Re: LEGENDS: NIC Walls

From: minnotte@stat0.stat.rice.edu (Michael Minnotte)

Date: Sun, 09 Jan 1994 20:17:46 +0000

In article <2goaq3$9a0@donal.dorsai.org> lipton@dorsai.dorsai.org (Robert Bryan Lipton) writes:
>I posted this question a couple of months back but don't seem to have gotten a
>reply:  has anyone calculated the effects of walls on combat in NIC? I've
>heard some speculation from my friends, but...

If you're asking about how (in general) do fortifications work, they have four
effects on the defending force:

a DF bonus
a morale bonus
an AF bonus
a tactics bonus for the overall commander - usually close to the DF bonus.
Effects from this tactics can apparently be greater than 100%.

In addition, there seems to be a substantial penalty to mounted troops
on both sides of the battle, at least in DF (subtract as much as normally
gained?).

If you're asking about effects of specific fortifications, I was gathering
data to try to approximate the formulas back before Christmas, but I've
been distracted by Christmas and a new quarter.  (Sorry, folks, I'm hoping
to get back to it sometime soon.)

In my preliminary study, I found the following (I'm working from memory
here, so don't hold me to this exactly):

Effects seem to follow some less-than-linear rule (square root?).  Going
from level 1 to 4 in something will produce a much bigger gain than
going from 20 to 23.

Each wall type is _substantially_ better than the previous one, even with
lower numbers.

Towers are better than walls, gatehouses, and keeps for offense (AF), not
as good for DF and morale.

The effects of ditches and moats seem to be pretty minor.

You're almost certainly better off having a few levels of everything than
a lot of one thing.

Hope this helps,

Mike Minnotte

References

LEGENDS: NIC Walls
lipton@dorsai.dorsai.org (Robert Bryan Lipton)
Sun, 09 Jan 1994 07:13:06 +0000