Guide to Combat Mechanics

Last update : 2019/01/18
Source : https://mordheim-warband-skirmish.wikia.com/wiki/Combat

Combat is the focus of Mordheim. Warbands vie for supremacy as they scour the city for precious shards of the glowing rock that powers so many things in the Warhammer world.

Melee Combat steps :

1. Hit Chances : 50% +/- Weapon Skill spread between attacker and defender.
2. Damage Rolls :
   • Attacker's Strength : First digit is the number of Damage Rolls ; 10 times the second digit are the percentage chances of making an extra Damage Roll.
   • Each Damage Roll is based on Hit Chances (see above), modified by defender's Defence Multiplier (which is 100% - Defence).
   • Each success is 1 Damage.
3. Critical Hit : Damage is doubled on a successful Critical Hit Roll.
4. Parry : The target will reduce Damage by 3 on a successful Parry Roll (minimum 0).
5. Final Damage is substracted from target's Wounds.
6. Repeat this process for each Attacks.

Example : A Warrior with a Flail (WS 35, Str 32+10, Crit 15%) is attacking a Witch Hunter Captain in Armour and Shield (WS 40, Defence 35, Wounds 5, Parry 10%). Hit Chances are 45%. On a hit, the Warrior will make 4 or 5 Damage Rolls (20% of doing 5). Each Damage Roll has 29% chance of succeeding (45% * 65%). Let's say 2 Damage get through. There are 15% chances that Damage is doubled due to a Critical Hit (to 4). And then, there's 10% chances that a Parry will reduce that Damage to only 1.

Ranged Combat Steps

1. Hit Chances : 50% + attacker's Ballistic Skill + modifiers...
   • -10 or -20 if target moved or ran.
   • -10 if attacker moved.
   • Cover depends on where it stands relatively to the shooter and the target (in between, on the side or behind ; thus, even if moving is a penalty, it may put the Cover behind the target).
   • Range is a multiplier determined by distance to target relative to the weapon's maximum range.
   • Accuracy is also a multiplier. See the weapon's stats.
2. Damage Rolls : Same as Melee (see above, #2).
3. Critical Hits : Same as Melee (see above, #3).
4. Final Damage is substracted from target's Wounds.
5. Repeat this process for each Attacks (ranged value, not the Stats itself).

Effects of Combat

1. A unit that reaches 0 Wounds or less will be Stunned (unless it has the Quick Recovery skill, or an Undead with pain immunity).
2. A Stunned unit can't move or act in any way, and is far easier to hit. It will heal 1 Wound per turn until it reaches positive value. This means the unit will have Recovered (acts normally next turn and stops being an easy prey).
3. A unit will be put Out of Action if it reaches a negative value equal to approximately 30% its original Wounds score. It may fully recover after the Mission, but may also suffer an Injury or Death.
4. A unit is considered All Alone if it's standing more that 6 squares away from a friendly unit and has either been shot at (and taken damage), or is in melee with two or more ennemies. It must then make a Leadership test or flee away from the nearest threat.
5. On each turn that a Warband has less than half its total Wounds (pet Creatures excluded), during Leader's turn :
   • A Leadership test must succeed to avoid a Rout.
   • If a Rout is avoided, and the Leader can move (it can't if Stunned or just Recovered), you can still order a Retreat by hitting the new icon that will appear next to its portrait.
   • If the Leader is down, the unit with the highest level will do the Rout test and can order to Retreat.
   • Because Rout and Retreat can only happen during your Leader's turn, it's particularly important this unit has a high Initiative (the earlier you can make that choice, the safer your Warband will be). If it can also avoid being Stunned, it will be easier to Retreat.

To Developers/Moderators : May I suggest you pin this thread to the top of this forum? It can always be updated and edited at a later time if things change or are not clear enough. And this, instead of the combat mechanics thread that is currently pinned in the Open Discussion forum. This one is a mess to sort, and is probably not in the right forum anyway (such a Guide is support material). I hope this one can take its place to make it easier for all newcomers to understand the combat mechanics. Also, the link at the top will invite people to the Wiki, which is not a bad thing at all to have a more knowledgeable community. Thanks!

I think on the #5 dealing with routing part it should also depend on the other team. I have had two instances at least and one most recently where my team is winning and then they run away. In my last instance i had the other team down to one man and he was stunned, my next hit would have finished him. I had three guys left at least one perfectly healthy the others not to bad off and my team turns and runs giving me a defeat out of what was really a victory.

Can a developer please confirm exactly how the combat mechanics works? From the above post, there’s two ways we can understand the mechanics.

Let’s assume both have same WS and no Defence, with Str 30.

Is there first a roll to hit (50%), and if it hits, then there are 3 damage rolls (50% each of scoring 1 damage)?

Or is the first hit roll skipped, and the hit chances (50%) are simply used right away to determine the odds of each 3 damage roll to be successful at doing 1 damage?

Thanks. I'll edit the opening post and the wiki to make that more clear.

In light of the new information, I would like to edit the opening post. Can someone please verify and confirm the description and formula is accurate? I won't edit anything until I get proper confirmation.

Melee Combat steps :

1. Hit Rolls : An attacking unit will do a certain number of Hit Rolls, each doing 1 damage. The formula is complex...
   • Attacker's Strength determines the number of Hit Rolls :
     • First digit is the number of Hit Rolls ;
     • 10 times the second digit is the % chances of making an extra Hit Roll.
     • Ex. : With a Strength of 38, a unit gets at least 3 Hit Rolls and has 80% chances of making a 4th Hit Roll.
   • What you see...
     • 50% +/- WS spread between attacker and defender is what you see in the app.
     • Note that some abilities may change the WS score. Current value is used.
     • Ex. : A unit with 41 WS attacks another with 27 WS. App will show 64%.
   • ... is not what you get.
     • The % shown is modified by defender's Defence Multiplier.
     • Defence Multiplier is 100% - defender's Defence.
     • Ex. : App shows hit% at 60%, but defender has 70 Defence. Hit Rolls will actually be made at 18%.
   • Damage is 1 per successful Hit Roll.
2. Critical Hit : Damage calculated above is doubled on a successful Critical Hit Roll.
3. Parry : Defender will reduce Damage by 3 on a successful Parry Roll (minimum 0).
4. Final Damage is substracted from target's Wounds.
5. Repeat this process for each Attacks.

Example : A Warrior with a Flail (WS 35, Str 32+10, Crit 15%) is attacking a Witch Hunter Captain in Armour and Shield (WS 40, Defence 35, Wounds 5, Parry 10%). The Warrior makes 4 Hit Rolls (it had 20% chance of doing 5, but it failed that check). Each Hit Roll has 29% chance of success (45% x [100 - 35%]). Let's say 2 Damage get through. There are 15% chances that Damage is doubled due to a Critical Hit (to 4). And then, there's 10% chances that a Parry will reduce that Damage to only 0 or 1 (if a Critical was scored).

Ranged Combat Steps

1. Hit Rolls : Range attacks use a formula similar to melee attacks...
   • Weapon's Strength determines the number of Hit Rolls :
     • First digit is the number of Hit Rolls ;
     • 10 times the second digit is the % chances of making an extra Hit Roll.
     • Ex. : Using a bow with a Strength of 30, a unit will always get 3 Hit Rolls.
   • What you see...
     • 50% + BS + modifiers...
       • -10 or -20 if target moved or ran.
       • -10 if attacker moved.
       • There's a penalty for cover, but it depends on where it stands relative to the shooter (in between incurs a high penalty ; on the side incurs a low penalty ; behind target incurs no penalty).
       • Range is a multiplier determined by distance to target relative to the weapon's maximum range.
       • Accuracy is also a multiplier. See the weapon's stats.
   • ... is not what you get.
     • The % shown is modified by defender's Defence Multiplier.
     • Defence Multiplier is 100% - defender's Defence.
     • Ex. : App shows hit% at 60%, but defender has 70 Defence. Hit Rolls will actually be made at 18%.
   • Damage is 1 per successful Hit Roll.
2. Critical Hit : Damage calculated above is doubled on a successful Critical Hit Roll.
3. Parry : Defender can't parry a range attack.
4. Final Damage is substracted from target's Wounds.
5. Repeat this process for each Attacks.

Still waiting for confirmation...