In a 4X game with less of an emphasis on combat, i was thinking of a system where the "General" (player) sees the whole battlefield; his units in formations (organized into flanks and center), as well as the enemy formations. The system would be in real-time, but when the general sends an order to a formation, theres a 'travel time', a delay from when the order is given and when the unit carries it out (for when the runner/messenger takes the order to the unit).

I think before the battle, as he is organizing his army, the player could give each section pre-set orders (like forward, engage X unit, etc) and the player could send orders if the preset order needs to be changed.

In a small, tiny battle, the messenger time would be very short (as the commanding unit would be close to the units, maybe even in the thick of the fight) whereas in a giant, epic battle the messenger times would be long and maybe even a complex network would be necessary, meaning more planning would be necessary.

The system would require more forethought for the player, and stress the importance of formations (the game would be set in the ancient era).

Programmed Standard Operating Procedures, and how those play out against each other could be interesting. Space Empires uses formations and selectable strategies, assignable at ship level and fleet level. As to order delays, I remember playing a pen-and-paper Starfleet game where orders for the turn were pre-written, and then simultaneously carried out. The result was that ships cast about in wild guesses as to where the enemy would be next turn, and it wasn't really fun, it was more funny. So the level of detail as to what orders will be delayed needs some consideration. How much of a guessing game do you want in there?

As far as formations go, something that has been missing from many titles (Master of Orion, Starfleet Command, Space Empires, Galactic Civilizations, Gratuitous Space Battles) is area effect weapons. With the lack of area effect weapons, and combat systems that promote close range for better hits, the result is that the primary winning strategy is to bunch up all units and attack with one giant clump of war machine.

The addition of area effect weapons that damage all ships within a given radius would give a reason to have formations other than two clumps (close range and missile). Spreading out the fleet to minimize area effect damage would then result in some ships having to be further from their targets. Which presents an interesting offense/defense decision, based on enemy armament.

Another thing that hasn't been done much (Sins of a Solar Empire?) in space battles is Line of Sight. Ships don't hide behind one another, or prevent the back ships from firing at the front ships. This also would have a major impact on formations.

In the 3D of space, line of sight is easier to get. If a ship is blocking your line of sight, then rising a few degrees will clear it (just as going to the side would). So ships have more options for manoeuvring to gain line of sight to the target.

However, "line of sight" or something similar comes into play when you allow ships to deliberately intercept attacks from enemies. This way ships designed to either destroy incoming ordinance (eg: interceptor fighters) or be able to take the damage (shield ships) can act as screens for the armed ships. Basically there is a cone (that depends on the capabilities of the defence ship), extending from the weapon that if a defence type ship is in, it can potentially block that attack. This is effectively like having a ship "hide" behind another or block line of sight to the intended target.

I'd be really happy if nobody ever put tactical combat in a 4X game ever again.

I'd be really happy if nobody ever put tactical combat in a 4X game ever again.

[font=arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif][size=2]Well the game would technically not be 4X, rather an RPG-like game where the player characters are generals, politicians, warlords, so to leave tactical combat out of it would be losing half the game, but i want to deemphasize the complexities of tactics and simplify it to a 5-minute thing (perhaps units and formations work with a rock-paper-scissors system) so the player can go back to focusing on the complex empire-running (4X) parts.[/font]

Take a look at Crusader King, from Paradox Software. Combat is very abstract an risk. Generals have traits that they acquire in a sort f RPGish manner. some of these traits will trigger events which will either make combat go better or worse for you.