Areas of Recruitment

I got this idea from the game Rome: Total Realism (mod for Rome: Total War).

In that game you have AOR's or Areas of Recruitment. AOR units are units only available in specific areas of the map. I think this is the way to balance the game and make it more interesting.

To keep the game simple, each AOR will have one unique unit, and there will be four AOR's only.

Players can only recruit AOR units in the AOR that their CAPITAL is in. They cannot recruit other AOR units.

Example of possible AOR's and units:

AOR: Americas, Europe, Oceania
Type: Ship
AOR unit: Destroyer (attack 9, defence 8, range 6, cost 500, weekly cost 50)

AOR: Asia (excluding Russia and the countries of Greater Middle East)
Type: Tank
AOR unit: Stealth Battle Tank (attack 7, defence 5, range 7, cost 250, weekly cost 25)

AOR: Greater Middle East (North Africa, Middle East, west South Asia)
Type: Aircraft
AOR unit: Tactical Bomber (attack 6, defence 6, range 12, cost 350, weekly cost 35)

AOR: Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa)
Type: Infantry
AOR unit: Light Infantry (attack 5, defence 3, range 6, cost 30, weekly cost 3)

In the above setting, Europe has been made a little less attractive as a starting point, because their AOR unit is expensive and sea-based.

Cheap infantry in Africa is I think the most important for balancing the game. Players that start out in Africa can then quickly take over the rest of Africa, retake cities, and move out of Africa (at that point they are so far from their AOR that it wont be practical for them to continue recruiting cheap Infantry back in Sub-Saharan Africa).

What do you think?

We were planning to go in a slightly different direction. Country-specific rare units that join you randomly on capturing a city, for example. But I like your idea too, maybe we can implement something like that.

I like the randomness element personally

I would like that too, but I think it makes more sense if country-specific units are recruitable. Players that start in Africa need to be able to recruit cheap infantry there (which would also be realistic) to have any chance.

Good point, african countries should have a guerrilla unit or something that is really cheap and weak or at least slow or something