Domains at War: Battles!

  1. If casualties are determined based on UHP lost at the end of the battle, and a unit receives healing, does that prevent the losses? IE: I have a unit of trolls. My trolls get flanked by heavy cavalry and take 10 UHP (and pass their morale checks for taking 1/3rd of their UHP in damage) and then the battle drags on for 9 more rounds, so the trolls are only down by 1 at the end. Does that mean I lose almost none of them?

APM: That’s correct. Casualties are assessed at the end of the battle.

  1. Under the viable targets for melee attacks, it says I should attack someone who wasn’t attacked this round if possible. I’m assuming that that “if possible” only refers to if multiple targets are threatened? IE:

My unit, Troll A, is threatening Elven Longbowmen A and B. My unit Troll B is threatening only Longbow B. If I activate Troll A first, he can attack Longbow B. If I then activate Troll B, he can still attack Longbow B, because that’s his only eligible target. Had I activated Troll B first, Troll A would’ve been forced to attack Longbow A, because he had a choice.

APM: That’s correct.

  1. So, as I understand it, there’s no upper limit to how many units can be in a division, but there is a limit to how many units can be useful within a division, correct? IE: A general might assign 30 units of trolls to his warchief commander, but if that chief only has 5 Leadership, then 25 units of trolls will simply stand around on any given turn. Even fewer, if the chief wants to activate trolls who get disordered or go out of range.

APM: That’s correct. But remember that a general IS limited in how many division commanders he can have in his army. So when an army gets too big, it can become a command-and-control nightmare! For a historical example, see the Battle of Gaugamela, in which a large portion of the Persian infantry stand around and do nothing for most of the battle!

  1. Also, “A general performs all the functions of a commander” means he commands a division, right? So an army with three divisions will have one general and two commanders?

APM: That’s correct.

  1. Can voluntary and involuntary retreat stack?

IE: A unit of loose foot humans are flanked by some trolls and take 4 damage. They choose to retreat 2 hexes (their full marching speed) to reduce that to 2 damage. 2 is still more than half their UHP, so they check shock. They get a 10, modified to 5 (-1 light infantry morale, -2 disordered, -2 below half) which means they flee another 4 hexes backwards, meaning that they moved 6 hexes on the enemy turn.

APM: Yes they can stack. A unit’s Marching speed does not represent its full movement capability. A unit doing both a voluntary and involuntary retreat is in considerable disarray and moving at something more like a vaguely chargish speed…

  1. Units can’t retreat through units normally. Can a unit retreat through threatened hexes?

APM: Yes, it can.