Legends: Attacking Castles

From: peter@dialis.xs4all.nl (Peter J. Kassies)

Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 16:53:04 +0000

On 11 oct Rob Farallo wrote
 > My only question is what are the relative
 > strengths of Castle walls.  It seems that I am surrounded by castles
 > with either Improved stone walls or Legendary stone walls.  Also
 > how does the size of the moat, gate house etc figure into the defences.

It appears to me that MG has made the game even more difficult. Not
suprisingly: a couple of good heroes with battle spells can easely knock out
a fortified city with 600 soldiers or so.

A friend of mine has kept a track of 27 battles and he's also a math's maniak
so he came up with a formula. (And others have come up with something
similar, all with about the same outcome.)

AF add for a lokation:
AF= 2*(main keep size) + 2*(number of towers)
This is bonus added to the soldiers defending the castle.
It gives pretty good info on your chances.

DF factor add on bonus is calculated on the type of wall:
earth +2, wood +3, stone +5, improved stone +7, sup. stone +10, leg. stone
+14
So each of the soldiers get a DF bonus depending on the type of wall. By my
knowing this is only for the soldiers in the first five battle slots. The
slots in the rear do not have this bonus.

Also the wall bonus is cummulated to the morale level of the soldiers.

> Castle  231 Dark Elf Population
 > Wall Type: Improved Stone            Wall Size:  15
 > Main Keep Size:  3               Stone Tow:  2
 > Gatehouse:   4               Ditch Lvl:  1
 > Moat lvl:    1           Total Men to Defend:    230
 > Also has a magic guild
Nice I have not come across a guild in towns in other modules so this might
be a very special one. Let me know, please.

> Human Nomad Male with a Grey Cat Familiar
 > Dark Elf Female.

The first character is the town leader. The second might be assigned to a
slot but it isn't always.

> I would be attacking with 40 level ten Saurians, led by a 6 Tactics
 > main character.  Do I stand a chance, howmany more troops should
 > I get?
The best way to find out if you can handle it is to attack with a force of
one soldier. You get the whole battle report.
From there on it is easy calculated. (Well it does take some time)

Start with looking to the morale in the different slots. If the morale in a
slot is 150. then you need to bash one third of the slots combat factors to
lower this to 100.
If you knock out more then morale drops below 100 and after every round a
morale check for that slot is made. If the slot fails the morale check
then the slot is on route and will leave the battle.
When a slot routs. The entire force makes a morale check. If the overall
morale was 150 then at least one third of the entire force in combat factors
needs to be on route or killed. (Similar to the individual slot)
So if the overall morale drops below 100 then the entire force checks if it
should start routing.

Ussually the hero blasts one combat slot away. Make sure the opposing slot
has enough combat factors to be blown away. Example: if there is only on
soldier with 20 cbf in the opposing slot of your hero. Then your hero will
only blow 20 cbf away. Overkill on a slot is lost!!

But in NIC dark elves have a MAR of 3 so divide your magical attack of your
hero by 3 to calculate howmany cbf you blow away.

I ussually put the hero in slot 3. With plenty of soldiers in 2 and 4. First
he blows slot 3 away. The slots opposing 2 and 4 will break morale fast.
(many opponents.) Then your hero starts slashing the defending force leader.
When he is dead the force starts routing really fast. And the force is yours.

>   Also, Whats the difference between a Castle, village, fortified
 > town and Keep.  Is there a difference in soldier types, the ratio
 > of soldiers to population or just a nifty title they give to spice
 > things up.
Well, a village is most easy to conquer then castle, town, fort town. Never
heard of a location with the status keep.
Soldiers tend to get better (knight skills, undead status) in each
'Better' type of fortification.

Try to be on the safe side: attack with one soldier first. If you don't have
the time. Go and attack as hard as you can. If the defender wins the first
battle attack him again. Put your leader in a different slot to blast your MA
agian.
Your leader is sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of soldiers attacking him.
He faints and is out of combat. Make sure you have enough healing with you.
Spells, potions ect.

Maybe you should scry or spy the force first to figure out if it is
worthwhile taking out. Some have brilliant items which give lots of advantage
in the beginning of the game

Anymore questions, feel free to ask,

Peter

PS. let me know how things went.