Here is my opinion about the announced changes:
- there will be new training grounds for dogs: I am an elven player and I don't want to have such ugly looking dogs in my city many hours of playing before the orcish guest-race comes in, especially not trained in the fairy-style mercenary camp
- I don't understand the fuss about the builded mercenary camp: nobody can push me to build something when I know that the building has no function in the moment - the same is for the training grounds for dog: I can build it, but I don't have to
- a highlight of this game is the aestetic design, but a combat-unit, which function is countrary to its aesthetic, looses its elegance and beauty; because of this I want to emphasize the suggestion of Natzish, who wrote (#60):
The human axeman for example: Let him be good against the heavy melee units. His axe should easily chop down trees or even very well dent the palas armor, and be able to shatter the sworddancers sword. Then again archers and mages are to nimble for him so they evade before he can swing his heavy axe. The golems stone is too hard for the axe and the cannoneer reach is so far that the axeman has trouble reaching him in time.
The elven sworddancer on the other hand would be good against heavy archer units. She can easily attack the joints of the golems and because of her higher dexerty is more effective against cannoneer (maybe increase her distance by one or so). Because of the dexerty she also works better against archers, but mages can stay out of her reach with their magic and her sword does little against heavy melee units.
- I understand the sense of using the existing units before rebalancing (although this is a hint for degradation altogether) when they are cheaper to build afterwards - but I want to have an amount of units as stock, so I can fight provinces and tournament, when I have the time for it (yes fighting in this game is "time-eating") and the changes at squadsize reduces also my amount of stock (at my level to an third), for me this is a reason against using up my existing units
PS: Sorry for bundle 4 different aspects in one post - if requested, I post each aspect in extra answer