Defense in Depth is receiving a major update, in the form of the Defense Preparation mechanic (DPM). After extensive feedback, we found that players were rarely able to take advantage of retreating to the next position past the initial 25 waves. Furthermore, we found that players rarely retreated individual soldiers, instead preferring to frontload their resources into an "all or nothing" defense scheme at positions B or C.
DPM is intended to make it viable to defend all positions by retreating individual soldiers for rear echelon duties. For each soldier the player has retreated to the next position, the Defense Prep Counter will go up by one each wave, with a maximum cap of 100. The quality and quantity of defensive positions is determined by the value of the Defense Prep Counter. For each Defense Prep point, a defensive position has a 2% 3% chance of upgrading to the next level.
Lastly, DPM is an entirely optional mechanic. The "all or nothing" defense setups are still entirely viable, should a player wish to keep all their units available at a position.
Below is a comparison between 0, 25, and 50 Defense Prep Points:
As DPM is still in the works, we have released an initial build in the development branch for player feedback. Expect some wonkiness and possible bugs. The release candidate will also feature special structures, including the return of a certain MnB2 fan favorite structure, accessible through the DPM.
DPM has been implemented in Build 0.83 Saipan!