Basics of Combat and (Styles) from the Academy

Combat systems are always wonderful to me because they say a lot about a game and how it is played from very simple (for easier player access), to more refined (for more details). Finding the balance between those can be very difficult.

Today I wanted to dive into the Basics of Combat mechanics for The Genesys Project and take a look at some of the fighting styles.

Game systems have a combination of rolls to hit, wound, and save, re-rolls, and sometimes with very large numbers of dice. Lets look at combat in The Genesys Project.

Combat Basics.
Attacker: To hit in combat the attacker rolls a dice and adds their Characteristic Martial (for melee), or Ranged to see if they equal or beat their Opponents target number.

The total result of your roll and characteristic is called a Combat Resolution Number or CRN

It looks like this for Melee Combat. Martial + d6 = CRN

If this CRN is equal to or above the Melee Target Number (Mtn), it hits and we need to see if any damage is done.

Target of the Attack: Assuming we hit, the CRN now becomes a target number for the opponent that was hit by the attack. Using their Toughness and rolling a d6 you must equal or beat the CRN of the attack.

It looks like this to save against the attack. Toughness + d6 ≥ CRN

This is the Core Mechanic of the Genesys Project Combat System.

Getting the Numbers
You know that in the Genesys Project you create your own factions (or can use a premade one). Your Domain that you start with has a set of starting characteristics that include Martial, Ranged, Defense, Toughness, etc. These Characteristics are altered by the traits you select.

What I wanted to mention here is that Target Numbers come from a combination of characteristics.

Martial Target Number = Martial + Defense
Ranged Target Number = Movement + Defense

(there is also Morale which is a target number and just for being complete.... its Discipline + Willpower)

Critical Hits
Its worth noting as well that if a save to wound is not possible on a d6, that the damage done is a critical hit. This means no save + additional damage.

Just the same that if it's not possible to hit or wound someone at all, there are impossible attacks. Roll a 6 and you have a chance to wound someone. However, all their saves against the attack are at a 2+.

The Combat Situation

As in all games there are modifiers to Combat giving bonuses to your die rolls. In the Genesys Project we call this the Combat Situation. This is where all those modifiers are in the game, like charging, having high ground, outnumbering, cover, etc.

In the Genesys Project we "front load" any and all modifiers you get. Essentially you add up yours and I add up mine. These will number from 0-4 for both of us. We do this before any combat rolls are made.

Whoever has the highest Combat Situation gets the difference applied to their die rolls for combat! Its that easy.

For Example:

I am charging and have high strength for a total Offensive combat situation of 3.
You have a Shield and choose to go Defensive for a total Combat Situation of 2.

That gives me an advantage of 1 for my Offensive Combat Situation, so I get to apply 1 to my die rolls to hit in combat!

In the Combat Situation you are either taking Offensive or Defensive Combat Situations (in Melee Combat you get to choose every round).

Offensive applies to your rolls to Hit
Defensive applies to your rolls to Save

Fighting Styles
Now I want to jump briefly into the meat of the Combat Academy. Fighting styles refers to the way you are fighting, for example with Weapon and Shield, Dual Weapons, Two- Handed Weapons, etc. Each of these fights differently and expert in the game will be aware of the options they might use or face in combat.

Long Weapons and Large Models: Some weapons have a longer Threat Range and allows them to strike first in the first Round of Comboat. Examples are Military Spears, Pikes, etc.

Weapon and Shield: You can gain additional bonuses to Defensive Combat Situation which can be used when someone charges to diminish their charge bonuses. You can then switch to Offensive Combat Situations in the next round if you have an advantage there once their charge is done or have a high skill as to not need additional bonuses to hit.

Dual Weapons: Harder to master are two weapons since they do not gain any bonuses to the Combat Situation. Instead Dual Weapons gives you an Enhancement to your Martial Skill.

Two-Handed Weapons: This grants a bonus to your Strength which applies to your offensive Combat Situation. You can imagine someone with a high strength delivering powerful blows to try and overpower someones shield defenses.

While I am not going to go into all the details here of what your options are, I want to mention a couple of fun things.

Trample: This uses your mounts Movement Characteristic to attack with (instead of martial).
Martial Arts: Some Martial Arts use their Defense Characteristic to attack with (instead of martial)

In the game there are also opportunities to attack different characteristics. (even a chaos spell that attacks a model's lowest characteristic in a swirling black cloud of chaos.) So its important to note that a faction with very high characteristics in one area is very vulnerable if they ignore the other possibilities.

Genesys Games