Combat Mechanics - Tips & Tricks & Guides

[Joubarbe]

Moral also affects Initiative, says the combat simulator (but not the UI...).

[Dragoon.]

Thought I'd share some possible 'load screen tips' we are considering to this thread. Seems like they might be helpful to share early.

13 Non-infantry units gained a reduced amount of cover bonus from terrain.

Can you say how big the reduction is?

[Rudankort]

Can you say how big the reduction is?

Infantry gets 100% cover, other units 50%.

[Dragoon.]

Can you say how big the reduction is?

Infantry gets 100% cover, other units 50%.

Thank you!

[Joubarbe]

Does the AP also affect non-armored units ?

(sorry, already asked on Steam, but I better ask them here from now on...)

[Rudankort]

AP is % of target's defense a weapon ignores. This includes all units. However, in case of lightly armoured units this is probably insignificant.

Example:
AP=50%, Defense=10 - reduced to 5, very little effect on combat outcome (+5% chance to penetrate).
AP=50%, Defense=100 - reduced to 50, huge effect on combat outcome (+50% chance to penetrate).

For this reason, high AP weapons are primarily AT weapons.

[Joubarbe]

Ok, but isn't it a bit strange to have Armor Piercing against non-armored units ?

[Rudankort]

I don't see a need to make exception here. Even "non-armoured" units can have some elements of armour, like helmets. I think this is inline with W40k tabletop, where most units have armour save.

[Joubarbe]

Nope you're right, thanks for the clear answer

[gokkel]

I have a question regarding amount of shots by a unit.

A Leman Russ Annihilator for example has a strength of 5 and the following weapons:

2 Lascannons, 2 ammunition
Lascannon, 1 ammunition
2 Heavy Bolters, 3 ammunition

How many shots does this tank do now? I am confused because I am not sure if 2 Heavy Bolters means now that it shoots 2 x 3 ammunition or if the 3 ammunition is applied to a whole "weapon tab" (so it is just 1x3).

Or to word it slightly different, is the mentioning of "2 Heavy Bolters" as opposed to just "Heavy Bolter" in any way relevant?

If it wasn't, I wonder why it has two different weapon tabs for Lascannons, it could instead just be "3 Lascannons, 3 ammunition" or "Lascannon, 3 ammunition".

Here the calculation as I understand it with both variants:

Variant 1: 5x(2x2+1x1+2x3) = 55 shots
Variant 2: 5x(2+1+3) = 30 shots


Obviously this is quite important to know, because I don't know how much point there is otherwise in units like the Hydra with 4x Autocannons.

[Joubarbe]

I've one more question too ^^

Replacements : maybe I'm wrong, but I noticed that I do not receive the same amount of reinforcements every time (for the same unit that is). Is there a rule here ? A maximum ?

[rezaf]

A Leman Russ Annihilator for example has a strength of 5 and the following weapons:

2 Lascannons, 2 ammunition
Lascannon, 1 ammunition
2 Heavy Bolters, 3 ammunition

How many shots does this tank do now? I am confused because I am not sure if 2 Heavy Bolters means now that it shoots 2 x 3 ammunition or if the 3 ammunition is applied to a whole "weapon tab" (so it is just 1x3).

As long as we have no detailed combat breakdown ingame, the combat simulator in the editor is your friend when it comes to finding out such things. Seriously, check it out.
In the example you've given, the 2 Lascannons actually only have 1 ammo (aka shots).
And your guess was correct, there's actually no real count on the weapons of a slot. So 2 Lascannons is just fluff text for a stronger version of a Lascannon. If you check out the weapon datafile, there's actually quite a few cases where having a larger "count" has no effect whatsoever. For example, 4 Bolters and 5 Bolters have EXACTLY the same weapon stats. Go figure.

That said, you get 25 shots at full strength (=5). 5x1 for the 2 Lascannons, 5x1 for the Lascannon and 5x3 for the 2 Heavy Bolters.

Replacements : maybe I'm wrong, but I noticed that I do not receive the same amount of reinforcements every time (for the same unit that is). Is there a rule here ? A maximum ?

I think it was posted earlier in this thread: Every reinforce action brings back 10 HP.
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rezaf

[notlobot]

I noticed in the combat simulator in the editor the log can show "deflect" as an attack result. What does that result mean?

[Kerensky]

I noticed in the combat simulator in the editor the log can show "deflect" as an attack result. What does that result mean?

Deflect means a weapon shot and successfully impacted the target, but lacked power, penetration, and an RNG dice roll strong enough to penetrate the unit's defense rating.

For example, if you shoot a Bolter or Slugga at something as big and well protected as a Skullhamma tank, Titan, or Baneblade, you will see 'Deflect' come up pretty much all the time!

[FroBodine]

Thank you so much, Beetlelord, for putting all this information together. You, or whoever wrote this summary, are awesome. This simple, yet detailed summary is much, much better than the entire game manual and tutorial put together. I'm sorry to say, but I had no idea about any combat mechanics until I read this summary.

Thank you. I just hope the developers take this to heart and will better explain their game with detailed tooltips, in-game encyclopedia, or something. The game is awesome, but the ball was dropped and no effort was put into teaching folks new to WH40K how to play their game.

[notlobot]

I noticed in the combat simulator in the editor the log can show "deflect" as an attack result. What does that result mean?

Deflect means a weapon shot and successfully impacted the target, but lacked power, penetration, and an RNG dice roll strong enough to penetrate the unit's defense rating.

For example, if you shoot a Bolter or Slugga at something as big and well protected as a Skullhamma tank, Titan, or Baneblade, you will see 'Deflect' come up pretty much all the time!

How can a player know that an attack has the possibility to be deflected in addition to the normal miss chance caused by the ratio of attack and defense?

[Rudankort]

Miss chance is determined by accuracy.

To inflict damage, you need two things:
- hit the target
-penetrate its protection

The first is determined by accuracy and modified by things like cover and los. The second is down to attack strength, defense and AP which allows the attack to ignore part of defense.

[Fimconte]

As long as we have no detailed combat breakdown ingame, the combat simulator in the editor is your friend when it comes to finding out such things. Seriously, check it out.
In the example you've given, the 2 Lascannons actually only have 1 ammo (aka shots).
And your guess was correct, there's actually no real count on the weapons of a slot. So 2 Lascannons is just fluff text for a stronger version of a Lascannon. If you check out the weapon datafile, there's actually quite a few cases where having a larger "count" has no effect whatsoever. For example, 4 Bolters and 5 Bolters have EXACTLY the same weapon stats. Go figure.

That said, you get 25 shots at full strength (=5). 5x1 for the 2 Lascannons, 5x1 for the Lascannon and 5x3 for the 2 Heavy Bolters.

rezaf

Actually, Leman Russ Annihilator, both standard and Upgrade A pattern feature 2 shots (ammo icon) on '2 Lascannons' slot (turret), 1 shot on the Lascannon (body) slot and three on the '2 Heavy Bolters'.

As such, you get 5x2 for the 80 base accuracy primary Lascannons, 5x1 with 100% base accuracy body Lascannon and 5x3 for the 2 Heavy Bolters on the side.

For a total of 30 shots.

[rezaf]

Actually, Leman Russ Annihilator, both standard and Upgrade A pattern feature 2 shots (ammo icon) on '2 Lascannons' slot (turret), 1 shot on the Lascannon (body) slot and three on the '2 Heavy Bolters'.

Hmm.


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rezaf

[Fimconte]

Changed in update 1.01