HE Fire Effects table, version 4

After some intense simulation and modification this is the table that we are going to be using for the version 0.1 rules.  They work OK, we had units going from green (Q3) over average (Q4), hardened (Q5) and elite (Q6) with leaders (Q4 to 6) with modifiers ranging from +1 (very poor commander) up to -2 (excellent commander).  Although luck still plays a role, the general feel was just right, and it will probably be even more so when more units are in play and luck evens out.

The pinned | retreat | rout | surrender system seems to work to satisfaction.  The baby dice are a simple way of keeping track of suppression per team.  One thing still to look into is how leaders react to suppression.

S-n / S+n: defender performs a suppression roll with a -n / +n modifier

n: defender automatically suffers n point(s) of suppression

E: defender is eliminated

*: doubles creates fire in target hex (woods, buildings)

Modifiers:

Attacker leader modifier:

Shift the number of columns to the right for a negative modifier (better leader)

Shift the number of columns to the left for a positive modifier (worse leader)

Attacker has the high ground: shift one column to the right

Target is in:

Soft cover, Tank rider, Soft Top vehicle: shift one column to the left

Bocage, ditch, entrenchment: shift two columns to the left

Wooden building, wooden wall: shift two buildings to the left

Armored Vehicle, Gun shield: shift two buildings to the left

Stone building, stone wall: shift three buildings to the left

Attacker Pinned: shift one column to the left

Attacker Retreating (defensive fire only): shift two columns to the left

Suppression roll:

The defender rolls one die, adds the indicated modifier and the leader modifier to the roll, and compares the result with the unit quality. If the roll result is equal to or lower than the quality the target unit does not incur suppression. If the roll result is higher than the unit quality, the unit suffers one point of suppression. The unit's suppression is indicated with a baby D6.

Unit suffers suppression:

This result omits the suppression roll and the target unit automatically incurs the indicated number of suppression points. Effect are identical to suppression incurred via suppression rolls.

Suppression effects:

When a number of suppression points equal to half the quality (rounded up) is reached, the unit must check quality. The roll is modified by the difference between quality and suppression. If this fails the unit is pinned, it can no longer move towards the enemy, but can still fire normally. If the check is successful, nothing happens.
When a number of suppression points equal to the quality is reached, the unit must check quality. The roll is modified by the difference between quality and suppression. If this fails the unit retreats: it must move away from the enemy, and can only perform defensive fire. If the check is successful, the unit becomes / remains pinned.
A unit that is retreating and that incurs additional suppression points, must check quality, again with the difference modifier, and rout when the roll fails.
When retreating is impossible because of enemy troops, the unit remains pinned instead.
When routing is impossible because of enemy troops, the unit surrenders or is eliminated if unit type does not allow surrender.

Elimination:

The targeted team is eliminated. All units that are adjacent to the eliminated unit must perform a suppression roll.

HE Fire Effects table, version 3

We did some simulations with the previous HE FE Table, but the D6 rolls make it too random.  I hope the bell curve of the 2D6 die roll will flatten that out a little.  On this table, 2 out of 3 times the result will come out of the middle 5 rows, but exceptionally good or bad results are still possible.

Also, rather than working with modifiers, I intend to use column shifts.  So a fire team delivers 1 Fire Strength, but good leadership, elite troops, close range may cause right column shifts (increasing the damage) just as good cover, long range or being suppressed may cause left shifts, and therefore less damage.

The thing I worry about is whether it will be useful to form fire groups: Will two teams with a good leader prefer one roll on the 2+ column or 2 rolls on the 1+ column?  It will probably depend on troop quality, I still have to do the maths on that.  32/36 chance on a S-1 or S?  Or 16/32 chance on a S?  Will a leader influence only one team?  That would even the odds somewhat:  In order to have more units benefit from leadership, they would have to form a firegroup.  Then the result would be 2 S-1 results versus 1 S result.  For a Q3 target, two times 33% chance they incur suppression, or one 50% chance, plus a small chance of fire.  Or do I change the suppression checks to 2D6 as well?

I hope to get some units ready after Nikfest in December, so we can test a bit more thoroughly.

The new HE table

We started testing the game dynamics based on the new HE table.  A few changes from the old one, the most apparent being that we went for lower is better in order to conform to the suppression check roll.

EE: Eliminate 2 teams (if available)

ES: Eliminate 1 team, suppression check for whatever is left

E: Eliminate 1 team

S: Perform a suppression check

S-x: Perform a suppression check with a -x modifier

Modifiers:
Target in cover: +1
Target ambushed: -1
Good Leader: -1
Short range fire: roll 2D6, count lowest die
Long range fire: roll 2D6, count highest die

Specials:
Roll of 1: roll again, ambush if possible on a roll of 1-3, leader bonus applies

That's gonna be it for now, we'll start fleshing out some basic German and Us units in order to get the unit stats working, then we can test the new HE table over the next week or so

Effects of HE Fire on infantry

While thinking about and working on my HE effect table, I realized that before I can finalize said table, or even do the maths for the dice rolls, I have to determine what the possible effects are, how they come to pass, and how they interact, if at all.
My initial idea was that units can break, and broken units that re-break take losses. Added to that, units can get suppressed. However, on second thought that seems a bit weird: incurring suppression and breaking are definitely related: it is the overdose of suppression that causes a unit to break. We also want a system that requires little bookkeeping, while still keeping the detail.

Prototype of the HE Fire Resolution table

One of the most important mechanics is going to be the fire resolution, of course.  We want a system that is simple and fast, yet that takes into account firepower, distance, cover, attacker quality, and type of fire.  That definitely means a table with modifiers.  This first version is a starting point, and we have made almost no statistics calculation so far, this table is just based on a hunch.