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 almost always a time sensitive pre-emptive tactic. "Scorched earth" is just-in-time prevention of continued movement of invaders. "Blitzkrieg" and "sacking" are disrupt supply lines, reinforcement, and counterattack. Freeciv's Pillage lacked its own pre-emptive raison d'être. The real time actions it supposedly prevents were to be pre-empted by TC-delayed..fell actions. This fell short of the tactical purpose of pillaging. And, ironically, enhanced the "unfair RTS advantage" of people who logged on more often, knowing their actions can't be pre-empted by the once-a-day player. Pillaging with Air units was especially bad, as players who logged in more often could easily shoot down the actor unit.
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 if units' realistic roles are quick tactical destruction and the units were unable to adequately manifest their real tactical roles and advantages in-game. In other words, as a buff for units that needed one anyway, to let them be more realistic, and to enhance balance and playability.
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, all complex real-time actions have odds..iPillage represents 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 a single target, or it can represent a powerful widespread scope without selectivity -- a number of random targets. For example, high-altitude carpet bombing by Jet Bombers.
MP2 units with iPillage
| iPillage type | targets | target select | odds | move cost | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dive Bomber | Dive Bombing | 1 | yes | 50% | 6 | 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 |
| Strategic Bomber | Bomb | 1 | random | 60% | 3 | may have a few tactical benefits; or limited economic pestering |
| Jet Bomber | Carpet Bomb | 2 | random | 75% | 3 | can non-selectively cause significant infrastructural destruction |