Combat score mods

[Niedowidek_slith]

Thanks to Raagun I realized how exactly combat modifiers are computed.

combat.png (733.46 KiB) Viewed 275 times

So I see that every modifier affects already modified score and everything builds up like an avalanche.

At the beginning attacker has about 2300 points.
After 2 negative and 4 positive modifiers it is more than double of that (around 5400).
Then few more positive modifiers and it goes like that: 7800 -> 12000 -> 19000.
At this point attacker is quite unstoppable.

I get it that good commanders are extremely important but on the other hand I feel that it sometimes leads to one-sided match.

If modifiers were applied to the base score of 2368 the final score would be 7412. Still big but not so enormous as before.

Was it really intended to work like that ?

[Niedowidek_slith]

I did some more calculation.

Modified scores from the Raagun's example
19280 (attacker) to 6309 (defender)
i.e. 3 : 1 ratio.
That's how it works now.


Modified scores when applied to base score:
7412 (attacker) to 7043 (defender)

In other words.
Attacker had 2368 points at start. When all modifiers are summed up, he would get 313% more, i.e. 7412. Powerful boost because of experience, combat skills and posture.
Defender had 4192 points at start. Almost double more than attacker. Then he gets only 68% boost and ends up with 7043 points.
In this case attacker who was weaker at the start cannot waltz over enemy defences like it's nothing.

[Thrake]

I think that the current system is misleading in the actual impact in battle due to the fact that it leads to big numbers from multiplicative boni, however the final calculation requires big differences to lead to big shifts in outcomes.

Here it clearly has a big impact, however the opponent has pilled up the boni while you have mostly none. It's not just a great commander, it's also battle veterans versus green troops with one of the most powerful offensive postures versus none, high readiness troops versus low readiness ones (Malus from readiness is smaller for the defender).

Taking your formula, if I look at the attacker's bonus and ignore the malus, I get 368% bonus using additive modifiers. Let's say I remove the posture effect, the remaining bonus becomes 308, which is effectively a 60/368=16% reduction.

That would lead to a bunch of marginally useful modifiers, where the key would be to throw more tanks with better technology at the enemy, rather than train troops, amass experienced leaders etc all as part of the build up to waging a successful war. As it is, I think the economic build up as well as the research impact is the major factor to victory, which is why government and mind are considered meta... Rather than fist.

[Niedowidek_slith]

Thank you for explanation, Thrake ! I will think about that. I like what you are saying about training troops and leaders. Surely it's good if it plays important role in a wargame and can be a counter to just flooding enemy with tanks.