Contemporary Tactics is a game based in the 20th and 21st centuries. The approximate start time is 1880, and end time is 2008. There are 5 ages and 8 civilizations. The ages are as follows:
There are many civilizations in this game. One new feature is that the Civ's names change as they advance through the ages. The starting name is first, followed by the changing names, in order, in parenthesis.
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This game utilizes 5 resources:
To gather resources you need to first build a collection building (Mine Shaft, Factory, Farm, Oil Well). Mine Shafts are built into the sides of Cliffs, Hills, and Mountains and produce Iron when garrisoned with Civilians. Factories can produce Wood or Capitol, depending on what you set to produce, when garrisoned. Farms produce food, and Oil Wells produce oil. Each building can hold a total of 20 Civilians, the more Civilians to a building, the faster production is. Resources can also be gained through trade.
Unit classes are the various types of units available to you. Each nation has different units, and different abilities tagged onto those units so this is just a rough guide.
Infantry make up the backbone of any nation's army. Infantry can be split into several Classes:
Tanks are extremely powerful and well armored. With a few exceptions they are slow, and have trouble keeping up with faster units like light vehicles and certain types of Infantry. The Mark II tank is so slow it can't even keep up with general infantry. Tanks cannot be harmed by bullets from Rifle Infantry, MGs, Fighter Aircraft, certain Defensive fortifications, and many vehicles. Basically they are weak only against Artillery, Heavy Infantry, and certain Vehicles and Aircraft.
Light Tanks are fast tanks, but weak and lightly armored. They really don't have much use except for beating Heavy Tanks or pursuing fleeing enemies.
Medium Tanks are your standard tanks, tanks like the Abrams, Panzer, Sherman, ect. They are middle of the road and do not excel in any one area.
Heavy Tanks are only available to certain nations. They are slow, but nearly indestructible. They can take out Light Tanks of a similar tech level in 1 hit, and make short work of Infantry and Vehicles. They are extremely vulnerable to Artillery and Aircraft though, because of their low speed. An example of a Heavy Tank would be the Mark II or the Tiger Royal.
Artillery, every player's favorite unit class, is back with a vengeance. In this game, Artillery doesn't just destroy buildings, it kills everything and anything. Artillery has extremely long range, to the point that its range is almost a weakness, since it takes a while for the shell to reach its destination, and by the time it does its target may be long gone. In Age 1, Artillery is weak, just consisting of cannon and small breach loading guns. However, in Age 2 Rail Guns are unlocked, weapons that move on railroad tracks and can destroy anything that gets within its massive range.
This Artillery is rather short range, meant to be used as a support weapon for infantry more than anything. Weapons included in this class include Pak guns and Mortars.
Heavy Artillery are large guns that can lob high explosive shells across large portions of land to soften up defenses and the like. While extremely powerful "flight lag" makes it nearly impossible to utilized its full potential on mobile units, so fire should be instead concentrated on buildings, or on other artillery in "Artillery Duels".
This class contains guns that are super powerful and expensive. Examples are the Rail-Gun which can only move down railroad tracks but can hit things a quarter of the map away, and the SCUD Missile.
Aircraft are extremely useful to support weaker units, or to bomb enemy cities. Each aircraft can use one of many munitions which are researched at the weapons factory. These include Fire Bombs, Conventional Bombs, Nuclear Bombs, ect, in addition to standard machine guns and/or AAM Missiles.
Fighters use MGs and Missiles to destroy enemy aircraft, and can also strafe ground units. Fighters start out with MGs, but in the late game can be equipped with missiles which are used in addition to MGs to down enemy aircraft.
Bombers are forts of the air, bristling with Machine Guns to take down fighters, and filled to the gunnels with bombs just waiting to be dropped on the unsuspecting city or unit. Be careful shooting down an enemy bomber, something filled with that much explosive isn't going to go down without a bang! Also note that Bombers can be equipped with Fire Bombs for bonus damage to buildings, Nukes to take down entire cities in one blow, gas bombs to kill units, or even AAM Missiles to surprise the fighters trying to take it down.
Transports can carry Infantry or Light Vehicles and deliver them accurately to targets deep behind enemy lines in Parachute drops. Just know that the plane can't pick said units back up, unless you can capture a nearby airstrip!
What is an empire without a navy? The naval system in this game is much like AoE III with a few different ships that have build limits but no pop cost.
Light Ships are generally weak and have high build limits, but are strong against submarines. Light Ships include Patrol Boats and Destroyers.
Heavy ships crush nearly anything that floats... or walks... or flies... but have 2 major weaknesses, Submarines and Torpedo Boats. Subs aren't so bad because the user is risking a lot of wealth to take down your insanely expensive ship, but imagine a player's embarrassment to lose this several thousand resource investment to a torpedo boat costing a little over 100 resources. Rough stuff, so always protect your Heavy Ships with Light Ships.
Subs are almost as expensive as Heavy Ships but hold an advantage over them. Not only do subs gain an attack bonus against Heavy Ships, but they are invisible until they attack or are detected by a light ship. There are two flavors of Submarine, the Attack Sub, which is cheaper but can only attack ships, and the super expensive Missile Sub, which uses many types of Missiles, including Nuclear, to attack land and sea targets. Of course a Missile Sub is defenseless, so protect them at all costs.
A torpedo boat is a very small ship armed with torpedoes that can take out Heavy ships, and the occasional Submarine. They are very cheap, and can have a big impact. Note that not all nations have access to them, just those without larger ships.
Vehicles are anything that drives around on wheels that isn't a Tank. This includes Trucks, Jeeps, Halftracks, and Cavalry (which are available throughout the game, just very... very weak in the later stages). Also certain Artillery units, such as the SCUD are Artillery-Vehicle hybrids.
Includes Jeeps and trucks, Light Vehicles are fast, but not exactly armed to the teeth. They can move small numbers of troops from point A to point B, and if armed, can fire while moving.
APCs include Halftracks and the like. They are resistant to the same things as tanks, but can carry troops, have less attack and health, and move faster. They are primarily a Troop Transport and not a fighting vehicle.
A cross between a Tank and a Jeep, armored cavalry units are very fast, moderately armored, but get crushed by Tanks.
United States of America:
Post-Industrial Age:
Units:
Infantry:
Rifleman(RI): Rifle Infantry armed with a bolt action rifle. They do a moderate amount of damage at the cost of having a slow rate of fire.
Artillery:
Gatling Gun(SA): An early form of the Machine Gun that is classified as Artillery. Has a stunning rate of fire, but jams easily so don't rely on them in a pinch.
Field Gun(LA): An Archaic cannon capable of large amounts of damage but at a short range
Vehicles (Cavalry)
Cuirassier(LV): Sword armed cavalry that are good early raiders, but useless for much else.
Carbineer(LV): Mounted riflemen with increased speed but less range and damage.
Technologies:
Modern Age (Town Center):
Smokeless Gunpowder (Armory): Increases the damage and range of RI
Copper Cartridge (Armory): Decreases Infantry reload time, enables RI
Buildings:
Farm
Factory
Oil Rig
House
Market
Fortress
Barracks
Stable
Artillery Production Building <
Armory
Road (increases movement speed)
Railroad Tracks (allows trains for even faster movement than roads)
Stockade
Modern Age:
Units:
Infantry:
Rifleman(RI): Automatically unlocked even without "Copper Cartridge" research
Machine Gun Team(MG): Uses a Maxim heavy machine gun to throw out a barrage of lead, has a slower RoF than a Gatling Gun, but is much more reliable.
AT Rifle(HI): Uses a powerful .55 Caliber anti-tank rifle to render tanks immobile, but lacks the power to destroy them outright.
Artillery:
Gatling Gun(SA): Still around from the previous age, but will likely be disused because of the MG Team, except for players who prefer the RoF.
37mm AT Gun(LA): A light gun capable of destroying armored targets, as well as buildings and infantry at close to medium range, can be upgraded to 57mm and 76mm for increased damage.
75mm Howitzer(HA): Very powerful against buildings and tanks but tends to lag a bit when fired at longer ranges. Is utterly helpless when units close the distance to the gun.
14 inch Rail Gun(SA): An extremely powerful and long range artillery piece that moves along rails. Suffers from extreme "flight lag" when used on moving targets, but its massive blast radius makes up for its lag when used on slower targets like HTs. Extremely effective against Buildings, static defenses, and Infantry in trenches.
Aircraft:
Caproni Ca.36 (B): This biplane bomber is lacking in armaments, with only 1 machine gun, and several bombs per run. But it is better than nothing...
Fokker Dr.I(F): This fighter uses a Triplane design. It is small, fast, and armed with 1 MG. The plane is rather cheap, but do to quality control problems, has the potential to break apart mid-flight with little to no warning! This plane can also carry 1 AP bomb in addition to its MG.
Ships:
Dreadnought(HS): The Dreadnought is the ultimate word in early game naval supremacy. It has it all, heavy armor, powerful weapons, AA guns, and even onboard Heavy Artillery for use against land targets. Of course all of this comes with a hefty price tag, and it is extremely vulnerable to both Submarines, and Torpedo Boats (which it can kill in one hit, but has difficulty hitting due to its size and speed). BL: 3
Cruiser(LS): Cruisers may be light ships, but they are in now way small! These beasts are slender and long armed with a variety of AA and anti-Submarine ordinance. They will get crushed in a confrontation with a Dreadnought or other heavy ship though, so exercise caution when deploying them! BL: 10
Submarine(S): A basic submarine. This early sub is rather weak, so use with caution. Even so it will still cut through heavy ships and the like! BL: 6
Vehicles (Cavalry)
Cuirassier(LV): No change from previous age
Carbineer(LV): No change from previous age
Armored Car(LV): Fast and armed with a MG, this car and take a few rifle bullets and keep on driving. It can carry a small complement of Infantry.
Transport Truck(LV): Unarmed but much faster than Infantry, Transport Trucks can carry a large group of Infantry quickly to their destination over land. They suffer a movement penalty when off roads though!
Techs:
Disrupter(Airport): Increases the rate of fire for Fighters.
Poison Gas(Armory): Enables artillery to fire gas filled shells that stay around for a while and damage all Infantry or Civilian units within the cloud over time.
Buildings:
Trenches(provides a defence benefit to any Infantry inside it. Cannot be destroyed in battle, only captured)
Airport
Airstrip(allows aircraft to land and refuel/rearm)
Pillbox(attacks with MG, tougher than a MG Nest)
Trench Barracks(can be built into trench systems, functions like a normal barracks)
MG Nest (Static MG position)
Guard Tower(large LOS, MG attack)
AA Defence
Tank and Vehicle Production Building <
Barbed Wire Fence
Atomic Age:
Units:
Infantry:
Bazooka Infantry(HI): Uses a bazooka to destroy tanks and fortifications.
.50 Caliber MG(MG): Powerful multipurpose MG that can destroy units, vehicles, and aircraft, but overheats quickly and is required to cool for a short time.
Rifleman(RI): Same as always.
US Marine Infantry(RI): Similar to a rifleman, only stronger and more expensive.
Sniper(RI): Long ranged, and invisible until it is detected, a sniper is the bane of all Infantry units!
Tanks:
M4 Sherman Tank(MT): Rather fast, moderately strong, and with a low amount of hit points, the Sherman is best en-masse, especially against the superior German and Russian Tanks of the age.
M2 Light Tank(LT): Fast, and with low hit points and low attack, the M2 is best used for scouting, or pursuing fleeing enemies.
Vehicles:
Deuce 'n a Half(LV): The DH is a Transport truck that is unarmed, but capable of carry a large amount of troops quickly across any relatively smooth terrain.
Jeep(LV): Just a standard jeep with 1 .50 and 1 .30 caliber MGs mounted on the rear and passenger seat. Can carry 3 Infantry and is good for patrols and scouting.
Halftrack(APC): Heavily armored and equipped with a .50, the Halftrack is a strong, albeit slower and more expensive alternative the Deuce 'n a Half or any other Light Vehicle Transport.
Aircraft:
P-38 Lighting(F): The standard American fighter in the late days of WWII, the P-38 is armed with 2 .50 Caliber machine guns, and a 20mm cannon. It uses a unique twin boom design that allows for some neat tricks, like turning a 180 by shutting off one engine and powering up the other!
B-17 Flying Fortress(B): Probably the best armed bomber of its age, the B-17 is bristling with Machineguns and has a large bomb capacity. Perhaps its only weakness is that it needs to fly at low altitude, and so takes extra damage from flack. Its huge HP boost over other bombers makes up for this to an extent though.
Ships:
Battleship(HS): Basically just a Dreadnought updated with modern technology. It is slightly faster, stronger, and has a longer range. Plus the guns onboard have a range on par with a rail gun! BL: 3
Destroyer(LS): A small ship designed specifically for the task of locating and destroying submarines. BL: 10
Submarine(S): The same thing as from the previous age.
Aircraft Carrier(HS): A HS that can carry up to 6 fighters. It has a powerful anti-aircraft attack, but relies on the onboard fighters to take out any ships that threaten it. An Aircraft Carrier repairs and resupplies garrisoned planes, which dramatically increases their range. Due to their size, Bomber class aircraft cannot be loaded onto an Aircraft Carrier. BL: 3
Artillery:
Pak 37(LA): A light anti-tank gun with a short range and low damage. It is cheap and fast to produce, but may have trouble piercing the armor of a German or Russian tank.
105mm Howitzer(HA): The standard heavy artillery for the US during both WWII and Vietnam, this cannon is very long ranged and can take down several units in one shot. However, due to flight lag it is often best to keep the guns close enough to the battle that it isn't over when the shells reach it! This artillery is very difficult to move around, and takes a while to deploy.
155mm Howitzer(HA): Deployed rather sparingly among the US army this gun sports a massively long barrel, that fires shells at an even longer range than the 105. This gun is expensive, but well worth the money for shelling buildings and the like!
90mm(SA): The designated AA artillery piece for the US, this can be trained mounted on a halftrack, or towed behind a truck like other artillery. The halftrack being weaker but more mobile.
Rail Gun(SA): Same as before.
Buildings:
Bunker(replaces Fortress)
Fixed 90mm(replaced AA gun)
Arsenal(allows you to equip troops with certain weapons with different strengths/weaknesses)
Techs:
Manhattan Project(Armory): Extremely costly and takes longer than an Age up to research, the Manhattan Project enables bombers to deploy Atomic Bombs. Atomic Bombs will cause massive damage to whole cities, but should be limited in use around freindly troops or buildings because of the huge blast radius.
Thanks for reading what I have so far. I am open to suggestions for content, and could use some people to help me come up with unique unit listings for each civilization, they can, of course, share standard infantry (rifleman, MG Team, ect) but I would prefer if each nation was completely unique.
"Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another.
Immanual Kant
[This message has been edited by Marcus Varro (edited 12-11-2008 @ 10:28 AM).]