Cohesion Bonus?

[8-bit Crusader]

I was thinking about ways to better represent the positive effects of a band working together, and it occured to me that there's no benefit for the very real performance gains that come from having the same people working together over a long duration.

So, I'd suggest the following as something to enhance the effectiveness of the squad without too much complexity.
It could be visible as a number on the stats page to the right of the inventory space indicator, followed by a bar indicating progress toward the next level.

Cohesion:

What it does:
Measured in levels grants a +1 bonus per cohesion level to resolve and initiative, for all Battle Brothers.
Why resolve? By surviving fights and getting to better know the other members of their squad, a team will slowly build mutual trust and confidence, resulting a better discipline.
Why initiative? Over time, communication of information between squadmembers would steadily become more efficient, from having to stop and say "Hey there's an orc over there" to a simple grunt and gesture, or nod of the head. leading to more efficent reactions in combat situations.

How it's defined:
Cohesion would be expressed in levels, with a bar similar to experience.
It would be quantified as total number of days each member has been a part of the squad, divided by the total number of squad members.

For instance a squad composed of....
Joe 20 days
Moe 20 days
Poe 20 days
Sam 12 days
Jon 8 days

Would have 16 cohesion points: ( 20 + 20 + 20 + 12 + 8 ) / 5

If they were to add
Bo with 0 days

Cohesion would drop to 13 (13.3 rounded down). ( 20 + 20 + 20 + 12 + 8 + 0 ) / 6
To reflect everyone getting used to the new guy...

A leveling scale along the following would work well
+1 7 points (1 week)
+2 14 points (2 weeks)
+3 30 points (1 month)
+4 60 points (2 months)
+5 100 points (a big number)


Behind the scenes, this could also be used as a trigger for all sorts of fun events, good and bad, such as people quarelling when its low, helping each other out when its high, or even bullying new members that are more than 20 days apart from the squad average.

Anyway, I think it'd be pretty cool, and since its not hitting the core combat stats to hard, it seems it wouldn't throw the game out of balance too badly either.

I also want to note that it would make bringing in new blood a more complex decision, and the loss of a veteran that much more meaningful, a loss that is felt by every memeber of the squad, instead of just the player.

And as a final note, it could open up additional traits, such as cooperative, or contrary, that give a specific battle brother a bonus or penalty to the contribution for cohesion purposes.

[GreyBeard]

Fantastic idea! (DEVS ... PLEASE TAKE NOTE!!)

I'm impressed with the way you fleshed this out for the dev's. Also, some ideas to use it to enhance immersion in the world, and give a greater sense of ownership of your troops.

Actual combat histories are rife with examples of veteran members of a squad/platoon, etc. having a profound effect on the groups morale and combat performance.

I think this would be an excellent addition! Especially as right now, something as major as losing one (or all!) of the founding member(s) has *exactly* the same effect (ZERO) on the band as losing the guy you grabbed at the last village a few hours ago just to round out the band. All you lose is the skills you gave them.

[Kill Your Masters]

That's brilliant and makes a lot of sense regarding what is historically known about ancient warfare organization.

[willsama974]

Could be a great addition.

[Buttbutt]

Good idea.

[Tin Tim]

Originally posted by GreyBeard:

Fantastic idea!

Agreed!

[Psii]

Fantastic post!

Devs take notes please.

ps @ 8-bit Crusader. There is just one small request. From now on I will be using the names of Joe, Moe, Poe, Sam, Jon and Bo but this leaves me short of 6 names. Could you please supply the other 6 names to go with my new squad members. Thanks :)

[8-bit Crusader]

Use at your own discretion, as I'm guessing you'll have trouble keeping track of who's who.

Cam, Les, Wes, Tom, Ron, and Rob

Do I need to provide some extra names? or is it more of a "The Poe is dead! Long live the Poe!" scenario, whenever you hire a replacement.

[Psii]

Thanks for your quick reply and Cam, Les, Wes, Tom, Ron and Rob are excellent additions to your earlier six names.

All who agree to the Joe, Moe, Poe, Sam, Jon, Bo, Cam, Les, Wes, Tom, Ron and Rob Fraternity Club please post here :)

It will definitely be a "The Poe is dead! Long live the Poe!" band of Battle Brothers.

Long live the Band of the Red Hand!

[Psii]

Thanks, 8-bit Crusader.

I've now settled on my final roster of:

Poe, Moe, Joe, Boe, Sam, Cam, Tam, Don, Jon, Ron, Les n Des.

Huzzahhhhh!