hi!
As promised here is a synthesis of what has transpired on other formats of discussion.
First it has become clear that just mentioning about the formula and posting links to where the conversations and development took place is not fair to anyone not involved in those conversations. My apologies on that one, I'll be explaining things from scratch for everyone's benefit going forward.
There was some resistance to the concept of a formula, since what it is trying to achieve was not really clear. So here are some bullet points.
1. Army cards stay. The only thing really being debated is how we come up with that value at the bottom of those cards. Now that we have proper army cards thanks to a hard working fan, we are certainly keeping that mechanic. From what I gather there may be a quite large group whom are less concerned with how the values are calculated as long as they are in a usable easy to use form (like army cards).
2. The Gold revision thought me that adding new units (it was the first version to start including lots of units that didn't exist before) with out a good baseline will result in a mess. Gold is riddled with that sort of thing once you go outside the original GW formations.
This version promises to add an unprecedented amount of new units to address the wealth of new units created in the fluff over the last decade. Since there will be no previous experience or play-testing (can't test what hasn't been created yet), having an objective baseline for cost comparison now becomes not only necessary but crucial. There's no way to do this effectively by just "eyeballing it".
3. The formula needs work. What we have is pretty advanced, but it still requires work and refinement. Discussion elsewhere has pointed issues with how it calculates value on units with a hit location templates (too high) and will be adjusted, and flier costs are too high as well, but until a flier system that works is address the current costs are merely placeholders. There are a slew of other values (like how some abilities are priced) have come up as well. So when you look at the pricing comparison file, keep in mind we are aware where it needs work.
4. The formula has shown that CAF plus movement is more efficient in obtaining VP than shooting. A lot of players focus on the shooting aspect of the rules and game. While it is an important part it is less efficient in producing kills and thus opportunities for VP yield than close combat.
This is because shooting is not guaranteed. The average to hit across the system is 5+. Meaning a hit rate of 33%. Then there is range (while I know the calculations can be much more complex I will keep it simple with a binary, "in range" and "not in range"), either it is in range or not, so 50% change and finally the average TSM in the game is around -1 with an average armor save of 4+. So to "kill" a unit you need to hit, be in range, the unit fail its save to get that kill. If you do some simple statistics with the average stats I gave there is an average 11% change per shot that a kill will be scored. Pretty low.
Compare that with CAF is nearly 100% assured there will be a casualty (either you or him). There chance of a "tie" in very small and becomes less so the higher the CAF difference between combatants. This means it is CC, not shooting that yields the highest amount of opportunities for VP gain. Couple CAF with movement (the faster you close the gap to engage in CC the better), and those two coupled together become quite potent. You will notice this in the formula calculated values. There is a lot more it than that, but that is the main point of it.
5. Recommended game size and how many VP's needed for victory can all be updated and keep proportional to current VP yields once everything is finalized, so this won't present a problem and will be discussed fully at the appropriate time.
I have prepared a comparison document at the Epicenter here:
http://www.netepic.org/uploads/2/2/1/0/22107952/formula_cost_comparison_list.pdf http://www.netepic.org/uploads/2/2/1/0/22107952/formula_cost_comparison_list.pdf
I will update it continuously until it is done. Also note they reflect the status of the formula "today", as it is modified I will update the calculated values.
Peter
Received on Mon May 04 2015 - 20:39:23 UTC