Re: Comments?

I think that formula is probably on the right track. I still like the factor of five though, because it's probably likely that the square owner will have a few units on the square. With three units, we're already looking at only a few days (especially since there's only three buildings in the game). Also, there should probably be some sort of clause regarding unitless squares, maybe set the denominator to one in that case?

Also, what about when the number of units changes mid-siege? Should we just keep counting the same duration, or shorten it to reflect the increased number of defenders.

As for "alliances," I'm not sure I'm really wild about it. If somebody proposed a good system, that provides incentives to form alliances (and deal with multiple people winning... or not), without making them ridiculously powerful, then I think it'd be a good idea. But there's a whole lot of issues to work out, and it's only going to get more complicated with time.

Maybe use this for a formula:

#days=3*min(#units, #buildings)

So with three units and three buildings, that makes 3*3=9 days. With this formula, you get rewarded for having more of both types: not enough buildings, and you can't support the troops, but not enough troops and you can't defend the buildings.

Maybe even factor in the relative strengths of units: pick the lowest of the combined attack strengths on the surrounding squares, and compare it to the combined attack strength of the defending square, dealing with variable powers as neccessary (max or min values perhaps). That way, a powerful attacker could receive some sort of bonus to make the siege go quicker. Perhaps:

#days = 3*min(#units,#buildings)/max(1,AS/DS)

where AS is the combined attack strength of the weakest sieging square (with some determining formula, maybe the maximum possible value), and DS is the combined attack strength of the defended (maybe use the minimum values).

As for if the number/type of sieging units changes midway, maybe do something like:

# days remaining = (old # of days remaining)*(new total # of days)/(old total # of days)

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of sieging. If we can get alliances figured out (and both pass, of course), I think it would add a new and interesting dynamic to the game. I think the first order would be to develop alliances of some sort though, since the board is already/still rather hard to move about on, making generating a siege next to impossible.