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[Man of Paper]

Did a little looking up. It wasn't Carthage, but the Khmer that equipped their elephants with large crossbowbow platforms similar to the ballista. And it also seems to be that they were occasionally equipped with chains with large balls at the end tied to their trunks, and trained to flail them around.

Maybe we should equip them with nuclear ordinance. It seems to be the only thing they've yet to be trained with.

[Devling]

Will elephants be multitile? Will I be able to jump on an elephant and goad it with my dagger?

[Trollheiming]

You mean things like flags? Like, a white flag means surrendering or wanting peace and stuff like that?

That's not universal, though. Heck, it's been used as the main flag for several civilizations. In fact, it was the Royal flag for France in the 17th century.

Maybe it became commonly used after all those French defeats... 

A very common misconception, France actually has one of the best military records of any country, and they've fought in more wars than any other country in the world. JYSK

Still the buggers lost a whole lot of those wars.

Well duh, if you've fought over 160 wars, you're gonna loose a bigger number than those who've fought only 10 ;p France still has won more than double what they've lost, ~65% of the total they've fought in.

in addition to the above mentioned, they also lost 1871 in a rather humiliating way. They lost the Napoleon misadventures as Neonivek said. They lost the Seven Years and gave up a lot of territory in Canada to Britain. Arguably they won the Hundred Years War so pyrrhically--due mostly to the death of several strong English kings and susequent civil wars--that it is worthy of being counted a net loss for their warrior reputations.

So, yeah, they did earn the reputation.

(Edit: The festivities of Cinco de Mayo also celebrate the attempted takeover of Mexico by France, which likewise ended in grief for them. The war of Spanish Succession was likewise a loss in which they gave up small territorial concessions and one huge ambition.)

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Did a little looking up. It wasn't Carthage, but the Khmer that equipped their elephants with large crossbowbow platforms similar to the ballista. And it also seems to be that they were occasionally equipped with chains with large balls at the end tied to their trunks, and trained to flail them around.

Very interesting! I like the crossbow platform idea, particularly.

Maybe we should equip them with nuclear ordinance. It seems to be the only thing they've yet to be trained with.

Done.

Will elephants be multitile? Will I be able to jump on an elephant and goad it with my dagger?

Yes! And... probably. Elephants will probably be a 3x3 grid, horses probably either 1x3 or 1x2, I'm not sure yet. More likely 1x3, just for the sake of clarity (like h@h for a rider, rather than @h would be less clear, I think).

[Devling]

Will there be countering more advanced then, "Oh looks like I parried you, now I hit you because of skill"?

[varsovie]

Will elephants be multitile? Will I be able to jump on an elephant and goad it with my dagger?

Yes! And... probably. Elephants will probably be a 3x3 grid, horses probably either 1x3 or 1x2, I'm not sure yet. More likely 1x3, just for the sake of clarity (like h@h for a rider, rather than @h would be less clear, I think).

On the other hand

Code: [Select]

@h  h@

h  @
@  h

 @   h
h   @


H@H
HHH
HHH

Gives you immediately the direction the mount have. Same for the elephant facing north in the example.

@Devling, they are called "ripostes", and you can go further with "contre-...-ripostes"* (When you get parried, receive a counter attack, but parry or dodge then counter attack).

*Yeah I use French terminology for fencing, because it's the official language, used worldwide like the metric system. (i.e. except in USA)

[Leatra]

On the other hand

Code: [Select]

@h  h@

h  @
@  h

 @   h
h   @


H@H
HHH
HHH

Gives you immediately the direction the mount have. Same for the elephant facing north in the example.

Hey, that's a good idea. However, I think horses should be longer than two tiles.

[Sharp]

On the other hand

Code: [Select]

@h  h@

h  @
@  h

 @   h
h   @


H@H
HHH
HHH


Code: [Select]

H@h  h@H

   H
h  @
@  h
H

   H   
 @   h
h   @
   H

E@E
EEE
EEE

also works

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Will there be countering more advanced then, "Oh looks like I parried you, now I hit you because of skill"?

What kind of thing do you have in mind by "more advanced?" There are a bunch of things I can imagine that would fit the bill, but which do you mean?

As for the multi-square creatures, today's blog entry (the last one before 0.2!) answers that nicely (I decided to make elephants 3x4, though that is certainly subject to change in the future):

http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/2012/11/20/guidebook/

So, an elephant with rider facing -> would look like

EEEE
EE@E
EEEE

with the rider at the front, behind the head.

[varsovie]

URR, why are you always releasing right after I go away from home+internet? Any hope for a Linux version?

For the elephant, that's all good that you have a rider, but where do you put your four archers/javelins? 

[Man of Paper]

Clearly you must tie one to each leg.

[Sharp]

Maybe you have bigger elephants for that?
---

So if you are going to implement a system of being able to see each turn and have units move simultaneously (like DF Fortress mode as opposed to adventure mode) how are you going to handle projectiles? Will you/NPC's be able to lead on targets? How will it handle misses and especially interception (or interception of missed shot ) will be interesting to see how due to characters having different heights so a missed shot at the guy riding an elephant probably shouldn't hit the dwarf standing next to/in front of the elephant. Will there be calculations on the projectiles to determine height and velocity of the projectile so it can calculate where and how hard it will hit what it hits.

Will you be able to get volley fire on archers to barrage an area as opposed to targeting individuals? Same for siege weapons?

Will you ban me from this thread for asking too many questions? Will that affect my free speech? Why does no-one like me?

[Man of Paper]

How will trampling work? If you kill a mount, will their speed and height affect what injuries the rider will incur? Caltrops and bolas for everybody!

Will someone of high enough skill be able to swat or, at a very high skill level, catch small projectiles midflight? Will you be able to camouflage units and pop out of your hidey holes to assault the unsuspecting? If you've seen, I think it's the remake of Dune, think how the Fremen leap out of the sand to assault, was it Harkonnen's dudes? Been a while since I've seen it. If you haven't seen it, you should. And also use the Japanese Spider Holes circa World War II for reference.

Also, will we be able to dig trenches to impede cavalry? If I remember correctly, during a Roman siege of a Gaulish city they dug two trenches separated just enough so that horses wouldn't be able to leap over both, and the middle strip was too thin to land on. If traps are indeed implemented, you know what scratch all that because if I recall you're keeping that under wraps anyways.

[Devling]

What I meant by more advanced was choosing how you parry, or block, or counter attack.
In DF and most other games it is a reactionary thing that you have no control over, like your character automatically swats the opponent if the have high enough skill(or they are lucky).

[Leatra]

We could get a bonus turn maybe.