Balance discussion/suggestions

[Bayes]

Hi ComradeP, I guess you already know this, but it is very easy to reduce variability of assault outcomes:

Optional Assault Results – when this rule is selected, each assault result is
calculated as the average of two normal assault results. This has the effect of
reducing the variation in results.

I personally prefer high variability because I think the game becomes more intense when assaults are an unpredictable and dangerous affair. Maybe such high variability is more realistic too? Much safer to fire at a forest position from afar than storming right into the forest… Much less control, and much easier to get surprised with the latter approach… Bombarding the position into disruption with direct and indirect fire, cutting retreat opportunities, and then assaulting is the way to go… Would not that be the case in real-life too?

Making assaults similar to direct fire would make the game more "flat" and "one-dimensional" in my opinion. You would lose a very exciting decision scenario: Should I apply direct fire once more to further soften up the defender, or should I go ahead with a more risky assault. If you assault too soon, it could end in a disaster, but you do not want to wait too long either because of time constraints. Finding the correct time to assault is one of the challenges of playing the game.

Direct fire and assaults should be different tools, suitable for different situations, just like it is in panzer campaigns.

That being said, maybe assaults have become too tame in Panzer Battles compared to Panzer Campaigns (relatively to direct fire):

Panzer Battles: Combat Losses (per 1000 combat value):
Fire Low Value: 20 Fire High Value: 100
Attacker Low Value: 50 Attacker High Value: 250
Defender Low Value: 25 Defender High Value: 150

Panzer Campaigns: Combat Losses (per 1000 combat value):
Fire Low Value: 10 Fire High Value: 50
Attacker Low Value: 40 Attacker High Value: 200
Defender Low Value: 20 Defender High Value: 100

Strela, it would be interesting to know why you reduced the relative effect of assaults compared to direct fire in Panzer Battles...

Bayes