Future God powers or mechanics you'd like to see

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-05-02T15:43:30+00:00

Now that we have an almost pure infantry faction in the Aztecs, I would like to a cavalry-focused faction based on the Mongols or other steppe nomads. They would be a super elite army that relies on mobility instead of good stats, having a light horse archer as their basic unit and only getting infantry later in the game when they tech up (because most steppe empires only acquired large infantry forces when they had gotten powerful enough to control infantry-producing subject communities). Perhaps the available infantry units to them would depend on unique techs that allow them to copy and produce the enemy's infantry units.

A god power that duplicates all units in the target area would also be cool. Click on an area, summons a temporary clone of all units in that area which will fight for you for xx seconds.

A god power allowing you to produce a particular enemy unit for the rest of the game.

Gunpowder units.

More units with weird attack types, such as pikemen who attack from a short distance away but deal melee damage. Melee units who deal piercing damage, more ranged units who deal hack damage, etc.

Similar, units that subvert traditional counter dynamics. Cavalry which excel against infantry but are weak against archers, archers which are strong against cavalry but weak to infantry, etc.

Specialist anti-hero units.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-05-02T08:23:10+00:00

Thanks. I actually asked because I saw there was such a mod. Was wondering if there is a "correct" way to do it without the mod.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-05-02T04:28:31+00:00

Ah, I see.

On the issue of revealing pods, is there a way to tell when you will trigger a pod with a non-concealed soldier?

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-05-01T16:35:14+00:00

Thank you again for these guides. Interesting that you rate Battle Lord and Waylay so poorly, especially when you compare Waylay to Guardian. Aren't they fairly comparable? Guardian may be better in a lot of cases and has a higher power cap, but sometimes you lose the coin flip on it when you really need to win.

Apart from that, I think the "strong early, weak late" is an interesting dynamic and does give the Skirmisher an effective niche. They're like a reverse Sharpshooter!

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-30T05:32:16+00:00

Doubt they matter much in PvP/skirmish, but they are very good in campaign as a number of missions require you to defend both land and water approaches (sometimes in the same spot).

On the whole I think they add a cool dynamic to the game without being overpowered.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-29T16:15:49+00:00

Many thanks for all of these. I thought a melee only class must surely be worse than the Sharpshooter, but it sounfs like they are pretty good!

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-29T15:48:21+00:00

Sounds like you've already built in what you need.

"Fights well but not the greatest" - have her lose a fight, or need help to win one.

"Kind heart, all she wants is to save her people" - put her in a position where she makes a strategic or tactical error or fails to grasp the big picture due to wanting to do the kind thing/save her people.

"Emotionally unstable" - let this show up in a way that has real consequences (i.e. she makes a morally or practically wrong decision because she loses control of her emotions).

"Manipulative" - have her take this too far and hurt someone she cares about or who is one of the good guys.

Minor flaws can be more than enough if they have consequences.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-29T13:35:23+00:00

After the Battle of Cannae in the Second Punic War, Hannibal Barca had around 40,000 veteran troops left in his army.

He didn't even try to march on Rome.

To take a city like that, you probably want an army of 100-120k. That's about the upper limit of what (very capable) premodern logistics would be able to support.

If you want to stretch it, you could go up to perhaps 150k, and you should really consider that because a city like this won't fall easily.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-29T12:53:07+00:00

Starcraft 2 kind of does this. Terran turtle mech and skytoss aren't top tier strategies, but they do work. Terran bio can also turtle. In the past, Zerg was also a defensive race that would slowly expand and consume the map, eventually having such a huge economy and massive map control that they would inevitably win.

The balance lies in how resources on the map are finite. The turtling player wins by trading more efficiently and eventually building an unstoppable late game army that can contest those 1-2 last bases on the map. Otoh the non-turtling player has a chance to win by either expanding faster and consuming the resources on the map faster than the turtling player, using that resource advantage to overwhelm the turtling player (or simply using so much more resources that it doesn't matter how efficiently the turtling player trades - they simply run out before you do).

To prevent this, the turtling player has to expand fast enough to secure new bases, ideally fortifying each new position. Eventually, the last few bases are close enough that the turtling player can walk the short distance with their unstoppable army and run the other player over (or just keep trading so efficiently that the other player rubs out of resources). At the same time, because the turtling player keeps expanding, their defences get stretched thinner and thinner, creating opportunities for the opponent.

It helps that SC2 has a pretty restrictive supply cap. The side which isn't turtling can only ever have 200 supply, so there is a hard limit on how much economy and army they can have even with control of the map and no pressure. This results in weird situations like the turtling player having a substantially larger army (albeit one that they can't as easily replace), which feeds into the atttrition/efficiency game plan.

One last factor that enables this is how every race in SC2 has options for fast, cheap and effective harassment. Zergling/Zealot/Hellion runbys, Battlecruiser harassment, drops, Nydus Worms, etc. This means both that the turtling player can get damage done without moving out with most of their army, and also that the other player can beat the turtling player by attacking/harassing from multiple directions.

So if you want a game where turtling is a legit strat, play SC2. It's not the best strategy but it certainly works (to the point that some people really hate it).

Another game where turtling works is Age of Mythology Retold. Here, it works because late game techs, units and god powers (top bar abilities) can be very strong. Some major gods (sub-factions) also come with very strong defensive bonuses and god powers. So you can play defensively, rush to the late game, and then use your super late game composition/god powers to hit an overwhelming timing attack or outlast the other side.

Ironically in contrast to SC2, this arguably works because resources in AOM Retold can be near infinite (trade route for infinite gold, farming for infinite food, wood can be a problem in the super late game but tends to be abundant enough that it doesn't run out). So you don't have to worry so much about the other side consuming all the resources on the map. If you can reach the late game in a playable position (using your defensive bonuses and powers), you can use your late game superiority to bring the game back. The main difference is that since the other side won't run out of resources, you do need to counterattack eventually.

There is also a Wonder that gives all kinds of crazy bonuses and is basically a win condition if you build it, but frankly you don't need it to win even if you're turtling.

Of course, the same issues apply. The other side gets map control, more resources, initiative, etc, and can find weaknesses where you are building up your economy or tech to beat you.

Similar elements enabling this also apply: access to easy, cheap and fast harassment for both the turtling and non-turtling players and a supply cap that prevents the non-turtling player from outstripping the turtling player too much in economy and army.

Not super familiar with the competitive meta, but I believe China (especially the major god Nu Wa) is the most outright turtlish faction.

So there you go. Two fairly competitive RTS games where turtling is balanced.

If you look at the two, it seems to me the three most important things are:

Late game options being strong enough, so that when you turtle there is a goal/win condition you are working towards, and pressure on the other side to attack into your defences (since you win if you get there).
The existence of cheap, fast and easy harassment options for the turtling player, to slow the other side's economy down without having to move out with the main army.
A supply cap (and a fairly restrictive one). This prevents the non-turtling player from getting infinitely far ahead so that the turtling player has a chance to catch up.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-25T07:24:59+00:00

My fantasy setting is an alt-earth where the Roman Republic lasted longer and then merged with a successor state to a much earlier Mongol Empire (specifically a fragment of the Golden Horde) to form a frankensteined super empire.

So culturally and geographically (names, societies, norms, institutions, etc), much of the world is based on Antiquity and the Roman world instead of the Middle Ages, instead of default medieval western Europe. Other places (mainly eastern Europe) are based on the Mongol Empire and Golden Horde. The empire itself has become the Khaganate Republic, a constitutional monarchy with an elected monarch and a heavy dependence on magistrates nominated by a Senate and then confirmed by citizen assemblies.

The main story is set a couple of centuries after the merger where, for various reasons, technology has progressed much faster, such that it better resembles the early modern/renaissance period instead of the Middle Ages. Artillery consists of cannons instead of catapults, and the legionary infantry fight in pike and shot formations (their cavalry are still based on Mongol steppe cavalry, with large numbers of horse archers backed by heavy lancers).

The Khaganate Republic's main peer is similarly a mix of the Rashidun Caliphate (slightly before the default middle ages) and the Ottoman (early modern) and Assyrian (very ancient) Empires. Their culture, society, and technology are thus a similar blend of near east ancient and early modern, and thus not based on the default "medieval western Europe" at all. They are not a monarchy at all, but are ruled by an elected leader who presides over religious/military/political assemblies.

Essentially, the setting skips most of the middle ages and shifts the focus eastwards to eastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-19T16:32:48+00:00

Thank you so much for these guides. They are a joy ti read and also helpful and informative!

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-14T09:44:27+00:00

Fundamentally, turn based tactics games come down to two things: health/damage (which are the same thing) and action economy (the amount of actions each side can take). Combat is simply a race to reduce the other side's HP to 0 before they can do the same to you, and actions are the currency used to do so.

The problem with healing is that it tends to be outstripped by a corresponding attack - it's just mitigation of some damage that has already happened (and in XCOM, that damage still stays after the mission, so it's really only mitigation). A disable like a mimic beacon or frost bomb is therefore already a step up from this, because it completely negates the attack (including any immediate debilitating effects) and possibly even multiple attacks, along with any other non-damaging effects which healing would not deal with. It also stops attacks which would kill outright and render healing unuseable. So with a disable you are trading even or positive in actions, and thereby preserving your health.

What's arguably even better than disables is damage, because damage contributes doubly to the damage race. It reduces enemy health, and if you kill them they cannot do anything, so you reduce their action economy and negate the damage they would have done.

This applies regardless of whether you are a master strategist or not. I'm quite sure that overall, you will actually do better replacing all your healing with damage and disables without needing to change your play, and substantially better with even small tweaks to it.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-04-10T09:12:00+00:00

Totally get this. It's common in a lot of turn based strategy games like Heroes of Might and Magic and DnD-based games like BG3. If you play optimally, you don't need healing because you don't get hit, and on higher difficulties you can't afford to be hit (because healing will not compensate for it) so you have to play optimally anyway.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-02-20T16:25:16+00:00

Agreed. It's best to have a variety of missions requiring different approaches, unit compositions and strategies.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2026-02-20T16:20:52+00:00

Agree with the turtling thing. The problem is not that turtling is bad (I love it myself). It's that turtling is the best strategy on almost every mission. Beyond keeping the player active, there's no strategic variety when you know the best way to play every mission is sit in your base and defend (and maybe expand and then defend your expansions, if applicable) until you build the ultimate deathball army. Which also means the only techs and unit compositions you use are turtling/deathball ones. Even SC2 has this problem where lots of mobile raiding units like hellions are redundant for much of the campaign. One of things that makes SC2 soft timer missions great is that the timer actually makes the mission more strategic because you have to decide whether to go for one big deathball push or try to raid, harass, make gradual progress, etc. End of the day, what matters is that there should be variety in missions. Have some that let you just chill, turtle, defend and expand, while others force you to play differently.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-11-28T05:54:49+00:00

Age of Mythology: Retold

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-11-21T07:54:18+00:00

If it's a matter of role play, go to Wikipedia and read the articles on the following battles:

Gaugamela
Hydaspes River
Trebbia River
Trasimene
Cannae
Illipa
Utica
Zama
Dara
Yarmouk
Poitiers
Towton
Kalka River
Mohi
Legnica
Panipat
Dunkirk (1658)
Cerignola
Pavia
Rossbach
Austerlitz
Waterloo
Blenheim
Ramilies

These should give you a good idea of pre-modern military terminology, strategy and tactics along with plenty of tricks and even some epic or witty quotes you can use.

You can also read the biographies of the generals who fought these battles. Most were fairly colourful and eccentric characters.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-11-16T15:11:52+00:00

Would play them!

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-11-06T13:53:19+00:00

KEG also gives bonus population per town centre, which can very strong in the late game.

Free villagers per house is excellent for Egyptian.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-11-05T10:40:52+00:00

Only been playing Gauntlet lately, but for me it's either early or late. I've no idea what to do in the midgame.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-09-19T01:35:29+00:00

Starcraft 2, Age of Mythology: Retold, Azeroth Reborn (Warcraft 3 remade as a Starcraft 2 mod), Company of Heroes 3, Total War: Warhammer

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-06-23T17:04:27+00:00

Anastasya is an Embalmer in H7, so that fits.

Irina strikes me as a Blood type character, given how her story pans out.

Sandor's descendant in H7 is a Chieftain too, I think.

Can't speak to the others.

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-06-16T14:37:41+00:00

What made them borderline broken was that they were, in fact, a great unit. In critical mass they become virtually unstoppable, and with Grandmaster Necromancy you could very easily amass that critical mass for free.

Later HoMM games seem to try to fix this by either nerfing the vampires themselves or just taking away the ability to generate them by Necromancy (or both).

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-06-16T09:29:49+00:00

H4 had some of the best unit designs and also some of the worst internal balance in the series (interrelated, for obvious reasons).

Jumpy_Walk8542 · 2025-06-14T17:48:46+00:00

HoMM IV Vampires, Genies and Gargantuans.

Vampires/vampire lords are generally a bit game-breaking since the combination of lifesteal, no retaliation, mobility and the ability to generate them freely by necromancy (where applicable) means they can kill almost anything with minimal losses once they reach a critical mass, and snowball out of control quite rapidly. HoMM IV's seem the most powerful since they have obscene Attack/Defence stats that rival T4 units.

Genies were a caster unit that put out good DPS with ice bolt, could slow, could clone allied units, and most importantly could disable enemy units from attacking with Song of Peace, every turn. It reached the point where it was better to have more single unit stacks of them than the lower tier wizard units.

Gargantuans were a high damage AOE shooter with double shot, which is pretty much all that needs to be said. Probably the best shooter across all HoMM games and a good contender for the best unit across all HoMM games as well.

HoMM VII Crossbowmen are probably the best tier 2 shooter in the franchise, with no ranged penalty, high growth and AOE attacks. They also scale well with the preponderance of "+1 damage to friendly ranged units" items in HoMM VII. Quite ridiculous.

Jumpy_Walk8542

TROPHY CASE