Normandy Patch Update

[Strela]

Guys,

I'm sort of loath to lay this all out here, but to prevent speculation etc I will. Here is the background.

As mentioned by others there is a morale roll that works on the following basis (from the manual);


Morale is used to determine effects like Disruption and Broken. Quality is the basis for Morale. Each unit has a Quality rating from A (best) to F (worst). A descriptive way of referring to units by their Quality rating is to say that:


• A units are the Elite units
• B units are the Superior units
• C units are the Average units
• D units are the Below Average units
• E units are the Inferior units
• F units are the Abysmal units.

When a calculation requires a numeric value, these letters are mapped to numbers according to A=6, …, F=1. Quality has effects on the Morale of the unit and on its performance in combat or, for HQ’s, on its command abilities.

Morale Calculation - The nominal Morale of a unit will be the same as its Quality. The following modifiers apply to the Morale value:

• Units with Medium Fatigue have 1 subtracted from their Morale.
• Units with High Fatigue have 2 subtracted from their Morale.
• Units with Maximum Fatigue have 4 subtracted from their Morale.
• Units Low on Ammo or Fuel have 1 subtracted from their Morale.
• Units that are Disrupted or Broken have 1 subtracted from their Morale (Note: Morale F units do not have this modifier when they are attempting to recover from being Disrupted or Broken.)
• Units that are Isolated have 1 subtracted from their Morale.

A unit whose resulting Morale value is 0 or less is said to have No Morale.


Morale Check - When units suffer losses due to Combat Results, they may have to undergo a Morale Check. A random die roll from 1 to 6 is generated and compared with the unit’s current Morale value. If the die roll is less than or equal to the Morale value, then the unit passes the Morale Check. A unit which fails a Morale Check becomes Disrupted, and if already Disrupted and at Maximum Fatigue, becomes Broken.



With the above, all things being equal an 'A' morale unit will never disrupt. It needs to be fatigued, isolated or low on ammo/fuel. We removed low on ammo/fuel  for Kursk and Normandy to represent combat loads etc. Supplies were fairly plentiful and we considered the double whammy for ammo & isolation too much - leaving it only with isolation.

Therefore fatigue is the other big impact on morale. With between 1 to 4 subtracted from a morale value, fatigue can play a big part in a units morale roll.

So what does all this mean? We have found an issue with fatigue accumulation or more significantly the thresholds that have to be crossed to be considered medium/high/maximum fatigue.

In Panzer Campaigns, the fatigue thresholds are set at 100, 200 and 300 respectively. Exceed 100 fatigue and your morale drops one level, exceed 200 and it drops two level etc.

In Panzer Campaigns a battalion has a fatigue accumulation rate of X 2 (maximum) for every casualty and a company is X 6.  What this means is that a 120 man company has a fatigue potential of 720 fatigue points (120 men lost X 6) and a battalion made up of a combined three companies would also have a fatigue potential of 360 men X 2 = 720 fatigue points.

Compared as a ratio to the maximum fatigue of 300, there is 2.4x coverage (720 fatigue/300 morale).

Looking at the same situation in Panzer Battles, companies accumulate at X 2 (maximum) for each casualty and a platoon at X 6. The fatigue thresholds are set at 50, 100 & 150 respectively.

Using a 120 man company with 40 man platoons, the fatigue potential is 120 men X 2 fatigue accumulation = 240 potential fatigue points. The same math works for platoons - 40 men X 6 = 240 fatigue accumulation.

Now here is the crux of the issue - comparing the ratio we see 240 fatigue accumulation divided by 150 maximum fatigue gives a 1.6 ratio. This is only two thirds of the 2.4 value in Panzer Campaigns.

What has happened here? The fatigue thresholds were set incorrectly. They should have been set with a divisor of 3, i.e. maximum fatigue should have been 300 (PzC value) divided by 3 = 100 for maximum fatigue. All values in the calculations have assumed a divisor of three EXCEPT the fatigue thresholds. With higher fatigue thresholds there is a delay before units have their morale impacted etc.

This is one of the reasons units are taking heavier casualties than in Panzer Campaigns and not disrupting.

The suggested solution is one of two options. We have asked John to put in an optional rule for fatigue accumulation. This would move the multiplier from 2X & 6X to 3X & 9X. This would then align the ratios to Panzer Campaigns. The second option is to have a value in the parameter file for fatigue accumulation so it could be tweaked based upon the situation. With a higher fatigue accumulation, units will disrupt earlier based on casualties taken and their impact on the morale rating. 

No matter which way we go this will be an optional rule at least for Kursk & Normandy. The main reason for this is to ensure we don't break the existing scenarios and their balance but still let players try those scenarios with the optional rule if desired.

As I mentioned I didn't really want to lay out this level of detail, but I do want you to understand it is being looked at and debated. This will hopefully explain why some of the behaviour reported is occurring and what we're looking at to fix it. A big caveat - John has not committed to a fix yet. This comes down to time and resources.

David