What is attrition?

[rich12545]

And how does it work?

[Brit]

And how does it work?

Attrition is a high-level concept I use when thinking about combat balance. It takes into account the odds of winning and the costs of building the unit.

If two identical tanks are fighting each other, the odds of winning combat are the same and the cost to build the units are the same. They have an attrition value of 1.0. But, let's say that one side uses a tank that fights 20% better and costs 20% more. The attrition is still the same because, even though it's more likely to win combat, it also costs more to build. If a tank costs 20% less and has no combat advantages, that will give you better attrition values (1.2). If a tank costs the same, but has a 20% combat advantage, then you will have better attrition values (1.2).

Attrition is a number I give to units to figure out it's 'value' in a fight. Also, the attrition values are dependent on which two units are in combat. For example, a fighter aircraft has good attrition values when fighting another aircraft, but it has bad attrition values when fighting, say, a ship or ground unit.

In some places on the interface, I give attrition numbers ranging from 0-100. In that case, "50" is the mid-point, where two units are equally balanced.

I should also add that attrition values don't take everything into account. For example, attrition values for/against ranged units can vary because a unit might be 'under fire' without returning fire. If an artillery is firing on an infantry for several turns and the infantry isn't within combat range to fight-back, then the attrition value of artillery is very high (it isn't in danger at all). On the other hand, if an infantry gets within combat range of the artillery, the artillery isn't going to survive very long - it will have very bad attrition.