So, as a new series of blog articles, I thought it would be useful to dive into the mechanics of Warmachine, why they set it apart from other wargames on the market, and how the mechanics themselves create meaningful choices in the game.
In this first article, we will examine dice rolling and how it relates to the choices we make within the game.
Dice Pools and Bell Curves
Games that use just singular dice to resolve a test - rolling to hit, rolling to wound, rolling to save - are ultimately plagued by the rather simple distribution of results. On a D6, each value has an equal chance of success. Typically, we roll a die to equal or exceed a target number, such as 4+.
But rolling a singular die for tests can lead to a feeling of things being "swingy". Swingy means there can be the impression that batches of dice rolls can "swing" from one extreme to the other - rolling lots of 6s, and then rolling lots of 1s. This may not matter much if the intent is that you simply need to roll over a target number because, over a series of dice rolls, things average out. But if it matters that you roll 1s or 6s - that these results cause specific effects - it can feel like you are suddenly plagued by bad results or a set of dice rolls is excessively powerful.
Warmachine addresses this by making every test (with a few exceptions) a roll of 2D6, and taking the summation.
Rolling 2d6 and taking the sum of the die results, means that our results on average are more likely to a value of 7. More importantly, as we increase of decrease the value of the summation, we find that it becomes less likely to roll. Rolling a result of 2 or 12 has a 3% chance each, while rolling a 6 or 8 has a 14% chance.
This means that while there is still the chance that a batch of 2d6 rolls can all roll very low, the probability of this occurring is low.
Knowing that there is a degree of certainty with dice rolls makes the targets of attacks meaningful. If you have the choice between two targets, and one is hit on 9+, while the other is hit on a 7+, choosing the latter makes more sense.
Let's contextualise that further within a game of Warmachine.
An attack - ranged attacks using projectile weapons, magical attacks, or melee attacks - all work using the same two-step process. First, you roll 2d6 and add to it the attack rating for the attack type you are performing.
In our example to the right, Athena has a RAT (Range Attack) rating of 6. This means to hit a target, you roll 2d6+6 vs a target number. So, on average, a result of 13 is most likely. Targeting enemies with a DEF of 13 or less, using Athena's Electrical Discharge, makes sense.
Damage is resolved for successful hits by the same process. 2d6 are rolled and summed with the POW (power) of the attack and compared to the ARM (armour) of the target. If the roll total exceeds the ARM of the target, then the difference is applied as damage. Continuing our example, Athena's Electrical Discharge has a POW of 12, meaning that, on average, the damage roll will total 19, meaning Athena will deal damage to targets with an ARM of 18 or less.
It then stands to reason that there will be times when you will risk attacks against harder-to-hit targets (higher DEF) because they are easier to kill (lower ARM).
Shifts and Boosts
There are two ways dice rolls are modified. Either the roll has a further modifier applied - negative and positive - or dice are added to or removed from the roll.
The first case can be presented in two ways. Either the attack roll is modified by +/- some value. Or the DEF or ARM of the target is increased or decreased by some value. No matter how the modifier is applied, the effect is the same - the target number of the dice roll is changed for it to be successful. These modifiers do not change the distribution of the dice roll results but shift the average to the final dice results.
Returning to Athena, if she were to aim with her ranged attack, she would gain a +2 bonus to her attack rolls. That would mean her effective RAT is an 8, and so the attack roll average is a value of 15. Likewise, if the target is in cover, it gains a +2 DEF bonus, and if Athena were not aiming, the effective RAT becomes 4, and the average of the attack roll is 11. With Warmachine, there are actions, like aiming, cover, and further sources of modifiers (typically spells that improve/degrade characteristics) that will further impact the choice of attack targets. Planning these attacks and enhancements vs penalties will make target selection meaningful, as some targets become easy pickings, either to hit or to damage. There will then be moments in the game where you may risk the chance of missing the hit the target because the damage roll on average would be significant. Alternatively, knowing the target is hard to damage yet easy to hit, you opt to use the weight of numbers to ensure that the target is hit by multiple attacks with the hope that at least one of the damage rolls is high and thus causes a lot of damage (or that each attack hits, and combined together, all their damage rolls amount to a large amount).
One particular action concerning shifts are combined attacks. Performed by units of warriors, this bonus is applied to the attack and damage roll based on the number of fighters in the unit. If there are 5 warriors in the unit, and all can attack the same target, then the attack roll gets a bonus of +4 (+1 for each additional attacker after the first engaging in the combined attack). If the attack hits, this bonus is also applied to the damage roll. So for units capable of such actions, a combined attack, in effect, is a more guaranteed attack, rather than risking the chance that each separate attack may hit and then may roll high for the damage roll. Such a choice again is influenced by any other bonuses and penalties that would affect the attack and damage rolls, allowing the player to make meaningful choices between risk and reward.
Boosts are a different source of dice roll modifiers. Rather than applying a simple shift to the dice roll average result, boosts add or remove dice from the attack and damage rolls. There are two effects of this.
Changing the number of dice rolled shifts the average result, changes the distribution of the results, and changes the maximum value possible for that roll.
Removing a die so that all tests are peformed with 1d6 of course makes attack rolls and damage rolls much harder. It limits the maximum value possible for the roll, and the distribution of results becomes flat.
A further d6 is added to the pool when an attack roll is boosted. There are cases in Warmachine when an additional die can also be added to the dicepool - effectively a second means to boost the roll (but this is an "additional die" rather than a Boost which can only be applied once no matter the number of source that could boost the roll).
On the left we can see the result of adding 1 or 2 extra dice to the attack or damage rolls. The average result is shifted by 3.5 for each die added. And the minimum and maximums are larger values. Furthermore, while the range of results is larger, it will mean that one average, against the same target number, a boosted roll has a greater chance of success.
Within the context of Warmachine, Boosting dice rolls has several important effects.
Attack rolls miss automatically if all the dice are 1s. So, boosting an attack roll makes the chance of an automatic miss much less likely. This comes into play when the target's defence is incredibly low due to debuffs and damage (in the case of warjacks) or targets being Knocked Down (their defence drops to 5).
Boosting attack rolls is also important in the case of triggering Critical Effects. These weapon effects are only applied if the attack is successful, and a double is rolled. Thus, rolling more dice for the attack increases the chance of the attack hitting and increases the probability that a double is rolled.
Boosting damage rolls of course has a significant impact on damage rolls, and there is now the chance that the dice roll will "spike", by rolling so high targets with many health boxes (warcasters, warlocks, warbeasts, warjacks etc.) are eliminated rapidly.
To Boost or Not to Boost
Warmachine is a game of risk and reward, where resources are used are critical moments to turn the tide of the battle. The common currency in Warmachine is Focus/Fury which is spent/incurred to buy extra attacks for warcasters/warlocks/warjacks/warbeasts, and to boost attacks or boost damage rolls. This resource is also used by warcasters/warlocks to cast spells (some may be attacks, but others could be buffs or debuffs).
With all these options, how to efficiently and effectively enact your plan to eliminate elements of the opponent's force becomes important and meaningful. Boosting an attack roll can be a good thing to do, but that cost in Focus/Fury may be better spent casting a spell that applies a buff or debuff that a wider amount of your army can use.
Let's look at an example.
Electrify applies a damage shift of +2, plus some other advantages. It may seem expensive for a +2 flat bonus versus boosting a damage roll for one focus, but that +2 bonus applies for all melee attacks made by the model/unit in turn, and it can be retained from turn to turn by spending one focus for the upkeep cost.
Open Fire is another helpful spell when applied to a warjack that still has focus points. This effectively means the warjack has four focus points to use, and has been bought a ranged attack for the cost of 1 focus, and can use the remaining focus to boost the attack or damage roll.
Arcane Shield works against opponents, making a model harder to damage by increasing the ARM by +3. In effect, that means models that had a 50% chance of damaging the target now need to boost their attack roll to retain that chance.
Ultimately, bonuses to attacks, defense, and armour, plus boosts to attack and damage rolls, while offering a higher chance of significant damage being dealt (or prevented), are really tools to increase certainty in actions, in particular when such actions could make the difference between a victory point being scored or not.
Next time, we will examine Warmachine's movement and action system and how that economy of actions affects the game's play.
Commentaires