SpaceSimCentral

the experience of units is:recruit*noviceexperiencedveteranelitelegendary***further distinction of merit:paladin*** recruits can be trained to novice in barracks.** paladin is restricted to units who have survived a crusade. paladin is a special bonus that adds to the general level, e.g. veteran paladin status.*** legendary comes after elite but can only be acceded by those with paladin status.when units gain experience they gain bonuses , these bonuses are the usual +10 etc to defense, attack, moral etc. The bonuses of paladin status is special, it installs fear [moral lose in all adjacent enemy units; legendary units install fear in all enemy units on the same world that they are on].troops, unlike vehicle unites (tanks etc), gain skills further to the above bonuses. These secondary skills (gained in further training at a barracks), are at one skill per level. The player may chose the skill. these skills are:battery (can use heavy artilery, anti tank guns and AA batteries)engineer (can build bridges, bunkers, and repair vehicles)sniper (good for elimination enemy nobles/captains/specialist units)mortar (artilery fire)bazooka (anti tank)rocket launcher (anti air)frog-man (movement underwater)medical (can heal self and other troop units)stealth (the advanced art or camouflage)scout (improved spotting and movement)communications (see below)commando [limited to veteran+] (a sort of berserk unit that tries to resolve a battle, charging in, in the shortest possible time, by lowering its defense but substantially increasing attack rating)drop troop [limited to veteran+] (parachute from orbit; sub-note: all units may drop from orbit on moon worlds)special-ops [limited to elite, legendary] (unit that is capable of entering the same space (hex) as enemy units and attacking from within (that hex), opening a new powerful front; can also be used to traverse enemy lines)note: skills may increase in power with good combinations (eg stealth and special-ops is an obvious example for the ultimate behind the lines surprises attack; medical, battery, medic would make an excellent support unit; sniper and stealth might make a lethal noble killer; commando with bazooka would be a tanks worst fear; drop troop frog-men could arrive in the most unpredictable places)units, in order to receive orders, must be near (4 hexes) a captain or (7 hexes) a noble unit. the exception to this rule is units trained in communications. Captains take orders from a noble or general located anywhere on the same planet. A unit who leaves this supply line will follow its last order and then hold its position. a unit told to scout will hold its position once it meets an enemy (but will be able to report this encounter), only returning fire if attacked (after all, how do they know the soldiers in front are currently their enemies). the exception to this is units trained in scouting (and communications), who may take one order before holding. all units who are cut from the supply line suffer a moral drop (always excepting units trained in communications). If something unfortunate happens to the governing general/noble, all captains will use their unites to form defensive positions until contact is reestablished.experienced captains/generals will gain special talents related to command, not yet sure what these will be but the obvious includes: charisma (bonus moral to all units), tactics (bonus defense), strategy (bonus attack), command (bonus to range of command), trainer (units under his command gain more experience points), promotion to general status, and governor (planetary administration). These skills will have to be learn t at a university structure, but only at one skill per level. Some Nobles have special individual skills (e.g. stealth, spy, combat skill, psi, etc) that are assigned to them at the start and cannot be gained.

I like all of the different troop types you have created Brodie. I haven't finished reading all the posts yet so excuse me if this is already covered. On paladin status, when I think of paladins I think of generally honorable/holy type warriors. Is there alignment/moral specs you have to attain to get the paladin status? And can you buy gear for your troops?How is a captain or general made? Is it just a troop that has been promoted through the ranks or is there going to be a special building that produces them?

DarkOne wrote:
Is there alignment/moral specs you have to attain to get the paladin status?
No, There is one religion, but different sect. All units are religious. The, idea for paladin status installing fear on a world comes from a story I heard about the Gurkhas, where the legend of this military unit proceeds them e.g: "If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha.". The story goes that when the Argentinian soldiers in the Falkland war heard that the Gurkha had landed, they immediately surrendered, such is the reputation of the Gurkha that the Argentinians believed they would not survive the night.
DarkOne wrote:
And can you buy gear for your troops?

The intention is to have he troops upgraded into different types e.g general infantry to powered armor legion, from powered legion to mechanized assault troops etc. The limit here is the tech. the lab that has the tech for a new infantry type must be found and held. a factory must be upgraded to produce the kit and the resources must be available to produce the kit. the guild may be able to help by supplying the kit (at cost), or the resources etc. but if you do not or no longer have the tech, the unit unit will not be able to be repaired.The "greater" intention is to have players become overly attached to the troops, to have their favorite divisions, those they trust and admire etc. So experience, abilities, kit, maintenance, fidelity, etc will all help to install this sense of pride (hopefully).
DarkOne wrote:
How is a captain or general made? Is it just a troop that has been promoted through the ranks or is there going to be a special building that produces them?
The city scape hex will produce each 3 "educated" individuals (it curently only dispays one ZZZ icon, this is to change), these "educated" individuals may be left and will contribute taxes, but they can be placed into the university and trained into a specialty: e.g trained into a scientist (needed to run a lab, one scientist in a lab allows you to use the labs tech on the labs world, two scientists allows you to use the tech throughout your empire, 3 scientists allows you to "rent" the tech to other players. Naturally a scientist may be a spy, in which case another player secretly gains the tech, etc). Captains must be trained the same way in the university from the "educated" (none peasant) population. So to: space ship crew, geologists, engineers, priests, merchants, spies....etc. So, although you will see many city hexes about the universes, the demand for specialists will hopefully always be great. "General" is a skill chosen for experienced captains.The town hex produces 3 peasant/workers, this icon system is running. these can be placed in buildings to make them operational, or optionaly trained in baracks into troops.