One of the biggest challenges with infantry is getting them to the right place at the right time. Their slow movement speed prevents them from doing things like encircling an enemy.
Which is why I’d propose a new tech: Double Time. This tech would allow infantry to have an additional 15% speed bonus, but only when out of the sight of enemy units or combat buildings. As soon as they approach an enemy, they’ll slow down and move at their normal rate. This would allow infantry to move about the map more effectively, without changing their in-combat performance.
Hopefully, this would improve their tactical capabilities without making them overpowering in actual fights.
Eh, not a fan of variable speed stuff, especially not for a generic unit. You’re certainly creative, but so many of the ideas you propose are very firmly across the line that, IMO, determines whether a feature is a good fit for AoE2. It feels bad to have a tech that suddenly stops applying when it would be most useful. And I don’t know that it fundamentally improves the use case for infantry - they’ll still get chased down by cav/CA, and run to their deaths at the hands of Xbows, for example (but now they’ll get there faster!)
Also, we don’t need another tech for infantry. I’m open to some kind of improvement, especially for Longswords, but the low impact that gambesons and even supplies have had on effective early infantry play is largely due to their being yet another investment you have to tech into before getting a (situationally) usable unit. Whereas stat improvements built into the unit upgrades would have made them more useful without additional investment.
Hmm… What about giving infantry units a “Forced March” mode in which they move faster, but take damage doing so? This way you would have to make more tactical choices.
For the rest of the player base that doesn’t play with infinite resources, just ROFL
Since the implementation of ratha, it’s actually opened the possibility for much more. Technically we could have an ability on LS line that gives them a speed boost and lowers armour stats through the same mechanic with a cool down on changing. Could also be locked behind the same proposed tech, which also controls which civs would have it (Celts have it for free)
But aside from that, how would MAA line be OP if their speed was just buffed straight up? Roman infantry are so much more smooth to play, but they are far from OP due to a massive 20% speed buff. They aren’t even that amazing with the attack speed on top of that. They still die to the same counters, and still have the same massive strategic weaknesses. They’re great units but specifically Vs other infantry, but mainly because of everything combined, including the attack bonus.
And I’m talking about imperial when they have the full stack 20%, 33%, 4 bonus. Romans have literally proven infantry of themselves are not OP even with such massive buffs with a good eco.
Yet we still have squabbling over something that clearly has room for buffing. Give it another 2 or 3 years and we can say “we told you so” absolutely hilarious
