Can Commanders fall victim to missiles?

[Epicouros]

I was wondering about that. Has anyone ever seen a Commander fall to missile fire?

I don't believe it can happen in the TT rules (I have them, but never played).
Also, the in-game manual in the PC game mentions the risk of Commanders falling in close combat, but I couldn't find a reference to missiles.

I have seen commanders falling in the PC game, but always in close combat I believe. Maybe even only in melee and not impact, but not sure about that.

In the TT game maybe the chance for a commander to die from missiles was seen as too big when rolling 6-sided dice, so it wasn't implemented (however triple 1's on 3d6 might do the trick imho).

In the PC game it could be a percentage chance based on the number of casualties caused. For example 1000 strong unit suffering 8 casualties from missiles would have a 0,8 % chance to lose the commander, or maybe 0,4 % if you consider he might be better armoured, guarded, only lightly wounded and still able to issue orders etc...

However, I feel there should always be a small chance of such a thing happening. Not too big, but not zero chance either. Think of king Harold at Hastings, for example. If it isn't already, it should get implemented before that scenario comes out!

[Morbio]

I must admit this is something that I've been wondering about. There are times when I deliberately attack the commander's unit with missiles on the hope of getting lucky, but in all the time I've been doing it, I've never killed the commander

I've almost convinced myself that missiles can't kill the commander, but it would be good to know for sure.

I also accept it should probably be a less than normal percentage chance, i.e. less than 0.1% if there are 1000 troops, because of better armour and the likelihood that a general would be kept in a relatively safe position.... although you may challenge this last point based on the command style or aggressiveness of the commander, e.g. a cautious commander may be kept at the rear, whereas a bold or aggressive commander may lead from the front.

Would it happen in reality? Well, King Harold springs to mind, even though a different era, although there is still debate whether he really did get an arrow in the eye.

[omarquatar]

i think it can happen, albeit seldom; at least, it happened to me

[Ironclad]

A commander can't be killed by missile fire in the PC game.