We play our firsh mach. The impresions are very good.
One question, pls ; when two units charge one unit; defensor unit only effect is -1? resolves in two combats?
Thx
Multiple combat
(6 posts) (4 voices)-
Posted 5 months ago #
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A unit receives a -1 "Outnumber" penalty for EACH enemy unit that attacks ONLY IT.
Thus: if Two attack One... and nobody else is involved, then the One defender is -2 for being Outnumbered.
Every unit calculates its Basic Combat Score and adds one die. Then compare the scores, starting with the defender, to see what happened.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Just to clarify, koza was saying that we played our first game of Maurice. He felt that the attacker was disadvantaged as both his scores were not added together in close combat (As in Lasalle) but dealt with separatley with only -1 modifier against the defender. Is this correct? .
Also we felt having only one commander restricted the movement and actions of the forces, but then maybe we should have saved up more cards before attacking.
Cavalry seemed quite ineffective, both forces cavalry got wiped out by musket fire. totally different experience than Lasalle where fresh squares can be wiped out by a lucky charge.
I liked the idea of recovery throwing for each DISR but think it needs a penalty when a unit is close to the enemy (we had an unit with 4 DISR suddenly fully recovering 2BWs in front of the enemy.
I especially liked the volley phase and felt it represented the musket fire better than the present system in Lasalle.
I dont know a great deal of this era but will be certainly be researching for start collecting my new army to play Maurice any ideas if there will be an army builder?Thanks for creating another great game
Phil
Posted 5 months ago # -
We spent a LOT of time working on the combat system. Originally the scores were in fact added together, and the result was that it was very easy to obliterate any defender just by getting portions of two units against him. We tried a million variations of it, over the course of a year, and it just broke every time. The attacker always massacred the defender, and often for no good reason, except that the attacker had angled a bit of one unit Just-So, in order to include it - or part of it - in the combat, and thus create an unstoppable juggernaut.
So I ripped out the whole combat system and started from scratch, and that's what we have now. No more resolving "combats" in any particular order. Rather: all units calculate their values simultaneously. The attacker is still fundamentally advantaged because the defender has to apply the results first. That means that even an inconclusive result could potentially eliminate a defender.
Note also how the math works. It's much more like MIGHT AND REASON, rather than LASALLE. A fresh unit is usually impervious to being broken. (Unless he is hit in the flank, or in bad terrain, etc.) Units are strong until worn-down, and then they can quickly break. That's because you always add 1-6 to each combat value (the die roll). For a fresh unit, that's not as significant a difference as for a worn unit.
For example:
Two fresh attackers VS one defender with 2 Disruptions:
The attackers each roll 1d6+6 to calculate their combat scores.
The defender rolls 1d6 + 2 to calculate his. (He starts at 6, but is -2 for DISR, then -2 again for being outnumbered.)
Now, in situations like that, there is a very good chance of breaking him (16 chances out of 36... and you get to try it TWICE because you have two units and he only has one.)
Once units are worn, they start to break. I did it that way, deliberately, because I wanted an 18th century "feel" in which opposing sides had to exchange musketry fire, prior to charging, if they wanted any chance of success.
"Cavalry seemed quite ineffective, both forces cavalry got wiped out by musket fire."
Cavalry's job is to fight enemy cavalry and thus turn the enemy's flanks. It is not effective against the fronts of solid infantry lines.... unless those infantry are really beat-up. (Or unless you have awesome cavalry and great cards for them.)
"I liked the idea of recovery throwing for each DISR but think it needs a penalty when a unit is close to the enemy (we had an unit with 4 DISR suddenly fully recovering 2BWs in front of the enemy."
It is penalized when near the enemy. Bear in mind that the odds of recovering 4 DISRs when near the enemy are very small: 6.25% chance for an infantry unit. 1.2% for a cavalry unit. So you must have hot dice!
"Also we felt having only one commander restricted the movement and actions of the forces"
The full game addresses that with the "Notables" - subordinate officers who command portions of the army. But... they each have personalities, and sometimes their personalities are not what is needed in that moment.
Best,
Sam
"I dont know a great deal of this era but will be certainly be researching for start collecting my new army to play Maurice any ideas if there will be an army builder?"
Yes, there's an Army Builder in the full game (although I can't call it that, or I'll be sued!) You have the choice to go historical or fictional... or both. For example, I'm painting all my units as actual historical units in Marlborough's Anglo-Dutch-German coalition army. But "my army" is simply an expression of my own playing style. I'm very infantry-centric and shooty, so my cavalry is malnourished and understrength, in order to "afford" the national advantages for my superb infantry. I didn't consciously try to pattern it after any one nation, but that's always an option available to you.
Posted 5 months ago # -
On combat maths, there is a very big difference in Maurice between charging someone with 3 DISR rather than 2 DISR.
If the enemy has 2 DISR you need to double them in combat. That is hard and you generally will need something in your favour (cards, more units, flank attack, etc) or a lot of luck to break them.
If the enemy has 3 DISR you only need to win combat to break them. That is much easier.
If the enemy has 4 DISR, they die no matter what they do in combat (don't even think there is a card that can save them!).
Shooting in Maurice is pretty effective, and you get to shoot first then, if like the result, charge. So in general you want to try to shoot your opponent down to 3 or 4 DISR, then charge them. Which sounds reasonble for the period.
Cam
Posted 5 months ago # -
Cam is correct. I wanted the rhythm of the game to resemble those stories of "volley and charge" that we all know from reading about the 18th century. So you can try to soften the enemy up with volleys first... and then hope he doesn't return the favor very effectively. And then - if all has gone well - you can charge him and finish him off.
More likely, though, when fresh units come into musketry range, they wear each other down at similar rates, and thus it becomes a struggle to find the advantage, either in cards, or by using a Rally action, or something else.
(That's also why I wanted Rally to be relatively effective as an action choice. It's the "stand there and take it" option for close infantry combats.)
Posted 5 months ago #
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