Introduction

In the previous articles we introduced some of the main modeling choices in Vijayanagara, and presented the central features representing each Faction’s goals and their means of attaining them. In this article we turn to the game’s combat system. Gameplay of Vijayanagara is organized around an Event card deck. As each Event card is drawn, eligible Factions are presented with the option to carry out the printed historical event or to take actions from their own standard list of basic Commands and special Decrees.These event cards provide new information that can be consulted before deciding how to adapt to the new landscape; the decision of what action to take is therefore made with full information about what is on offer. The battles of the 14th century, however, were uncertain affairs which included many known unknowns and unknown unknowns. The rapidly widening distribution of eventualities results in a strategic fog, as it quickly becomes impossible to devise a perfect plan. The most effective strategic plan might then be that which incorporates a range of possible outcomes and includes the flexibility to adapt to the unexpected. The early stages of game development saw the introduction of a standard but fairly uninspiring combat system. But we sensed an opportunity, and went back to the drawing board to design something which is simultaneously clean and streamlined (read: no tables or looking back into the rulebook), but is also capable of modeling an important feature in any engagement of force: strength-dependent risk mitigation. Simply speaking, the fact that the risks involved tend to diminish with greater commitment of force (leaving modern conflicts and more complicated political considerations to the side). Another design goal was to promote fast and fun gameplay that retained the features above. It can be frustrating to play a game which is too random, but it may not be very realistic or satisfying (for some) if combat is too deterministic. A cumbersome combat system has the possibility of disrupting player interactions and detracting from the narrative emerging around the table. With these main goals in mind, we found the following solution.

Combat system:

The combat system in Vijayanagara works as follows:

• Count the total number of attacking and defending Units (possibly including 1 or 2 supporting Units from an adjacent space with a Qasbah, Temple, or Fort).

• The attacking and defending Factions then commit any desired number of Cavalry tokens (discussed below).

• The attacking faction rolls 4 dice (3 if attacking a Bahmani Fort), while the defending faction rolls 2 dice.

• Each committed Cavalry token may be used to decrease a die result by one.

• Each Faction scores one hit for each roll less than or equal to the number of their own Units (up to 5). (A roll of 6 does not score a hit, but could be decreased to a 5 with a Cavalry token.)

Each Faction then removes a number of their own pieces equal to the number of their opponent’s hits. This simple system provides a number of interesting features without requiring complex tables or careful rules interpretations. A single Unit (representing approximately 10,000 troops) is much less likely to be successful than many such Units attacking together. Is it worth a gamble to attack with only 3 Units? Hits are now secured with rolls equal to 3 or less, so each of the four dice rolled has a 50% chance to hit, and the average number of successful hits is 2. A single attacking Unit is still capable of doing tremendous damage, even if this is very unlikely: one attacking Unit will score 4 hits only 6 times out of every 10,000, but it will score at least 1 hit roughly 50% of the time. Meanwhile, sending six Units into a region and spending four hard-earned Cavalry tokens will remove any randomness from the attack, automatically removing four enemy pieces. It is still possible for a single Unit to carry out a very damaging attack, while six Units (without Cavalry) may do no damage whatsoever, but both outcomes are exceedingly (and equally) unlikely. Among the features that we like about this combat system is the relative simplicity of calculating approximate odds, and the very quick execution and cleanup of each such engagement. We think this combat system packs a lot of space for decision-making into a very compact ruleset, and we hope you will agree! Another feature in Vijayanagara is the possibility of including additional supporting Units from one adjacent Province as part of an attack, so long as that Faction has built their structure there (Sultanate Qasbah, Bahmani Fort, Vijayanagara Temple). A Temple only allows one supporting Unit to enter the fray from an adjacent Province, reflecting the inferior military technology of the Vijayanagara Empire. A Fort or Qasbah, however, allows for two supporting Units to be included. At the end of the battle those extra supporting Units remain in their original space, unless they are lost in the conflict. This may be seen as an assisting raid from a nearby fortified location with sufficient infrastructure to accommodate cavalry and other military advantages. Attacking pieces from an adjacent space may be removed either before or after those in the location where the battle takes place. Some minor faction-specific modifications are described below, but the simple description above turned out to be surprisingly effective at producing just the right level of strategic consideration for each battle. First, a quick example: In the image above, the Sultanate attacks the Rebelling Amirs in Madhyadesh with 4 Units (3 troops and 1 Governor = 40,000 infantry), plus 2 additional supporting Units from the Qasbah in Malwa to the north for a total of 6 attacking Units. The Bahmani Kingdom defends with 4 Units (4 Amirs), protected by a Fort. The Bahmanis, with a steady flow of Cavalry coming in through trade, decide to commit one Cavalry token to the battle. The Sultanate rolls three red dice instead of four because of the Bahmani Fort, rolling a 2, 5, and 6, which scores only two hits since an unmodified 6 does not hit. The Bahmani Kingdom, meanwhile, rolls two brown dice, rolling a 2 and a 5, but then adjusts the 5 down to a 4 using their committed Cavalry token. Since the Bahmanis have 4 Amirs in the battle they hit on 4 or less, so with the aid of their Cavalry they also score 2 hits. The Sultanate and the Bahmanis must each remove two of their own Units – the Bahmanis must remove these from the battle location, while the Sultanate opts to remove the supporting Units from Malwa in order to retain a majority of pieces in Madhyadesh. Madhyadesh is now a Sultanate-Controlled Independent Province – it will take a Demand Obedience Decree with the Governor there to return it to Tributary status and restart the flow of tribute to Delhi. In the meantime, the Sultanate has made its point and denied some territory to the Bahmanis.

Delhi Sultanate: Provoked by Rebelling rulers

The Delhi Sultanate may only Attack the Bahmani Kingdom and Vijayanagara Empire in Provinces which contain at least one Rebelling unit of that Faction. This is a key element in the game – Obedient units, while in danger of being removed by Delhi’s powerful Governors, are safe from being attacked by Delhi’s military Troops. However, Obedient Amirs and Rajas may be attacked in Tributaries if even one Rebelling Unit of that Faction is present. The very first thing that the Sultanate does when attacking in such a Province is to flip all other defending Faction Units there to Rebelling. This is an abstraction of the collective punishment that on occasion characterized the behavior of the Delhi Sultanate. It is written that in 1311, Ala-ud Din Khalji ordered a massacre of over 15,000 Mongol settlers after he suspected a very small number of them to be plotting an uprising. Paranoia would see the subsequent dynasty, the Tughlaqs, pursuing Amirs in Daulatabad with similar existential fears, whether real or imagined, 30 years later. The Sultanate had consistent access to the fine horses required for cavalry, much of which came as part of tribute payments from the south. Whenever the Sultanate Collects Tribute in the game, it will also acquire a powerful Cavalry token. The Sultanate’s Attack Command can also be used to go on the offensive against the invading Mongol hordes, as the invading Mongol army is always treated as Rebelling!

Bahmani Kingdom: Ashvapati, Lord of Horses

The Bahmani Kingdom boasted a hefty military strength from its position in the central Deccan, due to its construction of large forts, and its ability to deploy great numbers of cavalry. The Bahmani Forts offer a major defensive advantage – when other factions attack the Bahmani Kingdom in a Province which contains a Fort, the attacker rolls only 3 dice instead of 4. Forts also provide an offensive advantage as well: 2 Units from an adjacent Fort may support an attack in any Province (the Sultanate similarly may support attacks with 2 Units from an adjacent Qasbah). Two Forts built in adjacent spaces can thus become a real problem for the Bahmani’s rivals. The Bahmani Kingdom was also known for its great strength in Cavalry, reflecting its large military advantages when compared to the emerging Vijayanagara Empire during this period. The Bahmani ruler was even sometimes referred to as Ashvapati, Lord of Horses (while the Vijayanagara ruler was Narapati, Lord of Men, meaning infantry, and another ruler in the following century was titled Gajapati, Lord of Elephants). Once the Bahmani Kingdom begins to spread its Influence through the Deccan it will be able to trade with central Asia to acquire those valuable Cavalry tokens.

Vijayanagara Empire: Early defeats, strength in numbers

During the time-period covered by the game, the Vijayanagara Empire found itself outmatched by the Bahmani Kingdom in military might. Only subsequent decades would see them importing military technology from their northern rivals and from abroad, and even senior military leaders from the Bahmani Kingdom! The 15^th and 16^th centuries would see dramatic gains by the Vijayanagara Empire, up until the final major clash between rivals in the Battle of Talikota in 1565, which saw the crumbled remains of the former Bahmani Kingdom rising up together to wreak havoc upon the great capital city of Vijayanagara. The Vijayanagara faction therefore has more limited access to Cavalry tokens, reflecting this historical disadvantage. The upstart Vijayanagara Empire must then be very careful about where and when it finds itself in battles, and must lean on its other strengths to maintain a strong presence in the Deccan. In fact, when the Bahmani Kingdom and Vijayanagara Empire are engaged with each other in a battle, the result of the battle is one way to affect their Influence in the Deccan, which is important for gaining the support of the Nayaka warrior kings… In the next InsideGMT article we will cover this added dimension of the interactions between the Bahmani Kingdom and Vijayanagara Empire: the spread of their Influence throughout the Deccan.

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Previous Articles: It’s Not Easy to Be the Sultan: Modeling the Collapse of the Delhi Sultanate in Vijayanagara Commands and Decrees of the Deccan Empires: Aims, Means, and Victory Conditions