JTS Melee Calculations

[TheGrayMouser]

So, in the past I have asked this on several occasions as well as in the old Squad battle forums, and it does'nt appear anyone really knows ( or wont tell :) )

Also, in addition to what BigDuke posted:
"For example, given a combat value of 400, a modifier of 25%, a Low Combat
Value of 5 and a High Combat Value of 25, the effective combat value would
be 500 (= 400 + 25%). This would be ½ of the base-line combat value of
1000. Thus the low casualty value would be 2.5 (= 5 / 2) and the high casualty
value would be 12.5 (= 25 / 2). The resulting casualty value would be
randomly generated between 2.5 and 12.5 for this combat. Finally, based on
the fractional part of the casualty value, it is randomly rounded up or down.
For example, if the casualty value was calculated to be 3.7, then 30% of the
time this is rounded down to 3 and 70% of the time is rounded up to 4."

the Napoleonic games manual also has this snippet

"Melee Resolution The final resolution of the melee is done using the standard Combat Results. The adjusted defending strength is used to calculate attacker casualties using a Low Combat Value of 40 and a High Combat Value of 160. The adjusted attacking strength is used to calculate defender casualties using a Low Combat Value of 20 and a High Combat Value of 100."

Clearly there are two types of modifiers
A: those that adjust the # of effective men. These would include charging multiples, being disrupted, lacking bayonets etc

B: those that show up as the 20/0 etc modifier which include having a leader stacked in the hex, attacking a flank etc etc...

Anyone plays these games enough quickly recognises that, all other things being equal, the defender has a massive advantage ( just look at the casualty range bands in the above formula)
And after some experience, most players should recognize the single most important thing for melee is the # of Effective men, period...

So if an attacker has 100 effective men, 100/10 =10 ( assuming the game using 1000 as the "Baseline combat Value", t I divided the # of effective men by 10 as 100 is 1/10 of the Baseline combat value)

So now if the attacker inflicts a low of 20 to a high of 100 as per the manual as above, the attacker inflicts the following range of casualties to the defender: 20/10 to 100/10 or 2-10 men The defender inflict between 4-16 (40/10 and 16/10).....

In theory I'm pretty sure this is how it works although there probobly more to it than just that , HOWEVER, there is absolutely no information at ALL on how the second type of modifier ie the 20/0 modifier applies...

I have some guesses, it is possible the secondary type of modifier modifies the Low combat Value or the High Combat value in some way. It is also possible the the Baseline Combat value "floats" ie is not a fixed # and adjusted some how..

So, can someone in the know please explain combat? It is a black box and sometimes I wonder if flank attacks etc really matter or not ( are they even working??) because in the end effective men is the overwhelming and really only OBSERVABLE trait that gives one a good idea that you can win a combat.

BTW, if any one hates the idea that the defender gets such a big bonus with all other things being equal, you can modify a scenario PDT in the weather conditions to give the attacker say a 50% combat bonus for the battles entirety .
You can test this with 100 man versus 100 man combat with NO other modifiers of any sort. The bonus will give either the defedner or attacker roughly equal odds to "win the combat" ( the definition of winning is per the game manual, ie inflicting more casualties than receiving) Without this modifier, an attacker will lose like 80% of the time...

I suspect that whatever variable the PDT line modifies , it is the same variables that the second type of unit bonus modifiers uses, th e20/0 types ie having a leader, attacking on a flank...