An opportunity?

[alva]

If we take on one, we have to take them all on, and get rid of them IMHO.

[Arrian]

Shiber,

Yeah, probably. They seem to think they are going to take Arashi. Then they could just mop up Monsoon easily.

Of course, they might just be surprised at the welcome party we have for them in Arashi...

-Arrian

[Velociryx]

The mountainous terrain would not prevent our attacking WC's from retreating, would it? If not, despite having the odds agasint us, we could turn "wounded immortal plinking" in the mountains into a profitable enterprise--providing we lead with medievals to take out their spearmen. Next turn should tell the tale tho....

As to our smaller burgs...not really too surprised, no....they're thinking that Arashi's gonna be a walkover, and once they've dealt with our forces there, they can disperse and snag our outlying towns that have few, if any defenders.

Boy are they in for a surpise....

-=Vel=-

[nbarclay]

Fast-movers never retreat against an opponent with only one hit point left, and that's likely to be the case more often than not when WCs lose to immortals that have two hit points left at the start of the battle (and will always be the case on the rarer times losing to immortals that just have one when attacked). That makes our retreat odds significantly worse, and the immortals' odds of promotion significantly better.

[nbarclay]

Vox probably has a pretty good idea what war chariots would do to them if they go after Monsoon. They need to take Arashi before they can attack Monsoon without expecting horrible losses.

[Arrian]

Originally posted by nbarclay
Fast-movers never retreat against an opponent with only one hit point left, and that's likely to be the case more often than not when WCs lose to immortals that have two hit points left at the start of the battle (and will always be the case on the rarer times losing to immortals that just have one when attacked). That makes our retreat odds significantly worse, and the immortals' odds of promotion significantly better.

Exactly.

I learned the hard way that one of the best ways to lose horsemen was to attack a 2hp spearman on a mountain or hill. More often than not (it seems) the horsie would knock off 1hp and then die.

If the defender starts at 1hp, though, your 4hp should be enough to carry the day, even with the 2:1 advantage per roll for the defender. The possibility of defeat remains, and even if you win, you will probably be down to 1hp.

-Arrian

[Theseus]

I have been DYING TO ask this somewhere, and couldn;t for lack of a private forum.

What are the damn retreat odds now?

I agree with the above statements about being careful of 1hp non-retreat, but I've been toying with the idea of using WCs sorta like Arty... whittle down the first few hps of a number of units, and follow up with the more powerful units.

[Randolph]

The editor lists "Retreat bonus"
Conscript: 34
Regular: 50
Vet: 58
Elite:66

I'm not sure if these are actual values or are added to a base value (my guess is that they are the actual values, they seem about right)

[Aeson]

Retreat is linked to the experience level of the units. It's 50:50 when both units are at the same experience level. Not sure on how much better/worse it gets for uneven matchups, but I think it's ~10% per level difference.

WC's/Horses make very costly Catapults.

[Theseus]

Maybe, maybe not...

Remember, for vets that is 58% on *the last hp.*

[Aeson]

Against 2 defense units on Mountains (if they move off the Mountains then of course attacking is worth it):

We have about a 30-33% chance for each HP depending on whether their unit is fortified or not. In a 3-4 HP battle (the next roll being the retreat) it would be expected for us to hit about 1 time. It's trading 2 HPs of WC (since we save roughly 50% of them) for 1 HP of whatever they are attacking, on average.

Compare that to a Cat, which if we defend gets 50:50 free shots with no risk. The Cat doesn't hit as much, but is far more efficient from a HP risked to HP gained standpoint (0:0.5). That's why I say WC's/Horses are expensive Catapults.

[Theseus]

Yeah, I know.

/me drags feet...

1) I just want some WAR.

2) I just want to smack Vox.

(Scary sidenote thought: How many generals in history have felt this way... and acted?)

[Aeson]

Arashi can be our Marathon... Alexander comes later.

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by Theseus
Yeah, I know.

* Theseus drags feet...

1) I just want some WAR.

2) I just want to smack Vox.

(Scary sidenote thought: How many generals in history have felt this way... and acted?)

That's what scares me when you request horses when I'm far from convinced we have enough pikes.

In my mind, the perfect battle plan consists of two steps.

1) Build up decisive force.

2) Use it.

[Arrian]

KILL MAIM DESTROY PILLAGE BURN!

*Arrian wanders off, muttering incoherently*