Each kind of fighter has an attack and defense rating:

                 attack    defense    missile
                +----------------------------
peasant         |   1         1
worker          |   1         1
sailor          |   1         1
soldier         |   5         5
pikeman         |   5        30
swordsman       |  15        15
pirate          |   5 (15)    5 (15)
knight          |  45 (20)   45 (20)
elite guard     |  90 (65)   90 (65)
crossbowman     |   1         1         25
archer          |   5         5         50
elite archer    |  10        10         75

• Numbers in parenthesis are for shipboard combat.
• Nobles have strong innate heroic abilities, and so even an unarmed, untrained noble is a formidable opponent on the battlefield.
• A noble is rated (attack=80, defense=80, missile=0).
• A blessed soldier fights with the same attack and defense values as a regular soldier, but has a 50% chance of surviving a hit.
• A pirate fights (15,15,0) on a ship, but only (5,5,0) on land.
• Knights and elite guard receive a -25 penalty to both their attack and defense ratings when fighting on a ship or in a swamp province.
• Peasants, workers and sailors only fight when attacked, i.e. when they are members of a party which is the target of an attack.

1. A random man is chosen from the attacking side to hit a random target from the defender.
2. A random defender is similarly chosen to hit a random target from the attacking side.
3. Repeat, alternating sides until the smaller side has had as many chances to hit as it has attackers.
4. The larger side then gets N hits in a row, where N is the difference between the number of attackers in the larger side and the smaller side.
5. Repeat until a side breaks. A side breaks when its total offensive plus defensive value falls by 50%.

   For instance, a noble plus two pikemen has an offensive value of (80+80) + (5+30) + (5+30) = 230 with a break point of 115.

   A noble plus two knights has an offensive value of (80+80) + (45+45) + (45+45) = 340 with a break point of 170.

   Therefore, a noble with two pikemen will continue to fight if the pikemen are killed. However, a noble with two knights will be declared the loser if both knights are killed.

   The offensive value used is either the attack or the effective missile rating, whichever is higher.

A = attacker's attack rating
B = target's defense rating

A / (A + B)

For example:

A(attack=90) vs B(defense=45)     A has a 2/3 chance of killing B
A(attack=90) vs B(defense=90)     A has a 1/2 chance of killing B

If the attacker scores a hit against a noble, the noble will receive a random wound of 1-100 health points. Note that there is a 1% chance that a perfectly healthy noble will be instantly killed, and a greater chance that a previously wounded noble will die.

Wounded nobles do not continue fighting, even if their wounds are minor.

If a hit is scored against a fighter (soldiers, pikemen, archers, etc.), the fighter is killed. However, a blessed soldier has a 50% chance of surviving a hit.

A man successfully attacking a building or a ship will cause one point of damage to the structure. A siege engine attacking a building will cause 5-10 points of damage.

The winner in combat will attempt to take prisoners. The chance that a given defeated unit will be taken prisoner is proportional to the sizes of the remaining forces.

(Taking prisoners in battle and claiming loot requires many soldiers to run after the fleeing enemy. Thus, the chance of success is based on numerical advantage rather than combat skill.)

1:1     25%
2:1     50%
3:1     75%

If the winning side outnumbers the defeated force by 2:1, there is a 50% chance that a given defeated unit will be captured. Defeated units which are not captured retreat from battle. If they are occupying a building or are located in a city, they may flee into the outlying province.

The victor always has at least a 25% chance of taking a unit prisoner, but no better than a 75% chance.

The victor will claim the defender's position in the location list if it is better, or will move into the defender's structure, ejecting the losing force. (The attacker may specify a flag to the attack order to inhibit this behavior.)

Prisoners are stripped of their belongings by the victor, including any men accompanying the prisoners, such as workers or peasants. The stack leader of the winning force receives all of the loot from the battle.

Units may issue the behind command to declare whether they will line the front or the rear in battle. Rear units do not become targets for the enemy until all of the units in the rows in front of them have been killed. Only missile fighters, such as archers, may attack from the rear.

Units in the rear may attack with their missile rating. Units in front attack with either their missile rating, or their attack rating, whichever is higher.

Thus, a noble with rating (attack=80, defense=80, missile=40) will do an attack of 40 when in the rear, and an attack of 80 when in front.

Weather effects on battle are as follows:

• Rain or wind cut the missile rating of archers or elite archers in half, and the missile rating of crossbowmen to 1/4 normal.
• Fog cuts the missile rating of all figures to 1/4 normal.

Structures which may aid fighters in battle are rated for their defensive bonus.

Castle Imperius [gx56], castle, defense 25

During battle, the fortification rating is added to the defense number for the men who fit inside the structure.

structure               men protected
---------               -------------
Castle                  first 500
Tower                   first 100
Galley or roundship     first 50
Other structures        first 50

Attacking fighters may randomly select the structure instead of an enemy fighter. The attack is resolved in the same way as for two fighters, using the attacker's attack rating and the structure's defense rating. If the attacker is successful the structure's defense rating will be lowered by one point.

Once the defense rating reaches zero, further hits will cause the building to become damaged. A fully damaged building (100% damage) will collapse, ejecting its occupants.

Siege engines always select the structure as a target.

engine          attack  defense   missile
------          ------  -------   -------
catapult          25      200       25
battering ram     30      250
siege tower       30      250

Siege engines do 5-10 points of damage to the structure per hit.

Nobles may possess items which grant attack, defense or missile bonuses in combat. Only one item may be wielded for each category. If the noble possesses multiple items with bonuses in the same area, the item with the largest bonus will be chosen.

For example, suppose Osswid had the following items:

Shield of Achilles [fx78]       +25 defense
Sword of Death [gl23]           +10 attack
Mithril Axe [wt29]              +15 attack
Magic javelin [ht02]            +5 missile

Osswid would wield the javelin and axe, and wear the shield. He would not use the Sword of Death.

Nobles automatically use items with combat bonuses in battle. No special orders are needed to wield them.