Towers needing a clear shot
Was thinking... usually, during a siege, I find that there is little to no point in destroying towers when they are in a single line (unless you can manage to safely do it with ranged troops, but for that to happen those towers would need to be nearly undefended as far as I know); this is because they can at most kill 5 men each (which happens very fast during the battle) and then they become utterly useless.
Now, when towers are in a single line, that's a relatively little problem: after they've used their stone, you can just walk past them and aim for the enemy base.
If, though, there are many tower lines, this would become a problem, as just walking past would mean heavy losses (those massed towers are unlikely to have already used up their stones in the battle), and the time required to destroy so many with archers is quite noticeable.
So, here's the idea: what about "moving" towers' range a tile further and making them require a clear shot?
""moving" towers' range" means making towers unable to hit the tiles immediately surrounding them and, to compensate this, increase their range 1 tile further (this way they'd be less vulnerable to ranged troops since the range difference is lower, but this would make it possible for "storming" melees or running cavalry to reach the base of any undefended tower and safely attack it from there).
"making them require a clear shot" means that if there are buildings in the way, that unit will not be considered a potential target for the tower (or maybe it could hurl the stone anyway and miss every time, or maybe it could hurl the stone anyway but damage the building in the way instead of the enemy unit?).
This should make massing towers worthless, as only the first line would have clear shots at the enemy troops: towers in the back could not hit enemy units due to the presence of the first line of towers, and could still not hit them when they walk past the first towers line because they'd be too near.
This way you can still use tower lines for defence, just can't mass them and they become a little more vulnerable to melee units (if they manage to "flank" an unprotected tower line, a bunch of melees could destroy the whole line by taking cover using the size of the tower they're attacking).
So... what do you think about making towers unable to hit troops immediately near them or "hidden" behind any building?
Now, when towers are in a single line, that's a relatively little problem: after they've used their stone, you can just walk past them and aim for the enemy base.
If, though, there are many tower lines, this would become a problem, as just walking past would mean heavy losses (those massed towers are unlikely to have already used up their stones in the battle), and the time required to destroy so many with archers is quite noticeable.
So, here's the idea: what about "moving" towers' range a tile further and making them require a clear shot?
""moving" towers' range" means making towers unable to hit the tiles immediately surrounding them and, to compensate this, increase their range 1 tile further (this way they'd be less vulnerable to ranged troops since the range difference is lower, but this would make it possible for "storming" melees or running cavalry to reach the base of any undefended tower and safely attack it from there).
"making them require a clear shot" means that if there are buildings in the way, that unit will not be considered a potential target for the tower (or maybe it could hurl the stone anyway and miss every time, or maybe it could hurl the stone anyway but damage the building in the way instead of the enemy unit?).
This should make massing towers worthless, as only the first line would have clear shots at the enemy troops: towers in the back could not hit enemy units due to the presence of the first line of towers, and could still not hit them when they walk past the first towers line because they'd be too near.
This way you can still use tower lines for defence, just can't mass them and they become a little more vulnerable to melee units (if they manage to "flank" an unprotected tower line, a bunch of melees could destroy the whole line by taking cover using the size of the tower they're attacking).
So... what do you think about making towers unable to hit troops immediately near them or "hidden" behind any building?
