Are there multiple rows in the field?

Question

A few different ideas have been tossed around regarding the layout of the field in the game.  The standard layout is like MTG or Hearthstone, with just one row of creatures on each side.  In Hearthstone, there is a limit to how many creatures you can play and then your side of the field is full, and you cannot play any more creatures nor can any more creatuers be summoned by abilities.  In MTG, there is no summon limit that I know of.  

There are other games that do have multiple rows for combat.  One example would be Summoner Wars, but I have not played that enough to be able to summarize the mechanics.

The question is, do we want to have multiple rows for tactical combat in the game? If so, what would the mechanics of that be?

Answer 1

My suggestion would be a system where there are two rows on each side of the field.  Two of them belong to each player.  The front row is the "melee" focused row, and the back row is the "ranged" row.  

Melee type units played into the front row could receive some sort of bonus, and ranged units played into the back row would receive some kind of bonus.  Possibly, there could be a penalty for playing a unit into the wrong row.

During their turn, a player would decide if they wanted to attack, and if so, which units they wanted to attack with.  When attacking, they would take their unit and place it on one of the spaces on the front row of the opponent.  They could only place one unit maximum on each space.  They could place a unit from anywhere in their two rows, but if they place a ranged unit then it will receive some kind of penalty.  Once they have placed their units the way that they want, they would end their turn, and combat would ensue at the beginning of the next players turn.

At the start of their turn, the player may decide where to place their blockers on their field.  They will want to move units to engage unoccupied spaces in their front row where enemies have been placed. Once they decide where they want their units to be placed, combat begins.  Where there are a friendly and enemy unit occuping the same space, those units resolve combat.  If there is an enemy unit in the front space and a friendly ranged unit in the back space, the enemy unit moves forward to the ranged space (and possibly automatically kills the unit).  If there is friendly unit in either the front or the back row, the enemy damages the player and then returns to their home field (on the next turn).

This is just a general idea for a possible mechanic, and I'm sure it would have to be tweaked to work properly.