Anybody using Ground Combat/Units??

[Iron Giant]

I, for one, don't mind the system the way it works now. I'm here for a 4x game in SPACE not a ground tactical game.

Also, MM is a very small company (if I understand correctly) and isnt in a position to do a really, really good ground combat system in ADDITION to a really, really good 4x game, right?

Lets review the other 4x games ground combat:

Moo II : you create "troop ships", fill them up with the best troops you have, then they can attack the enemy planet AFTER the space combat is done. Troop ship do nothing but carry troops and they are not part of any engagement involving the invasion, so you cannot "throw everything" at the enemy troop ship to try and destroy it. If the enemy wins the space battle, the troops land, walk from the left side of the screen to the right and whoever has the best forces wins.

Imperium Galactica: Troops are all in tanks. The tanks get to the planet inside the cargo holds of ships. You cannot build a "troop ship" because you are not allowed very many "troop holds" as compared to any ship design. There is no real way to create a large "troop ship", you have to put troops on your starships, which then can get destroyed in combat.

Once you get on the ground, there is 1 city there (suppossedly representing a planet of millions or billions of people???) that you can "tank rush". Very limited tactics available: focus your fire, try to stay at your best weapons range, etc.

In the end, neither game gave the "feel" of actually conquering a planet.

Moo2 did a little better in the fact that each planet had a "loyalty rating". If you didnt work hard to subjugate the conquered populations (through diplomacy or through stationing a garrison force), they may rebel and automatically switch back to the enemy, which added some realism, where in IG2, once you land, they are all loyal to the death for you...

What would the people here like to see? What would REALLY give the feel of conquering a whole entire planet, without becoming a whole entire game? I'm not sure I see anything that could satisfy me beyond the current system..

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