Thanks for the feedback everyone! While I do agree that having some type of geographical limitation on Strategic Ops would add more depth and flavor to the system, I really can't stress enough how much we already tried to add it.
Things we tried:
1) Having units that projected operation coverage into the zone they were in
2) Having operations placed onto units (like those big trucks with nukes on them the Russians have) which you had to drive into range of the target
3) Having an orbital layer where the player deployed satelites to generate zones of coverage (like a cross between AoW2s towers the orbitals in Beyond Earth)
But in the end, they all detracted from the overall feeling of the game, so we dropped them. I'm not saying the door is closed on this in the future, I'm just trying to say that I understadn where you're coming from and I share your sentiments.
Honestly I don't see it as a big deal in this one. Something I've mentioned in other threads is that from what I've seen really high end "wow" spells aren't as big of a thing as they used to be compared to the rest of the series. I have mostly been toying with synthesis, voidtech, kir'ko, and Syndicate though. So I could be wrong.
The main city siege type spells for me come online in midgame, either by doomsday structures, or that one Syndicate op that blasts a stack(Cant remember name off hand). It seems to me that given the somewhat change in feel of strategic ops, and the fact the high end ones come online later, it's a total non-issue. Remember the spells that would mass Terra form everything in your area or change up terrain? Or the water spec spell drench the earth which came on fairly early? That spell was devastating for hit and run tactics as goblins because you could slow down enemy forces, ignore the penalties(goblins) , AND trash their roads for good measure.
It's just not a thing I've seen from the classes and specs I've been playing(correct me if I'm wrong). Also, the fact that commanders and heroes can get an ability to massively boost op strength near them somewhat fulfills the same role.
I do kind of miss the larger sized strategic ops of the last game, and I don't think they'd be unbalanced, as long as they're not Shadow Magic strength. In that games you needed domains to balance out the insane strength of late game overland spells. God dropping a few Tornadoes on an enemy army then picking up the pieces was practically an auto-win leading up to a siege. And Force ships doing drive by attacks over mountains then running away? Or how about that one fire spell that makes every enemy within your domain take damage every turn. Which at the time you got it was like a 30 hex radius iirc? Or the jacked up version of Nightwish in Shadow Magic(Domain of Darkness I think?) which completely destroyed enemy Intel gathering potential. Then again Air had City Spy and all that nonsense plus haste. God I loved rushing frosting t4 dire wolves, hasting them, then running around trashing enemy farmland and razing their resource structures.
Sorry this turned into a reminiscing thread for me. Back on point, as long as large scale strategic overland ops are research gated to midgame its totally fine imho.
