Kingdom, Dungeon, and Hero – How Combat Works

by Fernando Diaz / Articles, Misc. Guides / 02 Apr 2024

Entering an Area with Spawn

Entering an area with spawn starts combat. Surprise is determined first. The side that gains surprise attacks with all their units first before the other acts. Heroes and spawn with the Sneak trait have a better chance of surprising the opposition. If there is no surprise, the order in which heroes and spawn act is based on their cleverness and a random die modifier. Order is determined individually.

Combat Mechanics

Combat is fought by hitting the opponent’s defenses. After a hit is determined, the ratio of damage to armor, or resistance for magic, determines the amount of damage and the critical hit possibility. Then special traits determine if damage is modified.

Combat Formulas

Hero/Spawn Melee Hit Formula:

Random(0 to hero(strength + cleverness) + spawn(strength + cleverness)) < hero(strength + cleverness)

Hero/Spawn Magic Hit Formula:

Random(0 to hero(cleverness) + spawn(cleverness)) < hero(cleverness)

Melee Damage Power Formula:

attacker(weapon + (strength / 2)) / defender(armor + (cleverness / 2))

Magic Damage Power Formula:

square root of the higher (intelligence or conviction) x 0.33 x the higher of (intelligence or conviction)

Damage is based on the melee or magic power calculated. High ratios result in higher damage and higher chances of getting a big critical hit. Damage ranges from 1 to 3. Critical hits double this damage. Heroes can be killed in but a single round of combat.

Land Combat

Land combat takes place each turn using movement points. A unit may keep attacking as long as it has movement points. Attacking enemy units costs movement points based on the number of units in the enemy counter and their fortification level. If a land counter does not have enough movement points to make an attack, all the movement points are used. Land units with zero movement points may not attack.

Land combat is fought in 3 stages: range, melee, and pursuit. In the range stage, only range values are used. In the melee stage, only melee values are used. In the pursuit stage, pursuit factors are used to inflict more damage on a losing side. Some units fight in all 3 combat stages. Pursuit factors are halved when attacking across a river.

Cost to Attack: fortification level + 1 movement point for every defender unit.

Commander: Each counter of units has a default commander with a rating of 6 + Random(1-6). If there is a hero as a commander, it will use their leader rating + Random(1-6) and any traits the hero has. The leader rating is (intelligence + cleverness). A leader with the Tactician trait adds 20% to their rating. A hero with the Warrior trait adds +1 to the leader rating.

Luck: A modifier is added to the battle based on chance. Positive values favor the attacker and negative values favor the defender. Morale and Cavalry Advantage modifiers are added to the luck roll.

Morale: The difference in the attacker and defender morale is added to the luck roll. Morale is modified by the hero trait Commander and the research field in Formations. Each full point difference in morale between two armies adds a +10% bonus to the luck roll. Morale level also determines if a group of units retreats. Each gold star on the land or naval counter represents 1 level of morale. If the attacker or defender takes more damage than their morale level x 10% of their strength, they retreat or surrender if surrounded. Some units have Fearless morale. These units never retreat and must be destroyed.

Cavalry Advantage: The side with a 2 to 1 advantage in cavalry gains a +15% morale bonus.

Fortifications: Each fortification level +10% morale, and each level adds a 7% chance to reduce a hit to 0 damage for the defender.

Starvation: The supply level of a unit impacts its ability to fight, lowering the chance of damage on the enemy.

Battle Types: Field combat, siege, and sortie are the 3 types of battles that can be fought, depending on the combat type.

Naval Combat

Naval combat is very similar to land combat except it takes place with naval counters and on water. There is no surrender, and there are no leaders. Land units at sea have no fighting capability. They take damage but inflict no damage. Weather conditions change how often fleets are found.

Naval combat may be full or partial. Full combat means the initiator of combat is expending 8 movement points whether it is the moving player or the intercepting naval counter. A partial naval combat occurs when the initiator has less than 8 movement points remaining. In this case, damage is 50% for both sides and the attacking fleet expends their remaining movement points. To intercept another fleet on the enemy’s turn, all the naval units in the counter must be set to Engage mission and have no land units. For the moving player to attack an enemy naval counter, all the units in their fleet must have an Engage or Attack mission. The loser of the battle is determined by the ratio of damage applied to each naval counter modified by morale. The side with the lower number always retreats. Retreating fleets will either move back toward the closest friendly port or out to the open sea to avoid being spotted. If a unit is intercepted or attacks, they become visible, which increases their spot chance. There is no pursuit in naval combat.

With the naval system, there are many possibilities available for naval combat that include moving, fighting, and withdrawing after the combat is over.

Naval Damage Formula:

Random(0 to 75) < unit combat value * modifiers(luck, morale) = 1 damage.

Naval Defense Formula:

Random(0 to 20) < unit armor value * modifiers(luck, morale)

Naval combat has only one penalty. When a navy attacks out of port, there is a -1 penalty to their combat value. The Combat Selector will show a -1 on the left-hand side where cavalry advantage is shown.

Fernando Diaz

Fernando is doing what he always did, sharing his honest opinions about games whenever he can. The difference is now he is writing and not talking about it.
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