I've talking to a few people on the forum and I've noticed that not many people like the Elite Units trait the way it is now, so I'd like to propose some new traits that I think will make the military system more interesting:
Naval Power - Your Empire has a traditional emphasis on command of the seas. It maintains modern warships with new innovations like radar and advanced armor designs, putting its ships above rival powers.
- All warships fight as Veteran
- Empire starts with a shipyard
+ Enables Marines
(As part of implementing this trait I would slightly modify Maritine Culture to not start with a shipyard. This would make it an economic version, while Naval Power is a military version.)
Air Pioneers - Military commanders in the empire have realized the great value of aircraft, and your people have been dazzled by the possibilities of flying through the air. New airplane designs and engines are constantly in production, giving your people a slight edge over their competitors.
- All aircraft fight as Veteran
- Empire starts with an Airfield
+ Enables Paratroopers
Armor Emphasis - The military emphasizes new armored vehicles, especially tank warfare. They have developed new defensive measures such as slanted armor, as well as stronger tank-guns for imposed combat.
- All armored and Mechanized units fight as Veteran
+ Enables Shock Troops
Traditional Army - Your soldiers have stuck to the tried fashions of the last wars, emphasizes infantry attacks, artillery barrages, and trench warfare. These men are better equipped than their opponents, and their artillery bigger.
- Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery units fight as Veteran
+ Enables Railway Artillery
The + marks indicating specialist units are just a suggestion, since we don't have an established and balanced system for specialists yet. Each of these focuses on a particular type of warfare (Naval, Air, Blitzkrieg, Trench) rather than just boosting one unit type. Specialists not included here would be good candidates for letting everyone recruit, or having constructs/other requirements.
Now there's two ways we could implement this.
Option 1: Make all these sub-options of a "Military Emphasis" trait.
Option 2: Remove Elite Units, Total War, and MAYBE Not One Step Back and New Army, then add these traits. Some of these traits are complicated or out of context, so removing them might help keep the military units down to size.
Another possible idea to go along with this would be to make New Army provide Veteran Specialists, which would hearken to a kind of special-forces military team that de-emphasized conventional combat.
Naval Power - Your Empire has a traditional emphasis on command of the seas. It maintains modern warships with new innovations like radar and advanced armor designs, putting its ships above rival powers.
- All warships fight as Veteran
- Empire starts with a shipyard
+ Enables Marines
(As part of implementing this trait I would slightly modify Maritine Culture to not start with a shipyard. This would make it an economic version, while Naval Power is a military version.)
Air Pioneers - Military commanders in the empire have realized the great value of aircraft, and your people have been dazzled by the possibilities of flying through the air. New airplane designs and engines are constantly in production, giving your people a slight edge over their competitors.
- All aircraft fight as Veteran
- Empire starts with an Airfield
+ Enables Paratroopers
Armor Emphasis - The military emphasizes new armored vehicles, especially tank warfare. They have developed new defensive measures such as slanted armor, as well as stronger tank-guns for imposed combat.
- All armored and Mechanized units fight as Veteran
+ Enables Shock Troops
Traditional Army - Your soldiers have stuck to the tried fashions of the last wars, emphasizes infantry attacks, artillery barrages, and trench warfare. These men are better equipped than their opponents, and their artillery bigger.
- Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery units fight as Veteran
+ Enables Railway Artillery
The + marks indicating specialist units are just a suggestion, since we don't have an established and balanced system for specialists yet. Each of these focuses on a particular type of warfare (Naval, Air, Blitzkrieg, Trench) rather than just boosting one unit type. Specialists not included here would be good candidates for letting everyone recruit, or having constructs/other requirements.
Now there's two ways we could implement this.
Option 1: Make all these sub-options of a "Military Emphasis" trait.
Option 2: Remove Elite Units, Total War, and MAYBE Not One Step Back and New Army, then add these traits. Some of these traits are complicated or out of context, so removing them might help keep the military units down to size.
Another possible idea to go along with this would be to make New Army provide Veteran Specialists, which would hearken to a kind of special-forces military team that de-emphasized conventional combat.