AriochIV pointed me to this video:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy...-2010-interview-jon-shafer?tag=videos;title;5
which shows several combats.
The following is an analysis of the combats that were shown, and a few guesses made about what the odds mean.
Combat is fought in "rounds". In ranged combat there is only ever one round and only the attacker can deal any damage. Units all have 10 hitpoints (hp). Even though graphically some units are represented by more than 10 little men or fewer than 10, the underlying mechanics work off 10 hitpoints.
Each round, the attacker and defender trade blows simultaneously. This is unlike civ4 combat where each round only one combatant got to deal damage i.e. a combatant would "win" each round. The amount of damage that is dealt per round by each combatant will likely depend on a few different things but in particular the unit's strength. One could probably assume at this stage that an injured unit has less strength and so less ability to deal damage in each round. Note that Japan's unique ability allow them to deal damage each round as if they were full health.
I'm not entirely clear yet what the exact meanings of "minor victory", "major defeat" and "stalemate" etc. are.
At 0:30, the battle predicts major defeat.
The odds bars have little divisions in them with the upper section flashing and the lower section solid, and it looks so far like all of the smaller bars make up a fraction of 10 of the whole bar (more evidence of units having 10 hitpoints). In the 0:30 battle, the higher of the sub-divided bars flash suggesting they are the predicted damage on each side. My guess is that the 2nd (lower) bars are the predicted remaining hitpoints after combat. Notice that in this particular battle, it's predicted that the attacker will take 9hp of damage with 1 hp remaining. The defender is already damaged at the time the battle starts which is why the top part of its bar is black (4 hitpoints are black, so the unit is 6 hitpoints). The defender is predicted to take 3 hitpoints of damage, being left with 3.
In the battle, the attacker dies outright (confirming the predicted battle outcomes are not the actual outcomes as has been suggested on other parts of the forum) rather than living with 1hp, and the defender takes the predicted 3hp of damage (note the -3 in red that appears after battle).
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In the ranged combat at 0:40, the defender is expected to take 3hp of damage from full health. This time, the bars indicating the predicted ramaining health are green, probably an indication that the battle odds are "good" for the combat being queried. The defender loses 3hp as predicted.
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In the battle at 0:49, the attacker and defender are both predicted to lose 5hp. The defender starts with 7hp (losing 3hp previously) and is predicted to walk away with 2hp. The defender actually loses 4hp and the attacker loses 7hp.
Notice that after the battle, the attacker loses 7hp and the defender loses 4. Again, the outcome was slightly different than what was predicted.
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At 0:57, attacker is expected to take 1hp damage, and defender to die. Outcome is exactly as predicted.
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At 1:10, ranged combat. Defender predicted to lose 5hp, but actually loses 7. In the second ranged combat, defender obviously predicted to lose all remaining 3hp.
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The next naval battle shows the first 2 ships expecting to and actually dealing 3hp damage each, and the final expecting and actaully dealing 4hp. Note that the 3rd unit to attack was a battleship rather than a destroyer. The fact that both the first two units expected to do 3hp of damage, gives a little bit of weight to the assumption that the defender's health is not relevant to how much damage they will receive from a hit.
(no picture for this one)
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Battle at 1:38. Defender is expected to die and the predicted outcome this time is "Total Victory". Notice that the attacker is more than double its strength. This might be the threshold needed to get the "Total Victory" prediction (at least for full health units anyway), and my guess here is that "Total Victory" means guaranteed victory. I have a feeling that the game designers have done a similar thing to civrev and made combat so that beyond a certain point, battles like this cannot turn out as upsets.
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The things I'm left wondering are the meanings of the "major", "minor", "stalemate" etc. outcomes; how damage per round is worked out (probably very hard to work out from vids this early); what the predicted damages actually are (e.g. are they average combat outcomes or the most likely (i.e. mean vs. mode) or perhaps even less exact predictions?).
Another thing to notice is the absence of actual probabilities (i.e percentages or numbers between 0 and 1) for any outcomes. In civ4 you were told the probability of killing the defender - this is absent so far in civ5.
The largest deviation of actual remaining defender hitpoints outcome and predicted defender hitpoints so far is 2 from what I've seen. I wonder if there are examples of where the predicted outcome was off by 3 or more? (please post if so)
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy...-2010-interview-jon-shafer?tag=videos;title;5
which shows several combats.
The following is an analysis of the combats that were shown, and a few guesses made about what the odds mean.
Combat is fought in "rounds". In ranged combat there is only ever one round and only the attacker can deal any damage. Units all have 10 hitpoints (hp). Even though graphically some units are represented by more than 10 little men or fewer than 10, the underlying mechanics work off 10 hitpoints.
Each round, the attacker and defender trade blows simultaneously. This is unlike civ4 combat where each round only one combatant got to deal damage i.e. a combatant would "win" each round. The amount of damage that is dealt per round by each combatant will likely depend on a few different things but in particular the unit's strength. One could probably assume at this stage that an injured unit has less strength and so less ability to deal damage in each round. Note that Japan's unique ability allow them to deal damage each round as if they were full health.
I'm not entirely clear yet what the exact meanings of "minor victory", "major defeat" and "stalemate" etc. are.
At 0:30, the battle predicts major defeat.
Spoiler :

The odds bars have little divisions in them with the upper section flashing and the lower section solid, and it looks so far like all of the smaller bars make up a fraction of 10 of the whole bar (more evidence of units having 10 hitpoints). In the 0:30 battle, the higher of the sub-divided bars flash suggesting they are the predicted damage on each side. My guess is that the 2nd (lower) bars are the predicted remaining hitpoints after combat. Notice that in this particular battle, it's predicted that the attacker will take 9hp of damage with 1 hp remaining. The defender is already damaged at the time the battle starts which is why the top part of its bar is black (4 hitpoints are black, so the unit is 6 hitpoints). The defender is predicted to take 3 hitpoints of damage, being left with 3.
In the battle, the attacker dies outright (confirming the predicted battle outcomes are not the actual outcomes as has been suggested on other parts of the forum) rather than living with 1hp, and the defender takes the predicted 3hp of damage (note the -3 in red that appears after battle).
*************
In the ranged combat at 0:40, the defender is expected to take 3hp of damage from full health. This time, the bars indicating the predicted ramaining health are green, probably an indication that the battle odds are "good" for the combat being queried. The defender loses 3hp as predicted.
Spoiler :

*************
In the battle at 0:49, the attacker and defender are both predicted to lose 5hp. The defender starts with 7hp (losing 3hp previously) and is predicted to walk away with 2hp. The defender actually loses 4hp and the attacker loses 7hp.
Spoiler :

*************
At 0:57, attacker is expected to take 1hp damage, and defender to die. Outcome is exactly as predicted.
Spoiler :

*************
At 1:10, ranged combat. Defender predicted to lose 5hp, but actually loses 7. In the second ranged combat, defender obviously predicted to lose all remaining 3hp.
Spoiler :

*************
The next naval battle shows the first 2 ships expecting to and actually dealing 3hp damage each, and the final expecting and actaully dealing 4hp. Note that the 3rd unit to attack was a battleship rather than a destroyer. The fact that both the first two units expected to do 3hp of damage, gives a little bit of weight to the assumption that the defender's health is not relevant to how much damage they will receive from a hit.
(no picture for this one)
*************
Battle at 1:38. Defender is expected to die and the predicted outcome this time is "Total Victory". Notice that the attacker is more than double its strength. This might be the threshold needed to get the "Total Victory" prediction (at least for full health units anyway), and my guess here is that "Total Victory" means guaranteed victory. I have a feeling that the game designers have done a similar thing to civrev and made combat so that beyond a certain point, battles like this cannot turn out as upsets.
Spoiler :

*************
The things I'm left wondering are the meanings of the "major", "minor", "stalemate" etc. outcomes; how damage per round is worked out (probably very hard to work out from vids this early); what the predicted damages actually are (e.g. are they average combat outcomes or the most likely (i.e. mean vs. mode) or perhaps even less exact predictions?).
Another thing to notice is the absence of actual probabilities (i.e percentages or numbers between 0 and 1) for any outcomes. In civ4 you were told the probability of killing the defender - this is absent so far in civ5.
The largest deviation of actual remaining defender hitpoints outcome and predicted defender hitpoints so far is 2 from what I've seen. I wonder if there are examples of where the predicted outcome was off by 3 or more? (please post if so)