The (Unofficial) Great Battles of History

Melee Analysis


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In the GBoH system, it's obvious that higher TQs are better. But how much better are they? I did a little analysis to find out:

PSC+(2) PSC+(3) PSC+(4) PSC+(6)
TQ %Rout AvgHits %Rout AvgHits %Rout AvgHits %Rout AvgHits

3 84 4.2 100 5.1 100 6.1 100 8.1
4 45 3.5 75 4.5 100 5.5 100 7.5
5 24 3.0 34 4.0 64 4.9 100 7.0
6 3 2.6 13 3.6 23 4.6 100 6.6
7 0 2.3 0 3.3 2 4.2 36 6.3
8 0 2.1 0 3.1 0 4.1 1 6.0
9 0 2.0 0 3.0 0 4.0 0 6.0

PSC+(n) Pre-Shock TQ Check, plus n hits as a result of melee
%Rout Percentage chance of routing, given melee hits plus pre and post melee shock checks
AvgHits Average number of hits at the end of melee

This is aimed at the ancients games. The modern-era games feature "disruption", which complicates the analysis. The table also assumes that units with TQ-1 hits pass their subsequent TQ check roll if the dr equals the TQ (which is the rule in Alexander and Caesar, but not SPQR (officially)).

The nearly linear correlation between AvgHits and TQ is about as expected. What I found surprising was the great decrease in %Rout for each extra point of TQ. You can inflict six hits on a TQ7 unit, and (nearly) two times out of three it still won't rout!


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Dave Townsend
townsend@patriot.net