I agree that this is an area in need of change.
When looking at the Item Combat Values chart, I see that horses
and oxen are _not_ beasts for the purpose of requiring the Use
Beasts In Combat skill [653].
As the rule was specifically changed to try to reduce the huge stacks
of critter armies that wandered around in g1, I would like to suggest
that any beast lacking a combat value be EXCLUDED from the death
checker.
And for anyone who says, well, the way it is now is more realistic,
then I suggest that all nobles, peasant, and troops also be given a 1%
chance to die every turn. After all, considering the hygene of the
"era" these games represent, the animals probably have a greater life
expectancy than the people. Then we could add "breed peasants" as a
new order to suppliment recruitment :-)
Jim
> The Rules:
>
> "10.At the end of every turn, each animal in a player's inventory has a 1%
> chance of dying."
>
> I am already very tired of horses dying out under my nobles. It happens
> very frequently with this 1% chance! Also maintaining horse or oxen herds
> for trade routes is going to be a pain in the butt with them dying all the
> time.
>
> I infer that the purpose of this rule is to cause attrition in stacks using
> beasts for combat. I think there are several alternatives that would allow
> this to occur without having such an ongoing impact on traveling nobles:
>
> 1. Cut the risk of death to 1/200 or 1/300 per turn.
> 2. Only check for death once a game year instead of once a turn (different
> beast could use different seasons)
> 3. Have the risk of death vary with the beast (using a table): Horses
> 1/1000 up to Dragons 1/50.
> 4. More complex: In a stack, each figure cares for one beast and reduces
> the death risk to 1/1000. Excess beasts still have a 1% risk. For example,
> an army with 100 soldiers and 100 horses, all the horses have a caretaker and
> are 1/1000 risk. An army with 50 swordsmen and 80 dragons, 30 dragons have
> 1% risk, 50 have 1/1000 risk.
>
> To put this another way: why should horses and dragons have the same risk of
> dying each turn?
>
> --Erik Gunderson/Gryphon Lords