For some reason, my head said "This is for a group!" instead of "This is for one guy!" and I said some dumb things
.
So general things to keep in mind:
>Each die value is worth an average of 1/2 damage against an exposed opponents, 1/3 against cautious opponents, and 1/6 against entrenched opponents.
>> So you roughly need twice the attack power to be
equal in a cautious advance on an entrenched position with no terrain modifiers.
>Each die value is also worth one hit point. As such, high dice units are at a bigger advantage then they appear to be.
>> So 100 militiamen do 100 dice of damage and can take 100 damage. 100 Regulars deals 200 damage and can take 200 damage.
>>> This means that the value continues pretty well. 1 Regular is worth 2 militiamen, having the same stats.
>> As such, buying armor is basically buying "half a rank". 100 militiamen with armor will have the same defenses as 100 regulars, but still only half the attack in return for having half their speed.
>>> Perhaps they should be valued at "+1/2" dice. So 1 Regular would be worth roughly 1.5 Militiamen in armor, in an otherwise fair combat.
> No-man's land charges effectively triple the attack dice in return for a free attack every 100 meters.
>> Under 100 meters, it would presumably be zero (unless it rounds up to one, or hits as a fraction). As, these close-range charges could actually be a good idea.
>> Lets compare it to Cautious Advanced in most situations. CA gives the value of 1/3 to the enemy dice, with a value of 1/6 to the attack.
>>> As such, in a pure infantry v infantry fight, 200 attacking militiamen would be worth 100 defending militiamen at all ranges.
>> MCs gives the enemy dice value 1/2, but also gives you the attack value of 1/2 if it succeeds. In return, the enemy gets a free shot every 100 meters. Assuming they can continue to pay for their normal shot, it basically adds +Dice Value every 100 meters.
>>> As such, at under 100 meters 100 militiamen is worth 100 militiamen assuming no free shot. This is double what the cautious advance is, so its a great idea.
>>>100-200 is one free shot. Now the enemy has two attacks to your one, effectively giving them a dice value of 1. You still have a dice value of 1/2, so 200 attacking is worth 100 defending. The same as the cautious attack, but it will kill both sides much quicker and can thus be situationaly useful.
>>>200+: Every 100 meters adds another 1/2 dice to the enemy. At 200 they are getting 1.5 dice to your 1, and you now need 300 militiamen to match 100 defenders.
>>>> That is a gross exaggeration ignoring moral loss from the free shots and the fact that it will likely remove their defenses for the next turn as well (...right?), which would bring the value back to 1/2 1/2 even for as long as it can be maintained.
>>>> The general idea is that the safest idea for attacking trenches is to advanced cautiously until you get close enough that a charge is actually worth it. If you advance to <200 meters, and if they only get one free shot from it, it will cause more casualties to both sides by doing so. Withing 100 it is a good idea, since they don't actually get the free shot(?).
>>>>Adding armor changes the soldier value and integral value, so that its a reasonable idea to charge at 100 m and a great idea at 50m.
>Traveling at double speed isn't a bright idea, especially considering it inflicts percentile damage. Veterans are the natural exception. There are some exceptions, but it should generally be avoided due to its high cost.
>Artillery is much tougher than it looks both attack and defense wise. Rather than having 5/10 HP, they both have 10HP.
>> This means that Light Arty is really a bargain, given that it effectively has an overall value of ~7.5 militia. 100 Light Arty can do as much damage as 500 militiamen and take as much damage as 1000. At a much greater range.
>> Heavy arty has a value of 10 in both cases, so that 100 would equal 100 militiamen.
>> It appears that the mechanics mean soldiers generally respond to attacks with attacks. Arty doesn't do that, but is still capable of making its own attacks.
>>> If this is true, in a straight up fight their dice value is roughly 1/2 its value against infantry.
>>>> Arty has no reason to not be entrenched during combat. As such, it will be assumed that they will always take 1/6 dice value damage.
>>>> So 100 LAs defending against cautiously advancing militiamen is worth roughly 750 militiamen.
>>>>> The 1/2 attack is counteracted by the defenses granting *2 strength compare to the advancing militia's. As such, they are both worth their soldier's value.
>>> Thus arty are *very* capable of defending themselves if it comes down to it. Charges might screw things up, but a light defense to prevent that should be all that is necessary.
>>>> By the same virtue, 100 HA is worth 1000 militiamen in a straight up fight.
>>> So SHA has a value of 100, or 10 HAs.
>>>> This crude metric doesn't take range or speed into account, its up to us if the metal cost is worth it.
> Finally, training time.
>> Militiamen are worth 1 power/month 100 tones/power 75/tones/power+armor
>> Regulars are worth 2/3 power/month 200 tones/power 100 tones/power+ armor
>> Veterans are worth 1/4 power months. 300 tones/power 175 tones/power +armor
>>> Militiamen are the most efficient cost/power when months actually matter. The fact that they continue to gain "month values" as they fight makes them an even better value.
>>>> The downside is their speed, which is less 1/6 the effective speed of a Veteran.
>>> Veterans are worth the most steel/power, if it ever matters.
>>>> In addition, they also have less value in power/conscript. If we send half the country into the trenches to get slaughtered we might end up being thin on manpower at some point.
> Artillery training
>> LA 2.5 power/month 3.75 power/metal
>> HA 3.3 power/month 1.66 power/metal
>> SHA 33.3 power/month 0.066 power/metal
>>> Compared to each other, LA has the best steel value (if we take that as something worth considering). Unlike the others, the cheapest one is also the fastest, making it incredibly versatile in addition to being more efficient then the soldiers.