Resolution of battle

Olympia: The Age of Gods PBEM (Oct 4 2000)

## 5.1: Resolution of battle

Each kind of fighter has an attack and defense rating:

                       attack    defense    missile
                      +----------------------------
      peasant         |   1         1
      postulant       |   1         1
      worker          |   1         1
      sailor          |   1         1
      skirmisher      |   3         3
      soldier         |   5         5
      ninja           |   5         5
      pirate          |  10 (30)   10 (30)
      pikeman         |   5        20 (*)
      fanatic         |  10         5
      lt. foot        |  30        30
      hvy. foot       |  60        60
      angel           |  25       100
      cavalier        |  75 (25)   75 (25)
      knight          |  90 (40)   90 (40)
      paladin         | 180 (130)  180 (130)
      lt. xbowman     |   1         1         15
      hvy. xbowman    |   1         1         75
      archer          |   1         1         35
      horse archer    |   1        20         40
      elite archer    |   1         1         45

      (*) Pikemen double their defense against mounted troops (knights,
      paladins, cavaliers, and centaurs).

- Numbers in parenthesis are for shipboard combat.
- Nobles have strong innate heroic abilities, and so even an unarmed, untrained noble is a formidable opponent on the battlefield.
- A noble is rated (attack=80, defense=80, missile=0).
- A pirate fights (30,30,0) on a ship, but only (10,10,0) on land.
- Knights,paladins and cavaliers receive a -50 penalty to both their attack and defense ratings when fighting on a ship or in a swamp province.

The algorithm by which combat is resolved is as follows:

1. Combat is fought in rounds. Each round has three phases:
   1. Special attacks phase. Special attacks include such things as dragon fire and battle spells. Unlike missile and melee attacks, some special attacks can hit any unit on the other side, including those in the back rows of the combat and nobles who would normally be protected by their men.
   2. Missile attacks phase. All troops with missile weapons who are not in the front row of the battle attack. Missile attacks strike the front row of the opposing force.
   3. Melee attacks phase. The front row of troops attacks the opposing front row.

   After each phase, any men killed or wounded are removed from the battle (i.e., combat inside each phase is simultaneous).

2. At the beginning of a battle, the defenders get a free round of missile attacks.
3. Targets are chosen at random from amongst the applicable enemy troops. For melee and missile attacks, the target may be any of the men in the enemy's front units. A ship or building housing the enemy also counts as a potential target.

   In other words, if there are five men in a tower, each man has 1/6 chance of being selected as a target, and the tower also has 1/6 chance of being selected.

   Each attacker selects his target independent of the other attackers, so it is possible that more than one attacker may select the same target. All attacks in a phase are considered simultaneous, so even if the first attacker kills the target, the remaining attacks against that target will not be redirected.

   For some special attacks, the target may be any man in the opposing force (not just those in the front row).

4. In melee combat, the chance that the attacker will score a hit against the target is:

         A = attacker's attack rating
         B = target's defense rating

         A / (A + B)

   For example:

         A(attack=90) vs B(defense=45)     A has a 2/3 chance of killing B
         A(attack=90) vs B(defense=90)     A has a 1/2 chance of killing B

5. If the attacker scores a hit against a noble, the noble will receive a random wound of 1-100 health points. Note that there is a 1% chance that a perfectly healthy noble will be instantly killed, and a greater chance that a previously wounded noble will die (see Health).

   Wounded nobles do not continue fighting, even if their wounds are minor.

   If a hit is scored against a fighter (soldiers, pikemen, archers, etc.), the fighter is killed.

   A man successfully attacking a building or a ship will cause one point of damage to the structure. A catapult or battering ram attacking a building will cause 5-10 points of damage.

   The chance to hit in missile combat is similar, except the attacker's missile rating is used instead of his attack rating. Note that troops can only use missile attacks when in the back rows of the combat.

6. Combat rounds continue until a side breaks. A side breaks when its total offensive plus defensive value falls by 50% (but see see ).

   For instance, a noble plus two pikemen has an offensive value of (80+80) + (5+20) + (5+20) = 210 with a break point of 105.

   A noble plus two knights has an offensive value of (80+80) + (45+45) + (45+45) = 340 with a break point of 170.

   Therefore, a noble with two pikemen will continue to fight if the pikemen are killed. However, a noble with two knights will be declared the loser if both knights are killed.

   The offensive value used is either the attack or the effective missile rating, whichever is higher.

7. All attacks in the missile and melee phases are "simultaneous." Although the battle printout will show one side attacking first, all units get an opportunity to attack before any units are removed from the battle, so the actual order in which attacks take place is irrelevant.

   The exception to this is during the special attacks phase. Some special attacks (particularly certain magic spells) have secondary effects, such as draining magicians of their aura. In these cases, order of attack does matter, so the order of attack in the special attacks phase is determined randomly.

8. At the end of the battle, the following things happen:
   1. The losing stack stops all movement.
   2. The winning stack takes prisoners (see Prisoners).
   3. The nobles in the losing stack who have not been captured flee. They leave the stack, and if they are in a sublocation, move out to the province.