Strategy by Design

"Revolutionary Unit Design"

Remember that great line from the box? Well, revolutionary it may be, but there are many "revolutions" I'd rather not have to witness first hand (like France in the 1790's, for example). While it is true that there are over TWO THOUSAND different unit designs possible … no one apparently bothered to calculate how long such selection would take.

The artifacts mentioned earlier, once researched, allow you to build different types of vehicles. There is a somewhat clunky interface screen (similar in frustration to Alpha Centauri's unit design) where you choose body type, chassis, and weapon mount. Unlike SMAC, there is no armor selection, as it is a function of the body type.

The hovercraft chassis

Behold, the howitzer

I liked the chassis selection the best, as it offered a neat range covering most aspects of ground warfare (trucks, tanks, hovercraft) and one air unit, the VTOL (Vertical-Take-Off-and-Landing flyers). The body types were a little more confusing, as the trade-offs between armor, speed, and cost were not very easy to discern.

Cannons and sensors and VTOLs oh my!

There are many, many, many different weapon types to choose from. Unfortunately, it made the learning curve pretty steep, as figuring out the benefit of a light cannon versus a heavy machinegun versus a flame-thrower (ad nauseam) was fairly difficult. In general, I found the traditional tank mounts (light cannon, medium cannon, heavy cannon) to be rather under-powered; whereas missile launchers and rockets seemed to be VERY strong.

There are also separate "system" mounts you can use instead of a weapon. Ranging from general construction to special "leader" units they were fairly well integrated and useful, if a bit complex. For instance, what I like to call the "tonka truck" mount is your basic construction vehicle. The mobile repair turret repairs units in the field. The less intuitive "leader" mount makes a special commander that can lead your troops.

Behold, the howitzer

Then you get into all the crazy units for artillery: sensor units spot for your artillery, counter-battery units spot for fire from enemy artillery and allow your artillery to return fire, VTOL strike units allow your VTOLs to automatically attack incoming enemy units, and VTOL counter-battery units allow your VTOL flyers to automatically attack artillery that is firing on your position.

Behold the power of artillery

One aspect that I did like quite a bit, but at the same time may be a sore point for some, was the sheer power of massed artillery. Unlike some previous RTS games where the artillery units were fragile, slow-moving things with little power (*cough* Red Alert *cough*), artillery is as fast as the body you put on it, can withstand a minor beating, and in mass numbers can truly decimate your opponent.

Similar to a "tank push" in Starcraft, a well-executed artillery movement is beautiful to behold. There is a wide range of power, from mortars to MRLs (mobile rocket launcher) to howitzers. I tended to prefer the units with a faster reload time (pepperpot mortars and hellstorm howitzers), so as to bring about that nice glow from a constant booming of artillery shells.