8. Combat

Combat occurs when units in a shire attack another shire within movement distance. Note that there can actually be up to three battles in one shire (air, ground and Tunnelling), but it is only units on the ground that can CONTROL a shire. Below is a brief summary of how the combats will take place within the game.

All Combat Spells are cast, the order being determined by heroes combined leadership score.

In the first round units are grouped by their Battle Position (Ranged, Flying/Tunnelling, Mounted and Foot Melee). A ranged unit is selected at random (from any side) who will attack an enemy at random. If the attack is successful the enemy dies. This continues until all ranged units on each side have had an attack. The target cannot retaliate to ranged attacks.

Next a Flying/Tunnelling unit (only involved if at the same level as rest of battle i.e., if underground will not be involved in a ground battle) is selected at random (from any side) who attacks a randomly selected enemy (Ranged and Behind units can't be reached yet). If successful, the enemy dies. If not, the enemy retaliates and will kill the original unit if successful. This process continues until every flying/tunnelling unit has had an attack (and may also have retaliated as many times as it has attacks). Some units also have multiple attacks. The same process is repeated for mounted and then foot melee units, after which every unit should have had an attack and Round 1 is complete.

After Round 1 has been completed, all units are in one group for subsequent rounds. So a unit is picked at random from the entire battlefield and attacks an enemy at random. If successful the enemy dies, if not the enemy gets the chance to retaliate. This continues until every unit has used all attacks (and may have retaliated multiple times). After this the same process is repeated for Round 3 and so on.

If one side has a higher combined hero leadership score than the other side/s the first round works slightly differently. All units in each group (ranged, mounted, etc) on the heros' side attacks before the equivalent group on the other side. If the battle is being fought at a city, then the player's wizard provides a leadership score of 10 which is combined with any hero's leadership score. In ocean battles only the admiral, pirate hero or a hero with the "walk on water" spell active may contribute to the leadership total.

Note: Some units (Clerics for example) and heroes are termed behind units. Behind units cannot attack (unless they have a ranged combat value) or be attacked until all other units have been killed. The exception to this rule is if the attack is made by magic. At which point they are as susceptable as other units.

In summary combat proceeds in the order of;

ROUND 1

Heroes Cast Combat Spells
Ranged Units attack.
Ship Units attack
Flying/Tunnelling Units attack.
Mounted Units attack.
Foot Units attack.
Behind Units attack if and only if there were no other units available to fight.

ROUND 2+
All units attack (Units which had ranged attack values use their normal offence value after round 1 is completed and general melee begins).
Behind Units Attack if and only if there are no other units available to fight.

This continues until only one player or one alliance is left alive. After the winning side has been decided, some units may be healed. Healing may be performed by cleric units (each cleric has a 50% chance of healing each of up to 5 units) as well as some special heroes, buildings and artifacts. The order in which they will heal is buildings, heroes, units and artifacts. Ships, heroes and units with multiple hit points are restored to their full value at the end of combat if they have at least one remaining. Units are healed at random from both friendly and allied casualties. No Preference is given to your own or your allies. Neither is preference given to strong over weak units or heroes over units.

We wish to keep most of the combat system as a surprise. You will see how the system works once you go into battle and will soon be able to evaluate your chances of victory. To get yourself into a battle you will either be attacked or you will attack someone else in a surrounding shire by issuing the ATTACK order.

NOTE: Allied wizards will never fight each other. An interesting example to note is that if three wizard are at a site, and wizards one and three are allied to wizard two, but wizards one and three are not allied to each other, a battle will occur between wizards one and three and wizard two will abstain from the fight. However two will participate in the first strike calculations. Often in this case it will mean that everyone gets first stike since they were all able to share information through the one allied wizard.

NOTE: Occasionally border battles will occur. They are only possible when enemies both attempt to cross a shire border. In these situations none of the regular bonuses (defender's bonus and hero's land type bonus) will apply, but hero artifact bonuses will still apply. Border battles may not occur every time as there is a random element involved. However, having increased numbers of scouts amongst the crossing units will increase the chances of a border battle.