Combat system
When a unit attacks another the advantage difference between the units will impose a modifier on a 1d100:
+10 advantages: Massive damage caused destruction or rout guaranteed barring special circumstances
+9 advantages: Roll twice take the higher value +125
+8 advantages: Roll twice take the higher value +100
+7 advantages: Roll twice take the higher value +80
+6 advantages: Roll twice take the higher value +60
+5 advantages: Roll twice take the higher value +45
+4 advantages: +45
+3 advantages: +30
+2 advantages: +20
+1 advantages: +10
No advantage: +0
-1 advantages: -10
-2 advantages: -20
-3 advantages: -30
-4 advantages: -45
-5 advantages: Roll twice take the lower value -45
-6 advantages: Roll twice take the lower value -60
-7 advantages: Roll twice take the lower value -80
-8 advantages: Roll twice take the lower value -100
-9 advantages: Roll twice take the lower value -125
-10 advantages: No damage caused barring special circumstances
What gives advantages:
A) The comparative attack and defense tiers of the units engaged in combat:
Tiers of military capability :
- Horrendous
- Low
- Bad
- Inferior
- Medium
- Superior
- Good
- High
- Extraordinary
- Legendary
- Mythical
-for instance a unit with
Medium attack engaged with one with
Horrendous defense would have +4 advantages and thus a +45 all other things being equal-
B) Strength in numbers:
- 5 to 1: +7 advantages
- 4 to 1: +5 advantages
- 3 to 1: +3 advantages
- 2 to 1: +2 advantages
- 1.2 to 1: +1 advantage
- 1 to 1: no advantages
- 1 to 1.2: -1 advantage
- 1 to 2: -2 advantages
- 1 to 3: -3 advantages
- 1 to 4: -5 advantages
- 1 to 5: -7 advantages
Note one: Getting to use odds of 5 to 1 or above in any single clash is impossible barring special circumstances. Indeed the use of disciplined formations and terrain features can make leveraging even lesser numeric superiority impossible however it is possible to swarm an enemy (see below).
Note two: Constant attrition against fresh enemies can grind down an army's advantages of quality or positioning. Advantages can be lost to fatigue after the first three clashes in quick succession. The rate at which they are lost depends on the results of the rolls themselves as well as the endurance of the outnumbered troops (Grinding dwarfs down for example is very difficult indeed)
C) Positioning:
Flanking grants +3 advantages with even more given to troops with the ability to charge like cavalry, monstrous cavalry or monsters.
Attacking the rear of an army works the same as flanking except the base value is +5 advantages.
D) The impact of Martial skill:
- Commander of considerably less than base human norm (0 to 4): -3 advantages
- Commander of less than base human norm (5 to 9): -1 advantages
- Commanders of exactly base human norm (10): no advantage
- Commanders of more than base human norm (11 to 15): +1 advantages
- Commanders of considerably more than base human norm (16 to 20): +2 advantages
- Commanders of extraordinary skill relative to the base human norm (21 to 24): +3 advantages
- Commanders of peek human skill (25 to 30): +4 advantages
- Commanders of a skill that transcends human limits (31 to 34): +5 advantages
- Commanders of a skill that greatly transcends human limits (35 to 40): +7 advantages
- Commanders of demigod skill (41 to 44): + 9 advantages
- Commanders of greater demigod skill (45 to 49): + 11 advantages
Note Three: The full bonus always applies to whatever unit the commander is personally in charge of. Leveraging the higher levels of expertise for the entire army requires ever more complex levels of communication with demigod level bonuses and above being impossible to apply though purely mundane means. Examples of extraordinary communication include Daemonic communion, necromantic or other forms of magical control.
Morale:
A unit will take a morale test if the beings fighting within it have been flanked attacked from the rear or can sense that the battle is turning against them. Sufficiently powerful fear or terror effects can also induce a morale check.
Circumstantial bonuses:
Things like the strength of the Waagh effect, the grim determination of the dwarfs, the fanaticism of the Lizardmen and the crazed zeal of Chaos worshipers can add modifiers to both attack and morale rolls as will more mundane things like experience.
Ranged combat:
Ranged combat benefits from only half of the advantages given by commander skill (there is only so much skill involved in setting up archers) but is not at all affected by superior enemy numbers. Height advantage and fortifications grant additional advantages to ranged troops
Mobility:
Mobility is the marker for how well troops can move around the battle field with
Extraordinary mobility and above being the mark of flight or other magical means of locomotion.
Note Four: Successful disengaging requires higher mobility than the enemy and may trigger a moral check if the unit is either too low on morale (and thus likely to rout) or too impetuous (and thus unwilling to disengage).
