Combat odds and withdrawal/first strike

[JeebusGreen]

Do withdrawal and first strike factor into the combat odds calculation?

First strike never seems to do much good

This is in vanilla Civ anyway.

 

[Lord Parkin]

First strikes do factor into the combat calculation. Withdrawals are governed by a separate calculation.

Have a read of this article, it explains things well.

From the article:

"A first strike round is like any other round, except that the first striker is the only one who can do damage. For example, if the attacker has two first strikes and the defender zero, the first two rounds have two possibilities – the attacker wins so the defender loses damage or the defender “wins” and nobody gets hurt. The odds in this round are just like any other. The first striker is just immune to damage."

 

[PieceOfMind]

First strikes definitely factor in the calculation. However keep in mind the Drill 1 promotion is very weak because it merely gives one first strike chance. Drill 2 and 3 are a bit better.

Let's say longbowman has 4-7 first strikes (this would be true if it were Drill 4). 3 of the first strikes are only possible first strikes. To find how many of these possible first strikes are converted, the game picks a random number between 0 and 3 (from a uniform distribution to be exact). The longbow would then enjoy a number of rounds (4+rand(0,3)) where he is immune to taking damage.

Turns out first strikes are a bit complicated in how they go into the odds calculator but I can assure you the person who wrote the one in-game, Deep0, did it correctly. The most it could ever be off by is less than about 0.1%.

 

[Turquoiside]

First strikes definitely factor in the calculation. However keep in mind the Drill 1 promotion is very weak because it merely gives one first strike chance. Drill 2 and 3 are a bit better.

Let's say longbowman has 4-7 first strikes (this would be true if it were Drill 4). 3 of the first strikes are only possible first strikes. To find how many of these possible first strikes are converted, the game picks a random number between 0 and 3 (from a uniform distribution to be exact). The longbow would then enjoy a number of rounds (4+rand(0,3)) where he is immune to taking damage.

Turns out first strikes are a bit complicated in how they go into the odds calculator but I can assure you the person who wrote the one in-game, Deep0, did it correctly. The most it could ever be off by is less than about 0.1%.

Which is why I like Toukgawa; Combat 1 and Drill 1 mean you have headstart dow two devastating paths. Last time, I chose Drill, which happens to be the game I realized First Strikes are great for defending and attacking. Not to mention his gunpowder units are like more UUs.