Tactical Battle & Combat Simulator

Mandate Order's combat rests on a counter matrix rather than raw stats. Chariots crush infantry (mass + knockback), archers outrange and punish chariots (large target bonus), and infantry swarms archers once they close distance. The bed crossbow is the siege-anchor — it deals devastating damage to stationary targets but is itself immobile and vulnerable to flanking cavalry.

The simulator above computes effective combat power as: Power = Stats_base × CounterMatrix(AtkType, DefType) × TerrainMod × (Morale/100). The win-rate projection integrates both sides' total power and outputs a percentage with an expected casualty ratio. The Key Battle Factors panel highlights which input swung the result most — useful for diagnosing why a battle you expected to win instead went sideways.

A frequent beginner mistake is reading unit stats in isolation. A 100-power chariot into a 60-power archer looks like a win on paper but the counter matrix gives the archer a 1.8× multiplier vs chariot, flipping the effective power to 108 vs 100 — the archer wins. Always read counters before committing to an engagement.

The game's pseudo-physics knockback system is unique among city-builders. Melee and ranged attacks have a chance to displace the target tile — pushing enemy units backward, often off walls or into unfavorable terrain. Units in Hold orders (above the soldier token) resist knockback, making them anchor points for defensive lines. A wall defender with Hold order on a high tile is nearly unshakeable.

Terrain height is asymmetric: low attackers hitting high defenders deal reduced damage (the defender has cover), while high attackers hitting low defenders deal bonus damage (gravity + exposed target). City wall defenders firing down at siege troops get the largest elevation bonus in the game — a +25% damage modifier that makes wall garrisons punch far above their raw stats.

A national policy unlock grants all friendly units a knockback-on-attack chance. Stack this with Hold-order front lines to pin enemies in place while archers punish them — the canonical 'anvil and hammer' formation that wins field battles without chariot investment.