T'ien Ch'i Gunpowder Theme idea

[Simmy Sims]

Hi,

This mod can't be done now, since it requires new weapons. It basically would reduce the magic & priestly power of T'ien Ch'i in exchange for lots of gunpowder units. Why T'ien Ch'i and not Ulm for this theme? Well, the Chinese invented gunpowder, didn't they? Costs are very approximate.

Leaders:

keep the Eunuch, General, Imperial Consort, and Scout

replace the Prince General with capital-only Eunuch Admiral (basically a Eunuch with ocean sailing, costs 50 gold & 1 resource - based on the great Chinese admiral Cheng Ho of the early Ming Dynasty)

add Bombardier (basically like the Ulm Siege Engineer except that his siege bonus is 50, his leadership is 0, his strategic movement is 1 - cannon are slow - and his cost is 80 gold & 50 resources)

replace all mages and priests with the following three units -

Shao-Lin Monk (priest level 2, astral level 1, improved fist attack [damage STR-2, armor piercing, attack +1, defense +1, two attacks] & one kick attack [damage STR+0, attack +0, defense +0], cost 110 gold & 1 resource)

Shao-Lin Master (priest level 3, astral level 2, earth level 1, same attacks as above, cost 220 gold & 1 resource)

Alchemist (three random elemental skills, receives the same bonus to alchemy as the Master Alchemist pretender, cost 120 gold & 1 resource)

Units:

keep all 3 crappy Footmen, both Imperial Footmen & Imperial Horseman

replace Sacred Red Guard with Sacred Shao-Lin Initiate (aka "Grasshopper" - no magic but same attacks as his Shao-Lin masters, cost 15 gold & 1 resource)

replace Archer, Imperial Archer, Imperial Crossbowman, Imperial Guard, Horseman & Heavy Horseman with the following gunpowder units -

Harquebusier (same armor as Imperial Archer, carries short sword & harquebuse [damage 18, armor piercing, precision -3, range 25, ammunition 15], attack, base defense, precision & morale 10, cost 10 gold & 17 resources)

Crossbowman (same as Imperial Crossbowman, except replace crossbow with repeating crossbow [damage 10, precision -1, range 30, ammunition 12, two attacks / round - note that this weapon is NOT armor piercing], cost 13 gold & 18 resources)

Grenadier (same as Imperial Guard except add a grenade attack [damage 18, precision +1, range STR, ammunition 1], cost 15 gold & 21 resources)

Rocketeer (same armor as Archer, armed with dagger & rocket [damage 18, area effect radius 1, precision -6 (!), range 40, ammunition 3, causes panic in area of effect], attack & base defense 10, precision 11 & morale 12, cost 30 gold & 12 resources)

Dragoon (same armor as Horseman, but fights dismounted, armed with short sword & harquebuse [stats as above], attack & base defense 10, precision 11 & morale 12, strategic movement 3 - rides horses between battles - cost 25 gold & 9 resources)

Horseman (same as Heavy Horseman, except replace composite bow with pistol [damage 12, armor piercing, precision -2, range 20, ammunition 2], cost 25 gold & 28 resources)

Comments: I'm not sure about balance here. Priest power is average, with the disadvantage that there is no cheap Temple-only level 2 priest. I'm not sure whether the sacred unit is worth it - three attacks, two of which are armor-piercing, but all have damage. Mages are weak, although there are some interesting options. The Alchemists are like stripped-down Versions of Arco's Mystics, giving some magical versatility. The Shao-Lin priest-mages aren't super-powereful, but they do have access to communion. The one ocean-sailing leader provides some strategic flexibility, although he is something of a specialist. Even more so the Bombarider - I wonder if players would really build such an expensive and highly specialized unit.

Regarding the gunpowder weapons: the two guns are armor piercing for obvious reasons - bullets can pierce armor pretty easily, no bullet-proof vests in the medieval world. The explosive weapons (grenade & rocket) are not armor piercing because they do damage with shell fragments. Damage is very high due to the great momentum of high-velocity bullets and the sheer carnage influcted by flying shell fragments - pistols do less damage because the muzzle velocity of early pistols was much less. Precision is univerally bad because early gunpowder weapons were very inaccurate. The one exception is the grenade - I boosted its precision because it only needs a near miss to "hit". Rockets are especially inaccurate - almost more dangerous to friend than foe. Harquebuse ammunition is the same as the sling because the ammo size is about the same. Pistols have ammo 2 because horsemen don't have two free hands to reload and thus they carry two pre-loaded pistols. Grenadiers carry one grenade, thrown prior to melee - this can really mess up lightly-armored troops. Rockets have ammon three because this sounded about right, and they have a panic effect because they make a terrifying high-pitched screaming noise during flight. The repeating crossbow is based on an actual Chinese weapon - its bolts are smaller and so aren't armor-piercing and have shorter range, but it can rapid-fire like a medieval machine gun (Okay, its not quite that good).

Any thoughts or criticisms?