Explaining combat

[mdsmall]

I am enjoying learning this game by playing it, but after two weeks of careful study and reading the manual through about four times, I still find the actual system used to calculate combat results opaque. Especially frustrating are the cryptic calculations that appear under the estimated losses in the preview pane - nowhere in the manual do you give a good explanation of how to read these legends.

Would it be possible to write out some actual examples of combat between various units (especially on land where there are the most modifiers) and explain how the likely casualties are derived? It would be great if this could be accompanied by some screen shots. This would help beginners like myself go beyond relying on the combat previews to understand the consequences of placing our units in different situations relative to supply, HQ and terrain, plus the cumulative consequencies of morale and readiness.

[ThunderLizard11]

ORIGINAL: mdsmall

I am enjoying learning this game by playing it, but after two weeks of careful study and reading the manual through about four times, I still find the actual system used to calculate combat results opaque. Especially frustrating are the cryptic calculations that appear under the estimated losses in the preview pane - nowhere in the manual do you give a good explanation of how to read these legends.

Would it be possible to write out some actual examples of combat between various units (especially on land where there are the most modifiers) and explain how the likely casualties are derived? It would be great if this could be accompanied by some screen shots. This would help beginners like myself go beyond relying on the combat previews to understand the consequences of placing our units in different situations relative to supply, HQ and terrain, plus the cumulative consequencies of morale and readiness.

Been playing SC2 for a while and still don't get the system. In general, unit morale, supply, strength, tech level, and HQ leader all come into play. Also defensive bonus or offensive penalties for weather and fortifications. Would like to see something like you're describing as well.

[The Land]

Yes this is a fun one and I think only a handful of people really understand it fully.

Fundamentally the game engine is taking your unit's Attack and Defence values and multiplying them by your Readiness score, plus a few modifiers (some visible some not).

Against a non-fortified unit, When you attack or defend do X +/-1 points of damage, where X is your effective Attack or Defence score multiplied by your effective Readiness.

Effective Attack and Defence are basically the values you see when you click the magnifying glass icon. But if both sides have values upgraded by tech then the benefit of the tech is cancelled off both sides.

Effective Readiness is largely the Readiness score you see in the unit window, but modified by experience, leadership from HQs, terrain, and weather....