Not sure I'm getting mechanics right

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Yep, I noticed the arrow deviation error and concluded that 1 was the correct answer.
The only reference to the "off course arrow" targeting mechanism is a little below "thus, the more units in a square etc..", that says that the selection is weighted by unit size and also by unit fatigue, but there's no formula...

[Sir_Dr_D]

The manual made it sound like there was no randomness to determine if the archer hits the square he is aiming at. it is strictly a formula based on precision. If the unit you are aiming at is close it will always hit the square, if it is far it will never hit. Is that right? The precision descriptions had me confused. It sounded like we needed another command for our archers. 'Shoot at our own troops.' Only way to make sure that they are safe.

For another question that wasn;t described in the manual, how does head protection differ from body protection? When a hit is made is it some how determined if it was the body or the head that was hit, and the game uses the appropriate protection score. Or are the two protection values simply just combined into one.

[thejeff]

There's no randomness to see if the missile deviates.
However:
:quote: The game will randomly determine whether the missiles deviate long or short, left or right, or some combination. The actual distribution is a bell curve -- most projectiles will fall within the middle of the deviation range, but some will land at the extremes.

I would assume that the peak of the bell curve is actually the target square. Your missile can deviate, but can deviate 0 squares. Counterintuitive, but makes sense mechanicly. (And matches observed results. No noticeable holes in arrow spread patterns.)

I'd also correct my previous assumption. The manual is inconsistent about max deviation. When the example calculates the deviation of 10, it specifically says, "maximum deviation is 8 x 1.25, or 10 squares" ignoring the division by Precision mentioned in the text. I'd assume the example is wrong, since deviations greater than the range don't match what I've seen in the game.

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Darrel said:
The manual made it sound like there was no randomness to determine if the archer hits the square he is aiming at. it is strictly a formula based on precision. If the unit you are aiming at is close it will always hit the square, if it is far it will never hit. Is that right? The precision descriptions had me confused. It sounded like we needed another command for our archers. 'Shoot at our own troops.' Only way to make sure that they are safe.

For another question that wasn;t described in the manual, how does head protection differ from body protection? When a hit is made is it some how determined if it was the body or the head that was hit, and the game uses the appropriate protection score. Or are the two protection values simply just combined into one.

Precision : no, the manual gives the formula for MAX deviation, so any shot will deviate 0-MAX squares, undoubtely with some bell curve distribution.

Head Prot : the game now tracks separately head (helmet) and body (armor) protection, with 80% of hit to body and 20% to head.
(I remember having read that somewhere but can't recall where ).