer, armies have to rout a garrisoned fleet to pass through. Armies should get a devastating negative modifier when fighting a fleet. It would be weird for 10k men to be stopped by a guy in a canoe, so there should be a option, a costly one, to destroy a naval blockade. Strategy comes to play as it would be beneficial to put your army in a fleet while attacking across straits.
Ships can now block rivers. Right now, the only reason to expand into Rus is too check if there are any neat features and events lurking there(pro tip: there aren't). In reality, the forts along the river were adamant in controlling and safe guarding your territory. There should be a incentive for a player to control and invest in provinces along important rivers. This is were I come up a bit short. I don't know for certain how you should be rewarded. Maybe something along the lines of trade posts or just a modifier that gives you a flat income for controlling rivers. As long as it gives you a reason to care for those provinces, I'm happy. This should also effect who gets to travel along those rivers. A catholic trading nation would have an incentive to occupy and fortify the rivers, making it harder for pagans to raid their mainland and trade posts. If a trade nation invest a substantial amount into the rivers, it would take a large force to remove them. If nobody defend them, it would force the traders to spend a lot of cash garrisoning each coastal province they own or, more likely, just accept raiding as something that happens.
Different types of ships. Not something uber-fancy. Just a minor distinctions between ships being able to travel on rivers and differences in strength. Maybe we just need two different ships, one for tribes and one for feudal nations. Each with their own characteristics. It's hard to tell how this would work without testing it first, but I imagine less is best here.
Why you should invest in this DLC:
You get to smack raiders around.
It takes away a couple of gamey strategies, like treating Venezia and Roma as first come, first served buffet.
It gives you more viable strategies against raiders, making the game feel more dynamic and rewarding.
You get to shape your nation. Focusing on the coast means neglecting inland provinces. An English petty kingdom have to decide between defending against raiders or rivals.
Who doesn't like boats? Like seriously, point them out for me so we can laugh at them!
EDIT: Forgot that a DLC needs a name! Obviously, since this is my idea, it should be called Sondre's seamen! Or, because I'm chasing them green traits, "Seamen all up in your f*c*i*g face!" or something, I don't care, just make it
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