Bombardment: a problem-oriented approach
Problem: Bombardment is ineffective, so people shift HUGE stacks of artillery around the map during wars which (together with the lack of stack movement) is very time consuming and very boring.
Problem: There is no penalty for forming large stacks of infantry units. There are few coherent front lines during a war, and the issue of target density is not given any relevance.
Solution: Bombardment should be given a chance of damaging ALL units within its target square. This pushes towards a more even distribution of infantry and artillery units across a front line, and for a more appropriate use of artillery: ie. as a precursor to an assault against massed groups of entrenched infantry. This wouldn't unbalance sieges scenarios provided that defenders are buffered from damage by surrounding city infrastructure. Obviously the coding should have to change to reflect this.
If this idea is to be implemented, I suppose there would also have to be minor changes to the AI but that's a small price to pay for something that would enrich the game experience quite significantly.
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