Repel

[BewareTheBarnacleGoose]

I don't have my manual on hand (and I've learned not to trust it, anyway!), so can someone tell me about the repel effect of long weapons? I feel like I remember it involving a morale check, is that right? In short, what is it all about, and is it worth recruiting pikemen for it?

Shields have always seemed more important to me, and when I need two-handed weapons, I overlook pikes in favor of more damaging ones. Am I mistaken to do so? When do I want pikes/longspears?

[Corinthian]

In theory, repel is a poor mans Awe that only works once per turn and only against people with shorter weapons that you can also hit. In practice it is bugged and you should probably just go with the weapon that causes more damage instead.

[BewareTheBarnacleGoose]

Thanks, I didn't know about the once per turn part!

I ran some tests, and it does not seem very effective. Even with fear spam to lower enemy morale, I noticed only a small reduction in hits on my pikemen.

[parone]

tried this many times with ulmish pikemen, and couldn't really get any good results. swiched to tower shields for surviveablity or twohanded weapons for damage.

too bad it doesn't work, cus it's a cool idea.

[Kungfoo]

From the manual:
Repel is how Dominions represents the effectiveness of long weapons, such as
halberds, pikes, and the like. If a unit attacks an enemy who has a longer weapon than the
attacker, the defender may actually repel the attack and prevent it from happening. This
occurs as follows.
Any defender that has a longer weapon than the one used by its attacker makes a repel
attack automatically upon being attacked. Attack and defense rolls are made. If the result is
a hit, the attacker must make a morale check or immediately abort his attack. If the attacker
passes the morale check, he may make his attack, but the defender’s attack then generates
damage and protection rolls. If damage is inflicted, the attacker takes one point of damage
and finishes his attack.
This simulates the defender successfully placing his longer weapon between himself and the
attacker. All of this occurs before the attacker’s strike is resolved. Note that units with low
morale are more likely to be repelled, and thus using long weapons against low-morale
troops is very effective. Also, units with claws and bites (weapon length zero) are easier to
repel.
A unit gets -2 to its Repel roll for each time it has been attacked that turn. So it’s easier to
repel the first attack than the second, and so on.

Translation:

Defender (guy trying to repel): Attack rating + DRN
vs
Attacker (guy trying to get past the repel): Defense rating + DRN

If the defender wins, then:

Defender: Morale + DRN
vs
Attacker: Morale + DRN

If the defender wins at this stage, the attack is over and you avoid damage. If the attacker wins the morale check, he then goes on to make a normal attack role vs the defender, but the defender gets to roll up to a 1-damage hit against the attacker's prot (woo!).

In other words, it isn't just the length of your weapon; it's how you use it. Confidence matters, too.

[BewareTheBarnacleGoose]

Thanks Kungfoo, that's exactly what I was looking for!

This time I tested with Heart Companions (longspear) with a f8N9 bless. With attack 20 and 99 morale, I was actually able to notice a good number of free attacks. A far from optimal bless, but entertaining. Less extreme cases (marignon pikemen + growing fury) didn't produce noticeable results, so I don't think I'll be building any repel-based strategies.

[Bat/man]

Its an interesting little niche:

Wrathful Skies & Blood rain can make repel viable, and these combinations are very rarely used or considered in conjunction with Repel, and so can be a surprise to an opponent (and fun!). Combine with fear units to force a rapid route.

Beware berserck/undead (...) as always of course.

[JonBrave]

So is it "In practice it is bugged", or is it as per the manual?

[brxbrx]

Also, since longer weapons enable you to attack first, there's a chance you'll kill or maim your opponent preventing him from damaging you

[BewareTheBarnacleGoose]

Originally Posted by JonBrave

So is it "In practice it is bugged", or is it as per the manual?

Im still not 100% sure, but it does not seem to be. It's just a little too subtle to come into play regularly without large variations in stats between the contestants. The most important part is the defender's attack skill, which is hard to buff (I think only the berserk spells and the fire bless can do that for units. Am I forgetting anything?). If I understand correctly, unless you win the initial check, you don't make the morale check, which is much easier to "rig" (fear-spam/ berserking repellers).

So I think repel is limited to being a "nice when it happens" sort of thing, but not something to build a strategy around. Even using longspear/pikes as line-holders, as Bat/man suggested, is only viable some of the time (like if the enemy has no ranged weapons). Otherwise, troops with shields would generally be better line-holders.