I don’t see outposts used alot. By alot I mean more like… at all. People build walls, they build towers, and they never build outposts. Why is that? On top of that, palisades get weaker as the game goes on, and by the time castle (or even feudal age) rolls around, they have been completely subverted by stone walls.
I would like if outposts and palisades were built more often even into imperial age, and I would really like it if they actually had a reason to be built into imperial age. So, lets get into historical uses for wood.
- Battle palisade walls. This actually happened irl. The English and Welsh archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes, or palings, into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off. Check wikipedia. Battle of Agincourt.
So, with this, I am thinking this could be a castle age or even imperial age tech that allows your own units to pass over your palisade walls without colliding, but prevents enemy units from moving over the wall. Units already inside the wall during an alliance change can move outside of the wall. Researched at the university ofc.
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Palisade wall upgrades. They upgrade from 150 health to 250 health when you go from dark age to feudal. Why not give palisades another 100 health when you go to castle, and a final 150 health in imperial? That would give them a chunky 500 hp.
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Cheaper outposts… sort of. Outposts cost 5 stone, and that might be what is off putting for people. There would have to be a ton of matchups to see, but if outposts cost extra wood instead of 5 stone, people might build them more often. Perhaps 5 gold instead of 5 stone? Idk.
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Explosive outposts. We have the petard. We have the demo ship. Why can’t outposts have an explosive death? Right now, if you invest in outposts, the enemy has no disincentive to simply walk his troops up to your outpost and melee them to death. They are out alone, in the open, and will get repeatedly killed. Why can’t they have extra pierce armor and a gunpowder barrel sitting with a fuse that goes off when the structure is destroyed? It would at least force the enemy to bring proper seige equipment or archers to destroy the outpost from a safe distance instead of just wiping it out.