[faction] Imperial Dynasty

[JaxLaurant]

Thesis

An Asian-themed faction for Wesnoth, created with the goals to provide an entertaining side for a campaign and multiplayer. This faction aims to be balanced on multiplayer while featuring at least one distinctive gameplay concept unique to the faction. Finally, an attempt is made to adhere to a level of realism to actual Chinese/Japanese weaponry and strategy, especially when it it is entertaining to do so.

Theme

I borrowed stylistically from my knowledge of Chinese as well as Japanese martial institutions - although it should be noted that their armies were often in contrast, and were more dissimilar than similar. In particular, I drew from the general army formation strategies of the Chinese Spring and Autumn Period while naming my units with a mostly fantastical vision of Japanese samurai.

For distinctiveness, I sought to capture an army reliant on its leaders and officers to achieve victory. So while I based the core of my units along slightly inferior versions of Loyalist units, the employment of the Imperial-only ability of command could potentially make them slightly superior versions of their Loyalist counterparts while creating an archilles heel in those 'command' units.

Finally, I envisioned the faction as generally more balanced and disciplined than their Wesnothian counterparts. Thus, I decided that the overall alignment of the faction would be neutral, with an occasional unit leaning to chaos.

Special Abilities

Command Ability - At the beginning of each turn, units with this ability will apply the Discipline status to all friendly units within two hexes of an equal or lower level: units adjacent to the command unit, and units two hexes away from the command unit. Units with the Command ability cannot receive the Discipline status.

Discipline Status - Units with this status have +2 movement points, and +25% attack. It lasts one turn. Units with Command Ability cannot receive the Discipline status. Discipline, obviously, does not stack for more than one Command unit.

Core Units

Yari Conscript
Advantages:

• Armed with spears. Piercing damage.
• Cheap, spammable.
• Decent defensive capabilities.
• With command units, capable of going on the offensive.
• Neutral unit, no weakness during the night.
• An effective defensive unit with great lethality to horse units and drakes.

Disadvantages:

• No range attack, making them very vulnerable to range attacks.
• Slower than Spearmen, making them very vulnerable to harrassment.
• Weak attack, lower than even Spearmen.
• Neutral unit, no strength during the day.

Spoiler:

Names and Name Variations: Yari Conscript(lvl 1), Yari Ashigaru(lvl 2), Ashigaru Hero(lvl 3), Yari Veteran(lvl 3)

Image Description: Spear-wielding infantryman with a broad-rimmed hat and light armor.

Utility: For all practical purposes, a slower and less offensive Loyalist spearman without a ranged attack. With Discipline, however, they should do more slightly damage than spearmen and move one hex faster. They still will have less HP overall, but due to a lowered price, should hold off an attack reasonably well without commanders.

Notes: This unit was what I had exactly in mind when designing the Discipline Concept.

Promotion Variations: Promotions will generally improve its attack, and durability - with an option at level three to either gain a powerful range attack(Yari Veteran), or get the Command ability and two movement points(Ashigaru Hero).

Historical Notes : In spite of Sun Tzu's adovacy of professional soldiers, Chinese armies were mostly composed of conscripts and levies during the Spring and Autumn period. A common cause of a failed offensive was that after a successfull summer war, farmer-soldiers would desert the army to attend to the harvest of their crops. When well led, they nonetheless proved capable of holding their own. They were commonly armed with spears or other polearms, as such weapons were cheap and easy to use, but they rarely ever accomplished the same heights of true close order, ranked fighting as the Greek phalanx or the Macedonian sarissa. They were, after all, not professionals.

Japanese Ashigaru, meaning 'foot soldier' shared similar humble origins, but would in time become professional soldiers, drawing a regular salary from their feudal lords rather than relying on plunder for their pay. Some ashigaru would even become raised to the level of samurai, an almost unheard of feat in a caste-based society.

Imperial Skirmisher
Advantages:

• Fast swordsman. Even faster with commanders.
• Excellent evasion on good terrain.
• Good offensive(blade) capabilities, almost equivalent to Fencers.
• Excellent for holding terrain like forests from elves.
• Neutral unit, no weakness during the night.
• Better mobility than Fencers with Command

Disadvantages:

• No range attack, making them vulnerable to range attacks.
• Expensive for foot infantry.
• One less attack than Fencers, making them worse against entrenched enemies.
• Easily outpaces command units and can become stranded behind enemy lines.
• Neutral unit, no strength during the day.

Spoiler:

Names and Name Variations: Imperial Skirmisher(lvl 1), Imperial Swordsman(lvl 2), Jade Swordsman(lvl 2), Imperial Swordmaster(lvl 3), Kensai(lvl 4)

Image Description: Unarmored swordsmen in robes with a shield.

Utility: They serve the same role as fencers do, though with Command, they can be used to launch surprise attacks. With promotions, the unit becomes significantly different from their Loyalist counterpart.

Notes: This unit is the best evidence of my original train of thought - to make an Asian-themed faction that was essentially a pallete swap of the Loyalists at lvl 1, but evolving into different units by lvl 2 or lvl 3.

Promotion Variations: Promotions will generally improve its attack frequency and durability. At lvl 2, an Imperial Swordsman gains the Skirmish ability while at lvl 3, an Imperial Swordmaster gains Marksmanship on top of Skirmish, and at lvl 4, a Kensai gains Stalwart on top of the other two abilities. It is never capable of acquiring a ranged attack along this path.

It can instead level to a Jade Swordsman at lvl 2, gaining a second, arcane melee attack effective against the undead.

Historical Notes : Skirmishers have been part of all armies that fought in rank and formation, seeking to disrupt the cohesion of enemy formations. Chinese skirmishers were usually unarmored or lightly armored swordsmen - their role would eventually be replaced by light cavalry.

Japanese armies did not use skirmishers for the most part - the code of bushido encouraged samurai to seek each other out in loose order and fight honorable one-on-one battles. With no formation to disrupt, there would be no use for skirmishers. Even when the code was not observed in some pitched battles, the role of a skirmisher was filled by mounted samurai archers.

Jade was believed to be a magical element capable of destroying evil spirits, even immortal gods otherwise invincible. Jade knives and swords were believed to hold great power, and often were held as great treasures by kings or priests.

Kensai were also known as 'sword saints.' They were believed to be the ultimate swordsmen, who had not only mastered swordsmanship, but also had found spiritual understanding through their mastery.

Lesser Oni
Advantages:

• Powerful impact attackers.
• High hitpoints.
• Better mobility than Heavy Infantry with Command.
• Chaotic unit, stronger at night.
• Good resistances against blade and pierce.
• Good hill and mountain evasion.
• Devastating attack at night with Command.

Disadvantages:

• No range attack, making them vulnerable to range attacks.
• Very expensive for foot infantry.
• Poor evasion overall.
• Slow infantry.
• Few attacks, trouble against high evasion enemies.
• Weak against Arcane, Fire and Cold.
• No resistance to Impact.
• Chaotic unit, weak during the day.

Spoiler:

Names and Name Variations: Lesser Oni(lvl 1), Armored Oni(lvl 2), Great Oni(lvl 3)

Image Description: Intelligent ogres wielding massive metal-studded clubs, the kanabo.

Utility: They serve a similar role as Heavy Infantry in smashing skeletons, but with their incredible attack at nighttime, serve a double role as potential siege engines for attacking towns. They are, indeed, murder engines halted only by their lack of mobility and expense.

Notes: While originally I didn't think much about using demons to fit an Asian themed army, I soon realized that oni iconography was common with the samurai. And since mainline ogres aren't part of any faction, why not have their distant cousins be intelligent and fearsome? It just seems like such a cool idea. That said, my big fear is that they will become too powerful and overshadow their compatriots. Perhaps one way to fix them is to make them Neutral, not Chaotic, symbolizing them as 'enlightened' ogres as well as reducing their ability to inflict damage.

Promotion Variations: Promotions will improve its attack damage and durability, similar to the Heavy Infantry series.

Historical Notes : Oni were Japanese demons, with immeasureable strength to wield the terrifying kanabo, or the war club. Normally a weapon too heavy for most battlefield use, the mythical oni were obviously strong enough to employ it to shatter their enemies with ridiculous ease.

Imperial Samurai
Advantages:

• Elite COMMAND unit.
• Good blade attack with many strikes.
• Good piercing arrow attack.
• Dangerous charge attack.
• Neutral alignment.

Disadvantages:

• Extremely expensive(We're talking on the order of 20+ gold)
• Not cost effective for its HP.
• Low damage per strike, trouble against high resistance enemies.
• Charge is lethal but also dangerous to Bushi.
• Weakness to pierce.
• Neutral alignment.

Spoiler:

Names and Name Variations: Imperial Samurai(lvl 1), Mounted Bushi(lvl 2), Samurai Lord(lvl 3), Demon Hunter(lvl 2), Demon Slayer(lvl 3)

Image Description: Armored katana-freaks in excellent armor, with a bow for backup.

Utility: They serve as subcommanders to your entire army, keeping your forces in fighting trim and making the otherwise slightly inferior line troopers into superior soldiers. They also can serve as a jack of all trades, and kill ghosts during the day with their charge attack. But, while versatile, they are far too expensive to use as line troopers.

Notes: While samurai were not particularly noted for their command ability, many of them did become excellent commanders. To fit the theme, they were easily the unit that could do everything, but made you risk putting all your eggs into one basket. If your samurais should fall, your army should collapse soon afterward.

Promotion Variations: Promotions will improve his melee attack power, range attack frequency and speed, as he gains a horse at lvl 2. At lvl 3, he gains even more melee attack power and has his resistances against blade and impact upped significantly due to excellent armor.

On the Demon Hunter at lvl 2 variation, he loses his Charge ability but gains a Nightstalk ability with an arcane attack from a jade blade. At lvl 3, he gains Marksmanship with his Arcane attack.

Historical Notes : Samurai were the noble warrior caste of Japan. They received the best training and the best equipment, with equal emphasis both on melee and ranged combat, as well as horsemanship. They were easily one of history's deadliest warriors in any culture.

Imperial Crossbowman
Advantages:

• Powerful single ranged attack.
• Inexpensive infantry, spammable.
• With command, comparable to Bowman in both speed and total damage.
• Neutral alignment.

Disadvantages:

• A pitiable melee attack.
• Slow infantry.
• Less damage than Bowman.
• Medium-low HP.
• Neutral alignment.

Spoiler:

Names and Name Variations: Imperial Crossbowman(lvl 1), Imperial Doublesbow(lvl 2), Imperial Chu-ke-Nu(lvl 3).

Image Description: Conscripts with a damn pretty weapon.

Utility: Ranged support for the Imperials, the Crossbows are another example of an unit that can only defend without command assistance. Nonetheless, concentrated damage is always frightening and besides being capable of driving people from heavy cover with brute force, but can also discourage enemy ranged attacks.

Notes: Crossbows are fun, but almost impossible to fit well in the game. Its supposed to fall beneath a thunderstick in power, but still much more hard-hitting than an arrow.

Promotion Variations: Promotions will improve his melee attack power, and range attack frequency. He gets two attacks at lvl 2, and three attacks at level 3. He also gets a poison attack at level 3.

Historical Notes : The crossbow was one of the most common of all ancient Chinese range weapons, easily trained for conscripts and capable of being mass produced. Later devopments would lead to the repeating crossbow and more shots being fired one after another with complex mechanical pumps.

Imperial Rider
Advantages:

• Effective ranged attack.
• Fast. Even faster with command.
• Melee attack slows.
• Can cross almost all terrain with some ease.
• Neutral alignment.

Disadvantages:

• A pitiable melee attack.
• Not cheap.
• Poor defense on anywhere but flat ground.
• Vulnerability to pierce.
• Neutral alignment.

Spoiler:

Names and Name Variations: Imperial Rider(lvl 1), Imperial Horsebowman(lvl 2), Imperial Horselord(lvl 3).

Image Description: Light cavalry with nets and short bows.

Utility: The scouts and ZoC holders of the Imperials, it can effectively delay a flank with its arrows and nets. Its not really supposed to be able to kill anything and anything pointy will kill them fast. They are, after all, only light cavalry in every term of the word.

Notes: Creating an unique scout that didn't go insanely into the fantasy was difficult at best. I eventually came up with a ranged-focused horse unit that also utilized delays and traps - not too far from the Mongolian cavalryman, though the Mongols also wielded the lance to terrifying effect.

Promotion Variations: Promotions will improve his ranged attack power and general durability. At level 2, a Horsebowman gets more chances to slow its foe down and can fire his arrows with Marksmanship. At level 3, the Horselord gains the Command ability.

Historical Notes : Most Asian cavalry would count as light cavalry - bardng was all but unheard of and archery was much more heavily employed instead of cavalry shock tactics in melee. Chariots, instead, were used for shock. Mounted samurai were the exception rather than the rule.

Caveat

Yes, I know there is another Asian-themed faction already in development. For reasons too many to list here, it is not a similar faction to the one I'm proposing. For one thing, I have no Geisha or Ninjas in my lineup. This is intentional.

[Cloud]

Wow, seriously great planning (makes a change from the usual list of stats we get.). Oh and welcome to the forums though I know you've lurked at least a little .

I shall be watching the progress of this faction with interest, and wish you luck with it.

[JaxLaurant]

Thank you very much for your kind words! Your excellently-designed faction was one of those which I keenly studied before penning down this, admittedly, very initial notes on my own. I hope to be reading through the campaign development forum so I can work on a campaign for them soon, as well as make a schedule for the artwork.

[RenoOfTurks]

i like this idea i like it!

[JaxLaurant]

I've started on planning for the campaign design, starting with the first scenario