First World War Campaigns - More insight into combat odds

[Volcano Man]

It actually *is* in the manual

The description in the manual is clear, what I meant was that the way it works in practice isn't always clear. If the low and high casualty modifiers, and the associated randomness thrown in at the end, are far apart, it can become highly unpredictable.

That is precisely why the Optional Assault Results optional rule exists.

"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."

IMO there are things you need to know and things you don't need to know. It is really quite simple when you boil it down: use the most strength and assault power that you can, and try to use the best quality units, and then hope for the best (die roll). (Rhetorical) What else could you do, other than trying to stack the odds in your favor to give the utmost optimal results? You can do this already with the general description on how it works, and you can remove most of the variation in results with the use of the Optional Assault Results rule. Unless of course you are operating under the idea that all the details need to be known so that they can be critiqued and "improved" and that is simply the wrong philosophy to have IMO. What is broken should be obvious, otherwise it is picking it apart at the molecular level for the sake of doing it (because everything can, theoretically, be improved, but not everything actually needs to be improved because additional complexity does not always mean different results). But I guess that is the difference between some wargamers. I have learned to be happy with the assault resolution since Smolensk '41. Just sayin'. ;)

In any case, if you want to know more about the details then you will have to email JTS and ask, but I know he intentionally tries to provide only just enough information to figure out what you need to do while trying not to bog the manual down in exact calculations. That said, Rich or John may share the information if you ask for it, but it just depends on how busy they are.

In regards to terrain, only the hex side terrain applies. This is because it is understood that the attacker and defender are (temporarily) occupying the same hex and so neither side gets a benefit from the target hex's terrain. The hexside modifies it in favor of the defender since it is understood that it would impede the attacker's approach.