Red Alert Artillery a viable alternative
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:40 pm
Red Alert Artillery a viable alternative
There is no doubt that the original artillery unit was naff beyond comprehension. Its woefully shortrange a joke.
My alternative to the current openRA artillery this has been extensively playtested and made my final edit.
Equip the artillery with the same gun as the cruiser. A realy long range yes but inaccurate fire, and fires at a lower rate. The damage is greater but more wide spread. Reduce the speed of the artillery but increase its armount of armour to compensate.
Why does this work so well ? Innacuracy is the key. Half a dozen artillery pounding your base from afar is annoying as hell and forces you to go out and meet the enemy which is firing 6 inches away. Because the rate of fire is slower than current and innacurate then buildings can usualy be repaired. The damage spread over a far wider area than the current artillery.
If the artillery fire was both long range and accurate and rapid then it would obviously be overpowered. The main advantage comes from the increased styles of gameplay that the long range (but innacurate & slow) fire gives.
Statline for you to try out
Price $1100
Speed half current
Armour double current
Primary weapon cruiser gun (single round of course, same slow rate of fire as the cruiser but +2 range )
Explodes yes
Pros
You need less artillery
Far less unit churn
Far more tactical offensive AND defensive options
Reduces Turtling without being overpowered
A heavy barrage will force the defender to meet you some way outside their base.
A single artillery wont destroy much but is guaranteed to bait your opponent (in a good way)
4x artillery does the same damage as one cruiser, but the area effected tends to be wider & feels more realistic to both parties because it is !
Firing further across ridges or at naval targets extends tactics and strategies.
Infantry have a bit more chance of reaching enemy artillery than they currently do, thats a good thing
Last but not least, it adds a missing X factor to the game
Cons
None i can think off (long range artillery are less effective as a chrono weapon due to their lower rate of fire, but do more damage when thier shells do hit something)
NOTE :I did experiment with medium range artillery in my playtests, ie artillery similiar to the current openRA artillery but the long range (slow & inacurate fire) is far more in keeping with reality and importantly far more fun to impose upon the enemy whilst giving the enemy more time to counter your barrage...better gameplay, better game dynamics.
Overview
Original short range artillery = Naff
Current medium range openRA artillery = OK
My long range artillery = FTW
...see the pattern !
There is no doubt that the original artillery unit was naff beyond comprehension. Its woefully shortrange a joke.
My alternative to the current openRA artillery this has been extensively playtested and made my final edit.
Equip the artillery with the same gun as the cruiser. A realy long range yes but inaccurate fire, and fires at a lower rate. The damage is greater but more wide spread. Reduce the speed of the artillery but increase its armount of armour to compensate.
Why does this work so well ? Innacuracy is the key. Half a dozen artillery pounding your base from afar is annoying as hell and forces you to go out and meet the enemy which is firing 6 inches away. Because the rate of fire is slower than current and innacurate then buildings can usualy be repaired. The damage spread over a far wider area than the current artillery.
If the artillery fire was both long range and accurate and rapid then it would obviously be overpowered. The main advantage comes from the increased styles of gameplay that the long range (but innacurate & slow) fire gives.
Statline for you to try out
Price $1100
Speed half current
Armour double current
Primary weapon cruiser gun (single round of course, same slow rate of fire as the cruiser but +2 range )
Explodes yes
Pros
You need less artillery
Far less unit churn
Far more tactical offensive AND defensive options
Reduces Turtling without being overpowered
A heavy barrage will force the defender to meet you some way outside their base.
A single artillery wont destroy much but is guaranteed to bait your opponent (in a good way)
4x artillery does the same damage as one cruiser, but the area effected tends to be wider & feels more realistic to both parties because it is !
Firing further across ridges or at naval targets extends tactics and strategies.
Infantry have a bit more chance of reaching enemy artillery than they currently do, thats a good thing
Last but not least, it adds a missing X factor to the game
Cons
None i can think off (long range artillery are less effective as a chrono weapon due to their lower rate of fire, but do more damage when thier shells do hit something)
NOTE :I did experiment with medium range artillery in my playtests, ie artillery similiar to the current openRA artillery but the long range (slow & inacurate fire) is far more in keeping with reality and importantly far more fun to impose upon the enemy whilst giving the enemy more time to counter your barrage...better gameplay, better game dynamics.
Overview
Original short range artillery = Naff
Current medium range openRA artillery = OK
My long range artillery = FTW
...see the pattern !