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Author Topic: The Speedbump Quotient  (Read 215 times)
Zelc
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« on: October 22, 2011, 06:24:34 pm »

To evaluate the value of extremely cheap units (under 100 points), the standard method of using the spreadsheet might not be optimal.  That's because the purpose of extremely cheap units is to serve as speed bumps - that is, hold up a powerful enemy unit for a few turns while you try to win in other places.  Thus, it becomes very important for cheap units to survive past the second turn of combat.  Usually, you will not let your speedbump unit Final Rush, so your opponent's unit will be the one which Final Rushes your speedbump.  If your unit survives the second turn of combat, the earliest the enemy unit can move again is on the fifth turn of combat.

The Speedbump Quotient tries to capture this value.  It's the number of combat rounds a speed-bump unit is expected to hold up a big enemy unit, divided by its point cost, and multiplied by 100.  You can sort of think of it as: if you had 100 points of your speed bump unit, how many combat turns would it tank the enemy unit?  If a speed-bump unit cost 100 points and always died in round 1 or 2, its SQ would be 2.  If it always died in round 3 or 4, its SQ would be 4.  If it always died in round 5 or 6, its SQ would be 6.

For these calculations, I used my 1v1 Combat Simulator.  The enemy unit had a (5) 6/6 attack profile.  I ignored any survival beyond round 6, because it really wasn't significant.  The formula for the SQ column is [(1-D)*2+(D-E)*4+E*6]/C*100, where C, D, and E refer to the points column, the 3+ turns survived column, and the 5+ turns survived column.

The first chart is sorted by SQ, and the second chart is sorted by % surviving to at least round 3.
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Zelc
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« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2011, 05:57:04 pm »

Kevin reminded me that The Possessed can't have Command Cards or Faith Armor played on them, which is pretty important for speedbump survivability.  I forgot to put that into the notes.

EDIT: Yup, Crazed Goblins can't have Command Cards or Lash used on them either.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2011, 06:59:06 pm by Zelc » Logged

RushAss
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« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2011, 06:56:59 pm »

Don't forget that you can't lash or play command cards on the Crazed Goblins as well.  Good work!  I still hold that Zombies are the best tank for the points in the game and this helps reinforce it Smiley
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Niko White
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« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2011, 01:38:09 pm »


I think the Abomination wins out slightly there, but Zombies are so affordable it's hard to argue their general utility.  It's a pity the Undead don't have anyone but the Death Knights to really take advantage.

Also, this chart helps show the value of one of my favorite units, Brownies.  They come in lower than the Peasant Mob on Zelc's chart because of the points and health box differential, but 2/1 is pretty handy and means they can be surprisingly stubborn if you end up throwing a blue card or two at them.
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gull2112
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« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2011, 07:57:28 pm »

Don't forget that you can't lash or play command cards on the Crazed Goblins as well.  Good work!  I still hold that Zombies are the best tank for the points in the game and this helps reinforce it Smiley

Well duh, if you could lash Crazed Goblins and also play cards on them that would make the Orcs even more broken than they are already! Grin
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