AOS Combat Phase question regarding damage allocation.

[Mattman77]

I have picked up AOS after a long time away from WFB, and I am having trouble understanding the damage characteristic.
I am unclear of how and when to apply it.
Maybe the obvious is escaping me but I would appreciate if someone could expain the combat phase to me step by step.
Thanks.

[Chronowraith]

Quite simply put Damage is the amount of wounds caused by a successful hit that is NOT saved by the targeted model/unit.

Note that if an attack does multiple wounds that those are only applied to a single model. If my model has 4 attacks that cause 3 wounds each I could only ever kill 4 models. Alternatively, I could kill 1 model with 12 wounds. If my attack hit a 2 wound model, the extra damage would NOT bleed over into another model.

I hope that helps.

[Mr Mystery]

Nope.

If your unit has one wound apiece, and you get walloped by Damage 2 weapons, each failed save would remove two models. The rest of the damage section demonstrates this 'Most weapons have a Damage characteristic of 1, but some can inflict 2 or more wounds, allowing them to cause grievous injuries to even the mightiest foe, or to cleave through more than one opponent in a single blow

You allocate wounds to any model you choose in the attacked unit, but once you start allocating, you can pick a new model to be wounded until the first is dead.

[Ben_S]

I assume the last 'can' in Mr Mystery's reply should be 'can't'. Subject to that, he's right. Multiple wounds (applied after saves) can kill multiple models in AoS.

[Mr Mystery]

Yep - late night typing error!

Also, should clarify its the owning player who chooses their first casualty.

[Chronowraith]

Hrmm. Didn't notice that before. I actually find this rather disappointing. I'm not a fan of an attack doing 2 wounds killing 2 models as it makes characters even more ridiculous. They seemed balanced in my first dozen outings in the game without that. It limited someone like Archaon to killing 8 models (well, 4 from him and 4 from his horse) but allowed him to take down big gribblies with relative ease. This means he could take down 16 models in a single combat phase which is absurd.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

I've been playing it your way chrono don't feel bad. In my mind I was thinking 1 hit just gave multiple chances of wound x model and that damage did not spill over. I guess because I was thinking in 40k terms with weapons that cause multiple wounds per hit.

[Xaric]

Easy way to understand combat in age of sigmar

Step one pile in 3" to the closet enemy model

Step two roll to hit using the warscroll stats under hit

Step three roll to wound using the warscroll stats under to wound

Step four when the enemy rolls to save negate any rend from there save by the stat under rend exsample if they have 5+ and your weapon has -1 rend they get a 6+ save from that attack instead of a 5+.

Step five if there are any wounds that was not saved each wound would caused the amount of wounds in damage for example if each attack deals 2 damage then per wound you caused on each failed save would be equal to 2 wounds if d3 roll to see how much each wound inflicts.

When allocating wound when a model is picked all wounds till that model is dead are used on him if you have wounds left to allocate they go to the next model in the unit and follow the process again with wound allocation till that model is removed or if you have no more wounds to allocate.

Step Six your enemy now gets to choose a fight with one of his units and repeat the process again.

Hope this helps

Best way to picture damage is by the following vs 2 wound models

1 damage hits him and knocks him back maybe the armour took most of the wound.
2 damage cleaves into a major organ or takes a limb off making him incapable of fighting and bleeds to death.
3 damage like damage 2 but instead push's the enemy into another due to the force doing damage to the person behind him but not being fatal to kill the other person.

[nsc]

Personally I like the different damage characteristics, it opens up the design space for special weapons and hulking monsters, for example as Minotaurs swing their weapons (which are larger than normal men) each swing of theirs fells three men!

Crackling magical weapons loose bursts of magic with a single swing, cleaving apart a man while the magical energy shoots off and fells another!

Many fantasy stories feature similar ideas, themes, of heroes or villains being able to fell multiple combatants with single strikes, find that the inclusion of these rules in Age of Sigmar really lends the game to its roots and allows for a very exciting game :)

[ColeVVatkins]

Easy way to understand combat in age of sigmar

Step one pile in 3" to the closet enemy model

Step two roll to hit using the warscroll stats under hit

Step three roll to wound using the warscroll stats under to wound

Step four when the enemy rolls to save negate any rend from there save by the stat under rend exsample if they have 5+ and your weapon has -1 rend they get a 6+ save from that attack instead of a 5+.

Step five if there are any wounds that was not saved each wound would caused the amount of wounds in damage for example if each attack deals 2 damage then per wound you caused on each failed save would be equal to 2 wounds if d3 roll to see how much each wound inflicts.

When allocating wound when a model is picked all wounds till that model is dead are used on him if you have wounds left to allocate they go to the next model in the unit and follow the process again with wound allocation till that model is removed or if you have no more wounds to allocate.

Step Six your enemy now gets to choose a fight with one of his units and repeat the process again.

Hope this helps

Best way to picture damage is by the following vs 2 wound models

1 damage hits him and knocks him back maybe the armour took most of the wound.
2 damage cleaves into a major organ or takes a limb off making him incapable of fighting and bleeds to death.
3 damage like damage 2 but instead push's the enemy into another due to the force doing damage to the person behind him but not being fatal to kill the other person.

This! Almost exactly... Quote from rules...
MAKING ATTACKS
Attacks can be made one at a time, or, in
some cases, you can roll the dice for attacks
together.  e following attack sequence is
used to make attacks one at a time:
1. Hit Roll: Roll a dice. If the roll equals
or beats the attacking weapon’s To Hit
characteristic, then it scores a hit and you
must make a wound roll. If not, the attack
fails and the attack sequence ends.
2. Wound Roll: Roll a dice. If the roll
equals or beats the attacking weapon’s
To Wound characteristic, then it causes
damage and the opposing player must make
a save roll. If not, the attack fails and the
attack sequence ends.
3. Save Roll:  e opposing player rolls a
dice, modifying the roll by the attacking
weapon’s Rend characteristic. For example,
if a weapon has a -1 Rend characteristic,
then 1 is subtracted from the save roll. If the
result equals or beats the Save characteristic
of the models in the target unit, the wound
is saved and the attack sequence ends. If
not, the attack is successful, and you must
determine damage on the target unit.
4. Determine Damage: Once all of the
attacks made by a unit have been carried
out, each successful attack in‘ icts a
number of wounds equal to the Damage
characteristic of the weapon. Most weapons
have a Damage characteristic of 1, but some
can in‘ ict 2 or more wounds, allowing
them to cause grievous injuries to even the
mightiest foe, or to cleave through more
than one opponent with but a single blow!
In order to make several attacks at once, all
of the attacks must have the same To Hit, To
Wound, Rend and Damage characteristics,
and must be directed at the same enemy
unit. If this is the case, make all of the hit
rolls at the same time, then all of the wound
rolls, and  nally all of the save rolls; then
add up the total number of wounds caused.

Roll to hit... Roll to wound... Roll to save... Determine damage... In that order.

[Xaric]

well he did want us to explain how combat works Cole lol

[ColeVVatkins]

well he did want us to explain how combat works Cole lol

I thought we tried that... 1 Hit roll... 2 Wound roll... 3 Save roll... 4 distribute wounds (1,2,3,d3,d6)

[nsc]

The biggest problem here appears to be the lexicon used while presenting the combat resolution. Mostly re-using the word "wound" too many times. Here is something a little more clear:

First an attack uses a "To-Hit" roll (attacker rolls) to determine if the blow has been struck
Secondly a successful attack uses a "To-Wound" roll (attacker rolls) to determine if the blow was solid
Thirdly a solid blow begets a "Save-Roll" (defender rolls) to determine if the model's armour or physical traits is enough to shrug off the blow, perhaps the armour stops the attack, or the creature's raw constitution allows it to ignore any damage done.

Finally you compare the number of failed saves to the attack's damage characteristic and then that many wounds are applied to the unit. For clarification, usually this number of models is removed.
The big hang up is "To-Wound" doesn't mean "One Wound" it means a chance for the weapon to deal damage. Unfortunately the health/vitality/durability of models is still measured in wounds which clutters up the description of combat resolution.

[Mattman77]

Thanks for the replies it really helped.
I have had a couple of games and I am clued in on the rules.
I guess it didnt help that the last game I played was so long ago it was 7th edition.

[ColeVVatkins]

Thanks for the replies it really helped.
I have had a couple of games and I am clued in on the rules.
I guess it didnt help that the last game I played was so long ago it was 7th edition.

As long as your are back... You enjoy AOS?