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How easy would amphibious assaults be?

Started by pcw27, October 30, 2012, 06:13:04 PM

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pcw27

Those of you who saw the moral penalty thread may have noticed the debate about how easily one realm could claim a capital city by sea.

It was suggested that a very large army could ship straight to the "doughnut region" which surrounds all cities on Dwilight. Land there, and then march on the capital in a single surprise attack.

I see the following barriers in place that should make this extremely difficult.

1. It is hard to coordinate a large force to move in unison. As it stands this is easier by sea since all zones seem to have 16 hour travel times between them. I've heard this will change soon, which is a good thing.

2. There is a penalty for landing in a defended beach. This would need to be high enough that even a townsland would have a good chance of fending off an amphibious assault, or at least inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking force.

3. I'm told there is a feature in mind which will allow a coastal region to see ships in its adjacent sea zone. I think this is a very important feature to finish.

So with all this in mind, is such an assault as easy to pull off as some would claim?

vonGenf

Quote from: pcw27 on October 30, 2012, 06:13:04 PM
2. There is a penalty for landing in a defended beach. This would need to be high enough that even a townsland would have a good chance of fending off an amphibious assault, or at least inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking force.

This is the main point in my opinion. If the townsland is undefended, then an amphibious gives you complete surprise. In most cases, the mobile army will be far and not able to react in time. Landing an army right next to the capital without haviong to go through a main mobile army would be devastating.

However landing half a broken army would not be very devastating at all.

I expect the penalty to be strong enough that in almost all cases the landing army will want to land in an undefended rural. It does change the strategic thinking, but it's not so devastating to the cities.
After all it's a roleplaying game.

fodder

.... 16? off the top of my head, i've seen variations between 8-26 (or more?) so far
it's easier.. insofar as there are relatively fewer zones and you simply have to wait another turn.

has anyone done a landing yet? afaik, it doesn't matter how big your army is...  you are rolling individual units against militia. + walls.

forget donuts. you land in rurals just outside where there are no walls or troops normally. you might lose a turn or 2.. but you keep your army fairly intact... i guess.
firefox

Foundation

Quote from: pcw27 on October 30, 2012, 06:13:04 PM
3. I'm told there is a feature in mind which will allow a coastal region to see ships in its adjacent sea zone. I think this is a very important feature to finish.

Where'd you hear that???
The above is accurate 25% of the time, truthful 50% of the time, and facetious 100% of the time.

pcw27

Someone said shipyards or navies would give you that opportunity.

pcw27

Quote from: fodder on October 30, 2012, 06:31:22 PM
.... 16? off the top of my head, i've seen variations between 8-26 (or more?) so far
it's easier.. insofar as there are relatively fewer zones and you simply have to wait another turn.

has anyone done a landing yet? afaik, it doesn't matter how big your army is...  you are rolling individual units against militia. + walls.

Is that how the system works? Each unit takes on the defending forces alone?

Quote from: fodder on October 30, 2012, 06:31:22 PM
forget donuts. you land in rurals just outside where there are no walls or troops normally. you might lose a turn or 2.. but you keep your army fairly intact... i guess.

That could also be a bit over powered.

Foundation

Unless that someone is Tom, there are no plans for any sort of scouting whatsoever from or to sea zones.
The above is accurate 25% of the time, truthful 50% of the time, and facetious 100% of the time.

Anaris

Quote from: Foundation on October 30, 2012, 06:42:17 PM
Unless that someone is Tom, there are no plans for any sort of scouting whatsoever from or to sea zones.

It was. He's been talking about it since sea zones were still in the planning stages, and he's recently confirmed that it's still TODO.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Foundation

Quote from: Anaris on October 30, 2012, 06:43:04 PM
It was. He's been talking about it since sea zones were still in the planning stages, and he's recently confirmed that it's still TODO.

Hmm, strange.  All the threads starting from the planning stages I read suggested there were no plans, and that all scouts will be drowned.
The above is accurate 25% of the time, truthful 50% of the time, and facetious 100% of the time.

Anaris

Quote from: Foundation on October 30, 2012, 06:45:05 PM
Hmm, strange.  All the threads starting from the planning stages I read suggested there were no plans, and that all scouts will be drowned.

*facepalm*

Not scouts. Not the regular ones. A way to scout coastal sea zones.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Foundation

Quote from: Anaris on October 30, 2012, 06:46:44 PM
*facepalm*

Not scouts. Not the regular ones. A way to scout coastal sea zones.

I must've missed it then.
The above is accurate 25% of the time, truthful 50% of the time, and facetious 100% of the time.

Indirik

That's what that second building is supposed to be. A harbor to have cheaper embark, and a shipyard that is to have some undefined monitoring of the local sea zone.
If at first you don't succeed, don't take up skydiving.

pcw27

You know what might do the trick is making it similar to the adventurer's scouting ability. It can simply tell you how many ships are in the adjacent sea zone and what realm's flag they are flying, but not what soldiers are in said ships.

fodder

Quote from: pcw27 on October 30, 2012, 06:42:04 PM
Is that how the system works? Each unit takes on the defending forces alone?

hmm... i think i might be wrong... must have misremembered something..

http://wiki.battlemaster.org/wiki/Sea_Travel

"However, the more attacking troops land in the same turn, the fewer casualties each will suffer, as you can more easily suppress harrassment and ranged fire."

i was thinking.. a roll where if you fail, you get chucked back into the sea.. guess not quite.
firefox

Lefanis

Quote from: Indirik on October 30, 2012, 07:13:29 PM
That's what that second building is supposed to be. A harbor to have cheaper embark, and a shipyard that is to have some undefined monitoring of the local sea zone.

Coast Guard  :o
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