I am new to game developing, so bear with me if this topic has been done to death. I wanted to get a feel for the kinds of mechanics that are used to simulate combat in war games. The only straight up war games I have played are Axis and Allies and Risk. Other than "Roll Xd6, hit on a 5 or a 6" type mechanics, what is out there?
Thanks for your help and patience.
You might find this thread helpful ...
http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=18175
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Thanks for pointing me to that thread.
Like CIDIC, I am not necessarily looking to rule out dice altogether.
I like the prospect of the custom dice suggested by Hedge-o-Matic. The dice could have a certain number of "hits," "misses," and "blocks" or whatever. It is hard to see how to get away from "This unit is X tough to he gets X dice to attack, hitting on 5-6. This other unit is Y tough so he gets Y dice to defend, blocking on 4-6." Essentially that would be converting Axis and Allies combat to a custom dice scenario (which is fine, but doesn't go quite as far as I would like to set the mechanic apart from those kinds of games).
Maybe it would be interesting to mix the suggestions made in that thread. Use a number of dice to attack and defend based on the characteristics of the unit, then allow for a secret point or cash buy of additional dice (suggested by Rick-Holzgrafe). You aren't buying a win necessarily, just the increased chance at success.
What do you think? Is it interesting enough to be considered different?