(Noob Question) Attack and Defense values for military units??

[unmerged(343149)]

Good day everybody!

I've been enthralled by the EUIV Demo since it came out, and have been working towards comprehension of the mechanics slowly but surely. However, one thing I've found myself to be completely stumped on is the "Fire/Shock, etc" values for military units, and the difference between the "Attack" and "Defense" types and what those do. Any advice from those who know more about EUIV military strategy than I do would be welcome!

Around the time that I reach military tech level 10 or so(playing as Portugal), I found myself with the decision of choosing between units that have very high Fire and Shock values, but only of the "Attack" variety, or units that have lesser Fire and Shock values, but in both the "Attack" and "Defense" column. I am currently assuming that the "Attack" values are used when the army is attacking, and the "Defend" values are used when the army is defending; As such, if I am always on the offensive I would be better served by using units that have higher attack values at the expense of defense values.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration!

 

[pedroantonio]

As far as I know, the "Attack" values determine the damage the unit do when attacking other units, and the "Defense" determines how much damage the unit avoids when being attacked by other units. So then, when unit A attacks unit B, the defense of unit B is substracted from the damage of unit A (there are multipliers involved in this calculations, though); I think about it in the same way that about the damage/armor values in your typical RPG.

Fire and Shock are the two possible stages of a land battle, think of them as rounds, first fire, then shock, then fire, then shock, until the end. The attack and defense values applied in each round are those associated with the type of round, fire or shock. Leaders give bonuses to those stats and also there's other things that depend on the territory as the "width" stat, that affects how longs are the lines in which an army can deploy over the battlefield (I would say that a big army in a "narrow" province, that is, a province in which it can't deploy horizontally to its full extent, can be beaten by a smaller army (as long as the smaller army has good better fire/shock stats), since the width of the front lines of each army would be the same; but most of this about the width is my guess, I haven't tested it).

 

[Maldenic]

http://www.paradoxian.org/eu3wiki/Military#Combat the same system for combat is used in EUIII

Basically it is (Dice roll + Attack - Defence) x Multiplier. Where the multiplier depends on technology level.

 

[unmerged(343149)]

Thanks for the responses!

Okay, so then if you are the attacking army(You are moving into the enemy territory), you use only your attack values, and when defending you use only your defense values? If that is the case then I could see having armies composed of offensive or defensive units depending on how you fight(more attacking or defending).

Alternatively, if the armies use both their attack and defense values at the same time(in the same combat, regardless of being the attacker or defender), then wouldn't having 6 shock for attack and 0 for defense be the exact same as having 3 shock for attack and 3 for defense?(the total being 6 either way?)

Sorry if I seem clueless(it's because I am). . . I'm trying to wrap my head around this game and it's proving difficult

 

[Xeorm]

The pips are done on a per regiment basis. In any combat screen, you'll see your troops lined up against your opponent.

For an example, I have 2 pips of attack and 2 pips of defense for shock phase for my regiment, he has 1 and 1. He has a +3 shock general, I have none and there's no terrain modifiers.

So, for combat round #1, a shock round, the game calculates the roll using these values. Say the roll is 5 for me, 7 for him. My attack roll is calculate as: 5+2-1-3 = 3. (dice + my attack - his defense - leader differential) His attack roll is 7 + 1 - 2 + 3 = 9. (dice + his attack - my defense + leader differential) Each roll is independent, and used to determine the casualties that the opponent takes.

Hope that helps.

 

[unmerged(343149)]

Thanks for clearing that up! I think I've got it now.

 

[Spacehamster]

Having more attack means the battle goes faster, balanced stats will mean slower battles. For infantry it is probably better to have defensive shock than offensive shock early game since defensive shock helps neutralizing the effect of the superior cavalry charge power which makes the battle more about morale, which favors infantry.

 

[Maldenic]

It bears mentioning that due to the effect of the multiplier, if you have a worse tech level (or multiplier in the case of inf vs cavalry) than the enemy, then defence pips are better than attack.