[PvK]

Originally posted by Zen:
... Yes, I understand what the thread is about , but if suggested changes are given for one aspect then those changes, at least in part, affect the balance of the nation.

Yes, quite so.

Imagine Conscription given to Pythium or Arco, in it's current form it wouldn't do much at all. But if it was improved to the point where it was either 'good enough to be noticed' or 'by the definition of the word' then that would place Pythium or Arco even more above most other nations. Just imagine Jotun with Conscription.

Jotun with conscription would still only have meaningful effect if it were on an accelerated scale, such as Peter suggested. As it is, a couple of points after 10-20 turns, with a max level of about 6, isn't even particularly noticable for Jotunheim, because the gold cost of them buying the same thing manually is very very low, and it only happens if you don't buy it above 5 anyway, and with Jotunheim, buying 5-20 defense is often worth the price. Tempting the J player to not buy any defense in the hope of saving a very few pennies is more likely to just get players to neglect defense hoping for insignifigant savings.

... I had forgotten about the Guardian Commander (more than likely because I never use him).

Before the Last patch, some/all of the other Ulmish commanders had move 1 too, but they changed that in the patch. Now even Ulm's Full Plate commanders with tower shields march 2, while the Guardian marches 1.

The Lord Warden is another, though he has stealth and it doesn't really work against him. Though I think the reason he is Movement 1 is because of his armor.

It'd be interesting to know IW's reasons for choosing certain movement rates. My assumption has been that it has something to do with the use of beasts, physical condition, and/or travel habits.

...
For Tien Ch'i: the Eunuch, the Ceremonial Master, Minister of Rituals, and Celestial Master all have Movement 1.

I believe the reason/why for it is because common knowledge of the era had most dignitaries and ceremonial leaders traveled with a retinue of servants, slaves, etc. And so that is represented by them losing movement.

In game however, it makes a huge difference having the greater portion of your commanders regulated to 1 movement.

Yeah, hmm. If there is a meaningful thematic reason, it might be better to balance them in other ways than un-doing something that has a reason.

PvK