tribal run for help

[Robc]

Also it's kinda bummer that You cannot call tribal for help because they dont have droppod technology - i would just expect them to come after day/two - so handling sieges/poison|psychic ships would be easier

The above quote is from the 1.0 thread under general discussions.

I have never asked a friendly tribe/ colony for help during a raid because I have few games under my belt where I have progressed to actually having a comm desk.  I like the early game so much that this has never bothered me.  And in those cases where I could communicate I forget that I have that option to call for help in the midst of planning for whatever sort of overwhelming raid or situation that is upon me.    Nevertheless, an idea worth sharing occurred to me after reading the above:

An interesting game mechanic for tribal would be to have the option to designate a pawn as a caravan "runner" to an adjacent friendly colony to seek help during a raid or other significant event.  That pawn would leave to the world map without gathering food or with minimal food, etc. and must go alone.  They would move at a very fast world speed and without rest because of the urgency of the assignment.  After arriving at the destination the runner would have the option to ask for help or return on his own (now starving and in a lot of trouble but perhaps still able to get home safely by the normal caravan rules).  If he asks for help, he would disappear from the world map and arrive WITH the assisting colony's forces a little later and from there resume his place in the colony on the home map.  I presume the assisting colony would feed and care for the runner on the return journey so they would arrive back in reasonable mood and condition. 

Proximity to friendly tribal colonies could become an important defense strategy especially for weaker game starts.  It would also be an excellent use for our usually very healthy non-combatants besides just hauling the wounded and dead during and after the battles.

-Cheers.

[Lemonater47]

The thing is the nearest colony to you could be several days away. It would only be useful in a siege and they usually attack on the 3rd day anyway.

Yesterday I even got to see a tribal caravan fight a bridging outlander force. They arrived at more or less the same time and the caravan was more or less forced to cross right where the besiegers were setting up. I had a single colonist with an auto pistol in the area that could lend immediate assistance. The ground was covered with snow so my reinforcements took a while to get there.

The caravan was slaughtered. Out of 11 tribal caravaners they had 5 dead, 3 critically wounded and 3 unscathed/walking wounded. The raiders also had 11. They started running once they took 6 casualties. 2 more were killed as they ran. I had one person downed. The majority of the casualties were caused by my colonists. The caravan never retreated either. I looked at the skills and the tribal caravaners had some pretty decent combat stats. They even had plenty of rocks they used as cover. But for a well armed force armoured up with flak vets and pants they didn't stand a chance.

So yeah. I don't know how helpful such a force would be. Even if you managed to get help in time. Which is unlikely in and of itself.

[AileTheAlien]

Smoke signals travel faster than somebody on foot. Would cut down the travel time by half. :)

[Robc]

@Lemonater47   Fair enough.  I envisioned that the runner would move much faster on the world map than normal, but I take your point.

@AileTheAlien   I like the idea of smoke signals!