iPillage
iPillage is the special ability of some units to do instant Pillaging, hence the name "iPillage".
Introduction: the need for iPillage
iPillage seems contrary to the longturn pace. Longturn gives players more reaction time via unitwaittime, vigil fighters, etc. At first it seems counterintuitive that iPillage actually enhances the longturn format more than any other format.
Consider the relation normal Pillage has with other game mechanics. They all relate in a system. Pillage exists in a game that also has unit movement, unit attacks, and hostile spy actions. All of those are real-time.
Imagine a spy sabotaging a building. She must scope the area, discover when guards switch shifts, smuggle in explosives, wait for night time, and so on. Yet, a spy can "iSabotage" a building in real-time. The spy makes the journey to arrive in the city, complete the operation, and return home safely, faster than a supersonic jet can fire an anti-bridge missile. Meanwhile, Military units can "iMove" and "iAttack" in real-time. In reality, pillaging is usually a timely pre-emptive tactic. "Scorched earth" is a defensive tactic to prevent continued movement of units in an invasion. "Blitzkrieg" and "sacking" are offensive tactics to disrupt supply lines to prevent reinforcement and counterattack. Hostile diplomatic missions have real-time drama, chase, and infrastructural sabotage and pillaging--which makes them popular source material for movies. What Freeciv had was a Pillage whose pre-emptive raison d'etre was lacking. Pre-empting real-time actions with actions on a turn timer just couldn't work.
The iPillage solution needs realistic restrictions to avoid overcorrection. It must carefully craft limits to balance with other real-time mechanics. It should be given to units whose real roles are quick tactical destruction, and to units who inadequately manifested those real roles inside the game.
iPillage on Freeciv-Web
FCW rulesets have 4 iPillage variables. Each unit can specifically set them.
- iPillage Ability - whether the unit can do it.
- iPillage Move Cost - the move cost of the iPillage. Typically, set to more than 1 move point in order to prevent abusive destruction of too many real-time targets.
- iPillage Odds - although normal Pillage is a slow deliberate action, in Freeciv, all real-time actions have odds. .iPillage represents the ability for rapid pre-emptive target destruction in "the nick of time." Thus, each unit type gets configurable odds of success. (In FCW, each vet level adds +5% to the base odds).
- iPillage Target Scope - This can be set to surgically pinpoint selection of a single target, or it can represent units with a powerful widespread scope yet no selectivity -- a number of random targets. An example of the latter is high-altitude carpet bombing by Jet Bombers.
MP2 units with iPillage
| iPillage type | targets | target select | odds | move cost | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dive Bomber | Ground Strike | 1 | yes | 50% | 7 | missions are short-range, exciting, and chancy. |
| Ground Strike Fighter | Ground Strike | 1 | yes | 75% | 3 | odds, move cost, and fuel=2 make this highly effective |
| Armor I and II | Blitz Sack | 1 | yes | 75% | 2 | sacrifices move points and odds to do its existing Pillage ability faster |
| Jet Bomber | Carpet Bomb | 2 | random | 80% | 3 | can non-selectively cause significant infrastructural destruction |