Combat

Scott Turner (srt@sun-dimas.aero.org)
Fri, 23 Sep 1994 10:39:05 -0700

Here are the shortcomings I see in the current combat system, in order
of importance as I rate them:

* The current system weights numerical superiority too highly.
Although a dragon is 500x as "tough" as a peasant, it takes
only 30 peasants to split with a dragon. Making the dragon
10x as tough only requires 100 peasants.

COMMENT: Not clear what the "best way" to fix this is.

* An outmatched force can be killed/captured by using repeated
attacks, even if it "escapes" the first attack.

COMMENT: Most proposed solutions have been ugly.

* The current system does not permit mixed forces under the same
noble. If you have archers and pikeman, they're either all in the
front line or all on the back line. This can be viewed as a
"feature" (you can build stronger forces if you commit two nobles)
and even rationalized (missile troops need their own leader).

COMMENT: Hard to see how to implement ranks for individual forces
under a single noble. On the other hand, the simple rule of
dropping all missile troops back 1 rank from the BEHIND rank of
the noble might cover most cases. Alternatively, allow missile
troops to use their missile rating even on the front line. (But
then what distinguishes them from regular troops?) Or simply
eliminate missile troops from the combat system altogether.

* The breaking rule for the current system has some non-intuitive
results.

COMMENT: I haven't looked at it, so I can't comment on how to fix
it. Seems like it should be easy, though :-).

What other problems/shortcomings do people see in the current system?

-- Scott T.


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