Army Tactics

[Feb05] POW's

Colonization even let's you equip captured enemy soldiers with muskets and horses and fight their former comrades. This is clearly nonsense. Perhaps a Prison building could be built in Colonies, POW's could be impounded in prison hulks (ships) or shipped back to Europe thus increasing stain on your shipping. Prisoners would of course have to be feed maybe just 1 unit of food but this would still place a great strain on your Colony. At the end of a war POW's could be exchanged or offered the chance to join your Colony with only a percentage say 50% (Sid’s favourite number) agreeing.

Or Captured Soldiers could become POW's. They would retain their colour and work but can't be made into Soldiers, Dragoons, Statemen or Teachers. They could be Pioneers but might run away with your Tools if not escorted. The practice of 'parole' was common among officers, where by they gave their word not to escape and where given liberty instead of being locked up. POW's could be exchanged for your captured Soldiers and retain Veteran status. If a Colony is captured the POWs are freed. Occasionaly a POW would elect to swear an oath to your King. Mercenaries e.g. Hesians would be twice as likely to convert.

[Mar05] Colonies Surrender when food runs out ? by Jorge Pérez

I have another idea: why when a colony has run out of food because it's surrounded by enemy units doesn't surrender? because one can kill a lot of colonists of starving but the colony never surrenders. And besides, armies should have food stock they would spend along their travellings.

[Feb05] Other powers should have to fight for independence

Then you can join the war while they're weak on get a few Colonies.

[Feb05] Have boarders by Jorge Pérez

Once you make peace to an European power the game says that you divide the land in two, but there's no division possible!!, i think one should be able to put a border, i know it can be difficult to program.

[ Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri has boarders where your boarder is half the distance to the nearest enemy. Troops can't enter it unless at war and allies can't settle it. It’s quite good. ]

[Feb05] Artillery attacking forests and auto-fire by Jorge Pérez

Why can artillery attack units in forests?, artillery shouldn't be able to do that and besides, if artillery attack ships automatically, why can't it attack enemy units in cleared areas automatically?, this decisions should be tested cause they affect the game deeply.

[ I think the enemy get a +50% defence bonus it they are in a forest. If you attack automatically you might damage your artillery and if for example you only have one defending it could be dangerous. ]

Jorge Pérez replies: What I say about artillery is that if it attacks automatically it can only be victorious like when it is attacking a ship, this way the automatic attack wouldn't be dangerous 'cause artillery couldn't be damaged, like when attacking a ship.

[ But land units can fight back and this would make the game too easy. ]

[Feb05] Have Forts

So Soldiers, Dragoons and Artillery outside Colonies could recieve a modicum of protection, say 50%. They could be built by Pioneers for 20 Tools and protect Wagon Trains routes or squares near Indian villages.

[Feb05] Have Units surrender with Arms

Colonists, Infantry and Cavalry should sometimes surrender especially petty criminals. Tools, Muskets and Horses can remain with them.

[Feb05] Include Hessians

Have Mercenaries e.g. Hessians in different uniforms only available from Europe. Perhaps only the English should get these, they would be cheaper than Veteran Soldiers.

[Feb05] Truly Random Fight Mechanics

The fight mechanics for Colonization are deeply flawed and seldom reflect the abilities each unit is meant to have and they are most definitely NOT random.

[Feb05] Jorge Pérez comments: It really ruins the game. A Civilization II style of battle would be good, with damage increasing with each attack. But keep coastal Forts firing on Ships because that's really cool.

[ I agree about Coastal Fortresses. It would be difficult to implement Civ II damage as you have 1 Colonist, 50 Muskets and 50 Horses - how do you repair them? ]

There's a problem about battles results, I've observed that in version 3.0, in others this doesn't happen, the results depends on what I'm gonna call "turns". So if it's the turn in which you must win then you win all the battles, and if it's the turn for you to loose, then you loose everything, so if you want to win there's nothing to do until you're in the winning turn then you can attack everything, dragoons fortified on mountains, fortresses, anything you want, and if you're in the loosing turn then all you must do is wait until the winning turn arrives.

These turns change in an amount of time, so if you have a lot of things to do (your turn is very long), and you are defeated at the beginning of the turn, better to wait until the end of the turn because the loosing turn will be ended by then. And once you know you're in the winning turn then you should attack all you need to attack. You'll win anything.

[ I agree this is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY annoying and totally ruins the game. Also you always lose Horses never Muskets first. ]

If you're in the loosing turn you can still attack colons or very easy preys, but don't try with anything armed.

[Feb05] Re-Supply Units by Jorge Pérez

Why can't I send a wagon with muskets and horses to my army? So if they're defeated they can take the muskets or the horses next turn. Because making them go to a colony and take the horses and the muskets is boring. It would be like a supply line.

Jorge Pérez replies:

POW’s, yes, it's almost a joke turning a foreign citizen against his own nationality. I think there should be a new building, a Prison, for the POW’s (they shouldn't be put in any place one wants), but there should be more rules: In case of a colonist with a determined speciality he should receive a bit of education before becoming a citizen of the European power that captured him.

[Feb05] Loyalist colonies Jorge Pérez

And once you declare independence, some cities that have more Tories than rebels should become loyalists to the king and don't follow you in the adventure.

[Feb05] Sell artillery and ships to Europe by Jorge Pérez

And I’d like to be able to sell artillery and ships to Europe, and make the number of colonists I can have bigger.

[ This never really happened in history. ]

[Feb05] De la Salle by Jorge Pérez

I'd like to be able to leave fortress or forts ‘cause now I can't because the minimum number is 3.

Someone else said: De la Salle? I hate him, after him, I can't disband captured cities that I don't want anymore.

[ Yes I agree. How about halving the lumber cost for a stockade instead. ]

[Dec99] Better Scout

The Scout should be able to identify special resources that become available after forests have been cleared as well as before.

[Sep99] Play as Royal Expeditionary Force? by Michael Gahan, COMPAQ Customer Support Representative

If ever such a game comes I would like to have the choice of choosing the Tory or Rebel side when the revolution starts. A civil war type scenario would be interesting! You could perhaps choose at some point in the game if you want to remain loyal to the Mother country or not, and if rebel sentiment (something over which the player should have less control?) reaches such high levels as a rebellion starts, then the player gets to control the Tory units and get aid from the Royal expeditionary force, or side with the rebels and fend off the loyalists. Also I would like contact to continue as normal with the foreign colonies during and after the Revolution, giving the game longevity (a bit like Civ one and two, where the points are no longer collected but game play continues).

[I think you can actually play as the Tory side. Try typing ALT W I N (you need Version 4 available from my site), start the revolution, and select the power that has withdrawn from the new world. I think the game mechanics use the same slot for one power and the rebels, that's why a power always withdraws when you get 50% Sons of Liberty which is the first time you can declare independence. Continuing after independence would also be interesting. But it would require extra units and technology and the continued existence of colonial powers i.e. total 8 powers. I am also unsatisfied with the War of Independence, in the game it is either win or loss, in history Canada and many other parts of the Americas remained under British rule. Also Cuba remained under Spanish rule until America attacked it in 1895! 100% Rebels is totally unrealistic, also as you say it is unrealistic to have so much control over Rebel sentiment, but then the game would fall apart without this feature. The rebel sentiment does effect how many Continental Soldiers a Colony can raise and I think how many Tories there are. I think less than 50% and the Colony stays with the crown. I'm not sure about the revolution as I seldom fight it.]

Also a larger scope of units should be available, early colonial soldiers often used pikes and other older muskets including armour, than the later infantry of the revolution period.

[Yes more units and nation specific units. I knew about pikes and armour in the English Civil War, I wasn't aware of it in the Colonial theatre but I suppose it makes sense.]

Another good suggestion for Colonization 2 would be perhaps other areas of the world such as South Africa or Indonesia, there was plenty of conflict in these areas to make an interesting game.

Bigger maps are a must!!!

More Realistic Damage for Units

Two damages Artillery Units could be combined to make one good Unit. This would be good as I seem to end up with a lot of damaged Artillery, and very few good ones. Also, more fire power could be packed into a Galleon, one hold for a good unit instead of two for bad units.

When Dragoons are damaged you always lose Horses, and these are difficult to acquire. A better way would be to lose some Horses, some Muskets and some Colonists. This Unit would then have a damage bar like in Civilization II, which would be repaired by replacing Horses and Muskets. A new Barracks building could be added to hold spare Troops who could be used to replace lost men. Each Free Colonists would add 50 recruits, their ability would increase over time with men gradually changing from Colonist to Veteran, one at a time.