I have a cool gameplay suggestion (for a future expansion - I realize DA is in beta and has a big enough list of new features). Reading about Dark Avatar has me really excited about Spies and I look forward to using them. What I would enjoy a lot more, however, would be creating Leader units to serve as Governors [/B]of planets or solar systems or [B]Commanders of fleets. This would fit perfectly with the idea of the Epic Generator. Giving the game meaningful characters that you build (spies could be included as well) would give players the feeling of playing out an epic sci-fi story in Gal Civ II.
When a Leader unit is created, he could be assigned to be governor of a particular planet or perhaps an entire solar system you control. His presence could improve your economic output, research or manufacturing, or increase your influence in that region of space. This use of a Leader unit would be fairly straightforward and not really any different than the type of improvements already available. But...
What I really want leaders for is to make them into Commanders. I was thinking of this the other night when I was in a two front war vs the Korx and the Thalans. I sent two different invasion forces in opposite directions, each of them a group of three heavy fleets. I imagined each of these task forces under the control of an Admiral Adama or Thrawn, a Steiner or Atreides (or an Eisenhower or Macarthur), leading my forces far from home. A Commander could be assigned to a fleet or group of fleets, improving their combat. He could be like a moving starbase with an area of effect. His presence could also spread your influence like a small influence starbase. I want to fear famous AI commanders as their invasion forces sweep through my colonies. I want to rally my forces around my commander's fleet. This would make for truly epic gameplay, and the Epic Generator would describe the heroic deeds and even tragic deaths of my famous leaders.
Please tell me other people find this idea as cool as I do. I feel like the only problem with commanders would be a potential over-powering but that is simply an issue of costing and balancing. Leaders would be quite expensive to create. I believe it would take Gal Civ II in a great direction, making players feel like they're playing out an epic story with characters they've created, while keeping the awesome civilization building.
