how does combat work?

[hajmyis]

This sounds dumb, but i cant figure it out. I dont understand the whole thing about just having strength....how does the defense play in? just sound slike if one has two warriors fighting against each other with out any promotions the battle is just random.

 

[Janos]

http://civilization4.net/3/171/307/

Good description of the combat system. Enjoy.

 

[JakeCourtney]

Oh you know, just rock paper scissors.

 

[JakeCourtney]

Enviroment plays a defense roll when two of the same unit types fight without promotions.

 

[Zhahz]

Well, yeah, putting two of the exact same unit up against each other with all other factors being equal means it will come down to a random "die roll."

It's up to you as the supreme military leader to orchestrate things such that you use terrain, promotions, technology, unit strengths and weaknesses, and every other factor you can leverage to ensure that you are victorious instead of relying on chance.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Although hopefully two warriors attacking each other with no other effect will end up with one dead and the other very weak (which is in each category is random)

 

[strollen]

I understand that promotions give units lots of different bonus.

But my question is if a unit with modified strength of 6 attacks a unit with modified strength 4, does it have a 60% of winning?

Or are we back to the Civ 2 system where units have hit points and each attack kills one (or more) hit points.

The one thing that worries me is will an ancient unit with say 10 promotions be able to defeat a tank fresh out of the factory with 0 promotions?.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Well what we Know
1. There are hit points
2. The number of hitpoints taken off a unit when it is hit depends on the strength of the other unit.
3. There is a random element (either in the chance of a unit hitting or how much damage it does when hit)

So Factors involved
Chance of hit: Random=? Strength=?
Damage per hit : Random=? Strength=Yes
Total unit base HP: Strength=?

Well 10 promotions would be hard to get (the shots we've seen seem to require increasing experience points per upgrade so 10 promotions would require over 50 experience at least (assuming 1 then 2 then 3, the slowest rate of increase),

Second, The promotions aren't That powerful. Now if it was a Warrior that you started the game with and kept upgrading to a Infantry... and accumulated 10 promotions on the way, then That might beat a Tank straight out of the factory.. but then it should (It could probably have not much more then a total of +200%, ie tripling, in any circumstance, but It would be an Infantry, and not just a x3 warrior which is only as strong as a phalanx so a tank Would crush it.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Also, don't forget that-theoretically-every unit can have up to 100 HP's (though we only see them represented as 1-3 men). What this means is that it will almost certainly 'smooth out' all of the potential 'wierd' results that might occur as a result of the Random Number Generator.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[warpstorm]

Also, don't forget that-theoretically-every unit can have up to 100 HP's (though we only see them represented as 1-3 men). What this means is that it will almost certainly 'smooth out' all of the potential 'wierd' results that might occur as a result of the Random Number Generator.

Although if there is a non-zero probability of a tank losing to a spearman, you know that one will (and likely we'll hear about it the first week as hundreds of thousands of games will be taking place).

 

[Mujadaddy]

I don't have a problem with infantry beating a tank. Supply lines and what-not. Vision ports.

Obviously, in an open field, a tank will hardly ever lose to a buncha spearmen, but at the abstract level of Civ battles, it's not outrageous that it happens. (Yeah, wait until it happens to me, I know )

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Its actually funny, but I have always been 'strangely ambivalent' towards the whole 'spearman beats tank' scenario. Part of it is because I have NEVER seen it happen-though I have seen advanced units lose to their more obsolete counterparts. Yet what often annoyed me about such scenarios was not so much being beaten by the obsolete unit but-when trying the exact same thing-getting my butt kicked. i.e. the AI can fend off my men-at-arms (medieval infantry) with a lowly spearman but-if one of THEIR men-at-arms attacks MY spearman, I almost always get killed . So long as it is balanced between it happening to me and happening to the AI, then I probably won't much care !

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.