I'm guessing that tactical combat overhaul/upgrade is waiting for the expansion. To do what it takes to be great, like you describe, would be on the order of a fully detailed tactical combat simulator. Tactical combat is one of my favorite parts of any great turn-basted strategy game and I have high hopes for Elemental. From what I gather, the focus of the next patch (1.2 and betas therof) will be spells
Sounds like a great idea, I'd like to see my magic oriented heros (children) wield something besides a bow. Only problem I see is, cluttering up the shop with goodies.
AFAIK it only applies to the hero with the trait, only goes off once per season (not once per combat), and a dodge does not 'use up' the effect. First undodged attack of the season by the hero with the ability.
I heard that UFO: Aftermath had a lot of the original developers of the x-com series. I have played it and it is very much in the spirit of the good ol' X-com franchise. Not technicaly a sequal since the "X-Com" licence was held tightly (and is only now being 're-imagined'). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-COM
I belive there should be some compensation for loosing a daughter, if not a cash dowry, maybe double the political bonus. As a side note on the matter of dynasties, what's the point of listing "Nth in line for the throne of (you/them)" if ownership of the faction cannot change hands? It would be very interesting to be able to shift the game from Player = Soverign to Player = Soverign's bloodline. The player controlling the "1st in line" takes control of the faction.
DC as a resource, as it is now, needs balancing. I totally agree there, but I like the concept of it as "political money". Sure you can buy "real" resources with it, spend them and make armies and such. But as your DC goes down and thiers goes up, your diplomatic relation goes down, limiting your diplomatic options, and even causing war. This is a real consequence of having a DC "gap" with other (AI) realms, so DC has a value for you AND them.