Change

The defender can chose the location to retreat to after losing a battle.

Reason for change

Currently, the attacker can choose which location a defending army retreats to, so the attacker doesn’t have to worry about the army retreating to a location more favorable to the defender. If a defending army can chose the location that they retreat to, then the attacker needs to spread out their army in order to prevent the defender from retreating to certain locations.

Playtest results of change

The change appears to reduce the incentive to concentrate troops in one location. However, further testing is necessary to see if the changes are enough.

Clash of Empires currently has some issues with people being discouraged from attacking, especially early in the game. The winners were usually players who did not attack for the first half of the game.

Probable causes

During combat, the attacker will always lose the same number of units as the defender. This is a problem for the attacker because troops are difficult to replace.  A successful attacker is often vulnerable because they have fewer troops and more territory to defend.

Potential changes.

• In order to make attacking worthwhile, players will not lose units during combat, and the losing side will have to retreat to a spot chosen by the attacker.
• Players will have a fixed number of units based on the number of cities they own.
• Combat will be resolved by rolling dice, with friendly troops in adjacent territories giving bonuses.

Observations

• Poor troop positioning is a major problem.
• There was no disincentive to attack other players
• Concentrating all your troops in one place is a powerful strategy. It is not as efficient to move smaller armies, and larger armies are more effective in defense.
• The game may work as a 2 player game

Conclusion.

The new combat system seems like an effective way of encouraging attacks. However, some balance changes need to be made to discourage people from concentrating all their armies in one location.