Hey guys! I just spent the last six hours grinding through the Battle of Zidium in an attempt to sufficiently master D@W so that when it comes up in our campaign we’ll be prepared. We made it halfway. I’ll post a play report in the morning. In the meantime, here are some questions we had:
How do attached heroes and withdrawing mechanics interact? If Jagtai and his horse archers shoot Valanna and her light infantry, does the withdrawal of the light infantry protect Valanna from damage too? What if Jagtai shoots Mennic while he’s embedded in a unit? What if he’s not?
How does the damage multiplier for epic scale interact with the bonus attacks from scale? Which way should damage be rounded?
That is, at the end of the round, Tarkaun is adjacent to a unit of light infantry containing no hero that he attacked on his command phase. He rolls one hit for his bonus attacks sequence, divided by 4 for the brigade modifier. Is that 1/4th of a hit? Is that 0 hits or 1? Does that mean that if a hero can potentially provoke three morale rolls by poking for 1 damage repeatedly during the post-command bonus-attacks phase?
When can one switch from leading from the rear to leading from the front?
Can heroes volley overhead? Are they even affected by LOS rules beyond visibility? Can they shoot a distant engaged hero?
Can you withdraw through a friendly unit that is threatened? Can you withdraw through difficult terrain? If so, how does that interact with the damage reduction- Do you spend two hexes to move one, and since you only moved one it only counts as one?
Excellent questions, which should become the basis of a D@W FAQ!
How do attached heroes and withdrawing mechanics interact? If Jagtai and his horse archers shoot Valanna and her light infantry, does the withdrawal of the light infantry protect Valanna from damage too? What if Jagtai shoots Mennic while he’s embedded in a unit? What if he’s not?
Heroes can withdraw from attacks by units, but they cannot withdraw from attacks by heroes. However, heroes that are attached to a unit that is withdrawing would nevertheless move with the unit as it withdraws.
If Jagtai and his horse archers shoot Valanna and her light infantry, Valanna would still take damage from Jagtai despite the withdrawal of the light infantry. However the withdrawal might make Valanna out of range or visibility for Jagtai’s later bonus attack sequences.
How does the damage multiplier for epic scale interact with the bonus attacks from scale? Which way should damage be rounded? That is, at the end of the round, Tarkaun is adjacent to a unit of light infantry containing no hero that he attacked on his command phase. He rolls one hit for his bonus attacks sequence, divided by 4 for the brigade modifier. Is that 1/4th of a hit? Is that 0 hits or 1? Does that mean that if a hero can potentially provoke three morale rolls by poking for 1 damage repeatedly during the post-command bonus-attacks phase?
If a hero does less than 1 hit, it has no effect. However, all of the damage the hero inflicts in the course of the round is cumulative. Round to the nearest whole number, rounding 0.5 down if even, up if odd (so 0.5 hits is 0 hits). In general it would take 3 successful hits by a hero to damage a brigade-scale unit.
When can one switch from leading from the rear to leading from the front?
It would occur at the beginning of the unit/hero’s movement phase, at the same time at which a hero could attach to the unit.
Can heroes volley overhead?
Yes.
Are they even affected by LOS rules beyond visibility?
Yes. In general, unless otherwise noted, assume that the standard rules apply to heroes. However, a hero’s specific abilities or proficencies could trump the standard rules.
Can they shoot a distant engaged hero?
A hero could shoot at a distant engaged hero only if the attacking hero has Precise Shot.
Can you withdraw through a friendly unit that is threatened?
Yes, but if you enter a threatened hex, voluntary movement must cease. Since a unit cannot end it movement in the same hex as a friendly unit, the withdrawing unit could withdraw one further hex.
Can you withdraw through difficult terrain? If so, how does that interact with the damage reduction- Do you spend two hexes to move one, and since you only moved one it only counts as one
Yes, you can withdraw through difficult terrain. “When terrain is rough, it means that each hex moved through the terrain counts as two hexes of movement.” Thus each hex of difficult terrain withdrawn into reduces damage by 2 hits. This would represent light troops finding cover in the rough.
Hurray! There’s nothing like waking up to answered questions. I would just like to clarify #2 though:
“If a hero does less than 1 hit, it has no effect. However, all of the damage the hero inflicts in the course of the round is cumulative. Round to the nearest whole number, rounding 0.5 down if even, up if odd (so 0.5 hits is 0 hits). In general it would take 3 successful hits by a hero to damage a brigade-scale unit.”
So for example, Baal gets two attacks against units, so his four attack sequences will yield up to 8 hits, which are then divided by 4 to get the true damage. Meaning that Baal can deal between 0 and 2 damage to a unit over the course of a round.
In that case, this provokes question 8:
How does this interact with damage causing Shock and Disorder? Since we don’t know how much damage a hero did until he’s made all his attacks for the round, does that mean he won’t inflict Disorder until after all command phases? Or does he inflict it after every attack sequence that scores hits? Or does he inflict Shock/Disorder every time his hits sum to another point of damage?
8B. If Mennic spends his three extra attack sequences on spells, can he provoke three shock rolls by damaging the enemy with magic each time? (Assuming Jagtai doesn’t end his life between spells)
Oh, and what happens to heroes when their unit is routed or destroyed? I noticed that under “Loss of an Officer” it says that “under the rules in Chapter 4, a hero might survive” but I can’t find any mention of it in chapter 4.
Also, it says you can promote lieutenants to command status if your commander dies- Does this allow one to bypass normal minimum level requirements for command?
How does this interact with damage causing Shock and Disorder? Since we don’t know how much damage a hero did until he’s made all his attacks for the round, does that mean he won’t inflict Disorder until after all command phases? Or does he inflict it after every attack sequence that scores hits? Or does he inflict Shock/Disorder every time his hits sum to another point of damage?
He inflicts Shock/Disorder when his hits sum to one point of damage.
8B. If Mennic spends his three extra attack sequences on spells, can he provoke three shock rolls by damaging the enemy with magic each time? (Assuming Jagtai doesn’t end his life between spells)
If each spell inflicts 1 or more points of damage, yes.
What happens to heroes when their unit is routed or destroyed? I noticed that under “Loss of an Officer” it says that “under the rules in Chapter 4, a hero might survive” but I can’t find any mention of it in chapter 4.
[Well… This was explained in v21 of D@W, but the explanatory sentence was deleted in v22 when I re-named “roaming heroes” to “independent heroes”. The missing sentence is “If an attached hero’s unit is destroyed he immediately becomes a roaming hero.” The reason for the deletion was that in between v21 and v22, I substantially improved and increased the depth of the hero rules, such that this simple rule was no longer appropriate. It doesn’t look like the necessary updates to these mechanics ever made it into the game, though. Ugh! The text below is an official addendum to the game.]
If an attached hero’s unit is destroyed or routed, the unit is removed. If the hero was such only by virtue of his status as a commander or lieutenant, then he is killed if the unit was destroyed, or captured if the unit was routed.
Otherwise, the hero remains on the battlemap. If the unit was destroyed, or routed by shock, the hero immediately makes a shock roll. If the unit was routed by morale, the hero makes a morale roll. Use the hero’s uhp, unit type, and condition for the roll. Apply any results of the shock roll or morale roll to the hero immediately. If the hero’s unit had not yet acted this round, he may be activated in lieu of the unit. The hero activates as an independent hero starting on the next initiative phase.
It says you can promote lieutenants to command status if your commander dies- Does this allow one to bypass normal minimum level requirements for command?
Yes. At the Judge’s discretion, a lieutenant promoted to commander on a battlefield may thereafter function as a commander due to his heroic reputation and talent. Otherwise, the promotion was merely temporary and in the next battle he is again reduced to functioning as a lieutenant.
I’m currently thinking about our next big battle and I’m unclear how battles are supposed to end. In Campaigns, it mentions something called a Voluntary Retreat, but doesn’t really give rules or ramifications for it.
If I’m playing out a battle using the Battle rules as part of a longer-running campaign, at what point can an army quit the fight, and how do they do so? Do they have to move every unit off the table? Can they just declare before init is rolled that they’re leaving? Do I still get pursuit throws?
I’m currently thinking about our next big battle and I’m unclear how battles are supposed to end. In Campaigns, it mentions something called a Voluntary Retreat, but doesn’t really give rules or ramifications for it.
If I’m playing out a battle using the Battle rules as part of a longer-running campaign, at what point can an army quit the fight, and how do they do so? Do they have to move every unit off the table? Can they just declare before init is rolled that they’re leaving? Do I still get pursuit throws?
Most battles will end as a result of the Morale Phase routing all of their remaining units.
That said, you have the gist of it. D@W Battles page 26: “A battle ends when all of the units of one army have been destroyed, routed, or voluntarily exited from the battlemap.”
If you want to end the battle because you’re losing, you need to first extricate as many units as you can save from combat and get them out.
And yes, you always get pursuit throws, no matter how exactly the battle ended.
D@W: Campaigns allows for a more uniform voluntary withdrawal (as befits its nature as an abstracted system). You still get to make pursuit throws against an army that voluntarily withdrew. Campaigns calls out an army that lost the battle due to morale collapse as more vulnerable to pursuit; this I am not 100% sure on, but I assume it is because you are much less likely to have cavalry/flyers remaining in that case.
(PS - You should know this by now, but for posterity, I am not an Autarch.)
I propose the term Ensi. It’s ancient Sumerian for “a minor city ruler not powerful enough to be called a king, or a governor ruling on behalf of an overlord.”
(Why ancient Sumerian? Because I happen to be reading about Babylonia right now.)
How is ransoming supposed to work? The book does not mention who exactly is buying these guys, how long it takes, or the ethics thereof.
Am I contacting the families of these mercenaries individually, and they’re selling the family cow to pay for her safe return? Is it assumed that every army just has a Prisoner Broker that hangs around right after battles and buys back all the captured men?
As far as ethics, it probably beats just murdering the prisoners.
If I were to want to put a timeframe on it, I’d almost treat it as a reverse mercenary availability.
Say if I’m in a war with a (default size) Duchy, and I’m ransoming that duchy’s prisoners. I’d be able to offload 180 light infantry the first month, and 90 the two subsequent months - exactly if I was conscripting them from that realm. (Pg 10, D@W:C). If I had more than 360, it’d take more than a month.
I’m kinda curious where the 40GP value comes from now. Had I been asked before I refreshed myself on the rules, I would have said it was a function of their wage.
It’s based on the value of slave laborers (40gp each). In the period where ACKS primarily focuses, most soldiers were simply sold into slavery as laborers.
Of course this raises the question “why are slave laborers worth 40gp each?”
5 slave laborers are worth 1 peasant family. 1 peasant family is worth [12gp - 2gp (garrison) - 2.4gp (taxes) - 1.2gp (tithe) ] = 6.4gp per month. 1 slave laborer is therefore worth 6.4/5 = 1.3gp per month. 1.3gp x 33 (secret ratio) = 43gp.
1 slave laborer can do 3gp worth of unskilled labor. 1 slave laborer costs 2gp of upkeep. Therefore 1 slave laborer is worth 3-2=1gp per month. 1gp x 33 (secret ratio) = 33gp.
I rounded to 40gp as a nice midway point for a range between 33gp and 43gp.
