Wasn’t sure where to put this - I figure it’s maybe too homebrewy for Ask the Autarchs, but nothing else seemed to fit.
The TL;DR is - if attack throw hit values don’t factor into Battle Ratings, only the number and average damage of attacks, because Campaigns having really long turns means it all averages out, and my firearms have lost their shock factor, leaving only AP which is functionally a bonus to hit… Should I just remove the Guns At War firearm modifier entirely from my firearms, or possibly reduce it further than I have?
I’m creating some units to use in large scale battles for my homebrew campaign, borrowing from Guns of War and the suggestions from this thread - Guns at War - Fix Bayonets! - but modifying for more like the 1860s. I’ve got line infantry formations and the like, but the long and short of it is, the average firearm is a breechloading rifle, which I’ve said is functionally a longbow dealing arbalest damage. No need for reload tokens, breechloaders are fast - but they still have AP, which still affects Battle Rating through the firearm modifier. I’ve set it to only 1.5, because there’s no shock factor any more - and this works out nicely for Campaigns, because it gives poorly armoured, slow marching but well armed line infantry a BR of 2, which goes well with the people they’re fighting having frontlines that are also BR 2.
But it makes me wonder - most frontline infantry in my setting have AC 2, as the wealth of AP firearms makes all but the best (or enchanted) armour poor value. This means Line Infantry who hit on an 11+ but ignore armour, will hit more than Light Infantry who hit on an 11+ and don’t ignore armour - but if those Light Infantry pick up dual swords and start hitting on a 10+… They get closer to evening the odds without affecting any of the Battle Rating formulae.
Unless I’m missing something, attack throw hit values don’t affect Battle Rating right? An attack is an attack regardless of hit chance… But AP also only affects hit chance and is part of the reason for the firearm modifier. Is the assumption that in the melee of 10 minute Campaigns rounds, enough attacks will always land that it doesn’t matter? But then if I lose the shock value of firearms… Should I just remove the firearm bonus from AP entirely, because in a 10 minute Campaigns round, hit chances would even out there as well?
Apologies again that I’m functionally just asking about homebrew on top of homebrew, but I’m just hoping to put something together that feels ‘accurate’ to me while maintaining a decent balance for the units I’ve got.