MTW Melee Combat
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Unit Combat Statistics
- 3 Combat Modifiers
- 4 Combat Turns
- 5 Combat Breakdown and Kill Chance
- 6 Miscellaneous
- 7 References
Introduction
This is meant to be a detailed explanation of the melee combat cycle in Medieval: Total War. Currently a work-in-progress.
Unit Combat Statistics
Each unit type has base values for various combat calculation parameters. These values can be found in the UNIT_PROD.TXT file. These values are generated off of the unit spreadsheets which determine both these stats and the unit costs for balance.
Charge
Bonus added into kill chance when charging. Explain when this bonus occurs and when the charge "effect" wears off. Discuss running vs. charging (click vs double click), distance to charge, in-game cues (horns?).
Attack
Basic attack statistic. The higher this value, the better chance to kill. Units created or retrained in provinces with the Metalsmith line of building get improved melee weapons, which add to their attack value.
Defence
Basic defence statistic. The higher this value, the better chance to survive in melee. Defence applies to melee combat only, not missile defence.
Armour
The amount of armour worn. The armour value of the target gets added to defence when determining kill chance. Gets reduced by armour piercing weapons (put formula down in the Combat Modifiers section). Explain armour for cavalry units. Armour also applies to missile weapon survival. quickly cover armour and deserts. Units built or retrained in provinces with the Armourer line of buildings get improved armour, which add to their overall armour value.
Morale
Morale is a huge factor on the battlefield. The results of combat have an effect on unit morale, and the effects of morale states can affect combat, but the actual morale value doesn't affect combat.
Weapon Type
The unit's weapon type can have a large impact on it's combat role and effectiveness. Armour piercing, unit counters, rank bonus availability, etc.
Shield
Discuss shield coverage (front and left side), and briefly mention their usefulness against missile weapons. A unit's shield options are: none, small, cavalry, large, pavise. These add on to the unit's armour value, usually by: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, respectively. Units equipped with two-handed weapons cannot use their shields in melee, so the shield only counts for missile protection. Some units also have their shield's effectiveness reduced, either by half or to nothing, this is generally the case for high armour value cavalry units. At that point, shields have little affect, but the unit graphics look better with shields.
Combat Modifiers
Various circumstances affect the kill chance during a combat cycle. These modifiers all get thrown in the mix, and can be the difference between success or failure in combat. Intelligent usage of terrain, formation, and battlefield conditions can maximize the effectiveness of your troops, allowing for easy victory.
The terminology for attack and defense can be a little confusing. Theoretically, defense bonuses given to the target can be attack penalties for the striker, since overall defense is subtracted to overall attack to get the kill chance number.
Rank Bonuses
Spear and pike attack/defence bonuses for ranks, number of attacks, animations. For spears, each supporting rank gives +1 defence and +1 charge (up to 2 supporting ranks total), and a second supporting rank gives +1 to attack. For pikes, each supporting rank gives +1 defence, +1 charge per rank (up to 4 supporting ranks), and + 1 to attack for each second supporting rank (+1 for 2 supporting ranks, + 2 for 4 supporting ranks). The charge bonuses are a little misleading, since a charge can disrupt the formation and remove the supporting rank bonuses altogether. The guide is a little unclear as to whether the charge bonus is exclusive (the defense and attack don't get applied if charging).
Flank and Rear Attacks
Attacks from the flank get a +5 attack, while attacks from the rear get a +7 attack. If the charge bonus is applied, attacks from the flanks or rear get an additional +2 attack added on. A shield's defense bonus is not applied if the attack is from the rear.
Pushback
Need good explanation of how pushback works in conjunction with charges, winning, and cav. Add a +6 attack if the target is falling back due to pushback.
Armour Piercing Weapons
Armour piercing weapons reduce the target's armour value: For infantry targets, (Armour - 1) / 2. For cavalry targets (Armour - 2) / 2. This is the armour value only, without the shield modifier.
RPS bonuses
Swords get +1 against spears after the charge. Spears get +1 attack, +4 defense against cavalry, pikes get +2 attack, +6 defense against cavalry. Polearms get +3 attack, +1 defense against cavalry.
Terrain Modifiers
-2 to morale when in trees for all units. Mounted units suffer a -2 attack and a -2 defense penalty in trees. Spears and pikes lose their rank bonus in the trees if the unit cohesion is disrupted, the animations will show this unevenness in the line. +5 to an attack if the target is crowded (happens on bridges, gateways, and when there is one big pile of fight). Being on higher ground gives an attack bonus, and being on lower ground gives an attack penalty, but the actual amount of the penalty varies on the slope. Camels get +1 attack when fighting in desert, and a -1 attack when fighting in lush or temperate climates.
Formations
Unit formation and battlefield stance can be set during combat from shortcuts or from the menu buttons at the top of the screen. These formations affect the units combat ability, effectiveness, and aggression.
Wedge
Units in wedge formation receive modifiers of +3 attack and -3 defence. This is the most aggressive formation, and is best used when charging on the flanks or rear, when maximum carnage is desired.
Hold Formation
Units in Hold Formation receive modifiers of -2 attack and +2 defence. This formation is less aggressive, and should be used by spearmen and pikemen to maximize their rank bonus. This can also be used by other unit types when receiving cavalry charges or trying to defend a point in the line.
Engage At Will
Standard attack formation, allows for decent aggression and wrapping around flanks. There are no combat bonuses for this formation.
Loose Formation
The loose formation is best used when under missile attack, but not in danger of melee attack. There are no combat bonuses or penalties for loose formation, but it allows multiple attacks against your troops by a close formation unit, and it imparts a morale penalty on the unit.
Skirmish
Discuss combat stat adjustments for skirmish. Find out skirmish distance (~30 meters).
Routing
Units that are routing receive a -8 attack penalty, and pursuers receive a +4 attack when striking a routing target. Routing units do strike back however, and pursuers CAN be killed, so be careful chasing routers through woods with your cavalry.
Fatigue
A unit that is "Tired" is -2 to attack, "Quite Tired" is -3 attack, -1 defence and -3 morale, "Exhausted" is -4 attack, -2 defence and -6 morale, and "Totally Exhausted" is -6 attack, -3 defence, and -8 morale. Fatigue rates. Affects of snow and desert. Reinforcements' fatigue.
Fear
If the striker fears it's target gets a -4 attack penalty, while a striker gets a +2 bonus when attacking a target that fears it. For the MTW campaign, this only applies to camel units vs. horse units. The UNIT_PROD.TXT contains a field to denote feared units.
Valour
Each level of valour adds +1 to attack and +1 to defence. Note that valour in the game is kept per man, not unit. Since combat results are calculated per man, individual valour plays a role. For the valour bonus per man, the unit's average valour + individual valour / 2 is used for to determine the attack/defence bonus on a per-attack basis. Men positioned in unit according to valour level?
Command Rating
Bonuses applied to combat stats based on the general's command rating. +1 to attack, +1 to defense for every second star (command stars 2,4,6,...). When the general dies or is captured, the attack and defence bonuses disappear, as well as the vicinity morale bonus. If he withdraws or flees, the attack and defence bonus remains, but the vicinity morale bonus of course disappears with him.
Difficulty Level
The difficulty level of the game can affect combat. On Hard, the computer units get a 15% combat bonus to attack and defence for all units, while on Expert this becomes a 30% bonus.
Combat Turns
attack process, miscellaneous details. The turn lasts about 1 second. The results are simultaneous, both sides get their strikes in regardless of the result, so both attacker and defender can kill each other in the same turn. Each man can strike at one adjacent model, but can be attacked by many models, depending on formation setting and battlefield positioning.
Combat Breakdown and Kill Chance
Add the unit attack value, valour attack bonus, and any other attack modifier up, then subtract the target's defence value, armour value (adjusted for AP weapons), shield value, and any defence modifiers (valour, formation, etc.) from that total. This gives you the combat factor for that attack. An overall value of 0 gives a 1.9% chance to kill, each point above or below 0 adds or subtracts 20% to the chance. The combat factor is max/min'ed out at 20 and -20.
| Combat Factor | Kill Chance |
| -20 | 0.05 |
| -10 | 0.31 |
| -5 | 0.76 |
| 0 | 1.9 |
| +5 | 4.73 |
| +10 | 11.76 |
| +20 | 72.84 |
Miscellaneous
Cover valour transference/jedis and valour leveling. Hit points. Killing versus capturing of fleeing troops (anybody know about this?).
References
BradyGames' Medieval Total War: Official Strategy Guide (ISBN 0-7440-0182-X)
credit/link FBE's guide
TBD - fill in placeholders. mainly I need to do a lot of fact-checking and referencing, there is a lot to discuss here, currently this is just a layout exercise. cover morale, fatigue(deserts, snow) on a different page.
