Terminators: Increase attack gained to 20%
The theme behind terminators is simple: If you attack with smaller armies your chances of winning increase. However they are underpowered in both of the most popular modes, Hardcore and Attrition. Firstly, the 15% has the biggest impact on 7vs8 battles, but even then you only just have a 50% chance of winning, and in hardcore where you lose all your men in one go this doesn't feel good enough to take the risk. You can always back it up with an attack boost, put players already have to stretch out their boosts. Now in attrition one might argue that the 15% bonus makes your opponent lose a few extra men if you lose, always being good in Attrition. The case is that the amount of men lost is calculated BEFORE your race bonus is applied to your roll; that means that if you lose attacking with Terminators, it's no different to losing an attack with elves, and your opponent loses the same amount of men in both cases.
Now why a 20% buff won't make them overpowered: The 20% buff has most impact on territories with 5 men or more, and admittedly in all those cases you go from just under a 50% chance of winning to a much better chance of winning. However you have to remember that your opponent will have to wait a whole turn to place their units before they can attack - this means that you can counter your opponents 7s with 7s, making it as if they were both 8s. In borders the 20% becomes situational as it still doesn't help much in early numbers (4 and below troops).
chess435 wrote:Okay, 7v8 math time. 1d6, the dice rolled for each unit before modifiers are applied, averages out to 3.5, so I'll be using that as a base for my calculations. 8d6 averages out to 28, so that will be our mark to beat with Terminators. (Note that this is a quick-and-dirty calculation and I didn't account for the fact that tie goes to the defender, so keep that in mind while reading.)
1. T(+15) vs +0% Def race
24.5 x 1.15 = 28.175 vs. 28
You have a slight advantage here, but not more than about 55/45
2. T(15) vs. +5% Def race
24.5 x 1.15 = 28.175 vs. 28 x 1.05 = 29.4
You are at a sizable disadvantage here, I'd estimate about 35/65
3. T(20) vs. +0% Def race
24.5 x 1.2 = 29.4 vs 28
You have the advantage this time around, also about 65/35.
4. T(20) vs. +5% Def race
24.5 x 1.2 = 29.4 vs. 28 x 1.05 = 29.4
It's exactly 50/50 here.
Considering matchups against arachnids and reptilians, who also have a 10% spawn bonus in addition to the constant attack or defense bonus, and the fact that the practice of having 7 troops in a territory leaving them more vulnerable to attack, I am in favor of buffing the Terminator attack bonus when outnumbered to 20% in order to keep them competitive with other high-tier races.
tl;dr The current state of the terminator is it's ability only benefits 7vs8 battles making them more or less equal. With the buff, it extends this reach, making the neutral point 5vs6 battles, with 6vs7 and 7vs8 battles tilting in your favor.
Pumpkins: Increase spawn bonus from 15% to 20%
Pumpkins are the underdog of the league that are seen by many as a joke race and by others as a niche race (like me!) but no matter how much I've tried to hide behind excuses of Pumpkins being able to increase their size at a much faster rate than opponents - called snowballing, having an extra man every 7 territories does not make up for the -5% atk and def. I've calculated the maths and this is when the 5% has an effect:
> Territories with 1-4 men, the negative bonus has no effect whatsoever
> Territories with 5 men, very little effect, most noticable 5vs6
> Territories 6-8, Has a notable effect, and as betagen calculated a while ago Pumpkins going 8vs8 drop from having a 45-50% chance of winning to 35-40% chance of winning which is very large.
This means that Pumpkins are an early game race, that have to win fast enough as to avoid having a bad time with it's negative stats. The buff I am suggesting is increasing the spawn bonus from 15% to 20%, which will allow them to gain a man every 5 territories instead. If you want to compare to arachnids and Reptiles this mean they will gain 1 more man than them for every 10 territories owned. This will allow Pumpkins to snowball better, but still keep their massive drawback.
