I think this system works, and the presence of myth units/heroes, siege weapons/buildings etc. adds enough variety to it. However, I think that the attack/armor-system as used in the age-games makes it somewhat difficult to exist without needing to grant annoying attack bonuses, which decrease the value of the system.
Understanding that this probably does not make clear what I mean to say at all, I will explain what I think the problem with the current situation is and what I think should solve it.
We have the rock> The contradicting points are coloured. Translated to actually existing units, it means that if cavalry wants to counter archers, either cavalry needs to have high hack attack (allowing it to stand up against infantry better) or archers need to have low hack armor, making them worse counters to infantry. So now, the only weapons you have in changing the mutual proportions, are the pierce armor of infantry and cavalry (as that does not change the proportions between them) …and set attack bonuses. Like: Hippikon x1.25 attack vs. archers. Or worse: TA x2.25 attack vs. most infantry; x2.75 vs. hoplites, x2 vs. Hersirs. My suggestion to avoid this problem, is to add a third kind of attack. I know that this would undermine the idea of hack and pierce damage, but that did not make much sense anyway (throwing spears is called pierce damage, while stabbing the enemy with them is called hack damage) Perhaps these three kinds of damage (apart from crush damage, that is) could be called after the system they serve: rock, paper and scissor damage. I will just call them A, B, C here, though. As you see, both units have 12 attack divided among the 3 kinds of attack, and 150% worth of armor. Now I have them hit each other once: Now I add a third unit: Again, the unit has 12 attack and 150% armor. Now I have unit 1 and 3 fight each other: In my eyes, this system has multiple advantages (some of the following points might mean more or less the same): So, I’m very interested in what you think about this possibility. What disadvantages do you see in it or what else do you want to say about it? Keep in mind that this is only a rough idea so I won’t be able to answer a question like: “So what would the new stats for all units in AoM be?” Thanks in advance for the criticism,
We have, however, an attack/armor-system that has only two kinds of attack: hack attack and pierce attack. (the units we’re talking about have 99% crush armor so that does not play a role) This means that always at least two kinds of units in this system have the same kind of attack.
An example: let’s say the rock deals pierce damage, and is the only unit to deal pierce damage.
Therefore, the scissors
The rock has to counter the scissors, so the scissors have low pierce armor. The rock is countered by paper, so paper has high pierce armor.
Scissors need to counter paper. To do that best, scissors need to have good hack attack ánd hack armor (as paper deals hack damage) and paper needs to have
Paper needs to counter the rock. To do that best, paper needs (as said) to have high pierce armor,
All units can deal a certain amount of every damage, and the total damage is attack A * (1-enemy armor A) + attack B * (1- enemy armor B) + attack C * (1- enemy armor C)
An example:
A: att. = 8; arm. = 50%
B: att. = 2; arm. = 0%
C: att. = 2; arm. = 100%
A: att. = 1; arm. = 0%
B: att. = 1; arm. = 80%
C: att. = 10; arm. = 70%
Unit 1 deals 8 * 1 + 2 * (1-0.8) + 2 * (1-0.7) = 8 + 0.4 + 0.6 = 9 damage to unit 2
Unit 2 deals 1 * (1-0.5) + 1 * 1 + 10 * (1 – 1) = 0.5 + 1 + 0 = 1.5 damage to unit 1
A: att. = 1; arm. = 90%
B: att. = 9; arm. = 50%
C: att. = 2; arm. = 10%
Unit 1 deals 8 * 0.1 + 2 * 0.5 + 2 * 0.9 = 3.6 damage to unit 3
Unit 3 deals 1 * 0.5 + 9 * 1 + 2 * 0 = 9.5 damage to unit 1
And now unit 2 fights unit 3:
Unit 2 deals 1 * 0.1 + 1 * 0.5 + 10 * 0.9 = 9.6 damage to unit 3
Unit 3 deals 1 * 1 + 9 * 0.2 + 2 * 0.3 = 3.4 damage to unit 2
-you can change proportions between some units by changing a bit in the kind of attack/armor that affects them most (if you increase unit 1’s A attack by 2, it will deal +2 attack to unit 2 but only +0.2 to unit 2)
-the need for ‘attack bonuses’ will be much smaller, strengthening the purpose of the rock, paper, scissors-system.
-The counter system becomes more ‘pure’ but also a bit more complicated (in-game), increasing the role of strategy.
-There is a possibility to involve ‘ultimate counters’: there may be units that focus all their attack on the type on which their opponent has the lowest armor, and focus all their armor on the type on which their opponent has the highest attack, making them almost immune to them but very weak against the units they don’t counter
Nerf... something!