The following is a bit off topic but deals with 'gameplay balance';
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bad chess players dont use them. good ones can build solid rock defense lines with them that can get you into troubles.
lots of games ditch this completely. for example would everyone agree that a pistol is useless against some tank. as a consequence it gets removed from the gameplay one a tank arrives.
in chess there would still be situations and possibilities to use this gun effective against a tank unit. sure its way more dangerous and chances are bad to win but if worst comes worse its still an option.
I have been thinking about this some more and the simple solution would be to give the soldiers a chance to blow up a tank using a particular strategy or simply a bomb. You are right, games should use this way more, because it would make things more interesting strategically.
A bit like a Spy can usually kill a General if he strikes first in the Stratego games. Normally a Spy has a very low rank and is the only one who can kill a General, except when another General attacks or if the General steps on a Bomb.
Example a.) normal 'cannonfodder' soldiers aim with there pistols at a generator on for example the back of the tank. The soldiers their pistols are the only guns that can damage that generator, which upon destruction destroys the tank.
Example b.) give the 'cannonfodder' soldiers an item or special action/upgrade which makes it possible for them to plant a bomb on the tank. Perhaps it's required to do something before it's possible to blow up the tank and every soldier should only be able to use that special action once. (otherwise the balance get's distorted).
A lot of games do not really provide strategies to withstand a much much stronger opponent who get's stronger and stronger and at some point the outcome will always be that the stronger player will win. This is fine off course, the best player should win, but it would be more interesting if it's possible to fully come back after having nearly lost the game. This off course shouldn't be too easy, otherwise matches/wars would last forever,
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There's the rub.
You've got to somehow make the player emotionally involved with Tom. Personally, even Mark Twain couldn't make me care about that creep.
I don't think this is quite possible on the PC yet. Look at Half-life 2 or even a game like Fahrenheit, were any of you really emotionally involved with the main characters other than having the (obvious) curiousity of wanting to know how the story would end?
Cheers
