Troops

[Will]

My $0.02...

Population damage should ideally be a inverse-type function (for those who know what an inverse graph looks like, with x >= 0 ). At the start of bombardment, most people should be in a few areas. As bombardment commences, and the population centers are anhiallated, the firepower needed to kill more people should go up. An acceptable mod would just be to increase the damage needed to kill one million citizens.

Militia strength in vanilla SEIV isn't really strong enough. I play with Strength set at 50% (thus, -50% to ground combat), and yet I still use the strategy of capturing enemy planets. The only difference is that I lose a few more troops in the process, but the captured planet can usually replace those troops in a few turns (troop design is Small Troop, 1xCockpit, 3xGroundCannon/ElectricDischarge, depending if I have organic), and it is easy enough to have a few planets devoted entirely to building troops to replace those lost in invasions on the front lines. A Medium Transport full of troops (375) can take out the militia of a Large undomed planet, even with pitiful strength.

Summary: just jack up the damage/population and militia strength. A lot.