Army Combat

Fight on my men, Sir Andrew says,
A little I'm hurt, but yet not slain;
I'll but lie down and bleed awhile,
And then I'll rise and fight again.

--Ballad of Sir Andrew Barton

When you are leading an army, and encounter another, you may attempt to engage the opposing force in combat. The Army Combat option on the Travel Menu allows you to first look at any other armies in the fief you are in. This will cost you 1-3 days. You can then attack any of these armies.

Because the armies of this period were unwieldy (no one marched in step, every one just sort of ambled along) and undisciplined (orders were often misinterpreted or ignored), it was nearly impossible to have a battle unless both sides agreed. Thus if you come across another army that is set for "retreat" rather than "stand and fight", the other army will, in most cases, simply retreat when you attempt to bring it to battle. You can force a battle under these circumstances, but only if the combat value of your force is several times that of your opponent; the larger your advantage the better your chances of forcing the other fellow to give battle.

The combat value of armies is calculated in two steps. First, the system calculates the relative value of the two leaders, then it calculates the combat value of the troops in both armies. Then it compares the overall combat value of the two armies and determines the outcome of the battle. The loser retreats if his army has not disbanded, and you may chase him and seek another battle.

The calculations are as follows:

Leadership Value = Average of Leadership, Management, Stature of the army leader and the PC combined. .

Combat Values of Troops in a battle = Average Attack, Protection, Endurance, Health for each NPC, then add 5 to each (they had full armor) and another 5 if English.

Values for other troops                                                                   

(each)-All                                                                                

                              English                       Others                        

Knights/MAA                   9                             7                             

Yeomen                        9/2                           -                             

Foot                          3                             2                             

Lt Cav                        -                             3                             

Rabble                        1                             1
                             

For example, let's say you have a battle between 110 English and 620 French. The English had 10 knights, 20 MAA and 80 yeomen. That gives the English 830 ((30x9)+(7x80)). The French have 20 knights, 100 archers and 500 rabble, for 940 ((20x7)+(100x3)+(500x1)). The English leader average value is 5.4, the French is 3.2. This gives the English player a 1.6875 (5.4/3.2) advantage which boosts his combat value from 1401 to (1.6875x830). This gives the English a ratio of 1.5 (1401/940). This gives the English a 63% chance of winning. Note that, on a man per man basis, an English army will be worth about twice as much as a French army of the same size.

The English have superior soldiers, and their leaders are better also. Therefore, here are some rules of thumb for the non-English players to consider:

Never engage the English at less than 2-1 odds, and even then try for 3-1, with a decent army leader -- your battle leader, not your siege leader - its easy to forget to change them when things are hectic online.

If you see many English online at once when you run into an army, chances are it is a small detached force. The English will amalgamate smaller formations into larger armies , and hold them over reset.

If it is a small detached force, attack it. Otherwise, ignore them. Its a tricky balance. You don't want the English to get so comfortable in France that they can work with smaller and smaller armies. You want them to spend lots of money in this war. If you win some field battles against smaller English forces, the English will start using larger armies for a while.

On the other hand, we don't want to get distracted by armies and lose the siege war. The siege war is always most important. If you don't have less than crushing odds, then you will find that the army you spent so many days marching to engage retreats, and you have less time for siege work.

Remember that the French historically won the war by refusing to fight in the field and taking castles.

While most attacks are made while the defender is off line, often both players are online at the same time and almost as frequently, teams of players are online in the evening while conducting Simultaneous Online Attacks .