I did some playtesting with the first 2 riflemen. And some sentry guns as well.
One rifleman has an accuracy of 5 with a movement speed of 2. The other rifleman has an accuracy of 4 with a movement speed of 3.
They have the same attack range of 2.
And all designs have the same Armor, Damage and Value.
The sentry gun has a movement speed of 0.
It turns out that the Assault versus Hitting moving targets isn't that balanced yet.
While the faster rifleman can catch up to the slower one. Due to the difference in damage. This will not happen unless the slower one is vastly outnumbered.
Another reason to get the faster one. Isn't there yet. All the other infantry have yet to be added in the future.
Against the sentry gun. The faster one doesn't have the advantage. I am actually limeted here in the design options. The first attack range that outranges the riflemen and gives a nice round number is 5... This is actually a bad number. Maybe I should scout for a higher number. But still...
Both designs need the same ammount of rounds in order to approach this sentry gun. The slow one from 6 to 4 to 2. The fast one goes from 6 to 3 to "2".
I honestly think that since the Assault is fleshed out.
The action on itself might be to costly?
Or perhaps, hitting a moving target is still too easy.
Even if the attack range is 1. I think that the faster unit should be harder to hit. Only in that regard, will there be a noticable difference between the slow and the fast one.
So far, the fast one looses on all grounds...while having the initiative in regards to when and where the battle should take place.
The fast player can run. But the slower player can simply do nothing. The faster choice simply lacks benefits...
And in a sense, I want it to have the benefit from the Assault without adjustments to the Assault.
***
Solutions?:
- I fix the sentry guns in such a way that an attack range is assigned, giving the faster infantry unit some benefit.
- I double, tripple, quadrupple check the "assault" and the "hitting a moving target".
First things first. I suspect that "hitting a moving target". Feels not correct.
***
Sorry for making such a long tldr post. But I typed this for myself as backup too.
Summary:
- I check the penalty. Is it still good? What are my options?
- Rechecking my designs. What am I even playing with?
- What game rules did I not explore yet?
- And then I compared my new options to test what is left to explore.
- To end it with the most complex move that the game knows. A "drive by shooting"
Short conclusion. I did find some possible solutions. But I want to test them out as well.
***
The penalty on this might be to low.
I can make the roll a 4/6th one, just like the action assault. Which would mean that 2x 4/6th would take place. But this doesn't cover every situation properly. It only doubles the penalty...
Maybe I have to change the way how the number of rolls are determined.
Perhaps doubling the lowest value. Then compare the 2 again.
Which will increase the lowest value in most cases. And a range 2 against a speed of 3, will now result in a penalty of 3x 5/6th.
An attack range of 0 still remains 0.
Equal values of range and movement speed will simply return this value.
If one of the 2 is less than half than the other, the penalty of the lowest will be doubled.
If one of the 2 is more than half than the other, the penalty switches to the other.
It is kinda neat to see how several attack ranges against a movement speed, of lets say, 5. Works out.
0 gives 0
1 gives 2
2 gives 4
3, 4 and 5 gives 5
6 gives 6
7 gives 7
8 gives 8
9 gives 9
10 and more gives 10.
Either way, (5/6)^3 is less than (4/6).
AND
Faster units do get a new benefit again over slower units.
This counts for the design being a fast dodging unit.
***
The normal rifleman has a 5 to 5 ratio in body points and weapon points.
It just so happens that the faster rifleman has a 6 to 4 ratio in body points and weapon points.
I should not ignore this fact. And perhaps run a simulator to test how much difference there truly is.
Another thing that I want to test is.
A new exiting adventure of Dragon Ball Z!!
Just kidding.
What I meant is that I want to see if the rifleman with movement speed 3 can keep running around and doing attacks during a round.
If a round is set with a certain patron. This would count as a continues attack.
The fast design gets into range and attacks. The enemy returns fire right away.
A payment of 3 vs 1.
Then the fast design has to move out of range. The enemy tries to intercept once more.
A payment of 7 vs 3.
Now, the enemy has 4 more points remaining, but it would mean only a simple action can be played now. This could be chasing after.
I try the second determination first.
The fast design will have a (4/6)^2 accuracy for one time.
The slow design will have a (5/6)^4 accuracy for two times.
(16/36)=44% versus (625/1296)=48%. This is close, but the work for the fast player doesn't pay off. And ehm.... the slow player can fire twice. So it is more like a 96%.
If both players stand still. The accuracy is (4/6)=67% versus (5/6)=83%.
Ok... what about the first determination?
The fast design will have a (4/6)^2 accuracy for one time.
The slow design will have a (4/6)^2 * (5/6) accuracy for two times.
44% versus (80/216)=37%.
This is promising.
***
There is another thing we could try. The fast player keeps a distance. And simply does a "drive by shooting" when the time is right. This has a payment of 4.
But moves in, and moves out of harms way.
How this works exactly?
Fast is at a distance of "1".
The "drive by shooting" will be 1 forward, then 2 backwards.
Making the distance of "2". Presuming the slow doesn't have actions remaining.
During this, the slow has no choice but to intercept if some actions still remain.
The next round, the slow can perform an assault by making the distance "0". But the fast can react with a retreat and make the distance "3". After this, both players keep moving. And the system resets itself.
I pretend that the fast player manages this enough times.
The fast design will have a
(4/6)^2=44%
accuracy for one time.
If the slow is lucky, it can do a return fire. Given it being (5/6) x either
a.(5/6)^2=58% or
b.(4/6)^2=37% or
c.(5/6)^3=48% or
d.(4/6)^3=25%
Depending on what I am going to choose in the future.
penalties being (4/6) shows the best interest.
The minimal that the slow player can do is that one assault. Yet the fast one keeps moving.
(5/6) x (4/6) x either
a.(5/6)^2=39% or
b.(4/6)^2=25% or
c.(5/6)^3=32% or
d.(4/6)^3=16%
And the fast one can return a fire during this.
(4/6)^2 x either
a.(5/6)^2=31% or
b.(4/6)^2=20% or
c.(5/6)^2=31% or
d.(4/6)^2=20%
If I pick the original, thus a.
I have 44/58=76% and 31/39=79% efficiency for the fast one.
If I pick the intenser penalty, thus b.
I have 44/37=119% and 20/25=80% efficiency for the fast one.
That sort of cancels each other out. Especially since the 119% comes first.
If I pick the increase penalty, thus c.
I have 44/48=92% and 31/32=97%.
If I pick d. which is a combination of b and c.
I have 44/25=176% and 20/16=125%.
Man, if I apply the method, d. Then if the fast player manages to pull the complex strategy.
It will have the upper hand.
Also. If the return fire isn't applied. The scores for the fast player increase much more. I can add that first 44% to the next conflict.
a. (44+31)/39=192%
b. (44+20)/25=256%
c. (44+31)/32=234%
d. (44+20)/16=400%
So I guess that the player that chooses the faster rifleman. Already is forced to play one of the most complex strategies. But if I don't change the game in regards to penalties. Then the faster player still can win using a.
b and c increase this chance. But it is b that shows an improvement to the first part of the complex strategy.
d would be the topping of the cake.
***
Players need to discover this strategy with the faster units. But the weakness is that the players also can trap the faster players. The faster player needs the room for the micro. And needs to time.
So this is more a question of. Will I change the rules of the penalties such? That the faster player has a decent chance. As long as it doesn't get trapped.
The changes that I can make:
- (5/6) down to (4/6) for each penalty?
- Doubling the lowest value and compare again?
O yeah, they can be outranged too. So...